'Cowboy' Rick Hamby and photographer, Dennis Crider to appear at Lunch with Art event Aug. 11

West Plains Council on the Arts (WPCA) will host their quarterly "Lunch with Art" event for the public on Monday, August 11, 2025, from 12:00 noon till 1:00 p.m. in the Community Room at the West Plains Public Library, 750 West Broadway, West Plains. Information on upcoming arts activities will be discussed by Arts Alliance members.  

 

Rick Hamby and Dennis Crider of West Plains will offer highlights from the "Dust in the Wind Journey" the most recently completed trip by the Stagecoach Journey.  It was October of 2023 when Rick and Dennis and several of the Stagecoach Journey crew headed out to western Kansas to check out the possibility of doing a stagecoach run through that part of the country. They knew of the historic Smoky Hill Trail and the legendary BOD (Butterfield Overland Despatch), but they had no idea of the magnitude of the historical significance until they started to meet the people and learn of the land.  "Dust in the Wind" was the name of this stagecoach journey traversed by die-hard cowboys and history enthusiasts from southcentral Missouri. From May 18-26, 2024, the crew followed Butterfield's Overland Despatch stagecoach trail from Mt Sunflower of NW Wallace County to the picturesque Monument Rocks of western Gove County in Kansas. They camped along the way at Goose Creek Station, the Rose Creek Ranch, Pond Creek Station, Russell Springs, and other historic sites.

 

Dust in the Wind...A Stagecoach Journey Along the Smokey Hill Trail/BOD In Western Kansas is able at Amazon. The book shows what they encountered on the journey via the genuine 1880s Concord stagecoach.  Witten by Rick Hamby, it features nearly 300 photographs taken by Dennis Crider, a recent inductee into the Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame. Hamby produced the award-winning radio program "Just for Kids Radio Round-up" for over twenty years and is currently producing his daily program "Great Moments in American History" broadcast on KUKU, 100.3 MHz FM .

Cost of the luncheon is $10 for WPCA members, $15 for non-members. Reservations may be made via email info@westplainsarts.org 

 

Attendance is limited, so reserve your spot early.  The West Plains Council on the Arts receives funding from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.