Robins, bluebirds, sandhill cranes, and pussy willows are all signs that it’s spring on Beaver Creek and it seemed to take a while to get here in spite of the fact that our winter was mild. With spring comes new beginnings and changes.
I was at a meeting recently where an experienced board member said she just didn’t like change. Everyone feels that way to some extent, but most often with change comes opportunity. Every time a door closes, I have found that there is another just waiting to open
Over a year ago I started writing this column and it’s been a blast having a forum to share my view of the world: history, books, events, more history, and stories of our great state.
This door is now closing, so you’ll no longer be hearing from me in the Wednesday morning Cowboy State Daily news feed. But my passion is history (and writing and books), and The American West Series will continue and that will feed my desire to research and write about our collective past.
When I started writing this opinion column, I took over from Cat Urbigkit, a writer and rancher I have long admired. She has always been a strong advocate for agriculture – particularly the sheep industry – and wise stewardship of lands.
After her departure from Cowboy State Daily, I kept reading her on Facebook and other forums, and I want to wish her strength and healing as she is now facing a significant health challenge.
And even as Cat deals with pain and other issues that might bring someone else to their knees, she writes and shares her life, and in doing so she inspires many, me included.
As I begin to sign off one last time in this particular opinion forum, I’m struck by some recent observations:
Sometimes people in Wyoming are too “Cowboy Tough” and they don’t or won’t slow down long enough to recognize that stepping away can be the toughest but the best thing for an organization.
Sometimes power becomes more important than true leadership. One beloved Wyoming organization is seeing that right now with a fracturing that very well might destroy something decades old for no real reason other than a desire to push out an old guard and make way for a new one.
Our state needs to better fund its cultural institutions – museums, state parks, historic sites. They represent the best of our past, and will inspire people in the future.
As I’ve traveled across the state during this past year, I’ve seen the decay – signs that are so weathered you cannot read them, buildings closed more hours than they are open due to lack of staff. No firms bid on projects because budgets are far below industry standards. The list could go on.
Wyoming will hold its first ever teacher conference in August, TeacherCon25. In conjunction with America's 250th anniversary, this groundbreaking two-day event at the University of Wyoming will bring together teachers and presenters to recognize and celebrate “250 Years of Legacy and Learning.”
I’m fortunate to be selected as a presenter to talk about the Packing the West program I helped develop for Western Writers of America. It is an educational series of short films – all based on historical characters and events from Jim Bridger to the Pony Express.
Other film stories include the trial of the Omaha Chief Standing Bear in the first civil rights trial in the country, held in 1879, that established civil rights for American Indians. And the series has stories of Nat Love, an outstanding Black cowboy, William Bent, a trader on the Santa Fe Trail, and Susan LaFlesche Picotte, an early Indian doctor.
These Packing the West films are available to any teacher, organization, group, individual, museum, or homeschool parent free of charge. And there are supplemental materials that can encourage reading, writing, math, science, art, and music related to the stories.
If you interested in the films and materials, you may email me, or visit https://westernwriters.org/education/packing-the-west/
I’m in the process of developing new films now for other organizations that will involve history (of course) in Carbon County. Watch for those next year as part of the America250 celebration of the Declaration of Independence.
Oh, and finally, the tooth fairy is dealing with inflation – I hear from my granddaughters that teeth bring up to $5 these days – their mom was lucky to get 25 cents from the fairy who came for her tooth.
Like I say, change is happening. Watch for it. Help make it. Embrace it.
Candy Moulton can be reached at Candy.L.Moulton@gmail.com
