REGISTRATION OPEN for 2010 ANNIE OAKLEY WESTERN ARTS SHOWCASE

GREENVILLE, OH - JULY 2010 - Ohio is home to all kinds of performing arts from classical music to bluegrass and ballet to clogging. One highly specialized group of performing artists, however, has gone relatively unnoticed for many years - Wild West arena artists.

Wild West arena arts include age-old skills like lariat artistry, also known as 'trick and fancy roping,' precision knife and tomahawk throwing, western gun spinning, fencing, archery and precision whip artistry. These talented individuals lecture, perform and teach throughout the year at schools, libraries, festivals and at historical events. Many also appear or provide technical advice for stage, television and film productions.

In an effort to perpetuate and promote the Wild West arts in the Midwest, GLD Enterprises & Productions presents the 8^th Annual Annie Oakley Western Arts Showcase. Entertainer and writer Gery L. Deer is the founder and director of the event, which is a convention of sorts for practitioners of the western arts.

"We started this in 2002 as a whip arts workshop on my family farm in Jamestown, Ohio," Deer said. "To now be in our eighth season, still performing on the grounds of an event honoring one of our most celebrated western artists, continues to be an honor."

The Annie Oakley Western Arts Showcase is held on the grounds of the Annie Oakley Days festival at the Darke County Fairgrounds in Ohio on the third weekend in July. The Showcase provides authentic Wild West arts entertainment and competitions throughout the weekend with honors given out to the top performers.

Originally started as the Ohio Regional convention of the Wild West Arts Club, an organization which has since been discontinued, the event remains a national attraction for knife throwers, lariat artists, gun spinners, western musicians, and whip artists from around the world. Participants attend workshops and contests and participate in public performances throughout the weekend. They also donate their time and talents to local charity events that are going on during the Annie Oakley Days Festival, including the graveside services remembering Annie Oakley and her husband Frank Butler.

"These professional performers are an invaluable cultural and entertainment resource and should be utilized more by performing arts groups and event promoters," said Deer. The event is open to the public and participants need not belong to any kind of club or group to be attend.

In addition to Deer, who is a well-known whip artist, several other specialists of the various western arts help to manage each area of the event. Doug Smith, of Medway, Ohio, is a world-champion lariat artist, performer, and instructor. Kirk Bass, of Xenia, is a champion thrown weapons competitor and certified instructor with the International Knife Throwers Hall of Fame.

This year's awards dinner is also open to the public and will be hosted by The Brothers & Co. Entertainers music and variety show. Well known for full-length, Vaudeville-styled music and comedy, The Brothers & Co. have been doing a great deal of traveling and performing this past year and will be releasing a new CD this fall titled, "Time Capsule."

The showcase events are highlighted with trivia challenges and costume contests for both participants and the audience. Besides the fun and educational value of the convention, participants also get the opportunity to work with some of the best Wild West artists in the business including "the Whip Guy" Chris Camp and whip artist Robert Dante, author of the new how-to whip book, "Let's Get Cracking." Both Dante and Camp hold world records for whip cracking.

The 2010 Annie Oakley Western Arts Showcase will be Friday through Sunday, July 23 through July 25 at the Darke County Fairgrounds with a free performance for the public at 7:00 p.m. on Friday in the Fairground Coliseum. Pre-registration starts May 5 and runs through July 21, 2010. Weekend tickets are $75 per person for pre-registration, $100 on site. Awards Dinner Show reservations are available to the public for $20 per person.

Lead sponsors for this event include GLD Enterprises & Productions Media Group and The Whip Artistry Studio of Jamestown, Ohio. Associate sponsorship packages are now available for advertisers. Detailed information, a tentative schedule of events and links to partner organizations are available at the website. For video clips, photos and more information contact GLD Enterprises & Productions Media Group at (937) 902-4857 or go online to www.ohiowesternarts.org.