The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Michele Smith

Last week, the Dayton Library's Delany Room was crowded with folks who gathered to eat some "chuck," and hear some old-fashioned cowboy philosophy through word and song. Local poets and story tellers Craig Horlacher and Marty Hall entertained the crowd with some bits of cowboy wit and wisdom, and the crowd sang along with local musicians Tanya Patton, Heather Stearns, Jimmye Turner, and Howard Beuhler, who told the tale of the cowboy way of life through song. Above, cowboy poet Lynn Kopelke, of Enumclaw, Wash., performed in the Delany Room last week. Kopelke spoke about his own way of life, which features "a moon, a mountain, and a couple of mules." He ended his program with some sage words of advice: "Keep your brim in the shape of a smile," he said, fingering his cowboy hat.