麻豆传媒AV

The Western Development Museum's upcoming Cowboy Poets event will feature two Saskatchewan performers, Jason Hanley and Linda Nadon.

Nadon, who ranches near Meadow Lake with her husband Larry, has been writing cowboy poetry for 20 years. One of her poems was recently added to a celebrated body of work on an online resource for western and cowboy poetry and associated arts, CowboyPoetry.com.

Nadon says it's exciting to have her work chosen by such a prestigious organization. The non-profit site, known for publishing only the best in western poetry in Canada and the United States, gets over two million hits per month.

The published poem is titled Quarter of a Century and is about her daughter Lacy and her daughter's horse, Prince, who grew up together.

Nadon is a veterinary tech and has a deep love for animals and for nature. She is passionate about horses and much of the work on the family ranch is done with horses and her cow dog. She is proud of their string of ranch horses and has always made sure the family was well mounted. She and Larry have two children, Lacey and Landon. Both attend the Universty of Saskatchewan and Landon rides bareback broncs with the U of S College Rodeo Team. 

Nadon describes her poems as the "real deal." She writes about her experiences on the ranch, often adding a humorous twist and perhaps a bit of embellishment.

She comes from a family of talented musicians and she has been singing and playing guitar since she was very young. She continued the family tradition by performing with her own children and has now found her own niche in cowboy poetry.

Nadon has performed at many local functions as well as at the Maple Creek Cowboy Poetry Gathering in 2012. Lacey performed with her in Maple Creek in 2013. She has also attended the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nev., where she performed on "open mike."

Returning to the WDM poetry event again this year is Jason Hanley, a husband and a dad who works in a potash mine southeast of Saskatoon. He is also trained in confined space and high angle rescue. Still, he's a cowboy at heart.

Hanley was also a poet and didn't know it until about three years ago when he took the plunge and found an appreciative audience. Now, he's "having an absolute blast!"

He got his start as a cowboy poet in front of an audience in Borden. Although home is the rural area south of Langham, his wife has family in the Borden area. At a 4-H fundraising event there, Hanley was inspired to expound on a few "incidents" from his pasture-riding days.

Now he's sharing the stage with people who have been his heroes, one being Scottish-born, Alberta-raised poet Jim Boswell, with whom he performed at last year's WDM gathering.

Cowboy Poets will be held Saturday, March 8. The poetry will follow a roast beef supper. Tickets are $30 and must be purchased in advance.