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It's Not Easy Being Green | Alumni Interview | Memory Lane

ALUMNI INTERVIEW (continued) — November/December 2006

Rhyme 'Em, Cowboy ...

BY PETER T. TOMARAS

The way of the West
It was during Strom's penultimate posting as commandant of the Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., that he and his wife, Joan Tate Strom '55, a former UI cheerleader from 4-H House, embraced southern Arizona as their retirement destination. In 1985, they built a home in Hereford, near Sierra Vista, and, inspired by the Montana cattle drive, eventually bought a ranch.

"We built small grazing paddocks," Strom said of the holistic management method he employs on his land. "We move cattle from one to another and then the next. That first pasture regenerates for maybe a year. We put in miles of fence and water pipe."

Even as he constructed this infrastructure, Strom confronted an unanticipated complication: His ranch was a thoroughfare for border-crossers. Up to 1,000 such illegal immigrants were traversing Single Star each week, leaving water spigots on, fences cut and truckloads of trash - plastic bottles, soiled diapers, even prayer rugs ("We see all nationalities"). More sinister detritus included syringes and bales of marijuana.

Strom puts the problem into perspective: "A few severe incidents [such as a stolen truck] in 17 years of ranching, I can forgive. We've found people abandoned with broken ankles or near death from heat exhaustion. We gave comfort to a teenage couple, she pregnant, soaked by a cold rain and wanting to surrender. I call the Border Patrol."

Strom does not ride armed. When he spots gangs of crossers, he turns his horse about and notifies the authorities. "I'm here to be a steward of my land and animals, not a vigilante," he said. "I'm concerned for the safety of the animals, and I'm cautious. But I do not live in fear."

In 2005 the Border Patrol erected a solar-powered surveillance tower on Strom's land, cutting the flood of border crossers by 70 percent - especially welcome because drug trafficking had increased.

A passion for education
In addition to ranch work, Strom rode with B Troop, 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, a living memorial unit based at Fort Huachuca that performs throughout the West. Its riders wear authentic uniforms and carry Winchester 1873 .45-70 carbines and Colt SA .45s as they evoke the old West. Among countless appearances, Strom rode with B Troop in seven Tournament of Roses parades. And he continues to promote Western art through the Gathering.

More meaningful to Strom than the awards the festival has garnered is the metamorphosis of the Gathering from entertainment to education. Since 1996 the event has featured a youth poetry writing competition. School librarian Jane Christensen coordinates the contest, which this year attracted more than 2,800 entries from 26 Cochise County schools. "Bud wrote the curriculum for grades 3 through 12," she said, "and many teachers adopted his classroom lesson plan. He's a natural teacher; every fall he comes into schools to interest students in Western heritage."

Christensen first heard Strom recite his poetry at a workshop for fourth-grade teachers. "I got goose bumps," she said. "I cried over ėMontana Angels,' about a young ranching couple lost in a blizzard. And I like ėMy Girl Fred' because it's about a dog, and that hooks the kids." To understand the source of Strom's remarkable flair for performance, consider that, as a lanky, high school sophomore, he minced about the stage in a period dress as a lethal old maid in the play "Arsenic and Old Lace" (Shattuck was a boys' school). Now consider this review from the 2001 Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering (in Prescott):

In one of the most commanding performances ... the room seemed it might burst [from] the drama and force of the poetry of Bud Strom. ... Bud's recitations were electric, with each word ... pointedly delivered, while he made eye contact with each person in the audience.

Indeed, this good-humored, steel-blond poet is mesmerizing. Little wonder that young people, transfixed by those blue eyes beneath Strom's stained Stetson, are captivated. Perennial student winner Faith Hefty, now a freshman at College of the Pacific, was a fourth-grader when Strom first came to her school. "I'd never seen anyone perform poetry in that way," she said. "One reason I kept entering was to get to see Bud."

Winning poems get published in Saddle Bags, a booklet named by Strom, and winners present their poems on stage. "The most valuable part was performing before a live audience," said eighth-grader Jennifer Golden, another student winner. "And the professional artists talk to us backstage and have us practice our poems for them." Grand-prize winners present at the headline performances, right along with pros, and graduating seniors now compete for $1,000 scholarships. Hefty's prize is helping her major in music.

Strom continues to perform professionally, but his favorite appearances are unpaid, in classrooms from Texas to Maryland. "To have parents tell me," said Strom, "that because of my ... visit, their child finally took an interest in reading or writing - that's my reward."

Strom has handed the reins of the Gathering to others; now he's fundraising for a new Sierra Vista Boys and Girls Club. And he's been asked to do a CD of the work of the great cowboy poets - "to lend my voice and emphasis to the classic works of this art form. I may do it," he said.

The cowboy soul of Bud Strom resides in his land, attuned to the erratic rhythms of nature. He has entrusted his beloved Single Star to his three daughters to pass on to their children.

"This way the ranch will remain intact for at least another generation" he explained. "After that, it's up to those kids."

Tomaras '56 LAS is a Champaign-based hotel consultant and writer and a graduate of Shattuck School.

Editor's note: The 2007 Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering takes
place Feb. 2-4 in Sierra Vista, Ariz. Details are at www.cowboypoets.com.