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Congratulations to David Mitchell. He is the new Mayor of Britt, Iowa! 

    On Sunday 10/25/2009, after several months of illness Banjo Fred boarded the Westbound for that last ride.  I don't have any particulars but if anything comes in I'll post it right away.  Fred was a great entertainer and a good friend that I, and the Hobo Community will miss very much.

There will be a memorial service for Fred on November 14th in Studio City, CA, at the Unitarian Univeralist Church.

    When I get the time I'll post it.  Many of us won't be able to make it there but all that can attend will be welcome.  The rest of us will be thinking of him and offering up prayers.

Anyone wanting to send cards and condolances can mail them to;

The Original Tourist Union 63 Organization started in 1897 and since that time has
never been disbanded.  At this time, it is my desire to reactivate the Tourist Union
63 Organization.  I am starting a membership drive to Help Our Brothers Overcome
(H.O.B.O).  Members of the Tourist Union 63 Organization will receive:
                         A  Tourist Union 63 membership card, good for one year.
                         Renewable each August.

                         A History of Tourist Union 63 written by an original member of
                         Tourist Union No. 63.

The funds from memberships will be used to aid needy Hobos when appropriate.
No funds will be given to anyone without the approval of a Tourist Union 63
Committee's vote.  H.O.B.O. was an organization started by the 1996 Hobo King
Liberty Justice who Caught the Westbound in 2008.   Helping Our Brothers (and
sisters) Overcome ties nicely to the goals of the original Tourist Union 63
Organization in 1897 as well as today.

Please join by sending your $5.00 membership fee plus name and address and phone
number to:
                                      TUCK 2007/2008 Hobo King
                                            Tourist Union 63
                                            P.O. Box 18495
                                            Minneapolis, MN 55418

Make checks payable to: Tourist Union 63

                             HELP KEEP TOURIST UNION 63 ALIVE

                                                                 Thanks
                                                                 TUCK

 

Hi folks, just checking in from the Milwaukee area, Burlington and I are at Jump Off
John's for a spell then on Oct 24th we return to Cassville WI for there Halloween
 bizzare and hobo stew will be served.
       From there i will part ways with John and hook up with Big Chuck from Iowa
and his wife at Cassville and ride back with them to Iowa for a short visit
then tag along down south for the winter. They are heading down TWD southern
Alabama but around the Mississippi area i will part ways then and maby to
Amory for Thanksgiving. Then Burlington andI hit the rails again and head TWD
Texas and further this trip on into AZ to Gila Bend for new years with the
Combat Railfans then wherever Burlington wants to go. I had a great year
(08/09)as hobo king and thanks to all for the support and friendship and hope
to see everyone on the spring some place down the road. Burlington will be 12
in the spring so he slowing down a bit (wouldn't you) in human years he's 84
but still keeps trucking along. folks can keep up with my statis on
myspace.com/stretch122 where i update every day or sometimes twice a day. By
the way the photo of Granpa in Pullman with the brew in
 his hand sacked out was causeBurlington sort of borrowed my cell phone and just
couldn't help looking for his for perfect photo. I guess granpa doesn't like my
taste in beer so he got the good stuff.
        Everyone have a good winter and stay warm including some yankees i do know
in new england.

Down the road


 Stretch and Burlington dog K-9********
    national king of the hobo's 2008-2009

 

 Engraved Bricks

Several years ago the Hobo Foundation sold engraved bricks to be placed in the new
hobo museum. On August 5, 2009 the Hobo Foundation Board voted to discontinue the
new museum project, So Your engraved brick will be placed in a walkway and wall.  It
will be located north of Mary Jo's Hobo House. On main street Britt.  In the same
location as the Queens Gardens. Mary Jo Hughes and Betty Moylan, owners of the
property have been very kind to allow us to place this wall and walkway on their
property.  The engraved bricks are made and are  in Britt waiting for their new
location.  Plans are that this will be done in 2010. More information on this will
follow in coming months.  Thank you for supporting the Hobo Foundation. 

Linda
Hughes
                              

Fall Fest will be held on Saturday September 12th at the Flower Cart in Britt, Iowa.

Rolls and Coffee will be served in the morning and a Sloppy Jo lunch will follow.

The Hobo Foundation will be having a Bake sale starting at 9a.m. till ?

There will be Sales and Specials.

Door prizes.

 

All money raised will go to help perserve hobo history.
 

From Collinwood KId

Folks:
 
Let me put in my $.02:
 
This letter from the mayor and the restrictions he proposes are not at all
unexpected, based on some of the behavior displayed by just a few of the tramp kids
that came to Britt. The drunken stupidity that some of the folks in the tramp camp
displayed was "over the top". I guess I gotta also say that the level of alcohol
consumption by most of the folks in the tramp camp I thought was very excessive,
which led to all the problems that occurred and their inability to police their own
behavior. 

There were a few folks in the sinners camp that seemed to have the attitude to try
to be as outrageous and provocative as possible, maybe on purpose, maybe because
they were too stoned or drunk to understand the impact of their behavior on the
future of our convention and the freedom we have, until now, enjoyed.
 
AND THE CITY FOLKS SHOWED GREAT RESTRAINT- ALL WEEK. The mayor was present for the foul mouthed public “music” performance in the pavilion Thursday evening and the
drunken rowdy behavior and the openly drinking of cans of beer in the presence of
kids and older town residents in the pavillion at that same time. He DID NOT display
a “knee-jerk” reaction” and shut us down immediately, as he could have.
 
In my recollection, while the local police cruised through/past the jungle numerous
times during the days and evenings during the week, I cannot recall one instance
when they intervened in any situation except WHEN WE CALLED THEM for assistance- AND
when they did come after a call from someone in our community, they did not
overreact and did anything more than was requested of them- usually assisting a few
individuals in leaving after unacceptable incidents (fighting, knife) in the jungle.
 
My understanding is that the police did stop by briefly at the sinners camp in the
week before hobo week but did not take exception to the open drinking that was
occurring (at least once stopping folks when they offered to “pour out their beer”)-
they had just stopped by to visit.
 
Ten years or so ago we had problems with sinners camp folks misbehaving, being
falling down drunk in the main jungle area during the entertainment, peeing from the
boxcar, leaving used syringes in the boxcar, fighting, etc. As a result, the city
locked up the boxcar for a few years, we had almost constant police presence in the
jungle and tramp kids were harassed on the street. For the last 5-6 years we
had “kept our act together” and gradually the city gave us the boxcar back, stopped
the non-stop police presence and again began allowing us to do what we wanted in the
jungle (camping where we wanted, etc.), including having a sinners camp behind the
boxcar where some rowdy drunken behavior and open drinking there was tolerated for
years.
 
The unfortunate reality is that there were a few folks in the sinners camp that
didn’t seem to care about offending the townsfolk and reversing all the progress we
have made.
 
In a way, this is (mostly) THEIR PROBLEM- they are “pissing on their own campfire”,
making it difficult or impossible for THEM (the tramp community) to live their
lifestyle while attending the Britt Hobo Convention. For most of us, things won’t
change a lot; our behavior will be more scrutinized, but most of us have not been
doing things that are offensive to the townsfolk.
 
The Britt National Hobo Convention is NOT Trampfest. It is NOT a private gathering
in a semi-secluded spot where folks can do ANYTHING they want. Britt is a public
event, in a public place (in a city park) where there are town residents, children,
older hobos and townfolks present much of the time and during the evening
entertainment on three nights. The reality is that if the townfolks are offended by
our behavior (by any of us) they don’t have to invite us back.
 
The town of Britt Iowa does a LOT for us. They provide us with a place to hold our
gathering, water, electricity, a free place to camp, storage of all our stuff all
year long, a place to bury our dead, etc. We are their guests and we need to
remember that. For the past number of years they have given us free run of the place
for the whole week.
 
Now that some folks have offended them, they are going to restrict our behavior,
much more than most of us would like, but, in my opinion, understandably so.
 
As a hobo community, I think we have done everything we could to try to be
INCLUSIVE, welcoming the tramp community into our convention, encouraging their
participation (helping cook, helping MC the evening entertainment, running for Hobo
King/Queen, etc.). We even tried to warn the sinners camp folks early in the week
about the potential consequences of some of their extreme behavior that may lead to
town oppression. Maybe WE didn’t do enough, or the tramp folks who tried to take
leadership in their own sub-camp were not as effective or successful as they would
have liked.
 
The bottom line for me is that I feel I need to support the mayors decisions, even
if I don’t agree with many of the oppressive seeming restrictions he proposes.
 
Let me say it again… I support Mayor Nelson- I believe he is a reasonable man who is
under a lot of pressure from folks in town to bring the less desirable elements of
our behavior under control.
 
With that said, let me also say that I welcome and encourage the attendance and
participation of the tramp community at our gathering.
 
If, however, the only reason an INDIVIDUAL comes to Britt is to get as drunk and
stupid as possible for a week- please do so SOMEWHERE ELSE!- we ALL are harmed
(somewhat) by your stupidity.
 
Maybe the tramps/young trainriders that do come in the future can get comfortable
camping among us (they will probably have to, the sinners camp will likely not be
permitted)- maybe they can get to know us better and we can get to know them better.
 
I'm sorry that my friend Burlington Dog may not be allowed to come anymore.

Opinion by the Mayor of Britt, Iowa Britt News Tribune 8/19/09

Thanks to Stretch for transcribing

Another National Hobo Convention has come and gone and I feel some comments need to be made. There were some highlights of this year's event and there were some lowlights. In this letter, I am going to address mostly the lowlights.

I did not get a chance to spend nearly as much time in the Jungle this year as I usually do. Most years I get down there for a couple of hours each night and enjoy the jamming of the musicians as well as the time spent reminiscing with old friends and acquaintances. Judging from the time I did spend there this year, I would say it was the worst Jungle that has been here in probably 12 years.

After talking to several of the old hobos and the “hobos-at-heart”-and after seeing what I did see in the Jungle-I have come to the conclusion that most, if not all, of the problems come from what is referred to as the “sinner's camp”. That camp is pretty much made up of those that call themselves tramps, not hobos. There were more tramps here this year than ever before and more of those tramps had dogs. One of the problems was that the tramps started moving in two weeks before Hobo Days and that's not going to happen anymore.

I will give the older hobos and musicians a lot of credit for their hospitality and patience. It just seems like the tramps were here to party and did not care at all about the celebration, the history and what exactly it is that we try to do each Hobo Convention. I have always been a proponent of keeping the Hobo Convention going but I also have always said that we are celebrating the true hobo-the hobo who went from town to town on the railroad and worked where he or she could and welcomed a little soap and water when it was offered to them. Those hobos rode the rails out of necessity. I am also not naive enough to not know that riding the rails got in many a hobo's blood and many of them changed things a bit and worked long enough to be able to ride the rails for a while and then worked long enough to start the cycle over. Those people are why there is a National Hobo Convention; we don't want to make it the National Tramp Convention.

It is my understanding that some of the tramps helped paint the bathrooms and I thank them for that. I also want to say that I am sure that the problems I am going to address in this letter are not because of all tramps, there were probably those that behaved themselves but I don't think there were too many of them.

The tramps were allowed to camp here in the city Hobo Jungle and were allowed to stay in the boxcar. They thanked us by using our Jungle to party with alcohol and drugs and by using the boxcar as not only a bedroom but a latrine. We will now once again have to keep the box care locked and there will be NO SINNER'S CAMP. They also had a lot of dogs that were not conducive to a family atmosphere. One of the fights at the Jungle started when one of the tramps refused to pickup up his dog's excrement. There will now be no dogs allowed in the Jungle (except in the campers), on the main street, midway and flea market nor in the city hall park.

The tramps were allowed to take part in the evening activities including the entertainment. They thanked those that let them participate by using their electric guitars and amplified sound until 3-4 a.m. They also saw fit to sing a few songs with vulgar profanity in them and one tramp thought it a good idea to drop his trousers in front of the audience. The amplified sound will now be turned off early and vulgarity and profanity will be met with expulsion.

The use of alcohol and drugs in the city park and surrounding areas will not be allowed. We will confiscate all visible alcohol next year and we will have a drug dog take at least one daily trip through the Hobo Jungle and campsites. Our officers this year found that many of the tramps that they were having problems with also had outstanding warrants in other areas of the country. For that reason we will probably have the hobos and tramps register when they come into town and those with outstanding warrants will NOT be welcome. There will be a law officer present at all times next year in the Jungle and surrounding camp areas.

In conclusion, I again want to say that all are welcome to come to Britt to celebrate the hobo and elect a hobo king and hobo queen. I urge more local residents to come to the coronation and help elect those that will help us remember the hobo and represent Britt and the Convention well throughout the country in their travels. This has always been and will always be a National Hobo Convention. All are welcome, but all are expected to obey the rules and laws and it doesn't hurt to shower on an almost daily basis: I heard some children remark on the smell and when a small child notices, something is wrong.

I have had several of the older hobos that have been coming here for years tell me that something has to be done or they will not be coming anymore. It is THEM we are celebrating and you can bet that something is going to be done. I ask all of those that attend this convention to please think about all of this and come next year ready to celebrate legally in a family-oriented celebration.

The Britt City Council will be addressing this issue in the next meeting in September. As the mayor of this community, I apologize for what went on in the Jungle this year, but you can bet that it will NOT be tolerated next year.
 

 The restrictions are basically as follows:

1.Boxcar will closed and locked.

2.No Sinner's Camp.

3. No dogs allowed on the park grounds

4. No loud music or vulgarity allowed.

5. No drugs or alcohol will be tolerated.

6.all alcohol will be confiscated and there will be a drug dog making daily trips through Jungle.

7.Hobos will need to register to camp on jungle, anyone with outstanding warrants will not be allowed.

8. 24 hour police presence.

 Frisco is 99 years old now and John says he's doing pretty good but because he has some severe heart problems he's in a Hospice facility.  He also has severe macular degeneration in both of his eye so he has very little sight.

    His son John and others read all the mail to Frisco who's mind is in much better shape than his eyesight and he's as happy that his friends, and even strangers, have been thinking of him and wishing him well.

Mike Sopko, Frisco's grandson joined us this year at the National Hobo Convention and was overwhelmed by all the activty and had a great time relating some stories and leaning more about his grandfather.

We apologize for not having updates from the National Hobo Convention, We are working on the software.

Dear Hobo Family,

I just returned from a weeklong trip through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and what a week it has been! Just to recap King Stretch’s words, the Deep Lock Quarry gathering was without a doubt fantastic and the hospitality topnotch. It was heartwarming to see members of our hobo family I haven’t seen since Britt ‘08, in particular Keystone Bob who I haven’t seen in two years. As a hobo family, we are indebted to Hummingbird and her wonderful, caring staff for their tireless efforts to educate the public in the lives and times of hobo culture. Jumpoff John has some great pictures on his website where you can see how the staff set up displays throughout the wooded area describing the many-faceted life of an American hobo. However (and though I know John will figure out a way), what is impossible to capture in still pictures is the high energy, endless laughter, exchange of information, response of a sizable audience, and even the speeches delivered by the young candidates for Queen and King of Deep Lock Quarry. Once again, thank you Hummingbird and staff. With that said, it was truly an honor for King Stretch and me to dub Hummingbird as Duchess of Deep Lock Quarry. Please try to make this gathering next year, which is always the third weekend of July.

Missing from the photo taken on the last day – Keystone Bob, Big Skip, Jack Who, Mick the Stick, and Bro’.

Hope to see you all in Britt.

Connecticut Tootsie

2008-09 National Hobo Queen

Emrys Pugh passed away
last week. His wife Betty wants the hobo family to know as Em and Betty have been
coming to the National Hobo Convention for years and have become friends with many
of you.  Please keep Betty and her family in your prayers.

Help Build a Poetry Trail
 
 Hoboes have always intrigued me. I grew up on a farm five miles
 east of Britt. When I was a kid, Hobo Day was the highlight of our summer.
 We couldn't wait to hear the stories, poems and songs by and about the
 hoboes.
 
 Some things don't change. I still love Hobo Day. On this day I get to see
 family, school friends and other friends who gather in Britt.
 
 A couple of years ago I was sitting with family members one morning in the Hobo
House enjoying a plate of delicious hobo hash. In walked no other than
 Steamtrain Maury, the greatest hobo king of all time. He came right to our
 table and taught us the hobo handshake. In order to preserve that memory, I wrote
this poem:
 
 "The Hobo Handshake"
 
 I'll never forget
 The feeling of being
 With Steamtrain Maury
 And that hobo handshake.
 
 When I catch the Westbound
 I'll be looking forward
 To reuniting with Steamtrain
 And that hobo handshake.
 
 Poetry helps us do that: capture an encounter, observation, or memory and put it
into words. Poems help us celebrate a time and place and honor individuals,
particularly those no longer with us.
 
 We’re calling on everyone who has memories and stories of Hobo Day to join us in
the construction of a Poetry Trail in Britt. Age makes no difference. We welcome
poems from five-year-olds, ninety-five-year olds, and all those in between. The
kind and length of the poems makes no difference. They might rhyme, or they might
not. They might be two lines or twenty lines. The important thing is to capture
and express in words some memory of Hobo Day.
 
 Jerry Wellik, former resident of Britt, and Frank Kazemek, a fellow poet and
friend, will conduct a free drop-in poetry workshop at the Britt Public Library
from 2:00 to 5:00 P.M. on Thursday, August 6. They will help individuals of all
ages shape their Hobo Day experiences, memories, and stories into short poems. No
registration is required, and no prior writing experience is needed. Individuals
can stop by for a half hour or more to share their poems or to ask for advice or
assistance.
 
 Wellik and Kazemek are serving as curators of the Poetry Trail that will wind its
way through Britt. Poems will be posted at various places including the Hobo
Jungle, Hobo Museum, Hobo House, cemetery, local businesses, and churches. There
will also be poetry sharing at various times throughout the festival at the Hobo
Museum, Hobo Jungle, cemetery, and other sites.
 
 Reflect on one of your fondest memories of Hobo Day and then get out your pen and
paper and shape it into a poem, or come to the library on August 13. You can email
your poem to
 
 jjwellik@yahoo.com; mail it to Jerry Wellik, 18483 Dover Road, Clearwater, MN
55320 by July 27, 2009; or stop by and drop it off at the Britt Public Library.
 

Legendary hobo Bear Grease has caught the westbound according to John T. Davis, who
made a documentary about him simply titled "Hobo".  Bear Grease was a Washington pig
farmer who also worked the ship yards and was a traveling partner of Seattle Slim.
They attended the National Hobo Convention in the late 80's and Bear Grease was a
regular at Road Hog's Dunsmuir Hobo Gatherings in the early 90's.  This information
was passed to me by Shawn Lukitsch, who created and toured the Hobo Film Festival
last year.

The Aquatic Center in Britt is now open! A day pass  costs $4.00 a time to swim or you can buy a family or one person pass for the year. So if you hobos wants to swim on a daily basis you will have to pay $4. 

Hobo Events

Sunday August 2  Celebrate 20 years of the Hobo Museum  Open House at Museum
3p.m.-4p.m. Serving Ice Cream Treats

Monday August 3 - Thursday August 6th  Silent Auction at the Hobo House Ends at 3:03
pm on Thursday

Thursday August 6-  5:45p.m. Kiddie Parade in front of Hobo Museum

                             7p.m. Official Lighting of the Jungle Fire and
Entertainment Begins

Friday August 7- 9a.m. Hobo Memorial Service

                       2p.m.  Ladies Tea at St. Pats Church

                       3:30 p.m. Luter the Jet organ concert at At St. Pats Church

                       4p.m. Poetry Reading at Hobo Jungle

                       7p.m. Hobo Jungle Activities

Saturday August 8-  1p.m.  Hobo Coronation

                             Hobo Auction after Coronation

                             7p.m. Hobo Jungle Activities
 

I received word yesterday from Ramblin Rose that the Mother of Crazy Lady Linda's
Mother was killed in an auto accident. I spoke to Linda and is currently in
Wisconsin at her Mom's House and is heavily burdened. Those of you remembering the
fine memories that Linda gave us all at the Convention, and many gatherings around
the country would you take a minute and drop her a card or a note of encouragement
at this time. She has moved to Colorado. Her address is Lind Kerrigan  P.O. Box 2107
 Granby, Co. 80446
I know she will greatly appreciate hearing from the hobo family. Keep her and her
loved one's in prayer... Many Thanks, Frog 97-98 Hobo King

 

 the rest of the story from stretch
    Posted by: "john" stretch122hotrail@yahoo.com stretch122hotrail
    Date: Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:19 pm ((PDT))

Hi folks, haven't gotten back to you since Rochelle but i had a great time and as
far as more details go, we did have 2 more dubbings that sat eve during the fire
lighting which redbird always did a fine job of. Thanks to queen Sunrise who helped
me with these dubs and Mick the Stick's son mike now has the hobo title of Gandy
dancer which he did for a wile and my friend and train riding partner jump off john
now has the title of "knight of the road" and took his first train ride from Amory
MS to Chicago where he was running out of time and skin on his feet due to blisters
so he headed back to Milwaukee on Amtrak where his dad met his train for a ride
home.
         NOW" since Rochelle I've been hanging around the CP yard taking photo's and
killing time for the 25th annual fat tire tour of Milwaukee which is 25 mile
tour around the miller brewery and a bunch of other smaller breweries and
famous bars. All together about 300 bikes came down the famous art trail
along the CP mainline and hobo camps along the way and was also on there
list of stopovers to visit the current hobo king and pal Burlington. It's
a sight to see and jump off john had a DVD made up in HD about or around a
hour long. If you did a Google search of FTTM (fat tire tour Milwaukee) a
bunch of stuff will come up.
          Also john did make about a hour long DVD of Rochelle RR Days/hobo
gathering if anyone is interested, contact him or me so we can bring some
to deep lock quarry. I am again back at john's house till fri when we take
a little road trip to Cassville WI (Stonefield village) to drop in and make
sure the dates are correct for the weekend after Britt, then I'll leave
john someplace down the line and head into Iowa for a spell till OH and
mabe into Britt if i got the time but more than likely Clinton IA where i
can get a easy ride into Chicago to meet john to go to OH in July. Although
here in Pewaukee WI the last weekend in June is having their beach party
(GIRLS, beer entertainment etc) which has got me thinking but no dogs
allowed on the beach which leave burl out so he would have to stay at the
house.
           Well I guess that's it for now so we'll see you down the road.