Kearney Hall sits wide and welcoming, a big open room with long tables and a ceiling stitched with memory.
Quilts in every color hang from the beams and along the walls, a reminder that our grandmothers once turned scraps into warmth.
Last week, neighbors pulled up chairs beneath those quilts to talk about issues and possibilities. A Wyoming conversation.
The event was sponsored by the Democratic Parties of Johnson and Sheridan Counties but were open to all regardless of party affiliation. About 85 people attended.
I knew seven Republicans and recognized a few Sheridan Democrats. The remainder were likely Unaffiliated or Democrats from both counties.
Representatives Mike Yin and Karlee Provenza have been holding these Listening Sessions across the state to capture what truly concerns people.
I had heard excellent reviews from friends and fellow Republicans who had participated in earlier sessions and urged people to look past the Party sponsorship and show up for the discussions.
The format was straightforward, and the setting mattered.
A big room, tables of eight, a printed set of ground rules. Focus on Wyoming only. Respectful interactions. Assume good intentions. Step up and step back so everyone has a turn. Constructive communications
Give two simple prompts and let the room work: What in Wyoming or your community keeps you up at night? What would you like to see in the headlines five years from now?
First articulate the problems then pivot to a positive future.
Each table reported on the issues its group of eight identified. Different tables used different words, but they named the same problems.
Public education funding and student outcomes. Mental health services and suicide rates. Property taxes and the price of groceries. Affordable and available healthcare and insurance. Funding public services with decreased revenues. Workforce housing and in-state jobs for graduates.
The headlines shifted the conversation to outcomes. Wyoming 3rd Graders have the highest reading scores in the US. Prison populations decreased due to Mental Health services. Wyoming has the lowest suicide rate. Seventy-five percent of eligible citizens are registered to vote; election turnout highest in country. Wyoming moves to Open Primaries.
None of this is abstract. These are the concepts that surface at the grocery checkout, the clinic desk, and coffee break discussions.
Two evenings later, the Lander public library’s Carnegie Room filled for a panel made up of two Democrats and two Republicans.
The first question was blunt and timely: “How can Wyomingites and Americans move forward when we’re so polarized?” The panel answered from experience and without theatrics.
Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R‑Lander, did not sugarcoat our habits. “We label those who disagree with us as evil and seek to shut out uncomfortable ideas,” he said.
His point landed because it was honest. A neighbor cannot be an enemy if we plan to move the fence together.
Columnist Rod Miller spoke to civic duty. “The real way to be heard is the ballot box,” he said. He urged people to show up and to stand for something, even when it is not easy. When the room pressed for proof that elected leaders would listen, he added, “Send me your thoughts, your ideas, and I’ll answer.”
Accountability is not complicated. It is work.
Kim Bartlett, who once changed parties after moving to Wyoming, reminded the room that labels are poor substitutes for character. She pushed back on the “us versus them” habit that drains our energy and distracts from the work of governing a state that still runs on ranch gates, school buses, and county roads.
When Wyomingites sit down across a table, common ground materializes. Doesn’t matter which political party.
We want our kids to read well and grow up safe. We want our votes counted and our rules clear. We want a nurse within reach and a tax bill we can anticipate. This is shared interest, not party doctrine.
Let’s hold these conversations in every county. Ask a trusted nonpartisan community group to sponsor. That could be the Chamber, a service organization like Kiwanis or Rotary, an interfaith pastor’s alliance. Follow the ground rules and keep it Wyoming.
Those quilts at Kearney Hall did not appear by accident. Someone who cared took time, saved pieces, and stitched them into something stronger. We can do the same with our communities. Piece by piece, meeting by meeting, county by county.
If you truly believe in something, stand for it. Pull up a chair and talk to your neighbors. Then write it down and deliver it to the people who make decisions on your behalf. That is how we move forward.
Gail Symons can be reached at: GailSymons@mac.com
