Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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Well, Halloween has come and passed once again. The holiday has always been a favorite for me, even taking a higher place than Christmas, largely because of the amount of fun you get to have dressing up as a creature of the dark, a silly clown or some other figure and banging on doors to demand candy. In my childhood days, I always wanted something cute like a clown, but as I aged the costumes got a bit darker. Zombies, Riff Raff, the grim reaper, etc. I did once go back to being a clown, but Pe...
Halloween marks the start of the holiday season, from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve, with lots of food and family time. Holiday dinners with family were huge when I was growing up. My grandmother hosted them all in our house on Fifth Street, getting up at the crack of dawn to get things cooking. My job was to set the table and then sit with grandpa to wach the parades on TV. Just the scent of my grandmother’s rolls baking in the oven were enough to fill the whole house with that fee...
When I was graduated from high school and college, I thought I was done repeatedly going over lines in preparation of a stage production. Then along comes Dr. Fox and the Nosy Pig. For those of you who don’t know, this story of talking animals and learning to be yourself is what students in the Lights On program have been rehearsing and preparing for the past couple weeks, with opening “night” this Wednesday (Oct. 17). Not only have they been practicing their lines, but also getting invol...
I just completed watching the first episode of Ken Burns’ “Dust Bowl” which was originally aired on PBS several years ago. It had a special meaning for me since both my parents were “Kansas kids” whose lives were forever impacted by what some ecologists call the greatest ecological disaster ever on the North American continent. Memories of Mom’s response to questions about the “dusty bowl” as I called it were mostly confined to “It was just something that happened before you were born.” As the years passed, I discovered there were a lot of thin...
Its here! That smell of fall is here! You can step outside in the morning and the air actually smells different. There is no way you can escape the constant barrage of pumpkin spiced everything, either. Who decided we need pumpkin spice yogurt pretzels? Pumpkin spiced smoothies don’t really sound appealing to me, nor does pumpkin spice Jell-O. Non-alcoholic pumpkin spice sparkling juice? You can also find pumpkin spiced kettle corn, moonshine and salsa. I kid you not. Now that’s not to say I don...
The adage about March coming in like a lion certainly didn’t take Octobers like this one into account. It’s a very rare that I get woken up by nature, and when it does happen it’s usually something peaceful like a low roll of thunder somewhere miles away or raindrops hitting the roof. Not some kind of eerie howling wind that’s got me running around the house making sure the doors and windows are closed and wondering where I could go that has a storm cellar. But that howling seems fairly appropr...
We have hit that time of year when some days it feels as if Mother Nature is having some kind of psychotic episode – freezing in the morning and roasting in the afternoon. That’s the wonderful thing about Wyoming. It also makes it difficult to decide what to wear for the day, whether its sweater and boots weather in the morning or jeans and a t-shirt in the afternoon. I’ve lived in a few places in my life and it seems like the contents of my closet have been different everywhere I’ve been. F...
Everyone who has lived here through a summer knows how crazy the traffic can get during tourist season. While here at the Independent Record we provide stories about what’s going on in town, often times those visiting for a few days during the summer months are sharing their own stories. One recent example is a story written by Joshua Berman about his family’s finding Thermopolis while on a trip around Yellowstone to avoid the typical tourist traps like Yellowstone. But it doesn’t end there...
One of my favorite times of the year is here...football season! Although I love sitting on Sunday and watching my Broncos, I’m really talking about all the youth football we have around here. This last weekend was so fun. I had the chance to shoot the little guys playing rec football as well as the older kids with the middle school and the high school athletes on Friday night. It really gave me a perspective on how the game is played. The rec kids are having so much fun, learning as they go, a...
Tuesday marks the 17th anniversary of one of the most horrific attacks on U.S. soil, a day that will forever stir memories and emotions when someone mentions the date — 9/11. It’s weird to think that many of our high school upperclassmen weren’t even born when the news came over of the planes striking the two towers of the World Trade Center, only learning of it through textbooks and what their parents have told them. Though a time of extreme fear for our country, it was also a period when we ca...
I could tell this last weekend that there was a touch of fall in the air. Not because it was cooler outside or getting dark a little bit earlier, but because I had the urge to bake. There's nothing like the smell of fresh baked anything, whether its pie, cake, cookies, whatever. So I tried out a new recipe on Sunday for apple pie bites. The premise is an apple pie in a cookie sized bite. There are none left. I was very lucky to grow up in a multi-generational home with a grandmother who taught...
This election season certainly had an abundance of candidate to choose from, but with the increase of people running for office it seems the amount of mudslinging — in public, at forums and especially online — did as well. While that is typical of election season, there were some comments that stepped a bit too far over the line. But, as of Tuesday, we made it. The votes were cast and most of the local positions have been decided. For those who won their races, best wishes to the coming yea...
Most people you talk to will say this political season has been completely exhausting. Yes, it has been exhausting, but it has also been refreshing. Refreshing in that this little community has stepped up their game, coming to the table and not only running for elected offices, but talking openly and honestly about their hopes for the future of Thermopolis and Hot Springs County. It doesn’t matter where you go, you’re going to hear someone talking about this candidate or that one. Dis...
One of the political races that has seen more commentary than others is the five-candidate race for Hot Springs County Sheriff. In the various campaigns and forums, a topic that sees a lot of discussion is what is being done about the drug problem in Hot Springs County, and rightly so. If there’s one problem that doesn’t seem to have a solution, it’s drugs. As soon as one method of dealing with the issue is found, dealers and users seem to find 10 other ways to get around the law. It can feel...
As I get older, I realize more and more how everything eventually comes full circle in your life. This weekend is a prime example for me. I remember as a kid, selling programs at the Gift of the Waters Pageant for 50-cents through the Girl Scouts. Granted, at the time it was one of those fun things, meeting people from all over the world, but honestly, other than the fancy Native dancers, I didn’t get much out of it. Later on, it was the Saturday parade. This was the only parade the Wildcat Band...
This week, with all the political hubbub going around, take a break and take in the annual Hot Springs County Fair. Fair gets underway with the Pee Wee and 4-H and FFA Youth Horse Show this weekend, and there’s certainly plenty to see and do over the next few days. Of course, there will be plenty of critters to see when the fair buildings are open, but it’s also important to support our local youth as they show their skills and knowledge about their animals during the week’s shows. There...
We’ve been talking around the office this week about businesses which have come and gone here in Thermopolis and its funny how I remember so many of them, but most I couldn’t tell you exactly which storefronts they were once in. For instance, we had a bakery on the south side of Broadway. They would decorate their windows with delightful goodies every week, but the best were the holiday displays of treats they featured. My favorite was Easter. They would fill the windows with these amazing hollo...
Well, the PRCA Rodeo and fireworks show have come and gone, and both drew a crowd, but the summer activities here in Thermopolis are far from over. Coming up next for big events we’ve got the reunion weekend, providing a chance for classmates to get together and reminisce about school and share memories of our town, while also visiting about what they’ve been up to since graduation. Always a busy place, the fairgrounds will be active in the last couple weeks of July with the WJRA Rodeo, 4-H...
What a show our volunteer firemen put on every year. Whenever I see fireworks it always takes me back to two times in my life – my grandfather and Disneyland. When I was growing up, grandpa used to order in fireworks from some company out of state. I was always so excited to see that huge box arrive. It was like opening a pirate’s treasure chest with all the things that sizzle and boom. Come 4th of July, since we lived on a corner, grandpa and my mom would set the fireworks off in the int...
This past weekend saw the annual PRCA Rodeo, and Thermopolis truly shined in terms of showing off our town. The nightly performances at the fairgrounds were well-attended, with supporters of breast cancer awareness Friday night and an amazing tribute to our Armed Forces Saturday. At the Chuck Mead Memorial Pack Horse Race the crowd cheered on everyone, whether local or not, and encouraged them through the challenges of capturing their horses, securing the packs and leading the animals in the...
Some time ago, I was surprised by a question from a young friend (actually a teenager): What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in the loooong life you’ve lived? Before I considered the question, I informed my young friend that long had only four letters and none were to be stressed. Only then did I wonder at the nature of the question from one so young. I’ve spent the largest part of my life dealing with the young, and I couldn’t remember ever being queried in such a serious manner by one so young. Frankly, I was at a loss for a moment...
Recently, my oldest son started playing tee ball through the Hot Springs County Rec Department. It’s been a learning experience on many levels. I’ve had to remind myself that I am not a coach, and Mike’s been learning about the game – although he isn’t quite ready to let go of the bat when running to first base – and more importantly about being a good sport and teammate. With the whirlwind of the 2018 election just really starting to get a good spin on it, we can take some of those lessons abo...
“Inside every old person is a young person wondering what the heck happened.” I do think about this on occasion, like getting out of bed in the morning, knees popping, or when I try to do something I’ve done all my life and suddenly realize its not as easy as it used to be. I’m looking out the office window this morning and started thinking about what I would have been doing 40 years ago at this time. Wildcat Band. We were up and on the streets at 7 a.m., marching and twirling flags, blowing...
Thermopolis was recently designated as an “opportunity zone.” In essence, this means people – whether they live here or not – can invest money from the sale of companies into our community if they so choose. True, to be designated an opportunity zone it does mean our community is in something of an economic “low spot.” That is an unfortunate reality, but rather than making that a focus point let’s instead concentrate on the word “opportunity.” There are plenty in Thermopolis if you take the t...
Its time to pull out the shorts and tank tops! No, wait, jeans and a sweatshirt. Oh, let me grab my raincoat while I’m at it. Fickle Mother Nature in the spring, letting us wonder until the last minute what we need to bring with us when we leave the house in the morning. Having been born and raised here, I have realized keeping at least a sweatshirt and probably a rain jacket in my car year-round is a sound idea. And while we may be a tad frustrated at picking out a cute outfit the night b...
