Sunday, June 29, 2014

That was one super day, Cheyenne

Chris takes a break from work while I take five from walking Superday for Mike Ceballos.
Yesterday was Superday in Cheyenne. At first glance, that name seems grandiose. Can any event be super? Can't you find another title? Cheyenne Day would be a good one but it's already taken. The Wednesday smack in the middle of Cheyenne Frontier Days is Cheyenne Day. It's the day that almost everyone gets off work at noon and is drunk by 12:30. If you think I'm exaggerating, go hang out in downtown Cheyenne on July 23. It can be fun, too, if you bring along some moderation with your enthusiasm. Music on the plaza. melodrama at the Atlas (and on the streets). Art in the galleries. Rodeo in the park.

Superday may just have to do.

Superday 2014 falls in an election year. Booths for gubernatorial and legislative candidates are stuffed among those for the YMCA and Recover Wyoming and the Cheyenne Ski Club. I was there this morning. Lynn Birleffi and I teamed up to hand out leaflets for Mike Ceballos, who's running for superintendent of public instruction. I know Mike as an arts education supporter during his stint as CEO of Qwest. He's a good man with loads of leadership experience, a trait that will be handy at a Department of Education fraught with turmoil during Cindy Hill's reign. If you haven't been keeping up, well, I don't have enough time and fortitude to school you on these pages. Let's just say that Mr. Ceballos will bring some much-needed sanity to the department. He's a Democrat, too, and that will give us at least one statewide elected official we can crow about. 

For some people at SuperDay, such as my wife Chris, this is a working day. For the rest of us, this is a day we volunteer. Cheyenne is known for its volunteerism. We donate thousands of hours during Frontier Days and almost every other time of the year. Why? Tradition! And then there's that empathy gene that calls out to us. There are plenty of causes that need our time and attention. I could make a long list. Fortunately, I don't have to do so as the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle did so today in its "Volunteer Wyoming" insert (check it out). You could sum it up by saying that any nonprofit organization needs volunteers. So that's what we do.

What cause or organization do you volunteer for? Any why?

Chris and I as part of the mudding crew June 21 at the newest Laramie County Habitat for Humanity home-building project in Cheyenne.

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