Going Out In Style

Put simply, the Mishaks went out with a bang this past weekend.
The New Hampton couple that has organized and coordinated Cowboy Poetry for the past 13 years couldn’t have asked for a better “sendoff” as the event played to capacity crowds both Friday and Saturday nights at the Starlite Ballroom in Lawler.
“It went well,” Gerry Mishak said, “and it may be hard to believe, but I’m actually understating it. We couldn’t be happier.”
His wife, Marilee, certainly agreed.
“It’s just been a wonderful event,” she said. “We have great performers, great crowds and great weather so everyone could get here. We really couldn’t have asked for any more.”
The Mishaks announced late last year that they were looking for a non-profit group or organization to take over the event that has raised thousands of dollars for a variety of groups and causes. This year, Marilee Mishak said, Cowboy Poetry raised $x,xxx for the Fredericksburg AMVETS Honor Flight Program.
Oh, the couple that has become synonymous with the event held on the last full weekend of January aren’t going away; in fact, they’re more than willing to continue to help recruit the talent and show the new coordinators the ropes but they’re ready to give up the day-to-day operations — selling tickets, finding sponsors, etc. — the event needs to succeed.
And if this was the swan song — which the Mishaks believe it wasn’t, but more on that later — it was a fantastic finale.
The performers, to a person, throughout the years have lauded the couple, and this year was no different.

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“It’s just hard not to want to come here when Mish and Marilee ask you,” said Floyd Beard, the Coloradan who took the stage this year with Brooke Turner of Clarinda and Jake Riley of North Daktoa. “They’re just good people, the kind we cowboy poets just love.”
 
For more of this article, see Tuesday's Tribune.