CHEYENNE — People sometimes joke that politics is a contact sport, but Virginia Clarke, a staff member working for the Wyoming Legislature, proved that it may actually be more an endurance sport.
Clarke, 70, averaged 70,000 steps a week during this year’s two-month legislative session, the equivalent of about 35 miles a week. That’s about 280 miles over the course of the session.
She’s a messenger for the Wyoming House of Representatives, which involved delivering bills and other communications to the Senate chamber and the governor’s office, as well as delivering paperwork within the House.
“Just delivering paper is my job,” she said.
Although her job may seem rather mundane on its surface, the messages Clarke delivered were pertinent and critical for the whole state of Wyoming. Whenever Senate President Bo Biteman, R-Ranchester, would declare and read “messages from the House,” it was almost always from Clarke.
Whatever was asked of her, whether it was making copies or hauling off a fat stack of packets, Clarke was eager to do it, as long as it wasn’t “fattening, illegal or immoral,” she said with a laugh, a faint British accent poking through her words.
Fit Trip
Clarke relied on a Fitbit smartwatch to track her steps.
She was already active before the session started in early January, walking three to four days per week, 3 miles at a time. She worried before the session that she wouldn’t get enough exercise but was sorely mistaken.
Whenever the House was in session, Clarke was working. On average, she would work 11-12 hours a day, reaching about 50 hours a week.
She and her daughter have a friendly competition over who can walk more, but Virginia took a clear lead of around 30,000 steps during the session, causing a little frustration from her younger counterpart.
In the second to last week of the session, Clarke notched 74,100 steps. She averaged about 12,000-14,000 steps per day, much more than the 2,000-3,000 daily steps she usually gets.
As a diabetic, Clarke also has to keep an eye on her Fitbit to make sure she’s getting enough calories throughout the day.
Clarke said she didn’t notice all the extra exercise from a physical standpoint.
“I’m always tickled when I look at the end of the day and I say, ‘wow, that was a good day,’” she said.
And luckily, no one ever took it out on the messenger for being the bearer of bad news. Although tensions can get high and rhetoric sharp during the Legislature, Clarke said she was impressed by the members of the 68th Legislature.
“Everybody has been the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and I think everybody here cares about Wyoming and the residents of Wyoming,” she said. “It almost makes me cry but they are the best people I’ve ever worked with.”
A retired nursing home administrator from Nebraska, she credits House Chief Clerk Katie Talbott and her staff for making her job easier, remarking that they do the hardest work and are always patient with her.
“They just hand it to me and I take it where it goes,” Clarke said. “But I couldn’t take one single step without them.”
Back To Wyoming
Clarke and her husband, who grew up in Cheyenne, lived together in Wyoming in 1972, but ended up moving all around the world due to his job in the military. Through it all they always kept the Cowboy State in their hearts and around 10 years ago moved back.
“We love it, Cheyenne is a dream for us,” she said. “It’s just a special place.”
Clarke became a U.S. citizen in the early 1970s after growing up in England, her naturalization paperwork signed off by former President Richard Nixon. She still carries a faint British accent at the end of her syllables.
Working at the Wyoming Legislature is a labor of love, a duty that most couldn’t rely on for their lone source of year-round income. Thus, it becomes more of an act of service. Because of the citizen culture and high intensity nature of the Legislature, a sense of fervor and adrenaline take over the halls of the Capitol. It’s a reality Clarke is in lockstep with.
“I just get the genuine feeling that everybody is here for Wyoming and the Wyoming people,” she said. “I feel that way about everybody here.”
Even more importantly, this winter, she’s been able to play a critical role in the Wyoming legislative process, an experience she proudly wears on her sleeve and in her shoes.
“I’m so impressed that this many people in one area are so nice and kind,” she said. “It’s the nicest thing here, I hope I get invited back.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
