Wild West show at Annie Oakley Festival to feature local performers

 

Greenville, OH – Jamestown whip artist Gery L. Deer and Xenia thrown weapons expert, Kirk Bass, will lead a full troupe of whip artists, trick ropers, knife throwers and other Wild West arts experts during the 2018 American Western Arts Showcase during Annie Oakley Festival, July 27 and 28, at the Darke County Fairground in Greenville, Ohio. The event is free and open to the public.

Presented in the spirit of the stage-style Wild West shows of the late 19^th Century, each production will include some detailed history about how these arts came to be and who still practices them today. In addition to performing, Gery Deer is also the show’s producer and chief backer.

“This is a one-of-a-kind show in this region,” Deer says. “We have some of the best Wild West arts entertainment anywhere in the Midwest with real practitioners of each skill,” says Deer, who started the event in Jamestown, Ohio, in 2002. “These are talented performers with genuine ability, no fakery, no tricks. Everything you see in our show is real and all of our shows are in 3-D and high definition!”

Champion knife thrower Kirk Bass, of Xenia, Ohio, is co-producer of the event. He and his daring wife Melodee are among the performers to take the open-air stage for two shows on Saturday, July 28 beginning at 1 p.m. with a series of western arts perform the suspenseful Bass Blades impalement show, and much more.

Whip marksmanship competitions headline the afternoon show beginning with the National Whip Speed and Accuracy Exhibition Competition, the world’s only Bullwhip Fast Draw contest. Plus, there is a brand new contest taken straight from the big screen.

In 1981, a fedora-wearing, leather-clad archaeologist threw the crack heard round the world when he “whipped” a pistol from the hand of a jungle guide. At the beginning of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Indiana Jones demonstrated his skills with the holstered fast-draw of a 10-foot bullwhip, all while having to spin around to take aim first.

In the spirit of Dr. Jones’ proficiency, this year’s Showcase competition will include a special “blind fast draw,” where whip artists must mimic the move used in the film to turn, draw their holstered whip and shoot at a target with speed and accuracy.

“With the popularity of Indiana Jones among western performers, particularly whip artists, it’s odd this hasn’t been done before,” says Deer, who holds multiple, national whip speed and accuracy titles and is the director of The Whip Artistry Studio, the only permanent whip training facility in America. Contests begin at 1 p.m., followed immediately by a matinee performance at 2:30.

At 5:00p.m., visitors to the festival will see the Grand Western Showcase hosted by the music and comedy of Greene County’s own, The Brothers & Co. Variety Show. “We pull out all the stops on Saturday evening,” says Deer. “The Brothers & Co. Variety Show is an Americana-styled musical variety show from a by-gone era, full of comedy, magic, and some of the best four-part music on stage today. There will be nothing else like this anywhere at the festival!”

The event is sponsored by GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd., The Brothers & Co. Variety Show, and the Annie Oakley Festival Committee. All performances are family friendly and presented on the grounds of the Annie Oakley Festival. For links to the festival and sneak previews of the performers plus more information go online to ohiowesternarts.org.

Extends Deadline, 2018 WOWA anthology now open for submissions

Dayton, Ohio, June 1, 2018 –The Western Ohio Writers Association (WOWA) is now accepting short story fiction submissions for their 2018 anthology themed, “Redemption, Reinvention, Revenge” (final title TBA), targeted for publication in Q4 2018.

The Western Ohio Writers Association was founded in 2008 as a resource for writers of all genre in the southwestern Ohio, southeastern Indiana, and northwestern Kentucky region. The organization provides monthly critique sessions, networking opportunities, workshops and education, and creative support.

This will be WOWA’s second anthology, having published its first, “Flights of Fiction,” in 2013. This time, however, rather than only member authors, submissions are open to writers outside the group.

“We are looking for innovative short fiction between 2,500 and 7,500 words. Stories should have diverse appeal and must incorporate one or more of the anthology theme’s concepts,” explained WOWA Executive Director, Gery L. Deer.  “All submissions must be original works that have not been previously published. We will choose approximately 15 stories for this anthology.”

Submissions are open to fiction writers 18 and up who are permanent residents of the following Ohio counties: Brown, Butler, Champaign, Clarke, Clermont, Clinton, Darke, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Highland, Madison, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, Warren. Authors do not need to be members of WOWA in order to submit.

Submissions will be accepted between May 1, 2018 and now extended to August 31, 2018. Please either upload your manuscript document through our Submission Form page or send it as an email attachment to submissions@westernohiowriters.com. No more than two submissions per author, please. We will reject stories that include explicit sex, brutality, or pervasive profanity. We do not accept simultaneous submissions.

Full details and submission guidelines are available online at www.westernohiowriters.com, click on “WOWA Publications.”