Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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I love music, but I can’t play a thing on any instrument, not counting chopsticks on a piano. Even then, my version is pretty shaky. I took drum lessons when I was 14, but I quickly learned I didn’t have what it took to become a drummer. I think my folks were actually relieved. My voice is okay, especially in shower mode, but my days of singing in public are done. In the past I have done a decent enough job on “Danny Boy” that people would walk up to me surprised I could d... Full story
Confused Asians, crazy drunk van drivers, monstrous RVs, nervous semi drivers, and thousands (perhaps millions) of tourists were among the highlights of a recent trip to Jackson and Pinedale. We were headed north on Highway 287 to Jackson to attend the open house for the new home of the Hughes Charitable Foundation. But a lot happened before we got there. For starters, we groaned as a flagman stopped us just as a huge line of cars ahead of us headed off in the distance behind a pilot car. This was barely 8 miles from home....
What’s this? The Saratoga Sun changed format, again? If you’re reading the print edition of the Saratoga Sun this week, you’ll notice a change to how things have been the past few months. As many of our readers may recall, in April we changed printers. While we had been printing in Cheyenne for several years, we made the move to Riverton, home of the Riverton Ranger. We are still printing at the Riverton Ranger, but have decided to change from the broadsheet format to the tabl... Full story
Independence Day has passed and the largest party in Saratoga every summer has concluded. From the Festival of the Arts to the Old Fashioned Family Carnival to, yes, even Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band headlining Saratoga Days it appeared to be a successful weekend. Thought that may depend on how one defines success. Was it economically beneficial to the restaurants and businesses on Bridge Avenue? Yes, we would imagine so. When not taking part in the fun family games on West Bridge Avenue or the increasing... Full story
Right now, there is a clear path ahead for Liz Cheney, and it does not involve the state of Wyoming. She will deny this. And she may not even believe it now. And for the rest of this year, she will continue to represent us to the best of her ability in the U.S. House of Representatives. But I could see her traveling a different path, based on a number of steps that could very well happen. Three events have set the stage for this scenario. The first was when she voted to impeach President Donald Trump after the Jan. 6...
It is sometimes really difficult to narrow down the subject matter for a column. Without a doubt, I have my drought periods trying to think of what to write about but, often enough, I have a couple ideas and it is hard to decide what I want to put forth. This week’s column is a perfect example of this dilemma. First, I was going to write about how visitors and truckers driving on US 30, 130 and I-80 are coming back to form in their lack of consideration on these roads after a...
(Note: The Oxygen Cable TV network on Monday night aired a new documentary on the 1980 murders of Virginia Uden and her sons. It will be aired repeatedly on into the future.) Back in 2013, I wrote: “After 33 years of one cold case and 16 years for the other, it has always been easy to believe that some unsolved disappearances will just never be explained.” In Lander, for decades we pondered about two gals who vanished. Virginia Uden and Amy Bechtel both disappeared and I wrote the news stories about them while I was the Lan...
This weekend, many of us will be celebrating the 245th birthday of the United States of America. Traditionally, this national holiday is filled with barbecues, fireworks, parades and concerts and this year will be no different. A full slate of events are on schedule for Valley this weekend including the return of the Festival of the Arts, the 3rd Annual Saratoga Days, the 3rd Annual Firewater Fifth, the inaugural Old Fashioned Family Carnival and so much more. Of course, we’ll...
Wow, it is hot outside. It has cracked 90 a couple times in the past few days. I love it. There are a million reasons I love warm weather in Wyoming, not the least of which is I don’t like bitter cold and winter road conditions. I am reveling being outside doing yardwork where I work up a sweat. Not many times do I get to sweat in winter. Warm weather also reminds me the 4th of July is around the corner. It is definitely one of my favorite celebrations. The day has been my f...
It is really quite interesting how one’s perspective affects their experiences. While I was not absent from the pages of the Saratoga Sun last week, I was absent from the office itself. I had finally scheduled some vacation time right before things typically get bustling here in the Platte Valley. Beginning with the Tale of Two Cities Golf Tournament this past weekend, it seems we are filled with events nearly every weekend until August. I was quite excited to take my v... Full story
“Time sure does change things,” said an airline passenger to his companion. “When I was a boy, I used to sit in a flat-bottomed boat on that lake down there below and fish. Every time a plane flew over I’d look up and wish I were in it. “Now I look down . . . and I wish I were fishing.” Time (or the lack of it) has always been a prime topic for people who work hard and miss out on all the fun activities that living in Wyoming can provide. This time stress is especially bad about this time of year. Spring and summer are...
It is hard to believe the internet has been in my life only a little over 20 years. I started using it when I moved to Australia and set up my hotmail account. Not everyone I know had an account, but my family did and it was a great way to stay in contact. When I came back to Wyoming, I set up a website called spoiledbartender in 2000. Believe it or not, there were no websites on bartending back then. I remember being at a trade show in Las Vegas for the liquor industry and I...
It can be all too easy to focus on the things going wrong in our lives that we overlook the things going right. Sometimes, all it takes is a simple thing to wake us up to that fact. At the same time, that simple act can hit us like a ton of bricks. For me, it was a fire pit. The past few summers haven’t exactly been great for getting out of town with my family. Last year, especially, was difficult as I was wrapped up in covering how the pandemic was impacting life in Carbon C...
Thank you, Foster. You could sum up Foster Friess in one word: Generous. He did more for more people than anyone I have ever known. He and his wife Lynn gave away $500 million in their lifetimes. Amazing. Foster Friess died May 27 at age 81. My story with Foster is a personal one. I had worked with him and Lynn some 20 years ago on some obscure project and had not had any contact for many years. Out of the blue in April of 2018, he called and asked me to help him with his governor’s campaign. There is no hesitation when F...
I can remember my step-grandmother telling me stories when I was in high school and college that used to amaze me. Not because they were so extraordinary in their content, but in their time frame. She grew up in San Antonio when it was still a relatively small city in Texas. Certainly not the 7th largest city in the USA as it is now. Mama Linney actually was my stepmother’s aunt. My stepmother’s own mother died when she was three and her father was some merchant seaman who...
“I love you, pop.” “I love you, too, son.” ·The last words exchanged between a father and son. As a long-time newspaper writer, I knew that someday I would be writing Dad’s obituary. Some twenty-one years ago on May 23, 2000, was that day. I said good-bye to my 81-year father a few days before he died. Tom Sniffin Sr. was being treated for an assortment of ailments at the Boulder, CO Community Hospital. When Nancy and I left him Friday, May 20, 2000, he was just being prepped for an experimental procedure to use a special de...