GO WEST FILM FESTIVAL 2024 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
David Caldwell, Co-President
Originally from the Midwest, David followed the western rainbow toward purple mountain majesties, amber open spaces, and scarlet sunsets. During a long career at the University of Northern Colorado, David taught courses in German language, literature and film, co-founded the interdisciplinary Film Studies minor, and served as a college dean. After attending countless film festivals around the US and overseas, David is thrilled to be a founding board member of Go West and part of a homegrown celebration of the frontier on film. Move over, Cannes. Go West is here.
Ron Edgerton, Co-President
Responding to Horace Greeley’s call to “Go West Young Man,” Ron and his family settled down in Greeley where he taught History, directed the Honors Program, and administered the International Film Series at the University of Northern Colorado. He is an avid reader of Western fiction. He and his wife Thelma are proud members of the gang that pioneered the Go West Film Fest.
Stephen Story, Treasurer
Steve grew up in southwest Colorado during the height of the great cowboy movie era and every week went to the Saturday matinee with its cowboy movie and weekly serial. He and his wife moved to Greeley to attend UNC and decided to stay and raise a family here. Steve was the controller for a commercial cattle feedlot for 20 years and then an accountant. Volunteering several years with GWFF combined two of his favorite pastimes – westerns and helping. Steve joined the Board in August 2019.
Thelma Bear Edgerton
Growing up in the mountains of Kentucky inspired a longing in Thelma that never went away during many years in Florida. Her love of mountains inspired her to climb the tallest peaks in most of the western states. She moved to Colorado to get her doctorate in psychology. She and Ron enjoy discussing films and being a part of the group who created the Film Festival. They look forward to sharing western films each fall with their many friends and acquaintances.
Khristine Gamer
Inspired by fond childhood memories of first seeingThe Good the Bad and the Ugly from the back seat of her parents’ Thunderbird at a Denver drive-in the late1960s to watching TV westerns and movies with her grandparents, Khris co-founded the Go West Film Festival with her trail partner, Victoria Boone. Together, these two gals formed a posse of wonderful, like-minded folks to elevate the status of western films and launch the only film festival devoted exclusively to westerns in Colorado. And who says librarians are a meek bunch? Wild, maybe, but never meek. Yep, Khris and Victoria started the film festival as librarians with the High Plains Library District and were mighty proud to have the library district support us in our early days.
Now retired and following a brief hiatus from the Go West Film Festival, Khris has dusted off her chaps, climbed back into the saddle and is thrilled to rejoin the board of directors once again. Her hope is to wrangle up yet more western tropes and cliches with an eye to also changing the way you think about westerns---whether classic, contemporary or fringe, the Go West Film Festival has something for everyone.
Elizabeth Kahn-Lanning
Elizabeth was born and raised in Greeley and is pleased to return to Northern Colorado for the Go West Film Festival after spending 32 years further south, teaching high school Theater and English and performing in various theatrical endeavors. She spent many a Sunday of her youth watching old westerns on a black and white TV in her dad's den. Elizabeth shares a love of the old West with her husband, Greg, who always finds something obscure for them to watch. She and Greg have now made Estes Park their new home, where she is trying her hand at real estate. Elizabeth thanks the board for this opportunity, and dedicates every new adventure to her parents, Monica and Bob Kahn, who left us in February to pursue more adventures on the horizon.
Greg Lanning
Greg grew up watching John Wayne and Clint Eastwood at the local movie theater in a small town in rural Iowa, where frankly there's not much else to do. He followed his Dad, who had moved out West for better pursuits. After a couple years skibumming in Summit County, he was hooked and never looked back. Greg had a hankerin' for the acting bug, so theater must be in his blood. He joined the board with a heavy heart, taking up the empty saddles left with the passing of Bob and Monica Kahn, but he is thankful for the opportunity. He is the proud father of four daughters and, get this, eleven grandkids. But he is most proud of his sidekick and cutest girl at the barn dance Elizabeth, who's been ridin' along for the past 26 years. Greg likes to think that Bob would fancy himself riding off into the sunset with his best gal hugging his waist with a big smile on her face saying, "Not too fast, Bob!" Giddy up y'all.
Jeff Reebie
Jeff was raised in New York but fell in love with cowboys and the West after watching episodes of Spin and Marty on the Mickey Mouse Club TV program. He moved to Colorado in 1971 to attend The Colorado College and earned a degree in English Literature. He is a writer and author who has published stories about rodeo and wild horses and is currently working on screenplays. For twelve years, Jeff was a contestant in rodeos from Cheyenne to Pendleton.
David E. Sharp
David E. Sharp grew up in Amarillo, Texas against a backdrop of tumbleweeds, glorious sunsets and the Palo Duro Canyon. Naturally, he heard that George Strait song more times than you could say, “Up from San Anton,” if you had a whole day with nothing better to do. David eventually moved to Greeley, Colorado to see the other side of the High Plains. Here, he discovered mountains. They’re kind of like canyons, but inverted so they stick up out of the ground instead of digging in. He is now a librarian at the High Plains Library District, where he loves to help people discover new interests in books, movies or even a George Strait song. His short story “Pine Cone” appeared in a 2020 Colorado Book Award winning anthology. David has also published two novels, Lost on a Page, re-released in 2021, and Lost on a Page: Character Developments (2022).