Popular cowboy poet featured at Evening With Friends event

Tickets are still on sale for the annual An Evening with Friends fundraiser for the North Big Horn Hospital Foundation scheduled for Saturday, April 25, at the Lovell Community Center.

North Big Horn Hospital Marketing, Foundation and Grants Coordinator Payton Gambill said this year’s event features a performance by well-known cowboy poet and humorist Andy Nelson of Pinedale.

The event will be catered by WYTEX Barbeque of Powell featuring brisket, pulled pork and bacon wrapped chicken breast.

Gambill said the evening will begin at 5 p.m. with a social hour followed by the meal at 6:30 p.m.

The social hour will include a variety of appetizers, complimentary wine, souvenir wine glasses and a cash bar. Music will be provided by Dulcet River, led by Tom and Kathy Walker.

An extensive silent auction will be held during the social time, with all proceeds going to mental health services at the hospital.

Highlighting the silent auction items are a 36-inch Blackstone griddle with accessories, a Solo Stove miniature fire pit with chairs, a handmade Wyoming cornhole board, a handcrafted knife, a flight with local pilot Todd Herman, an outdoor pizza oven, artwork, a visit to Zoo Montana and gift baskets.

Raffle tickets are also on sale for a Weatherby 243 rifle, 307 edition, made in Sheridan.

Entertainment will be provided by cowboy poet Nelson, who has toured extensively in the West.

“As a second-generation farrier, Andy Nelson has the experience and the talents and humor to bring authenticity and entertainment to an audience,” his website states. “Raised in Oakley, Idaho, Andy traveled the Great Basin of southern Idaho, northern Utah and northern Nevada with his father on farrier jobs, from the time he was a child until he went off to college, and while in college at Utah State University, he continued to shoe horses for the USU Horsemanship Program.

“Now Andy lives in Pinedale, Wyoming, where among other things, he and his wife, Jaclyn, raise horses and children. Andy and his farrier brother Jim co-host the Clear Out West (C.O.W.) Radio weekly syndicated radio show, and the brothers are in demand as announcers at regional rodeos.”

Tickets are $60 each and are available from Gambill or foundation board members Michael Asay, Carol Fink, David Peck, Jeff Pearson, Chad Petrich, Barbara Shumway and Craig Sorenson or CEO Eric Connell. Call 548-5669 for more information. The foundation requests that tickets be reserved by this Friday, April 17.

“This spring event reflects the power of community,” Gambill said. “By supporting mental health care at North Big Horn Hospital, we are helping ensure individuals and families in the Big Horn Basin have access to care, support and understanding when it matters most.”