Two Hot Springs County employees celebrate retirement

Bowman - Free at last!

Bo Bowman is retiring after being in his position as the Hot Springs County Planner for the past 12 and a half years.

Bowman said, "There's been good days, bad days, but the good days way outnumber the bad days. I've enjoyed this. I've enjoyed working with the commissioners, I've enjoyed the people of this building. I've always enjoyed the people in the building. That's not a problem. But the community has been awesome."

Bowman's career started in California in 1975, having received his education from UC Davis where he combined a variety of interests such as architectural history, landscaping, and other areas. Next, Bowman joined the Navy and after his service, he finished his education with the G.I. Bill. Bowman earned his master's in land use planning. He lived in Colorado and then moved to Jackson, WY, where he met his wife Jo. After moving around the greater Wyoming and Montana areas, he came to Worland and got a job with Hot Springs County. 

Regarding what Bowman said about his achievements and growth over the years, he laughed, "I grew more tired...I think my organizational skills, which are sadly deficient, have improved a lot over the last 12 years. I think in this job I learned that I like being a one-man show. I've had people working for me and I've had the opposite problem... I don't know what to do with them. It's like because I just if something needs getting done. I do it."

Bowman added, "I finally found what I really wanted in a job which I really enjoyed, is I feel like Andy Mayberry, you know. I get to look out the window in this corner office, I look out on the town and it's like, I feel like...I don't live in this community, but I feel like I'm part of this community, you know, and I get to help people. I like helping people."

Regarding Bowman's future and his plans as a pastor in Worland, he said, "I'm going to get more serious about it since I've realized there's no such thing as a part-time ministry. I got a little church that's outgrowing me, and. And they're turning into fighters, you know, and I need to be there more. 

Not only does Bowman want to spend more time with his spiritual efforts, but also his creative side as well. He said, "I've got to blow the dust off of five story ideas. One of two of which have essentially become manuscripts. The others are just partials and they've been ignored for many years and I want to write. I think I've fooled a publisher into actually reading one. We'll see where it goes from there."

Bowman added, "The editorial process, the rewriting process, is addictive. And you have to be careful because I'll bet you there are people out there that their manuscript is never ready because they can just make it better. You know, it's a drug. And so I got to back away from that. I promised this publisher, I said to him. 'I go through this manuscript one more time and shake it up a little,' and send it to him. And I said, 'I should be able to have it to you in 60 days.' He asked, 'So where did you get 60 days from?' I made it up."

Bowman's job as Hot Springs County Planner has left him with many good memories and experiences with a variety of people.

Bowman's replacement is Les Culliton, who worked previously for the county as a maintenance supervisor and other roles.

Cornella - Retirement queen!

Terri Cornella, Hot Springs County's District Court Clerk, is now retiring after 19 years in her position. She went through three elections and prior to that; she was the deputy for five years. Additionally, Cornella worked in the County Attorney's office for 14 years, where she started out as crime victims advocate. 

During Cornella's journey to become the District Court Clerk, she worked in Casper in the police department and the records department. In these roles, she said, "I got very familiar with law enforcement. And then I went over to the municipal court in Casper...We had a lot of actual courtroom appearances. And I sat in the courtroom as a municipal court clerk, then, moved here and started our family...I saw an ad for the paper and I had been a clerk in Casper and worked in law enforcement records. So I just had a little bit of experience, a little bit of legal. And it looked like something I could be interested in."

Regarding her achievements, Cornella said, "I used to be horribly shy, and it helped me come out of my shell a lot, too, to be both upstairs and down here. I had to talk in front of the jury every time. I used to do the name roll call and everything back in the day and read verdicts. And that was not always a fun job. But I did well because I can keep a stone face. Now, the judge reads her own verdicts, so we don't do that anymore.."

Cornella added, "I've met so many people and had a lot of good relationships both here locally and across the state, a lot of good friends and other offices across the state, other court clerks." 

Part of Cornella's role as the county's District Court Clerk is that she is the official keeper of the district court record and her office keeps track of everything that comes into the office. Some of those functions are being in charge of child support, receipt and disbursement, and fines and court costs. Cornella's office also keeps the court calendar and jury duty.

Regarding jury trials, Cornella said, "I have scheduled my life around jury trials for 33 years and I'm not going to miss that. That's the one thing about my job I'm not going to miss is not being able to make plans because of a jury trial. I did it upstairs of the county attorney's office and down here. So for 33 years, I've had to make plans around the jury trials. But I'm going to actually miss the jury trials, which were fun, though, for me. I enjoyed that. I enjoyed seeing the public up here, seeing people that I never saw on a regular basis and that I'm going to miss really badly."

Cornella continued and said, "I just have my memories. I've worked with several attorneys, new attorneys, judges, and attorneys who have gone on to be judges...I think just all the experience I've gotten and all the cool people I've met across the state, and I think that's just my best. I think I just have so many good memories. My clerk's association, all the clerks from the 23 counties, we all get together at least three times a year and they're like another family. I mean, we are so close, we have such good relationships and everybody helps everybody else. If somebody has a question, they email everybody and everybody helps them with it. I call them "my hen house". It's just so wonderful. And they're probably one of my best memories of all the fun times I've had with them."