News
Ucross Community Christmas Celebration Drew Large Crowd
On December 16, Ucross, the Artist’s Residency Program, held its 11th annual Community Christmas Celebration to a standing room only crowd. Along with the Buffalo Balladiers, the program included Craig Johnson and Dave Munsick.
Ucross President William Belcher welcomed the crowd to the event.
The Buffalo Balladiers, directed by Skylah Bree and accompanied by Marcie Leis, sang a selection of Christmas songs.
Ucross Board of Trustees Chairman Jim Nelson gave a short talk and introduced New York Times best-selling author Craig Johnson, a longtime Ucross neighbor, who gave his special fireplace reading of the new Christmas-themed short story featuring his celebrated character Sheriff Walt Longmire. He said that some years ago he emailed a Walt Longmire Christmas short story out to the people that were on his emailed to everyone on his posted list and it was a success.
Celebrated local musician Dave Munsick is a well-known singer-songwriter based in Dayton, Wyoming. Munsick performed some pieces he composed during his recent Ucross residency, and he talked about his stay there.
He talked about one of the songs that he sang for the audience, which he wrote about an experience he had in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. On Christmas Eve he spent the night with a family in a one-room cabin.
There were cookies, hot drinks and crafts for the kids as well, and the evening ended with a fireworks display by Bruce Burns, and a boom from Ucross neighbor Joe Reed’s cannon.
The trees on The Park at Ucross grounds glowed with thousands of colorful Christmas lights, strung by Powder River Energy Corporation and Ucross staff.
In the spirit of Christmas, guests were invited to bring canned goods and non-perishable food items for families in need, and the table overflowed with donations. After the event, Ucross will distribute the donated items to community food pantries in Sheridan, Buffalo and Clearmont.
