Sarah Brewer grew up visiting the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area and Nature Center with her parents who were devoted volunteers.
When she was around 6 to 7 years old, she attended the concert in the summer of 1996 that featured the Riders in the Sky cowboy band and other performers, she said.
“It didn’t have a ton of people, surprisingly, but I loved it.”
Throughout the years, Brewer grew up loving the Vasquez Rocks area and dedicated her master’s thesis on the history of the park, she said.
Now as the park’s superintendent, she experienced a full-circle moment earlier this month, and had the opportunity to witness the “Fireside Night: A Celebration of Western Music” event featuring live performances donated by the International Western Music Association for approximately 100 guests free of cost.
The Fireside Nights is a once-a-month free program from May to October that is family-friendly and highlights a variety of interests such as nature, education, history, movie history, geology and cultural topics, Brewer said.
The large crowd present on a recent Sunday evening for the musical event was an encouraging surprise for Brewer and all the volunteers who worked to make the event come to fruition, she said.
She hopes to make musical performances a more frequent event in the future and artists interested in donating their time are encouraged to contact her, she said.
“Any performers of any type, you know, care to donate their time for free programming, we’ll take it,” Brewer said. “Classical music, rock, any of that kind, family-friendly.”
Performer and longtime volunteer Michael Tcherkassay sang a mix of contemporary and traditional cowboy songs with his guitar.
Tcherkassay began to enjoy cowboy music in the ’60s and he wanted to support Fireside Nights during the musical celebration because he spends a lot of his free time hiking through the trails and volunteering at the gift shop.
The event served as a fundraiser to help support the park’s programming that occurs five days a week for free and support the non-releasable animal ambassadors in the vicinity, said Brewer.
“We have birds of prey that are injured, and nonreleasable that we use for education so it goes to feed the animals and for park improvements,” she said.
“I do some nice little demonstrations with the birds on Saturdays so that’s what most of the money is for,” Tcherkassay added.
Throughout the event people of all ages could indulge in smores, hiking, games and outside fun.
Pamela James, who had nothing to do during the evening, traveled to the recreational park and fully dedicated herself to learning how to lasso a rope and join in on all the fun the event had to offer.
“I love it it. I’m having a lot of fun!” she said as she tossed the rope. “Events like these get the kids out of the house, gets them away from that electronic device. It’s very therapeutic and healthy because they need to get out and get off that chair. It’s good for family time, it helps bring the family closer.”
To contact Brewer, call 661-126-0840 or email [email protected]
