Robert E. Howard Days 2009 Information Page
Welcome to the 2009
ROBERT E. HOWARD DAYS
INFORMATION PAGE
Thanks go out to Leo Grin for writing a portion of this page, and for providing some of the photos. The rest of everything is entirely the fault of Indy Bill Cavalier. It will be updated and revised periodically, so please check back.
2009 HOWARD DAYS SCHEDULE — SUMMARY VERSION
FRIDAY JUNE 12
8:30 – 9 am: Coffee and donuts at the Pavilion, compliments of Project Pride
9 am – 4 pm: Robert E. Howard House Museum open. Closed for Lunch 12-1
9 am – 4 pm: REH Postal Cancellation at Cross Plains Post Office
9 am – 11 am: Walking Tour of Cross Plains
9:30 am – 12 Noon: Bus Tour of Cross Plains area
10 am – 5 pm: Cross Plains Public Library open
Noon: Lunch hosted by Project Pride. Donations Welcome.
Noon: Donald Sidney-Fryer performs selections from “The Faerie Queene” at the Library
Noon to 4 pm: Pavilion available for REH items Swap Meet
1 pm: PANEL: REH – WHAT MADE HIM SUCH A GREAT POET? at the Cross Plains Library.
3 pm: PANEL: THE MANY FACES OF ROBERT E. HOWARD’S POETRY at the Cross Plains Library.
5:30 – 6:30: Silent Auction items available for viewing & bidding at Banquet site
6:30: Robert E. Howard Celebration Banquet at the Cross Plains Community Center, featuring Guest of Honor Larry D. Thomas, 2008 Texas Poet Laureate
9:00: The 2nd Annual ROBERT E. HOWARD POETRY THROWDOWN (open to all) at the Pavilion
SATURDAY JUNE 13
9 am – 4 pm: Robert E. Howard House Museum open. Closed for Lunch 12-1
9 am – 4 pm: BARBARIAN FESTIVAL in the large lot North of the Dollar Store on Main St.
9 am – 11 am: Walking Tour of Cross Plains
9:30 am – 12 Noon: Bus Tour of Cross Plains area
10 am – 3 pm: Cross Plains Public Library open
10 am: PANEL: WHAT HOWARD THE POET REVEALS ABOUT HOWARD THE MAN at the Cross Plains Library.
Noon to 4 pm: Pavilion available for REH items Swap Meet
Lunch & Festival Activities at your leisure during the day
1 pm PANEL: Readings & Book Signings: Larry D. Thomas & Donald Sidney-Fryer at the Library
3 pm PANEL: What’s Happening with REH: Leslie Buhler from Paradox Entertainment, Rusty Burke, Paul Herman, Bill Cavalier at the Pavilion.
5 pm: Sunset BBQ at the Caddo Peak Ranch
NOTES: A visit to the Howard gravesite at the Greenleaf Cemetery in Brownwood is not a planned activity, but directions are available at the Howard House, as are directions to Novalyne Price Ellis’ gravesite between Brownwood and Bangs.
The “official” Thursday night (June 11) gathering place for Howard Days attendees is hereby decreed: we will meet for dinner at Humphrey Pete’s in Brownwood, where the motto is “It’s Pig-Lickin’ Good”.
Goodspeed Productions will be at REH Days 2009 to shoot additional footage for their REH documentary.
Dennis McHaney’s THE MAN FROM CROSS PLAINS newly revised edition will be available at the Howard House Gift Shop during Howard Days, and 13 of the book’s participants will be attending Howard Days and available for signing at the Library and during the weekend.
The Robert E. Howard Foundation Legacy Circle Members Luncheon will take place at Noon on Saturday June 13, at the Mexico City restaurant.
HOWARD DAYS PRE-REGISTRATION
PLEASE NOTE: You do not have to pre-register to partake of the weekend’s festivities. Project Pride likes to pre-register folks to get a head count of how many will be attending the Banquet. All the panels, tours, Swap Meet, Poetry Throwdown, etc. are presented at no cost. To sit down for dinner at the Friday night Banquet is the only true fee for the weekend, as space is limited at the Banquet site.
The cost for pre-registration this year is $10 per person. This fee will entitle you to both the Friday Night Celebration Dinner and the Saturday Caddo Peak Ranch Barbeque. Simply send a check or money order (along with a note containing the names and addresses of the registerees) to:
Project Pride
Attn: REH Days 2009 Pre-registration
PO Box 534
Cross Plains, TX 76443Please pre-register before June 1, 2009.
And for only $3.00 more per person ($5.00 per family), you can become a card-carrying Member of Project Pride. Each membership can make a big difference for the House!
HOWARD DAYS 2009 DETAILED INFORMATION
Since 1986, people have been coming from all around the world to Cross Plains, Texas, to celebrate the life and writings of acclaimed author Robert E. Howard. Every year on the second weekend of June, a local civic organization called Project Pride puts on a festival known as Robert E. Howard Days, a two-day extravaganza of tours, panels, auctions, films, speeches, readings, rare collectibles, and Howardian fellowship. For fans of Howard, it is the ultimate gathering: part historical symposium, part fan convention, all fun.
Come and walk through the streets where Howard dreamed his fantastic adventures, visit the House and gaze upon the exact spot where he wrote them. See with your own eyes the original yellowed typescripts, listen to scholars detail the history embedded all around the town. Meet and mingle with hundreds of Howard fans from all over the world. Browse the Howard Museum’s impressive Howard Gift Shop, and win prized items in the annual Silent Auction. An informal “Swap Meet” is also held, where fans can buy, sell or trade REH items of all sorts. Climb the same Caddo Peaks that Howard did, or take a drive south to visit historic Fort McKavett, and take your photo in the exact spot Howard did over seventy years ago. Go to Brownwood to Howard Payne University to see the books Howard owned, and stop in at Greenleaf Cemetery to pay your respects at his grave.
Robert E. Howard Days 2009
GUEST OF HONOR
Larry D. Thomas, 2008 Texas Poet Laureate www.larrydthomas.com
Mr. Thomas’ presentation at the Banquet is entitled: Robert E. Howard: a Poet of Place, the “Place” of Texas. You will also note from the photo above that he adheres to the unofficial Howard Days fashion choice, a Hawaiian shirt!
2009 SPECIAL GUEST – Donald Sidney-Fryer
Noted Poet and authority on the Weird Tales poets. http://donaldsidneyfryer.free.fr/
SILENT AUCTION
Past attendees to Howard Days know the thrill of entering Silent Auction Row at the Friday Night Banquet and marveling at all the rare Howard treasures for sale to the highest bidder, with all proceeds going directly to Project Pride and the upkeep of the Howard Museum. It is a great place to fill in gaps in your collection, or acquire some very unique Howard items.
Are you willing to donate some of your books, magazines, old pulps, memorabilia, fanzines or other publications? Other Howard items such as t-shirts, bookmarks, wood carvings, original artwork or limited edition prints or posters are also great items to have in the auction. Instead of selling your items on Ebay, you can donate them to the Silent Auction and know the money will be supporting a worthy cause! (And it counts as a donation, so it’s tax deductible!)
Simply send your donated items to:
Project Pride
P.O. Box 534
Cross Plains, TX 76443
ATTN: REH Days Silent Auction
Be sure to include your name and address information, as all donors are listed in a place of honor in the Howard Days Banquet program booklet. Additionally, you may arrange to place items in the Silent Auction prior to the Banquet, if you’d rather bring the items to Howard Days. If you please, with any item you might donate to the Auction, list a reasonable low opening bid price on the item (like a dollar or two – start low and let the bidders raise the amount). A sticky note placed on the item you donate will work. The bidding is always fast, furious and fun!
Cross Plains is one of the smallest towns in all of Texas that has managed to build a library, as well as one of the smallest that has created a historical museum that is listed in the National Registry. Neither of these things magically popped into existence: both took years of hard work and sacrifice before they became a reality. People who don’t live in very small towns seldom realize what an achievement this is. It is a constant struggle for the people of Cross Plains to raise enough money each year to keep these two bastions of Howard history alive. Project Pride needs anything you can send them, so whether or not you can attend the event, dig out all the old Howard stuff you’ve been thinking about getting rid of and mail it to them. In doing so you will be helping to preserve Howard’s legacy in Cross Plains for future generations.
THE BARBARIAN FESTIVAL
The “Barbarian Festival” is an annual one-day street fair which Cross Plains hosts on the same weekend as Howard Days. There are dozens of booths selling all kinds of neat stuff, lots of food, live music, car & tractor shows, games and rides for kids, a petting zoo,and much more. This year they’ve added a Talent Contest. Howard Days attendees (especially non-Howard fans like spouses and kids) will be able to spend time at the festival for a lot of fun things to do.This year the festival moves from right on Main Street to the large lot just north of the Dollar Store (still on Main Street). Check it out at : www.barbarianfestival.net.
GETTING TO CROSS PLAINS
Cross Plains is located almost in the exact center of the state of Texas, about two and a half hours drive west of Dallas, thirty minutes south of I-20, and 30 minutes north of Brownwood.
As for when you should consider coming and leaving Cross Plains, one recommended plan would be to fly or drive to Texas to arrive on Thursday June 11, and leave for home on Sunday, June 14. A lot of folks come in on Thursday, and congregate either at the Pavilion next to the House, or usually in the courtyard of the 36 West Motel. You’ll be able to tell the Howard fans by all the Hawaiian shirts! C’mon over and join the group – all Howard fans are welcome! This year on Thursday June 11 we will be driving down to Humphrey Pete’s in Brownwood at dinnertime for some “pig-lickin’ good” food and REH fellowship on a sad anniversary date.
DRIVING TO CROSS PLAINS
If you fly in, plan to spend a pleasant 2-3 hours on the highway from Dallas (or Austin) to Cross Plains. This will be driving your rental car from Dallas on Interstate 20 for most of the way, until making the turn-off to Cross Plains. For those of you driving to Howard Days, you can plan your trip accordingly. Needless to say, watch your speed limit in Texas, as the troopers there are not shy about handing out tickets. Be advised that the constable in Cross Plains is also on the job.
HOTEL RESERVATIONS
You have a lot of choices in this regard. The only motel in Cross Plains itself is the 36 West (so named because it sits on Highway 36, a mere block away from the Robert E. Howard Museum). Unfortunately, this motel only has about twenty rooms, and they are almost always sold out well in advance of the weekend. There could be some last-minute cancellations, however, so it would be worth checking back with them at intervals leading up to the weekend to see if any rooms have become free.
A lot of attendees each year make do with finding a motel at one of the surrounding communities, then driving in to Cross Plains each morning for the festivities, and driving back to their motel in the evening. This is not nearly as bad as it may sound. The drive from nearly all the other towns is about thirty minutes one way, and the roads are very straight, scenic and pleasant, especially if the wildflowers are in bloom.
The three nearby towns most popular with Howard fans in need of accomodations are Cisco, Coleman, and Brownwood, although some people stay as far away as Abilene. Cisco and Coleman are smaller towns, much like Cross Plains, and boast only a modest selection of hotels and rooms. Abilene and Brownwood are larger communities with many hotels, restaurants, and other amenities. Of course, the internet is your best friend at times like these, and a search for hotel space is an easy undertaking.
The following is a partial listing of local hotels. A Google or Yahoo! search will doubtless turn up many more options for you to consider.
36 West Motel with RV Park
(254)725-4550
Cross Plains
Highway 36
Located 1 block from the Howard House and Museum. Almost always SOLD OUT for REH Days, but call for cancellations.
The Enterprise Motel (formerly the Oak Motel)
(254)442-2100
Cisco
300 East Interstate 20
Best Western
(254)442-3735
Cisco
1898 Highway 206 West 21 miles from Cross Plains.
Holiday Inn Express
(325)641-8085
Brownwood
504 West Commerce Street www.hiexpress.com/brownwood
Best Western
(800) 528-1234
Coleman
1401 Highway 84 Bypass
America’s Best Value (formerly Best Western)
(325)646-3511
Brownwood
410 East Commerce www.americasbestvalueinn.com
Knight’s Inn (formerly Post Oak Inn)
(325)643-5621
Brownwood
606 Early Boulevard 32 miles from Cross Plains.
Gate 1 Inn
(325)643-5463
Brownwood
4410 Highway 377 South 32 miles from Cross Plains.
Days Inn www.daysinnbrownwood.com
(877-500-2600) Brownwood
515 East Commerce 32 miles from Cross Plains.
Lake Brownwood State Park
(512)389-8900
Campsites Available (must make reservations by phone)
Star of Texas Bed & Breakfast
(325)646-4128 www.star-of-texas.com
A deluxe Bed & Breakfast for those who want something special.
$120.00 – $160.00 per night.
Hampton Inn www.hamptoninn.com Brownwood 1-800-Hampton
La Quinta Inn (opened 2008) Brownwood (325-641-1713)
HERE ARE SOME BITS OF GENERAL INFORMATION
Robert E. Howard Days is a wonderful yearly get-together of fans, scholars and historians, all gathered to celebrate the life and work of Ol’ Two-Gun Bob Howard, a true Texas and American original. It’s an open-air-under-the-Texas-sun informal meeting of folks from all over honoring the Legacy of Robert E. Howard with fellowship and friendly conversation, and you can do so on the very ground where he walked and wrote his wonderful works. The Alla Ray Morris Pavilion is adjacent to the Howard Museum, where tables and chairs are set up for all attendees to sit and relax in the shade, chat with your new and old Howard Friends, and enjoy water and soft drinks provided by Project Pride. (As always, donations are welcome.)
WHERE TO EAT
The un-official breakfast place of Howard Days is Jean’s Feed Barn, just up Highway 36 from the 36 West. Additionally, there are a number of great restaurants in Cross Plains, like the Staghorn Cafe and Mexico City. Nothing quite like authentic Texas chow, and Cross Plains has it! There is also a Subway and Dairy Queen, and a well-stocked grocery store is next to Jean’s Feed Barn. There are also a slew of restaurants in Brownwood, covering all cuisines (fast and otherwise.)
HOWARD’S GRAVESITE
Regarding Robert E. Howard’s gravesite at the Greenleaf Cemetery in Brownwood: there are no organized tours to the cemetery during Robert E. Howard Days, but folks usually caravan to the site sometime during the course of the weekend. Directions to the gravesite are available at the Howard House, as are directions to the gravesite of Novalyne Price-Ellis between Brownwood and Bangs. Vonne Cornett of FROG (Friends and Relatives of Greenleaf) informs us that they will have refreshments, cold water and soft drinks available at Howard’s gravesite on both the Friday and Saturday of Howard Days from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm. They will also have maps to Novalyne’s gravesite. Please help them out with a donation for their wonderful service to us Howard Fans!
MONEY MATTERS
Everyone who goes to Howard Days always ends up returning home with Howard books, magazines, t-shirts, postcards and all kinds of Howard related souvenirs. There are usually some items exclusive to Howard Days (like the Postal Cancellation, books, journals and post cards, t-shirts and now a Poetry book), so it’s always a good idea to bring some extra dough! You not only have the Gift Shop to contend with, but the Silent Auction and whatever other items people bring to sell at the Swap Meet at the Pavilion as well. Additionally, there are restaurants and businesses in Cross Plains that are quite happy to see you and exchange your money for great food or a pair of real Texas cowboy boots - and there’s nothing like some frosty DQ on a hot Texas afternoon! And there are always nifty items and delicious food for sale at Saturday’s Barbarian Festival as well! Get in line behind Mark Finn for the funnel cakes!
Note that the Gift Shop at the Howard House or the Silent Auction does not accept credit cards, they are cash or check only, so please plan accordingly. ATM’s are available at several locations in town.
There is now a Howard Poetry Book that is available EXCLUSIVELY at the Howard House Gift Shop: A WORD FROM THE OUTER DARK is a collection of 100 poems in a 5×7 paperbound 213 page book. You can also order this book by mail for $15.00 each, plus $2.00 shipping & handling, from Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 74663. Checks or money orders only, please, and add an extra dollar if you order two books.
ALCOHOL IN CROSS PLAINS
Regarding alcoholic beverages: CROSS PLAINS IS DRY. The town is located in Callahan County, which just as in Howard’s time is devoid of liquor for sale. However, if you bring your own alcohol into Cross Plains, no one is liable to kick about it if you keep it to yourself, clean up your mess, and behave yourself at all times. The Howard House is on private property, so alcohol consumption is allowed, but Please Practice Discretion.
Each day during Howard Days usually ends with people talking late into the evening (Thurs., Fri., Sat.) at the Howard pavilion. Various people generally bring coolers filled with soft drinks and/or stronger stuff, which is generously shared by all. If you choose to participate, remember to keep it at the pavilion or your hotel, and that there are sheriffs patrolling all the major highways at night for drunk and/or speeding drivers.
SMOKEY THE BEAR SAYS
Lastly, Howard’s little town is dry in a really bad way: CROSS PLAINS IS FIRE-PRONE. In December of 2005, a horrific fire nearly destroyed the town of Cross Plains, and Texas is continually undergoing a drought. We are told that 2009 is no exception. PLEASE BE EXTRA CAREFUL WITH LIGHTERS, MATCHES AND ALL SMOKING MATERIALS, as well as camping barbeque fires and grills!
Use common sense and be extra diligent about cigarette smoking and the disposal of your cigarettes. Note that the owners of the Caddo Peak Ranch have requested that there be ABSOLUTELY NO SMOKING WHATSOEVER at the Saturday evening Barbeque due to the perpetual danger of fire. If you absolutely cannot make it without a cigarette at the BBQ, please go to and smoke only in your vehicle, with the windows up, and extinguish the cigarette in the car’s ashtray. You do not want to be the person who ends Howard Days forever with a carelessly smoked cigarette!
Thanks in advance for following the above suggestions, and for continuing to give the Howard fans who come to Cross Plains a good name.
CROSS PLAINS CHURCHES
Cross Plains is a community in which faith plays a central role, and
any of the churches would be happy to welcome Robert E. Howard fans who
wish to join them in worship. The following list covers primarily
those churches within or just outside the city limits. The Cross
Plains Review each week includes a church directory (from which the
following information was drawn), and of course others may be located
through inquiries.
Cornerstone Bible Church, 832 Ave E
Sunday Morning Bible Study: 10:00 am / Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00
am / Sunday Evening Worship: 6:00 pm / Wednesday Night Bible Study:
6:00 pm
Cross Plains Church of Christ, 433 N Main (254) 725-6117
Sunday Morning Bible Class: 9:45 am / Sunday Morning Worship 10:45 am
/ Sunday Evening Worship: 6:00 pm / Wednesday Evening Bible Study:
7:00 pm
Cross Plains Cowboy Church, 16075 County Road 459 (254) 725-6446 or
(325) 518-5514
Sunday: 10:30 am / Wednesday Night: 7:00 pm
First Baptist Church, 3rd St NE & N Main (254) 725-7629
Sunday School: 9:30 am / Sunday Morning Worship: 10:45 am / Sunday
Evening Worship: 6:30 pm
First Presbyterian Church, 208 N Ave D
Sunday Service: 9:00 am
First United Methodist Church, 1000 N Main (254) 725-7377
Sunday School: 9:30 am / Sunday Morning Worship 10:45 am
Living Water Ministries Fellowship, 548 Hwy 36 W (254) 725-7418
Sunday: 10:00 am / Wednesday: 7:00 pm
Triple Cross Cowboy Church, 21272 Hwy 279 (just past 279/206 split)
(254) 725-7522 or (325) 370-6680
Sunday: 10:30 am
United Pentecostal Church, 209 SW Hwy 36 (5th St) (254) 725-7140
Sunday School: 9:30 am / Sunday Worship & Word: 6:30 pm / Wednesday
Bible Study: 7:00 pm
THE 2009 HOWARD DAYS SCHEDULE — DETAILED VERSION
Friday, June 12
9:00 – 4:00: Howard House Museum open for tours. Closed for lunch.
Each year, Howard Days begins at the front door to the Howard House. There is plenty of parking along the West side of the House. Say hi to the nice ladies at the table out front, sign your name in the Guest Register, drop a donation in the Donation Jar and put on a name badge so everyone knows your name.
Then enter the house itself. You can either take the guided tour, where in each room a docent will explain to you all of the history and items associated with that room, or if you’ve been here many times before you can simply browse around yourself and see what’s new. All of the rooms have been restored back to the decor of the period, and there is a wide array of Howard associational items to look over and enjoy, including numerous photos of REH, his family and friends. You can gaze in awe at the rarest Howard collectible of all: the British publisher Herbert Jenkins 1938 edition of Robert E. Howard’s A GENT FROM BEAR CREEK, a most gracious donation from Leo Grin, or look at the Benjamin Musser poetry book that was autographed to REH by Musser and sent directly to REH in 1931. (This gem was donated by REHupa). A number of books that Dr. Howard owned are now displayed in the parlor of the Howard House, thanks to the sharp eye and quick wits of Don Herron.
In the back of the House, the Howard Gift Shop has an enormous selection of books, magazines, postcards, t-shirts and other souvenirs to purchase. Each purchase contributes to the Robert E. Howard Museum, so be sure to bring lots of dough! Cash or checks only please, and the Jenkins book is not for sale…
Adjacent to the Robert E. Howard House you’ll find the Alla Ray Morris Pavilion, a covered, open air meeting place for all Howard Days attendees. There are plenty of tables and chairs set up here for you to relax, converse and enjoy old and new friendships while celebrating Ol’ Two-Gun Bob Howard. Project Pride provides cold water and soft drinks in a large cooler here (don’t forget the Donation Jar!), and the Bus and Walking Tours also start here. The Friday luncheon, some of the panels and the Swap Meet take place here, and the Pavilion is also the after-hours gathering spot. It is open to all, and you are welcome here whether or not you’ve pre-registered. See you at the Pavilion!
9:00 – 4:00: Postal Cancellation at downtown Post Office
Take your postcards and souvenir mail there, and they will cancel the stamp with a special REH Days logo. Send your family or friends who couldn’t make it something to add to their collections. The post office is located at 101 N. Avenue D, one block east of Main Street (behind Higgenbotham’s General Store).
10:00 – 500: Public Library downtown open. Original manuscripts available for viewing, copies for sale.
The Cross Plains Public Library will be open all day for the purpose of viewing their extensive Howard collection. The Library has an wide array of original Howard typescripts, rare Howard books, and old Weird Tales magazines. The new library annex will be mostly ready this summer and available in time for Howard Days activities and panels. There will also be Howard books for sale here, including the excellent memoir by Novalyne Price Ellis, One Who Walked Alone.
9:00 – 12:30 Walking and bus tours, free time.
A walking tour of the grounds of the Howard House is hosted annually by Rusty Burke. First thing in the morning (before it gets too hot!) join Walking Howard Encyclopedia Rusty Burke on an engrossing stroll through the area surrounding the Howard Museum, where you will learn all about Howard’s backyard life during the time he spent there. Chopping wood, milking cows, feeding stray cats, and working out are only some of the things Howard did in out back during those years. See the area through Howard’s own eyes while listening to excerpts from his letters and to stories and anecdotes told by his friends. Immediately following the backyard tour, Rusty will host a walking tour downtown, spotlighting places like the old Ice House, where Howard mixed it up with pugilistic opponents. Walk in the footsteps of Robert E. Howard all over town as Rusty tells you about Cross Plains.
There will also be a bus tour each morning to the area surrounding Cross Plains, hosted by people who will give you a history of the area, including many Howard-related stories. It’s about a two-hour tour (so bring your water bottle), and you’ll be driven all over the nearby places where Bob Howard lived and roamed. The bus tour leaves in the morning from the Howard House Pavilion. Listen for the all aboard call, and travel back in time on the dusty roads of West Texas!
12:00 Lunch in the pavilion – provided by Project Pride. Donations welcomed.
12:00 Donald Sidney-Fryer performs selections from Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, relating it to the heroic literature tradition to which REH himself belongs. At the Cross Plains Public Library.
12:30 – 4:00 Pavilion available for informal REH Swap Meet. You are welcome to bring your Robert E. Howard and related items and set up on the tables in the pavilion, for a Howard Fans Swap Meet. Buy, sell, & trade in this informal setting with your fellow fans, while enjoying a cool drink provided by Project Pride and chatting with your new and old Howard friends. If you do sell items, a donation of your proceeds to Project Pride (on the honor system) is the only fee for the space provided, and it is much appreciated. The requested donation is 10% of your sales.
1:00 Panel: REH – WHAT MADE HIM SUCH A GREAT POET? The panelists will present an overview and discussion of Howard’s poetic techniques and topics. Location: Cross Plains Library. Panelists: Larry Thomas, Frank Coffman, Donald Sidney-Fryer.
3:00 Panel: THE MANY FACES OF REH’S POETRY. Howard wrote over 800 poems, covering dozens of genres. Panelists will only scratch the surface in an informative discussion. Location: Cross Plains Library. Panelists: Larry Thomas, Frank Coffman, Barbara Barrett.
5:30 – 6:30: Gather at the Cross Plains Community Center to view items and place bids for the Banquet’s Silent Auction.
6:30 The Robert E. Howard Days Banquet, featuring Guest of Honor Larry D. Thomas. 2008 Texas poet Laureate. His keynote address is entitled Robert E. Howard: A Poet of Place, the “Place” of Texas.
Come feast on a traditional Texas meal including chicken-fried steak and all the fixin’s, catered this year by Humphrey Pete’s in Brownwood (one of our favorite places!) Your $10.00 registration fee entitles you to this, the first of two meals served by your Cross Plains friends. (The second is the Barbeque at Caddo Peak Ranch.)
The Silent Auction ends after dinner, with a brief period to raise those bids. If you are the winning bidder when time is up, you win the item. We promise you won’t have to wait long in the payment line, because it will soon be time now to get to:
9:00: The 2nd Annual ROBERT E. HOWARD POETRY THROWDOWN at the Pavilion
PLEASE NOTE: The REH Foundation Awards, originally scheduled for this time, will not take place this year.
Emotions will be high after the great Howard fellowship and swag afforded us at the Banquet, so what better time to channel that energy into reading Howard Poetry aloud to a Pavilion full of Howard Fans? As we all know, Howard’s magnificent poetry just screams to be read out loud, and there’s not a better venue than Robert E. Howard Days in which to do it! This year prizes will be awarded, and we ain’t talking kewpie dolls! The Judges will award the following prizes in the form of Howard poetry volumes, donated by the Robert E. Howard Foundation: 1st Place – a First Edition copy of THE COLLECTED POEMS OF REH; 2nd – A RHYME OF SALEM TOWN; 3rd – A WORD FROM THE OUTER DARK.
Needless to say, the Throwdown this year has become a friendly competition and has been stepped up several notches, so leave those Bowies in their sheaths and get those vocal chords in shape to be heard over the trucks rumbling by on Highway 36, bring along your favorite REH poems, and speak aloud the words Howard wrote right outside the window where those poems were written! It doesn’t get any better than this…the THROWDOWN is ON!
Saturday, June 13
9:00 – 4:00 Howard House Museum open for tours (closed for lunch)
10:00 – 4:00 Annual Barbarian Festival located in the large lot just north of the Dollar Store on Main Street in Cross Plains – a small town specialty: parade, car & tractor show, live music, craft vendors & lots of food vendors, games for the whole family, and new this year – a Talent Show. See their website at www.barbarianfestival.net
10:00 – 3:00: Public Library downtown open. Original manuscripts available for viewing, copies for sale.
9:00 - 12:30 Walking and bus tours, free time.
10:00 Panel: WHAT HOWARD THE POET REVEALS ABOUT HOWARD THE MAN. A discussion of how the multi-faceted poetry of REH gives us insight into his multi-faceted personality. At the Cross Plains Library. Panelists: Frank Coffman, Barbara Barrett, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Larry Thomas.
Lunch available at the Barbarian Festival or any restaurant of your choice.
12:30 – 4:00 Pavilion available for informal REH Swap Meet.
1:00 – 3:00: Readings and Book Signings by Larry D. Thomas and Donald-Sidney-Fryer at the Cross Plains Library.
3:00 Panel: What’s Happening with Robert E. Howard with Leslie Buhler from Paradox Entertainment, Rusty Burke, Paul Herman, Bill Cavalier, at the Pavilion. Audience questions welcomed! Also at this time we would like to honor the memory of Steve Tompkins, our great Howard Friend who passed away in March 2009.
5:00 – 8:00 “Sunset BBQ at Caddo Peak,” hosted by the Middleton Family, owners of the beautiful Caddo Peak Ranch.
We all meet at the Pavilion before 5 and caravan a few miles west of Cross Plains to one of the most picturesque landmarks of Central Texas, the Caddo Peaks. While there, you’ll have the opportunity to take a trip to the base of West Caddo Peak and hike up to the top, giving you perhaps the best view of Central Texas to be had anywhere. (Don’t forget your water bottle!)
AND REMEMBER: THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SMOKING ALLOWED ANYWHERE AT CADDO PEAK RANCH except in your car with windows up.
When you return, you will enjoy a full catered BBQ meal courtesy of the owners of the ranch, Janet Swanson and Marsha Murray. And then, watch a beautiful sunset with your many old and new Howard friends, as Howard Days comes to a close. An informal gathering then takes place at the Pavilion after the BBQ.
Hope you can make it to Cross Plains for Robert E. Howard Days this year. It’s a wonderful time now to enjoy what is very best time to be a Howard Fan, and share in the Fellowship of Robert E. Howard Friends.
As they say in Texas: “Y’all come!”
