News briefs

Unplug at Holy Trinity

The December Unplug event features Irish fiddler Angela Botzer on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 5:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, on the corner of 7th and Arapahoe. The evening will bring awareness of God’s presence among us and within all things though an evening of contemplation, silence, prayer, poetry and music. A light supper will follow. All are welcome.

Giving Tree

The Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce is hosting this year’s Giving Tree. The children benefiting from the Giving Tree and for birth to age 18. Only a parent or guardian can fill out the application. Each child will get two tags that reflect a want and a need. The applications must be turned in by the Monday, Dec. 9. Applications can be found at the Department of Family Services, Storyteller, Public Health or the Chamber of Commerce. 

The Giving Tree is set up at Storyteller. People can come to pick up a ticket and shop for the child in need. December 18 is the deadline to drop off the wrapped presents, along with the name tag. The gifts can be dropped off at either Storyteller or the Chamber.

Senior Tree

The Senior Citizen Angel Tree is up at the Bank of Thermopolis located at 701 Shoshoni St. Names of senior citizens in the community may be picked up during business hours. Gifts need to be wrapped and returned to the bank no later than Monday, Dec. 16 to ensure the seniors receive their gifts by Christmas. For more informaiton, contact the bank at 864-3787. The tree is sponsored and organized by the bank, Thermopolis Rehab & Wellness and the Wyoming Pioneer Home.

History project grants available

Need financial aid to help complete your history project? The Wyoming Historical Society, a non-profit membership driven educational organization, offers cash grants to people involved in research activities based on various aspects of the state’s history. The grants, ranging from $100.00 up to $1500.00 are awarded based on applications submitted to the Society’s Lola Homsher Endowment Fund Committee. The deadline is Friday, February 28, 2025, with applicants notified of the results in the spring. Applications and rules can be obtained by visiting the Society’s website at www.wyshs.org and selecting Programs and then Lola Homsher Research Grant Program.

If you do not have access to the internet, please contact the Wyoming Historical Society at 307.322.3014 or executivedirector@wyshs.org to receive a copy of the application. All recipients must provide the Society with an interim report and a final report about their projects.

Book signing

Saturday, Nov. 30 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Storyteller will host a meet-the-author event for Shop Small Saturday at 524 Broadway St.. Author Maria Kelson, who recently moved to Thermopolis, will be on hand to sign her debut novel, Not the Killing Kind, a mystery/thriller published in September 2024 by Crooked Lane Books and distributed by Penguin Random House. The novel won the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Crime Fiction Writers of Color from Sisters in Crime, and is about how far a mother will go to protect her son. Praised as a “stirring debut novel” loaded with “satisfying twists” by Publisher’s Weekly, the novel will appeal to crime fiction readers who like strong female characters and novels that engage contemporary issues.

The book description states, “Boots Marez is a Latina single mother raising a headstrong and sly eighteen-year-old boy she adopted six years ago. She also runs a school that helps the undocumented people in her politically divided town in Northern California. When her son Jaral is jailed for the murder of one of her former students, her world is turned upside down. Struggling to protect her son, Boots has to spotlight a community used to living in the shadows, putting her hard work over the years in doubt. Meanwhile, a vicious parents’ board wants to trash her ideals and oust her from the school she helped build. As she faces increasing danger to clear her son’s name, she must decide how far she is willing to go to bring her son home. But nothing is as it seems—Jaral has been keeping secrets from her after all. And as she puts the missing pieces together, she will discover a deeper and darker web of lies that has been hiding in plain sight.”