Sunday, October 10, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Cowboy poet steps up for countdown

Waddie Mitchell is newspaper's spokesman for Las Vegas centennial ad campaign

Cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell will serve as Review-Journal spokesman in ads leading up to the Las Vegas centennial. Photo by Jim Decker

Las Vegas was the Wild West and big city all at once, when acclaimed cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell first visited in 1967.

He was here for the Helldorado Rodeo, and, with just 100,000 people living in the valley, it was the biggest place he'd ever been. It has grown up a lot -- more than 1 million live here today -- but in many ways, it's still the same: a young town with hopes and dreams for the future.

As Las Vegas approaches its 100th birthday with city-sponsored events, Mitchell will serve as spokesman for the Review-Journal. In a series of ads, Mitchell -- sporting his Pancho Villa mustache, trademark cowboy hat, boots and belt buckle -- will highlight important moments in the valley's history, leading up to the centennial, May 15.

Nine ads will run on television, radio and in the Review-Journal, with each one touching on news stories that were important to the city's development and the growth of the newspaper, says Mike Miller, creative manager for the Las Vegas Review-Journal promotions department.

In one of the spots, Mitchell talks about the impact well water had on the young community in 1910 and how the story made headlines in the Las Vegas Age, the first newspaper in town. The spot ends with Mitchell saying:

"Yes sir, Las Vegas was on its way. That small local newspaper became the Las Vegas Review-Journal and that town site grew to become the entertainment capital of the world."

Mitchell was chosen to be the newspaper's spokesman because, as a cowboy poet and a native Nevadan, he ties the valley's present to its past, Miller says.

"Las Vegas is struggling to find out who it is and what direction it's going," Mitchell says. "But it's doing a pretty good job. In the past 30 years, the essence of Las Vegas could have been lost. The campaign is saying this is who we are and where we come from. That to me is something I try to spread throughout the world."

Even though not a lot of people know him outside of cowboy poet circles, "he makes a nice transition from the West to the Las Vegas of today," Miller says.

A professional cowboy for 26 years, Mitchell, 55, a native of Elko County, started making a name for himself as a cowboy poet in 1984. His reputation grew over the years, attracting coverage from national publications, finally earning him a recording contract with Warner Bros. in 1990. He recorded an album of his cowboy poetry and has been a full-time poet ever since.

His poetry covers universal topics such as regret, hard work and love.

Waddie is not his given name, although it is now his legal name. It's actually a word that means cowboy, he says.