Family Affair: Chamber ambassadors spanned 44 years and multiple generations

George "Buster" Sheaff founded the Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors in 1973, inviting several other businessmen to join him as a welcoming committee for businesses and dignitaries.

The organization had some ups and downs in membership and finally waned out in about 2017.

According to former ambassador Julie Wetherbee, there were eight charter members -Buster Sheaff (clothing store), Ray Bower (bank), Bruce Edwards (real estate), Gene Kelley (shoe store), Leo Rhodes (Ten Sleep, ag sales), Harry Ujifusa (farm), Eddie Willard (ice business) and her father Lowell Peterson (bank).

Wetherbee is spearheading an idea to honor the founders of the ambassadors and the organization itself with a plaque. The plaque would include one of the marble "rocks" that were presented to businesses, the information about the symbol of the rock and the names of the charter members.

Lowell Peterson said that the ambassadors helped "put a face on the chamber."

Peterson said one of the things he enjoyed most with ambassadors was meeting the new people that moved into town to open new businesses.

"Being president of the Chamber of Commerce was as highly regarded as the mayor. I mean, the chamber was, they were, you might say, the organization at the time," Peterson said.

George Sheaff, Buster's son, added, "This thing gained momentum, they became highly respected among the business and professional community. And that momentum carried forward because of the people that my dad recruited."

Why was it started? Mike Willard, whose father Eddie was a charter member, said while he did not know for certain Buster's thought process, he noted "Worland has always been very community oriented, very community minded.

"And I think, knowing the people who are on that board, originally, they were kind of people who'd been in the chamber, been through the chamber, no longer on the board of directors, but they wanted to continue to help and make the chamber and Worland that much more. My father's comment was if you're going to be a part of Worland then be a part of Worland," Willard said.

Lowell Peterson described the ambassadors as the "hospitality arm of the chamber."

According to the 2004 bylaws, "the purpose of the ambassadors is to function as a public relations branch of the Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce. They shall visit new, remodeled and relocated businesses and welcome and promote the Worland and Ten Sleep area in general."

The group met the last Thursday of each month.

The number of ambassadors fluctuated throughout the years but, according to the by-laws, there was to be a maximum of 20.

"To qualify as an ambassador, the individual has to have resided in our community/area, for a minimum of two years and represent an existing business or individual in current good standing of the Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce," according to the 2004 bylaws.

Ambassador selection, per the bylaws, was derived from a written application submitted by prospective ambassadors. Selection was by a majority vote of the ambassadors "subject to approval of the Executive Committee of the Chamber of Commerce."

Leadership was a director and co-director, voted on by the ambassadors. Attendance was mandatory and it was "considered unacceptable" for an ambassador to attend less than 50% of scheduled meetings, ribbon cuttings, visitations or special programs by the club.

Membership dues were $50 and members were required to purchase their own "red coat." Red was the trademark color for the Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber ambassadors. Why red? In several interviews no one was able to definitively state why red was initially

selected, but everyone agrees the original suit jackets were bright red and stood out.

Sheaff noted the group was self-funded through dues and occasionally would be asked for an additional assessment to help purchase more marble rocks."

George Sheaff said it was traditional blazers but in later years there were pullover vests. Lowell Peterson had a red windbreaker. The 2004 bylaws called for "traditional red blazer or shirt/blouse."

He recalled a story Harry Ujifusa told him that the men (the ambassadors were all men in the beginning) with their red blazers would get laughed at when they would walk down the street in together.

Sheaff said back then businessmen always wore suit and tie as well.

Former Chamber Ambassador Wendy Press Sweeny said every Chamber Ambassador club had different colors, noting Thermopolis had blue and gold vests.

Sweeny said there could only be one ambassador for each business type with Sheaff noting that idea came from the Rotary Club.

Sweeny said during the time she was an ambassador they were close to 20 members at times, but generally there were about 15 members.

She said she joined in about 1998. "I've always been advocate for the community I've lived in. It's a way to give back, but was also good exposure for my business (private attorney practice), but most importantly a way to give back to the community."

The ambassadors would welcome new businesses, businesses that had moved, expanded or had major changes. They also would go to the airport to welcome dignitaries to Worland and be the welcoming committee at chamber events.

Sweeny noted that a business did not have to be a chamber member for the ambassadors to visit or to schedule a ribbon-cutting.

"We just wanted to help get the word out (about what was happening with the businesses)," she said.

Businesses were given a marble rock with the Ambassador logo (a handshake). Sweeny said one member would present the rock, while the other would tell of its meaning.

According to a script, found in archives by Chamber Executive Director Ruth Dugger, the member would say, "The ambassadors are pleased to present you with the marble "rock" as a symbol of stability and permanence. The rock is forever and symbolic of the strength within a community. The stone has endured for millions of years and will continue to do so long after we are gone. However, while you are here, we encourage you to be a strong, permanent part of our business community. The symbolism of a handshake is to remind us of an everlasting friendship between business and community and ask that you extend this to your customers."

FINAL YEARS

With the requirement for members to attend at least 50% of meetings and events, Sweeny said it was becoming a struggle to get a turnout at events because everyone was so busy.

She said it was disheartening to welcome a new business and have just a handful of "red coats" in attendance. "It doesn't sit well, you want a large welcoming."

Other struggles were when the chamber was struggling keeping a director as the chamber director helped communicate with the ambassadors and kept them apprised of new businesses.

Former chamber director Mike Willard agreed, noting the ebbs and flows of membership in the ambassadors had a lot to do with who was in the chamber director seat.

The monthly lunch meetings were something every ambassador looked forward to according to Sweeny and Sheaff.

Sheaff said, "We were a pretty casual group and we loved having lunch together."

"We met for lunch, visited, shared about our businesses and other business, what's happening and how can we help," Sweeny said. She said ensuring a variety of areas of the business community were represented in the membership brought different perspectives and knowledge to the club.

Sweeny said losing some of the original members was also hard on the ambassadors, noting some of her fondest memories are the chats she would have with Eddie Willard driving him to the monthly lunches, or traveling with Ray Bower to Ten Sleep events.

Sheaff added that business trends also lent itself to the ambassadors ending - with e-commerce hurting businesses, along with big box stores coming in.

He said Phyllis Lewis and Sweeny were instrumental in keeping the group organized and "kept us motivated."

She said there was good camaraderie with the ambassadors and they were a support group for each other. "It was teamwork. It was fun. It broke my heart it had to come to an end."

FAMILY

Several of those charter members had children follow in their footsteps, like Peterson and his daughter Julie.

Wetherbee said she asked to join the ambassadors "because my dad was a charter/founding member and it meant so much to him and I was very proud of that. I loved being a representative of Worland."

George Sheaff, following in his father Buster's footsteps, did not join until many years later.

Sheaff said he was raised in Nebraska and would visit Worland during the summers to work for his Uncle Marvin and Aunt Helen Stalcup when they had Marvin's for Men.

His father purchased the business Marvin's For Men and then Sheaff purchased it in 1981 (his father passed in 1977).

Sheaff said he did not join the ambassadors as soon as he moved to Worland. He was busy with other community organizations including his church, Rotary and Worland Country Club.

He joined the ambassadors in 2008. "My dad was the first and I was kind of transitioned in, in later years and was part of the last group."

Sheaff also remembers his mother Phyllis was an ambassador. Sweeny said she believes Phyllis was the first woman ambassador for Worland.

Sheaff remembered that Eddie Willard gave the eulogy at his mother's funeral and all the ambassadors were there with their red coats.

Why did he join ambassadors? Sheaff said, "I always felt like community service was part of how you as a merchant pay back your community, help your community. I wanted to allocate the time for it and I finally had the time."

"So as I further transition in life (becoming active in the Washakie Museum, starting the Little Free Libraries in Worland with wife Carol, and active with Friends of the Washakie County Library), even though I'm 78 years old, I try to stay active in our community. I think for me anyway, it's important. It's important to give back."

Mike Willard's dad was also a charter member, and while Mike never served as an ambassador, he did serve as chamber director and worked closely with the ambassadors.

He said his father is listed as a charter member but notes he was not at the initial meeting. "But, he was the first person they asked, and he was really proud of that."

Willard started service with the Chamber as a board member, then president.

He said shortly after he finished his term in 2003, he got a call that the director, Mike Yauck resigned. He was asked to help the new board president determine what to do.

Willard said he had plans to take over his dad's ice plant but then he went to talk to his dad about the director position and his dad was in the process of selling the company. His thoughts then turned to taking the director position himself.

"It was a good choice for me. It really was," he said.

"The ambassadors were very active at that time. The three guys I could always count on being there were Harry Ujifusa, Dad and Ray Bower. Those guys were always there. And then Wendy Sweeny was coming in and out, along with Jean Wright.

"It was a fairly active group at that point. And they come down and they help us run projects and run things that were going on and, and be there quite often as greeters, or if you needed something done, they would go in and help you with whatever it is you need. Because your board's limited on time, because most of them were right in the in the forays of working or running businesses or being a part of that. I used and abused my board members as much as I could and the ambassadors were there to fill in. They were great because they really did they were right there on the spot. And they knew how to answer the questions and they had the experience and the abilities to do things."

He recalled one story when Mike Yauck was needing someone to go to Riverton to bring curtains over for the business expo and he told Willard he had called everybody and could not find anybody to help. Willard said, "No you haven't" and asked if he had checked with any of the ambassadors. Mike called his dad Eddie and Eddie and Yauck went over and got the curtains and talked about the Chamber and the ambassadors and about the area.

"When I took over, Dad looked at me and says, 'I've trained the last five chamber directors. I don't really know what to do, because I've spent your entire life training you. I don't know how to do this. You've had all the training your whole life," Willard said.

He was director during the Centennial and his dad said he didn't think Mike could beat the 75th celebration but admitted that he had.

Willard added, "It was a fun position. I loved doing the job. I really did. I it was probably one of my favorite jobs. And I've had a lot of different careers in my life.

He said he never became involved as an actual ambassador because after leaving as director he was never in a position with his work to be involved. His father, however, he said served until he no longer could, passing away May 28, 2015. "That was just part of who he was."

Mike was the third member of his family to be involved in the chamber, noting his father and grandfather became active in the Chamber when they first moved to Worland. His dad was a former Chamber president, serving during the Diamond Jubilee.

With final thoughts for the ambassadors, Willard said, "These people were doing everything they could to make Worland better place to be and I think they did a pretty good job."