On March 6'th, 1999, Don Keating, Chairman
of
the Tri-State Bigfoot Study Group, hosted the
11'th Annual Bigfoot Conference. The event
took place in the gymnasium of the
Newcomerstown West Elementary School.
Keating was in ill health. Having had the flu
for a week already, he was somehow able to
handle the Conference and the event went over
without a major hitch. However, two major
factors contributed to the attendance being
only about half of what was originally
anticipated (300). The weather went down hill
all afternoon. The temperature was a mild 45°
at noon with light showers. By 5 p.m. the
temperature had dropped to 30° with light
snow developing. By 10 p.m. at Conference
end, the temperature was a cold 24° with
light snow ending, 1.5" of new snow on the
ground, slippery driving conditions and wind
chills to nearly 0°. Another major factor was
that one local newspaper of which Keating was
told would send his news release across the
Associated Press news wire, didn't. Even
though, with those factors working against
him, the Conference still had 143 in
attendance. Following is the review Daniel
Perez wrote. Mr. Perez edits the "Bigfoot
Times" newsletter out of Norwalk, CA.
Subscription information can be found near
the end of this page.
"'Maine's Loren Coleman proved worthy as the
unofficial keynote speaker at the 11'th
Annual Bigfoot Conference in Ohio, easily
putting away speaking competition from
Arkansas, Indiana and Maryland.
Chairman Don Keating fell ill with flu-like
symptoms but nonetheless presided over the
event. The Associated Press failed with no
word of the gathering, putting attendance at
about 140, in addition to weather as a
factor; 37 degrees and snow.
A printed program was handed out at the door,
which carried the names of businesses who
sponsored the event. Domino's Pizza also
picked up a slice of the bill.
Loren Coleman from Portland, Maine (l)
Larry Battson from Green Castle Indiana and
J.E. "Smokey" Crabtree pose for a 'speaker
picture' after the Conference.
Merchandise was sold at the front of the
conference room with Loren Coleman selling
out of his new book well before the show
started. Dr. John Bindernagel was unable to
attend due to a death in the family. However,
Bob Chance from Maryland (who attended the
historic Canadian Monster Conference in
1978), was not only a surprise attendee but
also managed to squeeze in as a speaker! Ever
colorful Erik Beckjord stated he would not
attend the meeting unless escorted by armed
guards. It's a good thing, as it certainly
appeared to me there were shadows lurking on
the grassy knoll.
Kick off started at 5:17 with Larry Battson
from Green Castle, Indiana speaking first,
rehashing some general information, then
recounting briefly his wife's sighting next
to a mailbox several years ago. His wife
apparently attributed to having said: "it's
the biggest guy you ever saw..." He also
noted a report of a 9 foot tall Sasquatch on
the Wabash River in 1980 that was linked with
rock throwing. When asked what the North
American Bigfoot population might be, Mr.
Battson avoided numeric data but said they
were "everywhere," he added, "hell, we can't
even find one." At 6:26 p.m. Larry signed
off.
Unscheduled speaker Bob Chance, a science
teacher from Bel Air, Maryland grabbed the
microphone next, discussing his many years of
researching Bigfoot from his neck of the
woods. His activities have slowed to a crawl
due to health related problems.
Bob Chance from Bel Air, Maryland speaks
to the 143 in attendance at the Conference.
Chance was an unscheduled speaker, and had a
great slide presentation with him. Nice job,
Bob!!
"Bob [Gimlin] was very convincing," Mr.
Chance told the audience in reference to
having met Bob Gimlin in 1978. He also told
his listeners, "John [Green] has done more
for cryptozoology than anyone else."
Like the speaker before him, Bob Chance
discussed rock throwing from an area called
Muddy Springs. In this episode, a rock was
thrown at intervals of 5 to 6 minutes.
As I mingled with the crowd I was introduced
to Rip Lyttle, also a Maryland resident. He
told me at one time he was a "paid" volunteer
for the now defunct Bigfoot Research Project,
headed by the notorious Peter Byrne. He went
on to say that once he phoned John Green to
find out some real information, and Peter
reacted by flying off the handle. He was
ordered not to call Green again and that
Byrne was rumored to have said something
like: "you [Rip Lyttle] work for me..." Mr.
Lyttle, not amused by Peter told me; "Byrne
is a fu---n loser."
Julius Earl "Smokey" Crabtree, from Fouke,
Arkansas was up on stage at 8:49 p.m.,
talking like an auctioneer in slow motion.
"Smokey" (apparently the name is derived from
boyhood when he filled his fathers pipe), now
forever linked to three toed tracks and the
scary movie The Legend of Boggy Creek proved
to be a very straight forward, credible
observer. Part of his discussion dealt with
his son's sighting from many years ago. It
was a broad daylight encounter and the
subject was "moving around in disgust," and
you "couldn't see it's eyes." The subject,
stated Smokey, was "standing like it was a
man trying to use the bathroom standing up."
The observed animal, estimated at between 7
and 8 feet tall, was about 80 steps from
Smokey's son and was apparently trying to
smell the surrounding air. The subject was
fired at with a shotgun and Smokey told his
audience "we heard the shots from the house."
The blasts from the gun was described as
having no effect.
Smokey, 72, has spent a lifetime in the woods
with animals and has never once seen one of
these Bigfoot like creatures but describes
them as a "mix between a man and a gorilla."
He has been fortunate enough, however, to
having spied fresh 3-toed tracks in a bean
field near his residence in Fouke. In private
discussions with me, he was firm in that the
tracks were only three toed with a step
measurement of 57 inches and a "really high"
arch in the foot.
Don Keating presents J.E. "Smokey" Crabtree
with a plaqe of appreciation for his
presentation. Smokey did a fine job at the
Conference.
Smokey's association with the producers of
the movie, The Legend of Boggy Creek,
was very much a negative event as he stated
no one in his community ever got paid for
their services. So bad was the situation it
found its way into court, and was later
documented in his book. Reflected Smokey
Crabtree: "we went through hell." It was also
noted this was Mr. Crabtree's first speaking
engagement outside of Arkansas. Smokey had
several copies of his book. Smokey and the
Fouke Monster for sale in addition to
hats, shirts and a poster.
With two books on the subject slated for
release this year and decades of
investigation and research under is belt, the
celebrated Loren Coleman spoke last,
launching his informative talk at 8:57 p.m.,
all the while insisting the state of Maine
does not have celebrities, per se. Okay, Mr.
Coleman. And so he started, "I don't believe
in Bigfoot," equating the word believe for
religious use. Instead, Loren Coleman went on
to say the evidence so far collected is
convincing enough to cause one to conclude
that Bigfoot is for real. He showed portions
of various movies, included a clip from
Return To Boggy Creek, and added
commentary as to how this movie and others
have shaped public and media perception of
the whole business.
Loren danced, dallied and dazzled but covered
alot of Bigfoot ground in short order,
telling his eager listeners, "There is always
the Patterson film to fall back on." Along
those lines Loren noted quite recently, both
in the mainstream press and on television,
there has been "attempts to destabilize it
[the film]," but no one yet has landed a KO
punch.
Loren Coleman stated there are three things
which continue to intrigue him: the
investigation, the people and the history of
the Bigfoot mystery both in North America and
worldwide.
Daniel Perez (l) and Loren Coleman pose
(well, sorta) for a picture before the 11'th
Annual Bigfoot Conference begins.
It was very clear to me the crowd enjoyed the
knowledgeable Loren Coleman, 52, who half
seriously said, "in my forty years I forgot
more than I know."
Publisher Simon & Schuster is scheduled to
release a second Coleman book offering by
summer, this one tentatively titled
Cryptozoology A to Z: An
Encyclopedia.
Mr. Coleman has been through divorce (twice)
and bankruptcy but has still managed to stick
with his interest in Bigfoot, later
expressing disappointment that colleagues in
similar situations have folded shop rather
than stay the course. We applaud him for his
toughness and the Ohio audience did
likewise.'"
That ends the review that Daniel Perez
published in his March 1999 issue of Bigfoot
Times. If you are interested in subscribing
to his newsletter, write him at 10926 Milano
Avenue, Norwalk, CA 90650-1638. The cost is
$9.00 for 12 issues.
Opinions and comments in Mr. Perez' article
do not necessarily reflect those of the
Chairman of the Annual Bigfoot Conference,
Don Keating.
Loren Coleman (foreground) takes a final
question during his presentation while Don
Keating listens on.
The Annual Bigfoot Conference for the year
2000 will NOT be held the first Saturday of
March. It likely will be held during the
month of April. However, a firm date has yet
to be established. Much of that depends on
when the Easter weekend falls. A few lessons
were learned from this Conference.
#1---Sponsors help. Much of cost of the rent
for the school was covered from sponsorship
fees. Thank you to all sponsors who might see
this!!
#2---I will NOT rely on a single source to
spread the word for me in 2000 about the
Conference. i.e the local paper. I will find
a way to send the news release across the
A.P. without having to rely on someone
else.
And finally, this thing called the internet
... it really helps!! At least 30 people
attended the Conference in 1999 because they
saw the web page for the event. Thanks to
everyone for attending!! Any questions,
comments or suggestions of any kind for 2000,
please e-mail me!! Also, if YOU attended the
Conference this year, please take a moment to
sign the guestbook below and give your
thoughts on the event. Special thanks to
Monte Ballard, Marc DeWerth and Peggy Tillman
for use of their photos. From Newcomerstown,
Ohio, I am Don Keating.
