Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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Writing for the Saratoga Sun the past three years has increased my knowledge on history and culture of Carbon County and its effect on Wyoming, if the not the U.S., in a manner I never appreciated prior. I have always liked history and, when living in other countries, I embraced learning the culture of the place I resided. It worked to my advantage when locals saw I cared enough to learn about their history and show respect to their achievements. I thought I did the same thing when I moved to...
Editor, With all of the turmoil throughout the United States, the protests, the tearing down of various historic statues and monuments, the Upper Platte Valley showed the true silent majority in this Great Country. The crowd at the 4th of July parade, many dressed in patriotic colors, stood proud as the Flag went by, hat in hand, head bowed, hand on heart. The many parade entry’s flew the flag with pride, and were colorfully decorated. Candy by the handfuls was cast to the crowd. What a wonderful celebration for the Birthday of our country. I...
I hate to admit it, but I must be getting older for my age. While I’ll be turning 34 in October, this July 4 has me feeling sort of like a curmudgeon in regards to the amount of fireworks I heard going off around my neighborhood over the weekend. In one case, fireworks set off at 2 a.m. rocked both my wife and I out of a deep sleep. It seems that the older I get, the more I can understand the frustration that has been felt by dog owners and those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (... Full story
Wyoming, in several ways, has been forever changed. The new systems and techniques put into place during the last 100 days will continue on into the future, I predict. The biggest things will be state wide meetings being held with Zoom, distance education and telehealth medicine. Wyoming people drive more miles per year than people in any other state, on a per-capita basis. We have good roads. We are small in population but almost desperate to get together for meetings it seems. For 50 years, my typical Wyoming day might mean driving three... Full story
Editor, Thank you, Saratoga Sun, for printing the map of the special museum district proposed by the Saratoga Museum and Historical Association and for covering discussion of this proposal at recent Carbon County Commissioners’ meetings. To avoid sliding into the petty and personal, we should look at the blueprint for the creation of special districts; Wyoming Statutes, Title 22 - Elections (Chapter 29). Briefly, authority shifts from property owners (signing the petition), county assessor (authenticating the signers and value of the p...
I have said before, most people haven’t had as many roommates as myself. My last column I went over the ones I had before marriage. I couldn’t even try to put them all in one sitting. So I ended my roommate countdown when I got married. My marriage ended quickly and unexpectedly, by me, and the expensive apartment our two salaries supported wasn’t viable for me alone. Jack, a 60-year-old widower who I had done work for, lived on Capitol Hill in a small mansion. He traveled a lot and the place...
Dear Editor, I would like to remind the elected officials of our town that it is their duty and responsibility to answer to the constituency. Questions from other council members are not an inconvenience to be overcome; they are means to discovering and understanding the truth. The public is not an inconvenience to be overcome; they are the citizens of this town to whom you answer. The financial activity of the town is not a mere inconvenience to deal with; it is a priority for you to manage. You chose to sit behind that bench. You chose the...
Dear Editor, Black Lives Matter marches and protests around the country have had a secondary significant benefit beyond raising social awareness of race related issues in our society. It has put our elected officials in a position that they have little rational reason to reimpose the draconian measures associated with the COVID pandemic. In my opinion, the overwhelming majority of the country imposed restrictions that did much more harm than good. Elected officials at all levels, from City Mayors to Governors and public health officials,...
Something I have always found interesting is the amount one can learn after having graduated from school. Of course, there is plenty to learn in school and there is only so much time to fit in mathematics, language arts, history and multiple other courses. Yet, just because those 12 years of school—if we’re not counting college or university—doesn’t mean that learning ever really stops. Take for example something with such historical importance as the Emancipation Proclamation. This, of course,...
I believe our personalities are a cumulation of exposure to different people that have impact on us. Family is usually a given. My family definitely has influenced me as well as friends. Then there are the roommates. I don’t know how many the average is for most people, but honestly, I have had 49 roommates since I left home for college. Many of the ones I had before I got married shaped me strongly, so I decided to recount a few. The First I had my own room since I was about seven and when I w... Full story
Editor, You only need turn on your TV News to understand that America stands poised on the brink of a violent explosive period in race relations. We are experiencing that the problem of race relations in the United States cuts to the very core of our definition as a people. America, although founded on the ideals of individual liberty and personal dignity, we cannot bring ourselves—through either law or social practice—to treat the descendants of slaves as equal to whites. The dilemma that this attitude has always posed for us in American was t...
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” -George Orwell We are all being trained to believe out voice does not matter. Between media censoring people, social media harassing you, and our elected officials disregarding you, we have very little god given rights left. This was a perfect example in the most recent Saratoga Town Hall meeting. Several people chose to take time away from their family, loved ones, and work to attend the townhall meeting with hopes of addressing their elected o...
To the editor of the Saratoga Sun, In April my husband and I were called to Laramie to say goodbye to my Papa. He had been taken to a hospice there when he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. My husband and I travel a lot because of his job so we were in Kearney at the time. We left the motorhome (our home) there and drove as fast as we could to Laramie to say goodbye to Papa. This was a terrible time for us, even though Papa was in his 80’s he was very dear to us. We cried most of the way there. We got to Laramie and were told we c...
Dear Editor, Establishing a local museum to preserve our rich history and heritage is hard, but not nearly as tough as maintaining one. A bold statement, yet I feel I can back it up having help found and then maintain both the Saratoga and Grand Encampment Museums since the 1960s. Both museums have been recipients of hundreds of photos, manuscripts, historical items, newspapers, printing presses, pamphlets, programs, treks and funds from the Bob Martin/Dick Perue collection. And yes, both have...
“Service is the measure of greatness; it always has been true; it is true today, and it always will be true, that he is greatest who does the most good.” ~ William Jennings Bryan Being the son of veterans, I have great respect for those who feel the need to serve our country by joining the armed forces. I also have respect for those who come back from serving in the military to serve their country as their representative in government whether it be local, state or national. Steve Wilcoxson was o... Full story
Wow, what on earth would you say to a graduate this year about his or her future? Here in the age of COVID-19, there is more uncertainty now than any time during my lifetime. With 33,000,000 Americans out of work, these are bigger joblessness numbers than the Great Depression 90 years ago. I have often given commencement addresses and always write a special “message to grads” column this time of year. For over 50 years, I have been writing columns called messages for graduates. Almost every one of the other columns was concerned about jobs and...
With energy and ag experiencing tough times, this was the year that tourism was going to help the Wyoming economy soar. And then came the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time in our lifetimes, the whole world shut down. Wyoming is a destination reached mainly by auto and camper. With national gasoline prices hitting historic lows, it could have been assumed that we would get far more than our usual 9 million visitors per year and maybe even set new tourism records. Tourism is a powerful force. People today feel their vacation trips are an...
I have no illusions that life is going to go back to normal any time soon. Wyoming, the United States and the world, can start opening businesses that have been closed, but it doesn’t take away that there is probably going to be an element of caution as we start venturing out. I saw this happen when SARS hit Taiwan. Life did go back to normal for the most part but it was a process. The same is happening in Carbon County for me. I have done a few in person interviews in the past couple weeks, ver... Full story
Dear Editor, Time to get involved folks! This is a call to the voices of all Carbon County residents to provide input based on your personal expertise, knowledge, experience and desire to develop the Natural Resources Management Plan for Carbon County. This plan will be the product of a non-partisan committee. Why is this important? Because without a plan for our county, the Federal Government can step in and dictate to use how to use our resources! We chose to live here, in good part, due to these unique, limited and irreplaceable resources....
