Wayne Rouse

Life seems to be flying by so fast. The older I get, the more I learn to appreciate the blessings I have and have had. I am still a kid at heart.

My current age (October 2009) is 57. I grew up in two great towns; Neligh, NE (1952 -1967) and McCook, NE (1967-1977).

I married Debbie Barber in 1974 and we have one son, Chris. In 1977 my wife, son and I moved to Hays, KS. Hays was a great town to live in and raise Chris. I divorced in 1997 and in 2001 moved to Manhattan, KS.

I married Margi Bartley in 2005. Margi has two sons from a previous marriage; Tom and Kyle.

Tom is in the Army as a medic and is currently stationed in Iraq. Kyle is in college majoring in Business. Chris graduated from Fort Hays State University and works with me at Country Stampede.

I have had two great careers. One in paint and one in entertainment. I worked for Sherwin Williams from 1979 until 2001.

I also started in the concert business in the late 1970's. I traveled the United States producing concerts, where I had a chance to work with most of the bands I grew up listening to.

I don't see myself retiring as I really enjoy what I do. I started a festival (Country Stampede) in 1995, the first festival took place in 1996. We had over 155,000 attend the event in 2009.

I work full time as President/General Manager of Country Stampede. I also produce an additional 12 to 15 concerts a year, all national acts, mainly country, but some rock.

My sister Beth lives in Las Vegas and is an elementary school teacher. My brother Matt lives in Des Moines, Iowa and works in administration at a hospital. My brother Tim passed away at the age of 39 in Fort Morgan, Colorado. He was the Vice President of a bank in Brush, Co at the time of his death.

My parents moved from McCook to Casper, WY in the mid-seventies. They are both deceased. I was truly blessed to have such great parents. The older I get, the more I understand all the great things they did for me.

I am amazed at the changes that have taken place during my lifetime. For example, computers, cell phones and the internet; just to name a few.

When I was in school, 100,000 miles meant your car was shot. My last car had over 230,000 miles on it and didn't use any oil, still ran perfect and looked great when I traded it in; amazing.

I remember 26 cent a gallon gas, which meant dragging main was no big deal. I wish today's kids could have that experience.

We found our music by listening to the radio; KOMA-AM ruled! Then 8 track tapes, cassettes, CDs and now IPODs, MP3s, MySpace, Twitter, Ringtones and Facebook.

I enjoy life and am looking forward to many more adventures. I've been blessed with a great family and great friends.

just a bunch of great memories!