New events, new people, old favorites

Saturday is the first official day of fall and this fall is proving to be just as busy and interesting as the summer was in Washakie County.

In case you have missed it the past several weeks, school is in full swing in Washakie County and the Big Horn Basin and it is a busy two weeks in Washakie County with homecoming this week for the Ten Sleep students and homecoming next week for Worland students.

Both schools have worked in events that can involve the public. Full stories on the activities can be found on A7 in this week’s issue. Some community highlights include the tailgate party and car smash Friday night for Ten Sleep, and earlier in the day is the pep assembly and parade.

For Worland they have a tailgate party on Tuesday night, with pep assembly and parade on Friday.

Come join the fun.

This fall things are not slowing down at all for activities in the community either. Last weekend Worland and Thermopolis hosted fly-in events, and by all accounts, a good time was had by all who attended.

This weekend the Washakie Museum continues their month-plus long celebration of Indigenous Peoples Month with the Eagle Spirit Singers and Dancers from 10 a.m. to noon. The STEAM Saturday will be from 1 to 3 p.m. with the topic Moccasin Motifs and Techniques. Children in kindergarten through eighth grade can learn about Native American culture and designs as they craft their own necklace.

Sept. 30 will be the final farmers market with hay rides on the agenda.

Several activities are planned at the Washakie County Fairgrounds on the weekend of Oct. 7 including the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off and Drop, which has been a community favorite event since its inception. More on all the festivities will be published in the coming weeks.

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A few weeks ago I wrote about the famous people we have in our community and this week you can meet two more of them as two of our very own Admiral employees were honored statewide by the Wyoming Trucking Association – Jeff Mackay as Driver of the Year and Zach Richard as Mechanic of the Year. Congratulations to both of them.

We also have some future famous people. Last week we began our features of new teachers in Washakie County schools and we will be continuing those features through the coming weeks, including in this week’s edition. These are the teachers who are helping shape the future by molding our students into future leaders.

Get to know these fine folks and welcome them to our community.

We here at the Northern Wyoming News also are welcoming a new staff member as Grace Walhus joins the editorial staff, moving here from Montana. You will be seeing her around the community.

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We are also excited that we were able to bring back our football contest after a three-year absence. Last year we had several people ask about the contest but logistically we were not able to make it happen. One avid reader and football contest participant reminded me throughout the year about the contest and this year were able to get everything to fall into place.

Part of that was finding our great sponsors, for whom the contest would not be possible — Big Horn Federal, Carquest, Diesel Pickup Specialist, Farmer’s Insurance - Lisa Beamer, R & A Safety, Range, Rendezvous Lounge, Stogie Joe’s, Sunlight Federal Credit Union, Swing Trucking and TR’s Auto.

You do not need to be a football fan or know a lot about the teams to play. The only cost to enter is the price of a newspaper — and if you are reading this you already have a copy.

The contest can be found in the sports section. Just pick your teams (make sure you pick a winner for all 21 games) and turn the entry in by 4 p.m. Friday. Your knowledge, or even lack of knowledge of football, could win you $50 or even $100 (all picks correct).

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The National Weather Service has mentioned that four-letter word – snow. Snow is possible this weekend in the higher elevations as a new front moves in, likely bringing rain the end of this week for the lower elevations.

It is Wyoming and we all know that snow is possible in higher elevations during any month, but after last year’s never-ending winter of cold and snow, I am not ready to hear snow in the forecast, higher elevations or not.

The snow, however, might be a blessing for the Bighorn National Forest as firefighters had to fight a small fire over the weekend thanks to careless forest visitors who did not put their campfire completely out.

There are plenty of fun things to do this fall so go out and enjoy responsibly, before the snow flies.