We welcome all 2018 KLAS Users' Conference attendees to join us for the Welcome Reception hosted by Keystone Systems on Tuesday, May 8 from 5:30-8:30 PM at the Boise Depot. A buffet dinner will be provided followed by a special program.

Boise Depot, Reception Location

The Welcome Reception will be held at the Boise Depot a short .4 mile walk from our conference hotels. Dinner and our program will occur in the Depot's Great Hall. The Bell Tower will be accessible from 5:30-8:30 for those who may wish to ride the elevator up for an exceptional view of downtown Boise and the surrounding mountains.

From the City of Boise Parks & Recreation Department:

The Boise Depot is a beautiful historic Spanish-style structure operated by the Boise Parks and Recreation Department as a public ceremonial or meeting space and historic site. Designed by New York architects, the building opened in 1925 to elaborate fanfare in the capital city.

With a splendid panoramic view of the Boise Front, the building grounds include Platt Gardens, a lovely park with pathways, a gazebo and a koi pond.

Great Hall

Depot amenities include The Great Hall, a soaring 77 ft by 46 ft totalling 3,542-square-foot multi-story atrium that once served as the building's waiting room. Ten original benches line the walls of the Great Hall.

The original 1925 Barkalow Brothers Newsstand is featured on the west wall. The newsstand has been slightly restored but remains in its' original form. The Great Halls' ceiling is lined with Spanish trusses, each imprinted with antique locomotives.

Buffet Dinner Menu

Catering provided by Big Sky Catering

• Carved Brisket
• Breast of BBQ Chicken
• Big Sky's Awesome Baked Beans
• Build Your Own Baked Potatoes with Butter, Sour Cream, Cheese, Bacon and Chives
• Green Beans with Sea Salt & Butter
• Field Greens with Dressing Assortment
• Rolls and Butter
• Strawberry Shortcake
• Pink Lemonade and Water
• Vegetarian / Vegan Dinners will be provided as needed

Gary Eller, Reception Musician / Speaker

Gary Eller has played American roots music since childhood. He was born and raised in West Virginia but has lived most of his life in the American West. After a thirty year career in nuclear science and engineering at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, he retired to Pickles Butte near Nampa, Idaho in 2004.

Eller is the director of the Idaho Songs Project, whose primary mission is to find, document, interpret and preserve songs written before the radio era (before 1923) about early Idaho's people, places, and events. To date, he has documented over two hundred forgotten early Idaho songs. These songs form the basis for a dozen topically arranged interpretive booklets with audio CDs, including Ballads of the Owyhee Country, that he has published since 2006. As a member of the Idaho Humanities Council Speakers Bureau, he performs programs of songs based on the culture of early Idaho over all of Idaho.

Eller also is a board member of the National Old Time Fiddler's Contest and a member of three bands: Chicken Dinner Road, The Storytellers and Boise River