August, 2010 Volume 6, Issue 8

Western Hospitality Singers Win Award at Calgary Stampede

By Bob Robson

The Calgary Stampede is considered to be the “biggest and greatest outdoor show on earth”. For ten days every year in early July, Calgary is transformed into an even bigger cowtown that it usually is. The city hosts many visitors from around the world and by the end of the 10 days well over one million people have passed through the turnstiles into the stampede grounds.

The festivities are kicked off by a massive parade – with some 350,000 people lining the parade route. While the anxious parade watchers begin gathering (some as early as 6:00 am) there are a number of ‘pre-parade’ or prelude entertainment groups on hand to perform. Western Hospitality Singers of the Calgary Foothills Chapter was one of the 18 prelude groups this year. Later in the day we were very excited to learn that we were chosen as the best entertaining group of the 18 prelude groups. On Sunday, July 11 we were invited to do a performance at the Stampede grounds and accept an award for this honor.

Western Hospitality Singers has an extensive country and western repertoire and we are called on regularly to perform at many venues in and around Calgary. Our costumes try to depict cowboys on the range in the turn of the century timeframe. With chorus songs, quartet songs, a few numbers with guitar and some really dry (or are they bad) cowboy jokes we provide a highly entertaining package that can be up to 45 minutes long.