By Roger Harnack
Chronicle staff

     OMAK - The arrival of two tractor-trailers late Monday night, Oct. 12, created quite a stir for three days in the parking lot of the Omak Shell Truck Stop.
     The two trucks were hauling equipment for country music legends “Kix” Brooks and Ronnie Dunn. They were headed for the Oct. 16 concert in Penticton, B.C., but stopped over for three days to give other tour trucks and buses an opportunity to meet up before convoying to the South Okanagan Events Centre for the sold-out show.
     By Tuesday morning, their arrival had newspaper telephones ringing and area motorists circling the parking lot hoping to catch a glimpse of the duo, who plan to retire next year after “The Last Rodeo” tour.
     Anxious truck stop clerk Michelle Ingram stood at the ready with her disposable camera.
     “I’m a fan,” she said. “I’m old school — my favorite song is ‘Neon Moon’.”
     Ingram said she recalled seeing the band several years ago at the Puyallup Fair. She’s been a fan ever since.
     Looking out the back window of the convenience store, Ingram motioned to the trucks.
     “The drivers are very nice fellows,” she said. “We’ve been helping them find things to do.”
     Shell Manager Linda Bird also was taken aback by the truckers, and by the four more who joined them in Omak on Thursday.
     “It’s been fun,” she said, while sitting in a booth in her store as some of the Brooks and Dunn crew struck up an impromptu jam session, with patrons invited to join in.
     The band’s only female driver, Karla “Ms. B” Bradshaw, danced with locals Jerry Atchison and Pat Atchison and others as lead driver Jim Milton played popular country tunes on his own guitar.
     Milton has opened for Brooks and Dunn on previous tours.
     For a few minutes, he was joined by Jessica Johnson, 18, Okanogan, who thoroughly enjoyed performing a duet for the truck stop crowd.
     “That was awesome,” she said. “It was really cool. He is a great guitar player.”
     Just as the crew was getting ready to depart Thursday, Connie Knight, 58, Havillah, rushed into the truck stop.
     A materials manager at Wenatchee Valley Clinic, she said nurses sent her over to invite Brooks and Dunn and their entourage to stop in.
     Milton said they couldn’t, but opened his guitar case and offered to play her a couple songs.
     “You can’t have Brooks and Dunn, so you gotta take a guy who plays for nothing,” he said, then proceeded to sing “Peace in the Valley” and other songs.
     “I was serenaded,” Knight said. “It made my year.”
     While Milton played, driver Lydle Cortez put his arm around Knight and posed for a couple photos.
     Cortez was the first driver to arrive in Omak last week.
     He spent several days walking around town, shopping and even getting his hair cut, he said.
     “I’m handsome now,” he said, adding that he had his hair cut at La Tress.
     Cortez called Omak one of the friendliest town’s he’d stopped in on the tour.
     “We’ll be back next year if the tour comes this way,” he said.
     Bradshaw, too, vowed to come back.
     She also offered a few locals an opportunity to join her and the other drivers at the concert in Penticton.
     Bill and Mary Ann Bullock, who provided fresh apples for the band, accepted.
     The Chronicle’s publisher also accepted an invitation.
     Bradshaw and her guests met in Penticton just before the show Friday, Oct. 16.
     The band Gord Bamford opened the show.
     Brooks and Dunn took the stage later and played for more than an hour.
     Their show wrapped up with an encore of “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.”
     After returning to Omak, Mary Ann Bullock said she and her husband “just felt so special” to be guests at the concert.
     During the concert, Brooks told the crowd next year would indeed be the final year the duo tours together.
     The tour, he said, will be called The Last Rodeo.
     Meanwhile, back in Omak, Bird said she hopes the drivers will return.
     “It was fun to have these guys around,” she said. “They’ve been kind enough to talk to everyone.
     “Maybe next time Brooks and Dunn will come with them.”