Saturday, December 31, 2011 

New Year's Eve - Reminiscing on 2011...



It's always a time to reflect on the year gone by when the calendar turns to December 31st. This was a good year in the bigfoot world. A few very memorable occasions - The Sasquatch Summit (a Tribute to John Green) in April and a return to Bluff Creek with Bob Gimlin in August for Finding Bigfoot. A few very memorable outings in the Sierras and the Bluff Creek area. And a few very memorable gatherings (and conferences) - both in Oregon in June and September.

More importantly, the music continued to be performed. This was more of a performance year. There was even a chance for a couple of the songs to be heard on a popular television show, but 'twas not to be. No, the music was heard at a few campfires and conferences in 2011. And it all started with the John Green tribute in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia. I must tell Mary Anne & David that I finally acquired a good ukulele, too, in the Fall! Now, I'm translating a few of the songs to the "island groove" - and learning a whole new set of chords.


Well, let's take a stroll down Memory Lane 2011. I hope you all enjoyed a good year gone by - and wish you the very best in 2012! May our paths cross at a roaring campfire in a bigfoot forest...and may there be a guitar in my hands! :-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!


(Taking in the local flavor at the Sasquatch Summit...)



(Guest of Honor, John Green, yours truly and special guest Al Hodgson at Sasquatch Summit.)



(the artist Sybilla Irwin and the original portrait collage she created to honor John Green.)



(John Bindernagel and Bob Gimlin.)



(a parting shot from the Sasquatch Summit - Alex, Tom 'n Lesley celebrate a successful tribute event.)



(High Sierra vista of Mammoth Pool Reservoir...a great weekend outing with Terry Smith in May.)



(the parting shot from this trip...great area we saw; no activity or bigfoot evidence to report but we did it.)



(Celebrating my big "round-number" birthday in the redwoods in late May...nice!)




(June 2011 - most of it was family fun in Florida and Southern California. This was a Friday night after-dinner performance at the Oregon Sasquatch Symposium. Man, was I tired! Woke up at 3:30 a.m. and drove here...Great gathering of bigfoot-seeking friends!)



(Oregon sasquatch research through the years with a few Californians. (L to R) Joe Beelart, Thom Powell, Guy Edwards, Henry Franzoni, Cliff Barackman, yours truly and Steven Streufert.)



(Guitar men: Ron Morehead, Thom Powell and me...there was a lot of good music this weekend at the campfire.)



(Good Rockin' Tonight! the group in the meeting hall after a rockin' fun sing-a-long session... better than karaoke!)




(Group at Ike's Pizza on the way home... with Gene, Toby, Robert and Jerry.)




(Fox News, Channel 40 from Sacramento, CA asked me to join them for a follow-up investigation to an October 2010 sighting and then a night out call blasting with Bob and Kathy Strain in the Sierras. Roweena and Howard were great!)



(a great outing in the Sierras later in July with Bob and Kathy, Jerry Hein, Daniel Falconer and David Osborne.)



(the coolest summer scene in the Sierras...Pinecrest Lake. We came to dunk in the frigid waters on a very hot day...and take in the crazy beach scene, too!)



(a classic campfire shot...striding like "Patty" with my guitar.)



(Bluff Creek overlook...August with Terry Smith - and Brian joined us, too. This was all before going to pick up Bob Gimlin for the Finding Bigfoot shoot.)

Let's call this Part 1 of the year in review.
Still to come: Bob G. returns to Bluff Creek; Beachfoot at the Oregon Coast in September; and a few more photos from the road last year.




 Thursday, December 01, 2011 

New Children's Book About Sasquatch Includes Bigfoot Songs


(Kelly Milner Halls displays the Bossburg "Cripple Foot" casts at one of her elementary school presentations. photo courtesy of Kelly Milner Halls )



We met award winning children's author Kelly Milner Halls at the Yakima Bigfoot Round-Up in 2009. She's from Spokane, Washington and has authored dozens of children's books - including her 2006 title "Tales of the Cryptids (Darby Creek Publishing) which was an introduction to the wide world of Cryptozoology. She attended the Tribute to Bob Gimlin and Roger Patterson knowing she'd be able to meet other sasquatch authors, researchers and enthusiasts. She also had the benefit of hearing the subject explained in presentations by Dr. John Bindernagel, Dr. Jeff Meldrum, Kathy Moskowitz-Strain, Bill Munns, Ron Morehead & Scott Nelson, Russian researcher Dmitry Pirkulov, Christopher L. Murphy and Derek Randles. It was a windfall for a seasonsed author and investigative journalist like Kelly.


(Yakima Bigfoot Round-Up Presenters, Organizers and Guest of Honor.)



Paul Graves, Cliff Barackman, John Mionczynski, Bob Strain, Bob Gimlin and myself were also interviewed about our interest and research into the bigfoot/sasquatch mystery. The result of Kelly's research has just been released and is now available. My copies arrived yesterday - two from the publisher (Thank you, Kelly!) and three from Amazon.com.

Check this book out!




"In Search of Sasquatch" by Kelly Milner Halls (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2011) is an overview of the subject beginning with a chapter on Native American beliefs and tribal names for these creatures, a section on Kathy Moskowitz Strain and one on Native artifacts. It includes chapters entitled "Examining the Evidence" and "Out in the Field." The first includes a nice overview of the Patterson-Gimlin film. The second includes field techniques and possible evidence & encounters explained by Paul Graves, Derek Randles and Cliff Barackman. It also includes the sub-chapter "Musical Camp Chairs" that delves into the subject of bigfoot songs. YEAH! It is a thoughtful treatment of our lyrical musings on the subject of sasquatch and explains why Paul and I got involved writing and performing in this specific niche. Very cool indeed...


(Tom and Paul playing bigfoot songs at the Walkabout restaurant in Naches, Washington.)


Pick up a copy and consider asking your local library to acquire one, too! It is a very nice introduction to the current state of sasquatch research for children. Wonderfully illustrated by Rick Spears.

LINK: purchase the book at Amazon.com - best deal on the internet



That's the latest. Bigfoot songs are transitioning into Christmas Songs for the next few weeks. My 17 song Christmas set is rehearsed and ready to go!!


"You better watch out, You better not cry..."




Yakima Bigfoot Round-Up Tom Yamarone - Songs For A Bigfoot World