Riders in the Sky and John Conlee to be Featured at
2001 Cattlemen’s Ball near Valentine
Riders in the Sky, a western entertainment group, and country music
artist, John Conlee, will be featured at the fourth annual Cattlemen’s
Ball of Nebraska to be held Saturday, June 2 at the Thacher Cattle Company
southeast of Valentine, Neb.
Riders in the Sky, a musical comedy group which includes Ranger Doug,
Too Slim, Woody Paul and the newest addition — Joey the Cowpolka King,
have combined the classic cowboy sound with outrageous comedy in 200 live
performances annually over the past 20 years. They also host the “Riders’
Radio Theater,” a radio program which has been broadcast by more than 170
public and commercial stations since 1989.
The group has starred in its own Saturday morning TV series on CBS,
hosted Tumbleweed Theater for four years on The Nashville Network, and
performed regularly at the Grand Ole Opry. In 2000, the group’s song entitled
“Woody’s Roundup” was featured in Disney’s hit movie, “Toy Story 2.”
Conlee also began his musical career more than 20 years ago. Since then,
he has released 29 singles, with 26 of them making the top 20 or better.
His hit list of songs includes “Rose Colored Glasses,” “Before My Time,”
“Hit The Ground Runnin’,” and “Fellow Travelers.” He has been a member
of the Grand Ole Opry since 1981, the national spokesperson for Feed The
Children and was a co-founder of Farm Aid.
The 2001 Cattlemen’s Ball at the Thacher Cattle Company will be hosted
by Don and Sandi Ormesher, their son and daughter-in-law, Mark and Kami
Ormesher, and Mark and Kami’s four children.
The Ormesher family has been touched by cancer several times. Although
both Don’s parents are now deceased due to other causes, Don’s mother was
a breast cancer survivor and his father was a prostate cancer survivor.
In addition, Sandi’s father is a colon cancer survivor. The Ormeshers are
hosting the ball to ensure that others also can have success in their personal
battles with cancer.
“With the human genome project, this is a very exciting time in cancer
research and prevention,” Don Ormesher said. “We’d like to do our part
to see that cancer research continues on this path of discovery.”
The Cattlemen’s Ball is held to promote beef in a healthy diet and to
showcase rural Nebraska. All of the money raised will stay in Nebraska
with 90 percent of the proceeds going toward research projects at the University
of Nebraska Medical Center Eppley Cancer Center. The remaining 10 percent
raised at this year’s ball will be directed to health care in the Valentine
area.
The UNMC Eppley Cancer Center received $104,000 for cancer research
from the 2000 Cattlemen’s Ball held at the Haythorn Ranch near Arthur,
Neb.
Invitations are not sent as the event is completely open to the public.
Top Hand ticket holders ($60) may attend Saturday afternoon and evening
activities beginning at 1 p.m. Trailboss ticket holders ($500) receive
a champagne reception, commemorative gift, Trailboss brunch and preferred
seating for the evening dinner and concert. Tickets are limited.
For tickets, call Dean Jacobs at the Valentine/Cherry County Visitor
Promotion Board at (800) 658-4024 or send checks to P.O. Box 201, Valentine,
NE 69201.