An old fashioned waterstop

The Cul de Sac Cowboys kicked off the Waterstop Jamboree in Medicine Bow on Friday. The band that features Ryan Martin, a International Western Music Association first place award winner as instrumentalist, started to play about 7 p.m. on an evening that was showering off and on.

The band was inside a tent in between JBs Convenience Store and the Old West Bar. Both businesses were sponsoring the Waterstop Jamboree.

Justin George, an owner of JBs, was one of the movers to get this two day event started.

"I grew up in Medicine Bow and graduated in 1989 and then I went off to the Navy, nursing school and flight nursing school and eventually was running a hospital in Casper," George said. "Then the hospital got sold and I came back to Medicine Bow about two years ago."

JBs is a family business and George bought it from his mother. When he returned to Medicine Bow, he saw a lot of changes.

"The Medicine Bow that I remembered when I left was gone," George said. "The place had been booming. When the mines departed, the town didn't have a lot going on."

He felt something had to be done.

George has been friends with Martin for six years and the musician always stops in Medicine Bow to play at the Old West Bar after leaving Cody, where he plays in the summer at the Cody Cattle Company.

"So I asked Ryan and Christie (Whickizer) at the Old West if maybe we should do something with Ryan going up as the summer starts," George said. "We brainstormed some and because my mother was the first curator of the museum, so I know a ton of history about this town. I remembered the town started as a water stop for the railroad in 1886. So I suggested the Waterstop Jamboree to honor the history of Medicine Bow and that is how we came up with event."

He said once they decided to have the band, the vendor fair evolved.

"We wanted to focus on local artists and craftsmen," George said. "With COVID so many of these folk haven't been able to go anywhere and we thought it would be nice if they could show their wares at our first event."

George said that there were over 25 vendors listed for the event.

The Cul de Sac Cowboys were not only playing in the two evenings for adults, but they also played for families on Saturday between 1 to 3 p.m.

"We are trying to do something for spring," George said. "People have been very supportive. There has been a lot of help from businesses around town. It has been a good experience pulling this together."

Although Friday had sporadic showers, the weather didn't dampen the enthusiasm of have patrons to see the live band play in the tent the entire night.

The next day was picture perfect. Cars filled the parking lot between the two businesses and the vendors had a good crowd to see their work.

The vendors closed down at 5 p.m. and the band came back to finish the Waterstop Jamboree with music until the late evening.

The Waterstop Jamboree has all the makings of an annual event if this year is any indication of its popularity.