Congratulations to 2007 Academy of Western
Artists Winners
Granville Theater, Garland, Texas

1-Artist....Robert Shufelt
2-Cartoonist...Jack Fordyce
3-Spurmaker...Tony Wallace
4-Saddlemaker...George Holt
5-Braider...Nate Wald
6-Engraver...Bill Lusk
7-Garnet Brooks Chuckwagon Award...Bob and Nancy Sparks
8-Disc Jockey Major Market Eddie Kilroy XM Radio
9-Disc Jockey Seconary Market Dallas McCord KNND Radio
10-Record Producer...Tracy Pitcox
11-Record Label..Yellow Rose Records
12 Cindy Walker Award Presented To Jerry Max Lane

13-Cowboy Poetry-Male-Waddie Mitchell
14-Cowboy Poetry Female...Jane Morton
15-Buck Ramsey Cowboy Poetry Book....Kent Stockton "The Campfire Ain't Quite
Out Yet "
16-Cowboy Poetry Album/CD...Ed Brown/Bryan J. Smith "A Cowboy Collaboration"
17-Skinny Rowland Humor Award...Tammy Gislason
18-Western Music...Male...Doug Moreland
19-Western Music..Female..Patty Clayton
20-Western Music..Duo/Group..The Quebe Sisters
21-Western Music..Yodeler..Chelsea Beck
22-Western Music..Album /CD..Lynn Anderson "Cowgirl"
23-Western Music..Song..Liz Anderson "I Rode In As A Stranger"
24-Western Swing..Male..Billy Mata
25-Western Swing..Female..Liz Talley
26-Western Swing Duo/Group..Light Crust Doughboys
27-Western Swing Song..Starla Queen "Show Me "
28-Western Swing Album/CD..Dan T. Chambers "Alive And Swingin' "
29-Western Swing Instrumentalist..Bobby Koefer
30-Pure Country..Male..Mile Siler
31-Pure Country..Female..Leona Williams
32-Pure Country..Duo/Group..Lucky Tomblin Band
33-Pure Country Album..Frankie Miller "The Family Man"
34-Pure Country Song..Joe Babcock "Dixie Cannonball

For more information:Bobby Newton at working_cowboy@hotmail.com 580-221-8793


Charles Williams, Executive Vice President shares his comments:

"Let me add my welcome to the Twelfth Annual Will Rogers Awards for
Outstanding Achievement in the Advancement of Contemporary Western Skills. There somebody ought to say the full title at least once. Before we get to the next items on the schedule, the honoring of the Cowboy Poets, please allow me to take a minute for a personal note.
After a dozen very exciting years, I am retiring as Executive Vice President
of The Academy of Western Artists to devote more time to the Will Rogers
Medallion Awards and other personal endeavors. It has been an exhilarating experience, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I would like to take this occasion to thank Bobby for the opportunity, the artists and performers I've met for your friendship and support, both for me and for AWA, and the many, many members of this wonderful community we know as the Cowboy Heritage Movement for the chance to know you and insome
small way contribute to the movement. Thank you very much.

Cowboy Poetry is the spiritual heart of the Western Heritage movement. Its
practitioners have provided the words for the music, the inspiration for the
images, the connection to past and the link to the future. In a very
practical sense, they were the spark that brought the current movement to life.
When several poets got together some 23 years ago in Elko to hold the first
Annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering, they hoped small, dreamed big, and achieved greatness. The movement they started not only tied together the elements we are gathered here tonight to honor, but gave them refreshed vigor, renewed creativity and a rebirth of public awareness.

Our Award for Male Poet of the Year goes to one of those pioneering poets.
This Nevada buckaroo was a ranch manager in 1984 when those poets drifted in to Elko for what they thought would be a pretty good party for the weekend–
Elko being a place you really have to be wanting to get to get there. Since
then, Waddie Mitchell has become one of the more famous cowboy poets reciting today. He has appeared on numerous TV shows, although he turned down his first invite to appear on the Tonight Show because it was calving season, and he had no idea who this Johnny Carson was. He has toured internationally and hit most of the big Gatherings. Waddie was recorded several albums and written a few books. In 1994, he helped form the Working Ranch Cowboy Association with a mission of creating scholarships and crisis funds for working cowboys
and their families. He has remained accessible and has encouraged many
starting cowboy poets, including the one currently behind this mike. Waddie is on tour and can not be here tonight to personally accept this Award, but he has designated one of his personal friends and fellow poets, Mr. Lanny Joe
Burnett to rep him.

The Female Poet of the Year grew up on the flat plains of Eastern Colorado
while her family tried to farm during the drought years. They all pitched in
and persevered, and eventually started ranching. The ranch was successful,
and despite earning regular income in education, Jane and her husband Dick
stayed a part of the ranch operation. From this rich trove of personal
experience, this sense of place and a feeling of security and stability from being connected to the land, and filtered through a well honed, talented grasp of the English language and poetic usage, she has crafted memorable stories of unique yet shared experiences of Western Women. While she has now retired from ranching, the drive to write and recite poetry remains strong. This is coupled with a compelling stage presence and a mastery of oral presentation. She has recently written a Medallion Award winning book entitled " Turning To Face The Wind" and followed with an outstanding CD of the same name. It is with a great deal of pride that I present the Female Poet of the Year, Jane Morton.

Humor is God's gift to humankind. We tell stories and laugh to connect with
each other, to salve over the aches and pains, to prove we are still alive,
but mostly because it's just downright good fun. Humor comes in many forms. Skinny Rowland, for whom this Award is named, performed at Cowboy Poetry Gatherings large and small, never recited a poem of more than a few lines, but was one of the most popular performers to come out of Montana because he was always full of dead pan one liners which cracked up many an audience. This year's winner is a talented musician, a gifted actress, a champion yodeler,one of those musicians who can play anything with strings, and, as if that wasn't enough, a downright beautiful girl. All of that pales, however, beside her talent for making people laugh. From Alberta, Canada, by way of Grinder's Switch, allow me to introduce this year's Humorist of the Year, Miss "Tammy Pearl" Gislason.

Making an authentic Cowboy Poetry Album is a daunting task. First, of
coarse, you need good poetry. Much of the enjoyment of recited poetry depends on visual clues from the performer, and the performer depends on feedback and energy from the audience. There's always the question of music – do you add it, and if so, how much? And if you use it, how do you make it blend in? On top of that, you need to have enough good stuff to hold a listener's attention for roughly an hour. Ed Brown and Bryan J. Smith are a couple of Canadian cowpokes. Ed's been a bronc rider, a trapper, and a commercial fisherman. He is an artist, a musician and a songwriter. BJ has been a Mountie, a horse trainer, and a guide. He and his wife manage a bed and breakfast for people and horses traveling through Alberta and he is an outstanding cowboy poet. Together they have produced one of the most outstanding cowboy poetry albums that it's my pleasure to hear. They have produced an album that makes you laugh, think, and reflect, that is filled with great poetry, songs and guitar music – and on top of that, has bagpipe music in it! Ladies and gentlemen, one of the creators behind the Cowboy Poetry Album of the Year entitled "A Cowboy Collaboration", Mr. Bryan J. Smith.

This has been a vintage year for Cowboy Poetry books. To pick one single
book out of all those outstanding books, any one of which was well deserving of the Buck Ramsey Award, was a most difficult task. However, we had to do it, and in the end, we choose a book that reflects the best of the traditional cowboy ways with a recognition that even will all the changes, the modern cowboy still carries on the legacy. 'The Campfire Ain't Quite Out" is both the title of the book and an affirmation that not only are there still real cowboys, but as long as their are cows, there always will be. The author is a cowboy poet out of Riverton, Wyoming. He has taken a curious path to become one of his childhood heroes, a cowboy. He left Colorado and went East – to Dartmouth, no less – and became a medical doctor. He hotfooted it back as soon as he could, and has treated all sorts of cowboys with medicine for the body and for the heart. It is with a great deal of pride that I present the author of the Buck Ramsey Cowboy Poetry Book of the Year," The Campfire Ain't Quite Out", Mr. Kent Stockton.

The Will Rogers Medallion Award is given each year to honor outstanding
achievement in the publishing of Cowboy Poetry books. This is the best over-all competition we have had since the institution of the award. The winners represent a truly outstanding selection of Cowboy Poetry books. These authors and publishers are examples of the quality that make Cowboy Poetry so popular.
The winners are:

"Rhymes & Damn Lies"" Author – Mike
Puhallo
Kamloops, BC, Canada
Publisher- Hancock House Publishers,
Blaine, WA

"Rodeo Country"
Author – Bette Wolf Duncan
Runnells, Iowa
Publisher – Morris Publishers
Kearney, Nebraska

"Cowboy Poetry: The Campfire Ain't Quite Out" Author Kent
Stockton
Riverton, Wyoming
Publisher –Cowboy Miner Productions
Phoenix, AZ

"Arizona Women –Weird, Wild and Wonderful" Author -
Dee Strickland Johnson
Phoenix, AZ
Publisher - Cowboy Miner Productions
Phoenix, AZ

"Western Poetry: West River Waltz" Author – D.W.
Groethe
Bainville, Montana
Publisher - Cowboy Miner Productions
Phoenix, AZ

Accepting on behalf of all the honorees is Betty Wolf Duncan. Betty grew up in Northeastern Montana. Her heritage runs deep, as she is the
granddaughter of early Montana and North Dakota pioneers, and was married to a former cowboy whose grandfather was one of the earliest ranchers in northeast Montana.
Besides authoring two very well done books, she runs a web site dedicated
to cowboy poetry. With a great deal of pleasure I introduce to you BettyWolf
Duncan.


Charles

Well, there we are folks, again we send our Congratulations to all.