Locavores unite -- Second to last Tuesday farmers' market of the season Oct. 4

Cheyenne's Market for Local Products. Eat Local. It’s Thousands of Miles Fresher!

Tuesdays through October 11, 3-6:30 p.m., Historic Train Depot Plaza, Cheyenne

Featuring:

            Free Honey Crisp Apple for each Market Patron!

            Big Trailer Load of Pumpkins this Tuesday Only

            Grassfed lamb is back in stock

           

Plus all your favorites:

Locally grown Produce: Squash, Onions, Potatoes, Peppers, and More!

Colorado Tree-Ripened Fruits: Apples, Pears, Frozen Pie Cherries

Fresh Breads and Baked Goods

Gourmet Pasta, Raviolis, Pesto

Smoked Salmon, Trout, Dips, Soups, Chowders, German and Austrian Foods

BBQ to Dine on the Plaza or Take Home

Cheyenne Honey and Baer's Jams

Grassfed Beef, Bison, Chicken, Jerky, Eggs

Local, Organic and Natural Body Care

House Plants

Wood Crafts, Hand-made Cards, Alpaca Products, Jewelry, Glass Gifts, Baby Blankets, more!

For more information, see our website:  www.wyomingfreshmarket.org

Cheyenne's Reproacher in concert this weekend

Joel Funk, one of my son Kevin's friends, is in the local metal band Reproacher, Cheyenne’s “crust punk heavyweights.” The band plays with three others this Sunday, Oct. 9, at the Lion's Park Old Community House. Bring earplugs, says the Facebook invitation. Of course, that’s also what CFD tells patrons attending summer concerts by Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum. Amplified music is loud! Bring earplugs! For event info and to RSVP, go to http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140694529361884&notif_t=event_invite. Support local music!

CSU's 100 Views of Climate Change looks at the subject from all angles

Until John Calderazzo showed me his web site, I didn't know that there were 100 views of climate change.

That's the name of his site, 100 Views of Climate Change. It's an official Colorado State University site, one among hundreds at this place that started its life as Colorado A&M -- the big white Aggie "A" still lurks on the mountain above town.

John teaches in the CSU creative writing program which is part of the English Department. He is a writer of creative nonfiction which, put simply, means that he uses fiction writing techniques in his published books and articles and essays about volcanoes, rain forests, watersheds, etc. He takes his facts as seriously as he takes his technique. His book on volcanoes is fascinating. He once taught in China and had written extensively about Asia. Recently, he climbed his first big mountain, a 19,000-footer in Mexico. Pretty good for a guy who won't see 60 again.

I had a chance to visit with John when he was in Cheyenne for the Literary Connection put on by LCCC. He served as my first adviser when I went to CSU in 1988 as a thirty-something corporate dropout. We had a lot in common, including Florida roots, and he was only a few years older than me. We worked on several free-lance writing projects together. It's always good to see an old friend.

As is true with many Boomers in their sixties, John is not sitting in his office counting paper clips and marking off the days until retirement on a wall calendar. Well, he may be doing that but he's also bringing the climate change debate to CSU, Fort Collins, Colorado's Front Range and the Rocky Mountain West. He and his wife, Sue Ellen Campbell, are doing this together. Sue Ellen is also a published writer, professor and environmentalist. The duo has seen first-hand the depredations of climate change. They have written extensively on the subject.

When it was time to do something about it, they thought that they might as well start close to home. So many scientists at this university. Climatologists, soil biologists, ecologists, bioethicists, agronomists, water hydrologists and so on. And sometimes, to translate the work of these scientists, in come the artists, writers and performers.

No reputable scientist disputes the fact that global climate change is a real thing. However, the topic of "global climate change" sparks as many storms as a spring Rocky Mountain low pressure system. Policies that address climate change would affect almost all the ways that we've done business in the West for 100 years. They would affect coal mining, oil and gas drilling, coal-fired plants, transportation, infrastructure, home construction, and almost any other topic you could think of. Just the term "climate change" sends Wyoming Republicans into a tizzy. It's likely they work in the energy industry. It's certain that much of their election war chests come from EnCana and Peabody, etc. Many of their constituents work in the energy industry and make better money doing that than they would in almost any other endeavor. Local business groups and chambers of commerce welcome energy companies and energy jobs. The mayor of Gillette was just in Washington, D.C., telling a congressional committee to send more energy jobs his way.

So, it's not surprising that any hint of doing something about climate change causes berserkity to break out all over.

Chris Drury: "Carbon Sink: What Goes
Around Comes Around"

Here's a recent case in point from Wyoming's lone four-year university. A very talented artist, Chris Drury from the U.K., designed and installed a public art work on the UW campus. It's entitled 'Carbon Sink: What Goes Around Comes Around." It's made of real Wyoming coal and real beetle-killed trees from Wyoming forests. The burning of one of these things -- coal -- undoubtedly caused the warming planet which led to the pine bark beetle surviving winters which led to the killing of the trees. All of the parts will eventually return to the earth from whence they came, which is one of the messages of the piece. A giant circle of coal and wood spinning across a university lawn on its way back to the source. This also is our fate. The fate of humankind, of course, will be determined by the way we treat the planet.

Here's how the project was described on the UW Art Museum blog:

Chris Drury's Carbon Sink: What Goes Around Comes Around places beetle-kill pine and coal -- both natural resources in Wyoming -- in a formal structure derived from a mushroom spore, twisting into a vortex to suggest the natural process of decay, decomposition, and transformation.  Typical of the artist's work, who routinely connects natural phenomena from the macrocosmic to the microcosmic, the whirling deep, dark, and beautiful reflective properties of the coal play off the raw wood that has been charred so the materials merge at the center.

Some Wyomingites were not amused (snippets from stories about the installation from both the New York Times and The Guardian via Inhabitat): 

The coal industry immediately took offense: “They get millions of dollars in royalties from oil, gas and coal to run the university, and then they put up a monument attacking me, demonizing the industry,” stated Marion Loomis, the director of the Wyoming Mining Association.  

Two legislators also jumped into the fray -- Republican Representative Tom Lubnau and Gregg Blikre from Cambell County, site of the massive Powder River Basin coal mine. 

“While I would never tinker with the University of Wyoming budget – I’m a great supporter of the University of Wyoming – every now and then you have to use these opportunities to educate some of the folks at the University of Wyoming about where their paychecks come from,” stated Lubnau.

Read more here: Chris Drury’s “Carbon Sink” Art Installation Strikes Nerve of Wyoming Coal Industry Carbon Sink by Chris Drury – Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World 

As it turns out, it was a tempest in a teapot. No coal-crazed Republican legislators attacked the UW Art Museum budget. But we'll have many more of these. Some will be a lot more serious.

Chris Drury is obviously a thoughtful man in search of meaningful discussion of a big subject.

Maybe UW needs a dose of 100 Views of Climate Change. CSU is right down the road...

Chris Hedges: Join the Wall Street revolt or stand on the wrong side of history

Woman protester arrested on
Sept. 24 at Wall Street

This is pretty amazing stuff from someone who has so much to lose:

There are no excuses left. Either you join the revolt taking place on Wall Street and in the financial districts of other cities across the country or you stand on the wrong side of history. Either you obstruct, in the only form left to us, which is civil disobedience, the plundering by the criminal class on Wall Street and accelerated destruction of the ecosystem that sustains the human species, or become the passive enabler of a monstrous evil. Either you taste, feel and smell the intoxication of freedom and revolt or sink into the miasma of despair and apathy. Either you are a rebel or a slave.

This is Chris Hedges writing on Truthout.

Chris Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, for which he was a foreign correspondent for 15 years

Read it at The Best Among Us/Truthout

Creative placemaking video of 13-year-old artist in Sheridan, Wyoming

Sheridan Artist Lauren Sarantopulos from Indie Media: The New Journalism on Vimeo.

The Wyoming Arts Council features 13-year old Lauren Sarantopolus as she discusses her work at the Sagebrush Community Art Center in Sheridan. Video by Alan O’Hashi.

It's important to "Step Up for Kids" in October in Wyoming

With Wyoming Tea Party Republican legislators refusing to step up for our children on so many issues – early childhood education, health care, mental health issues, daycare standards, juvenile justice, poverty rates -- it's more important than ever to "Step Up for Kids."

That's what a lot of us will be doing across Wyoming in October. Sponsored by Wyoming Children's Action Alliance.

Here's the rundown:

The fourth annual Step Up for Kids Week is taking place throughout the communities and

counties of Wyoming the week of October 8-15. The purpose of these events is to

bring hundreds of people together to raise awareness of all children’s issues and the need

for investment in children in our local communities, our state and our nation.

These are dates and activities across the state.

October 9-13 - GILLETTE

A series of advertisements/articles will run in the Gillette paper. Articles will focus on children’s issues and parenting tips.

October 11^th  CASPER:  “Kids:  A Long Term Investment”

First Interstate Plaza – Corner of First and Center Streets

10:30 a.m. Two booths, one on health care, staffed by Barb Rea; one with materials about the value of quality child care, developed and staffed by Dianna Webb and Deb Nelson.

11:30 – Refreshments available.

Noon – Program begins. Program Emcee Heidi Dickerson welcomes crowd, notes theme, and introduces mayor or other city representative.

·     Proclamation read by Mayor/City Council Members

·     Students from Woods Elementary introduce former State Representative Ann Robinson. Ann speaks about opportunity for Wyoming Legislature to invest in children

·     Students from Woods Elementary introduce Parent Pam McMichael. Pam speaks about value of investing in Head Start

·     Student from Woods Elementary introduces Jackie Brown or Chelsea DiPaolo. Chelsea speaks about Gear Up

·    Woods student introduces B&G Youth of the Year - Youth of Year introduces B&G Club staffer who was a critical mentor - B&G Club staffer (yet to be identified) talks about working w/YOY and long-term commitment to kids

·    Woods student introduces Bethany Cutts - Cutts talks about the importance of early childhood development and the importance of high quality care to all children, whether in public or private programs or care centers; calls for state investment in quality care.

October 11^th - RAWLINS

Carbon County Higher Education Main Campus, 705 Rodeo – Classroom #1

5:30 – 7:00 pm Family information booths

7:00-8:30  p.m.  Linda Burt-Director of Wyoming ACLU

                                Juvenile Justice in Wyoming

October 14^th – EVANSTON AND MOUNTAIN VIEW

Evanston Child Development Center:
March For Kids

Our Children will walk/parade to our local government buildings/courthouse. There we will have a guest speaker (tent. Mayor Joy Bell). This event will be advertised in our Center Newsletters and Local Newspaper. Children will then parade back to the Center for a bbq. During the month of October we plan to have flyers and information available for parents on child growth and development, etc.

October 14^th - The Children's Learning Foundation:
March For Kids

Same idea as ECDC

Saturday, October 15^th - CHEYENNE

Lions Park Community House

10 am - 12 noon

Fun Activities For Kids & Community Resource

Information For Parents!

Adbusters' Occupy Wall Street poster asks: What is our one demand?

I love this Occupy Wall Street poster from Adbusters. Curious about the origins and goals of the protest? The Nation  explains it all for you at http://www.thenation.com/article/163719/occupy-wall-street-faq

Convergence WY asks: "Wyoming culture is unique but are we leveraging this culture to help build prosperous communities?"

Jackson Farmers' Market - Creative Bakeries from Indie Media: The New Journalism on Vimeo.

This vid comes from a series filmed by Cheyenne videographer Alan O'Hashi as he tours the state (with Wyoming Arts Council staffer Randy Oestman) in search of details about Wyoming's Creative Vitality Index (CVI). Teton County's CVI is off the charts, making it one of the best arts towns in the West. And that's not all high rollers buying big bronzes and Teton landscapes. It's also young artists finding ways to transfer their skills to the kitchen, and then selling those handcrafted pies at the farmers' market, with money going into their pockets and the community. The Circle of Life!

I'll share more of these CVI vids as they become available... They'll cover other areas of the state, including Sheridan and Rock Springs and Cheyenne and others. This creativity is no surprise to Wyomingites who know that there is an incredible amount of arts and crafts happening quietly in farms and ranches and small towns and in cities (we have a few) and even resort towns all around the state. The video series is an attempt to put a face on that activity.

So interesting that this surge of creativity happens in such a conservative state. After all, Wyoming has the most Republican legislature in the U.S. -- and the least diverse. The new Tea Party Repubs fell all over themselves during the 2011 session trying to propose the most absurdly regressive laws. Anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-worker, anti-wolf, anti-environmental protections. You name it, they were agin' it. Except for guns -- very pro-gun. Fetuses now have their own concealed carry laws.

Our gun culture is part of the creative economy. There are many artisans making and decorating their own firearms. Cody is home to the Buffalo Hill Historical Center and its fantastic firearms museum. In Cody, don't miss the eclectic Dug Up Gun Museum. Cody artist Paul Clymer turns old shotguns into colorful works of art. Pinedale artist JB Bond is in the process of transforming a junked vehicle into a nine-foot-long machine gun that will be part of the town's public art initiative.

But let's face it -- Wyoming's population is aging rapidly. Its infrastructure is crumbling. The education system is not getting the results warranted by the investment of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, or so say the Repubs..

Most importantly, its young people aren't hanging around to watch it crumble. Sure, some of these youngsters are featured in these videos. But unless we can boost the entire state's CVI, those youngsters won't stick around.

I ask my fellow parents this question: how many of your children departed Wyoming to go to college or the military and never moved back? Go ahead, tell me your stories.

The Rocky Mountain West is filled with livable towns and cities that also are artsy outdoor sports meccas. Need I name them? Fort Collins, Boulder, Durango, Denver, Steamboat Springs, Park City, Salt Lake City, Moab, Aspen, Sun Valley, Bend, Missoula, Bozeman, Livingston, Moscow, Pullman, Boise, Taos, Tucson, Flagstaff and so on.

These are the cities that Cheyenne, Casper, Rock Springs, Gillete and Riverton are competing against. Here is the question posed by Convergence Wyoming: "Wyoming culture is unique but are we leveraging this culture to help build prosperous communities?"

Well, are we?

For Boomers, using social media effectively is an uphill climb (with bad knees)

We heard from social media whiz Juliette Rule last night at a combined meeting of the Laramie County Democrats and the Democratic Grassroots Coalition.

I liked her generational breakdown of Facebook's impact. For Gen Y (Millennials), it's all about branding, about doing your own PR. For Gen X, it's about holding people accountable. For Baby Boomers, well -- they (we) like that social connection. It may also come with a little bit of a downside. What she meant, but was too polite to say in front of a roomful of Boomers, is that we're dazed and confused by social media and don't really know what to do with it. Perhaps if there were a few Gen Y or Gen X Dems (besides Juliette) in the room with us codgers? Better question is: why weren’t there any other Gen X or Gen Y Dems in that room?

Best thing we can do is try to understand social media and use it appropriately. I’m not there yet. Are you?

More about Juliette at http://www.facebook.com/SocialWyo

A closer look at Forrest King's "Remember, Heal & Hope" sculpture

HM earlier featured some photos of Forrest King's sculpture for the International Day of Peace ceremony Sept. 21. We thought a close-up and a description was also in order. This artwork could be variously described as a sculpture, an assemblage, or an installation. After making its debut at Peace Day in the Herschler Building, it will tour local churches and any other locale that would like to view the piece and hear the story behind it.

The materials in the sculpture came from representatives of local churches. They donated the items at the Sept. 11 commemoration held 9/11/11 in front of the Wyoming State Capitol.

Forrest organized his piece around the symbols of three religious traditions: the Christian cross, a Jewish tallit or shawl and a set of Muslim prayer beads. A firefighter's helmet tops the sculpture and it's propped up with an EMT's ready box. To illustrate the international storm caused by 9/11, the shawl and prayer beads have a wind-whipped look and are forever frozen in place that way. Not sure of Forrest's techniques, but the sculpture has the look of a traditional bronze monument.

Arrayed below that are three panels that say "Remember," "Heal" and "Hope." A prayer candle sits above an old hymnal opened to "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and "America the Beautiful."

It takes time and contemplation and talent to come up with a work of art in 11 days. We would all do well to take some time to contemplate what the artist has wrought. If you're interested in bringing it and the artist to a church or synagogue or mosque or school near you, go to Forrest King's Facebook page.

REMINDER: Dems meet Sept. 27 to talk social media

A joint meeting of the Laramie County Democratic Grassroots Coaliton and the Laramie County Democrats will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m. at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union hall. The speaker will be Juliette Rule and she will be discussing social media. Please plan to attend. The meeting is open to everyone.

Creative industries in the West: Rural rail autos, energy-based tourism and small-town creatives

We couldn't have said it any better. The renovation of the WYO Theater sparked Sheridan's downtown  revival. That will be one of the topics at Convergence Wyoming.

In advance of Convergence Wyoming Oct. 6-8 in Cody, I've been reading voraciously on the following subjects: the creative class, creatives, creative placemaking, creative economy, historic placemaking, and creative industries. It's exhausting.

On the positive side, there is an incredible amount of creative energy going into solutions for global warming, infrastructure decay and economic malaise. On the negative side we have our paralyzed American political structure. But the revolution in creativity may have some of its genesis in the terrible fact that government structures are inept or at least painfully slow in catching on to the new reality. And the fact that Congressional Republicans want to push the country back, way back, instead of forward into the future.

My first searches were for speeches and position papers by Convergence Wyoming presenters such as Steven Tepper and Anthony Radich. I've discovered some great stuff. More importantly, I've uncovered plenty of blog fodder. When it comes right down to it, isn't that what life is all about?

I've known Anthony Radich for almost 20 years. He's a move and shaker in the arts administration world. He directed the Missouri Arts Council for eight years, created its cultural trust fund, and took over the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) in Denver in 1996. Much to this dismay of the arts-funding world, he revamped WESTAF, making it a leaner organization, but also one that embraced technology and new ways of doing arts business.

One of the first things he did was move this regional arts organization from the stuffy confines of Santa Fe to Denver. I love Santa Fe for all the reasons people love Santa Fe: great food, fine art ogling, the Indian Market, cool old buildings, high and dry mountain air, etc.

But Denver? My hometown is a city known more for its sports teams and big-time hustlers (Bat Masterson, Soapy Smith, Denver Post founders Bonfils & Tammen, Neil Bush) that it is for its arts. When I covered the arts and entertainment scene in the early 1980s, you could count the good contemporary galleries on one hand, public art barely existed, the symphony was dying, tumbleweeds blew through an almost-deserted Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and the indie music scene centered around the Mercury Cafe and a couple of funky bars on Broadway.

It's a different city now. Apparently Denver was waiting for me and my family to leave before it blossomed into an arts destination, one that boasts more money generated by arts and culture than by its professional sports teams. Yes, the Broncos suck but the south stands are still filled during every home game.

So maybe that's what Anthony Radich foresaw when he moved WESTAF to a renovated warehouse in downtown Denver. He did see that Denver was a transportation center with a new airport courtesy of another big-time hustler, Philip Anschutz, and light rail was coming and Coors Field was the newest venue in MLB and tourism was huge and there was good coffee and fine microbrews within walking distance.

Some of the craft brews were at Wynkoop Brewery, John Hickenlooper, prop. As you know, he went on to become Denver's very popular mayor and now is the state's governor who is popular in places other than right-wing Colorado Springs.

There are more people in Denver proper than in the state of Wyoming. There are five times as many people in the Denver metro area than in Wyoming.

Backstage Theatre --
Breckenridge ain't just
for skiing anymore.

Wyomingites hate Denver traffic. But we sure love attending Rockies games and hanging out in LoDo. Ditto Broncos, Av, Nuggets, Six Flags Elitch Gardens, Colorado Opera, traveling shows of Les Mis, DIA, Denver Zoo, and so on.

Denver rakes in the Wyo dough. It's an arts and culture and sports destination for us. The airport is our international way station.

No Wyoming community will be another Denver. So what can we do to form our own home-grown creative economies?

For one thing, our city planners can stop spending money on zero-sum investments such as call centers. We all know this game. A big company wants to build a windowless building wherein low-paid locals can call you during dinner to harangue you about late credit card payments and the superiority of aluminum siding. The call-center company gets tax breaks on the land and possibly the building. The call center brings no economic development to a community save for the few shekels that its employees bring home. They do nothing to enliven a community. They do nothing for tourism, Wyoming's number two industry. They do nothing and they are nothing.

Here's what Anthony Radich said about the subject during a visit to Savor Albuquerque last summer:

Instead of being one of 50 contenders for a call center, think about the assets and infrastructure you have to do something unusual.

That could be any number of things beside call centers and distribution centers or any number of traditional econ dev targets: 

“You here in Albuquerque and New Mexico are competing with people across the country for the creative economy, and you have phenomenal resources to do that,” Radich said. Building the creative economy is often a matter of creating an economic cluster around existing assets, he said. It provides legitimacy to the sector, especially among elected officials.

Albuquerque is not as big as Denver but is doing some similar things.

BTW, I was conceived in Albuquerque, a byproduct of what happens when two young marrieds in love imbibe the brewer's arts, consume the culinary arts and dance to the artistic sounds of local musicians, all on an Old Town Friday night, February 1950. The arts and creativity are nothing new to Albuquerque.

Radich is not only talking about the West's big cities.

Take Moscow, Idaho, for instance.

Jazz great Lionel Hampton, namesake
of IU's music department and
annual festival. 

This town of 23,000 -- with student enrollment of 12,000 -- is now home to the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival each February. The city is 92 percent white and adjacent to Idaho's crazy zone in the Panhandle where the white supremacists hang out. It is finding ways to make Moscow the coolest arts town in the Northwest. The Portlandia of the Palouse.

The Lionel Hampton Orchestra was one of the hottest big bands in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. His name had almost disappeared from the scene when University of Idaho invited him to headline its jazz festival in 1984. In 1987, UI named its music school after Hampton, the first university music school in the country to be named for a jazz musician. Now every winter, the jazz world comes to Moscow.

Most towns and cities that desire "creative economy" status have a university.

But not all.

Sometimes they have breathtaking landscapes and ski areas. Jackson, WY, for instance. And Park City, UT; Aspen, CO; Sun Valley, ID.

According to the Creative Vitality Index compiled by WESTAF, Jackson may be the best arts town in the U.S. See the facts at www.westaf.org

Teton ArtLab, Jackson

The birth of cultural heritage tourism has already led to German tourists paying big money to work on a ranch for a week. College students are now taking a year off to tend veggies on organic farms. We have an organic farms in Wyoming, notably Meadow Maid in Yoder, which provides me with veggies and chickens and grass-fed beef.

What about tours of mining operations, such as open pit coal mines in Campbell County and trona mines in Sweetwater County? Tours of railroad yards in Cheyenne and Laramie? When I was in Casper this weekend, Casper College just dedicated a training tower for students in the wind energy program. Seems to me that both locals and tourists would love to get up and close and personal with a wind turbine. On a nice day, you can view dozens of propellers spinning on turbines arrayed north of town. Soon there will be hundreds. And we've all read articles about how energy companies seek out technical rock climbers as technicians. Hey -- it's a long way up and a long way down. Climbers know that territory.

Just a few examples of cool stuff happening in the world of creative industries.

Convergence Wyoming features a “Bright Spots” session from 10-11:45 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 7, at the Cody Holiday Inn.

It will feature these community efforts:

·         Saturday University and Teton County Poetry Box in Jackson

·         Gillette’s AVA Center

·         Washakie Museum and Cultural Center in Worland

·         the Historic Preservation Commission in Douglas

·         the Roundhouse restoration in Evanston

·         downtown rehabilitation projects in Cheyenne

·         art galleries in downtown Lander

·         Main Street projects in Dubois and Rawlins

·         Sheridan’s growing recognition as an “exciting and livable community” through its cultural initiatives

And there's more, much more...

While reading the Albuquerque paper, I came across this recent story about the big IDEA conference coming to the city in 2012. Creatives and creative thinkers from across the globe will be coming to town at the behest of the International Society for Electronic Arts. Get more info at http://isea2012.org. One of the cool arts tech projects set for the convention is shown below.

Where art and technology meet -- As part of the Latin American forum of ISEA2012 in Albuquerque next summer, artists Ivan Puelig and Andrés Padilla Domené will bring their custom-made car that can ride on rails to Albuquerque, and their video stories and photos of residents  from northern Mexico towns isolated when rail service ceased and no roads were built  to replace it. Photo from UTEP.  

WY Association of Churches presents "Civility Matters!" Oct. 8 in Casper

http://www/uwyo.edu/humanities

I was just at a Civility Matters! forum at Summit E.S. in Casper this past weekend featuring Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye (see my previous post). Here's another one, courtesy of the Casper Star-Tribune:

The Wyoming Association of Churches will host a town-hall style "Civility Matters" forum from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at the First United Methodist Church of Casper, 332 E. Second St.

The forum will focus on three issues: judicial responses for youth offenders in Wyoming, featuring Michael Blonigen and Beth Evans; the definition of marriage and civil unions as they relate to couples' sexual orientation, featuring Rodger McDaniel and Bob Norris; and providing health care for wyoming's poor, featuring Kellie Clausen and Sarah Gorin. Former TV broadcaster and Wyoming state legislator Nimi McConigley will moderate the session.

Each speaker will be allotted 20 minutes, followed by 40 minutes allotted for questions and discussion by the public.

Lunch will be provided at a cost of $10, and advance registration is encouraged. To register in advance, contact Steven Mitchell at stevmitch2002@yahoo.com, write him at 1275 Adams Ave., Rock Springs, Wyoming, 82901, or visit http://www.wyomingassociationofchurches.org.

Read more: http://trib.com/news/local/casper/article_d00c9422-630f-51f8-99c8-7af16e041e4b.html#ixzz1Z1jIzKPs

Young skolars for Rick Perry!

This goes back to a 2010 rally in Houston in which Ted Nugent and Sarah Palin were in town to support Rick Perry. Still, it's priceless.  Houston Press photo.

Call for applications: "Snow White Sessions" in Laramie

Works of Wyoming in Laramie is always up to new and interesting things. Here's another one: 

On Dec. 4, Ballet 7220 will perform the Brothers Grimm version of Snow White at the Laramie Plains Civic Center. Works of Wyoming, in partnership with the Laramie Dance Center, is inviting artists to attend rehearsals to document the making of Snow White through whatever media they choose.... painting, drawing, film, etc!

Selected works created during the "Snow White Sessions" will be on display in the Works of Wyoming gallery Dec. 2-Jan. 6. An opening reception will be held on Dec. 9. 

Download an application here.

5K walk raises awareness for PTSD after suicide by Fort Collins soldier who was treated at Cheyenne VA

Here's a sobering statistic from a story in the Fort Collins Coloradoan:

The Veterans's Administration Regional Medical Center in Cheyenne "in fiscal year 2011 (through July) had 1,954 veteran patients with PTSD, comprising 10.7 percent of the veterans seen, according to VA spokesman Andrew Ruben."

That breaks down to almost 200 patients a month being treated for PTSD. And that's only at one VA Center in our little corner of the world.

U.S. Army Spc. Nicholas Larson of Fort Collins was treated for PTSD at the Cheyenne VA. It wasn't enough. Larson, a 22-year-old Iraq War veteran, killed himself May 12, 2010, leaving behind a wife and son, among other loved ones.

Elizabeth Larson-Haag (sister) and Larson's mother, Monica Meisner, have since started A Soldier's Silent Cry, a petition for the U.S. military to require that troops who have served overseas undergo regular mental-health evaluations.

They are organizing a 5K run/walk that walk starts at 10 a.m. Sunday beginning and ending at Veterans Plaza at Spring Canyon Park in Fort Collins. Contributions benefit Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, which helps people who have lost loved ones in the military.

More staggering stats:

PTSD affects 11 percent to 20 percent of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' website.

Ruben at the Cheyenne VA said veterans struggling with PTSD can find assistance at their local medical center, which can be found at http://www.va.gov or by calling the 24/7 Veteran Combat Call Center at (877) 927-8387.

For more information about registering for the walk or the petition, visit http://www.asoldierssilentcry.com or call (970) 581-7905.

After drinking all that tea, GOP not so grand anymore

Wyoming GOP will be bringing some monstrous Tea Party bills to the 2012 Legislature.Stay tuned... 

Civility & poetry & Wyoming

Civility Matters!

So does poetry.

Naomi Shihab Nye is "surprised by how kind people are when reciting and listening to poetry." She specifically is referring to secondary students, such as the ones she taught today at Casper's Star Lane Academy. "During nearly 40 years of working with kids, sometimes in very rough situations, I've never seen kids bully each other over their words."

Naomi Nye was in Casper Thursday night during the last stop on her "Civility Matters: Potlucks and Poetry" tour sponsored by the Wyoming Humanities Council. "Civility Matters" is a program funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its goal is to "creatively engages the public in considering the meaning of civility, both in the context of our national democratic commitment to freedom of expression and in the context of an increasingly global world."


The award-winning Palestinian-American poet started her tour in Jackson and then moved on to Riverton for a potluck at the Native American Center at CWC. At each stop, people are invited to bring picnic dinners and enjoy an evening with Nye, who describes herself as a "wandering poet." Nye, the daughter of a Palestinian father and American mother, has appeared on NPR's A Prairie Home Companion and several times with Bill Moyers on his PBS poetry specials. 

Writing of all types is just one of the creative disciplines used to nurture public dialogue. "Writing is a grass-roots effort -- it belongs to everyone," Nye said.

Throw some food into the mix -- that adds to the community atmosphere.

Nye liked how her Wyoming hosts made her feel so much at home by putting food and poetry together. That's what you'd see in the Middle East," she said. Inhibitions are eased and pretty soon people are talking to each other.

"Civility is a matter of interest in another person and another person's perspective," she said.

Thursday night's event with Nye marked the beginning of the Casper College Literary Conference, which continues through Saturday. FMI: http://www.caspercollege.edu/events/lit

Cheyenne artist takes many pieces and creates a work of peace

Cheyenne artist Forrest King took these items from Sept. 11 ceremony...

...and constructed this work of art seen in background at International
Day of Peace ceremony in Herschler Building.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead penned a proclamation marking Sept. 21 at the International Day of Peace. At today's lunchtime ceremony at the Herschler Building honoring this day of peace, the Rev. Rodger McDaniel read the proclamation because the Gov was busy with the "lying in state" events for the late U.S. Sen Malcolm Wallop.

Gov. Mead's proclamation mentioned the United Nations many times. The International Day of Peace originated in the U.N. in 1981 and was first celebrated on Sept. 21 in 2002. I couldn't help but wonder how nuts the proclamation would make Gov. Mead's U.N.-hating Tea Party followers. They'll never read it, of course. But if they did, heads would be exploding all over Wyoming.

Sen. Wallop was no fan of the U.N. or of peacenik ways. He was a Cold Warrior, one of Ronald Reagan's staunchest supporters.  I doubt if the International Day of Peace ever deserved a ceremony, much less a mention, at Sen. Wallop's digs in Sheridan County.

My thoughts were not in keeping with the peace and justice ways of today's ceremony. But that's how it goes when you've spent two decades as an outlier in the reddest of red states.

Cheyenne's International Day of Peace featured fine words by Christian, Jewish, Muslim and UU leaders. Music too. And a work of art by local artist Forrest King.

At the Sept. 11 commemoration at the State Capitol, Forrest collected mementos from different faith communities. These items represented the brokenness of 9/11. Forrest was charged with bringing a sense of hope to these materials via his art.

And he did. Forrest is sending more photos. For now, the above images show the items from the Sept. 11 ceremony and the sculpture fashioned by Forrest. I'll do a more complete description of the work in future posts.

I leave you with the words that Rev. McDaniel left us with: "All in Peace. Go in Peace. Create in Peace. Live in Peace."

Shalom

SocialWyo: Take Three Point Oh!

Juliette Rule speaking to Laramie County Dems Monday evening. She's also putting on the SocialWyo conference. More info: SocialWyo: Take Three Point Oh!

One of Wyoming's major political parties to honor working people at annual dinner

It's too early for a wind-bending quiz  but I have one for you anyway.

Q: Which of America's major political parties is more concerned with creating jobs, extending unemployment benefits and preserving pensions than in continuing tax cuts for millionaires?

The clock is ticking. I'll give you another second.

Stumped?

Here's a clue:

The 2011 Jefferson-Jackson Banquet is set for Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m., at the Outlaw Inn in Rock Springs. 

Click here to learn more and to buy your tickets now. 

The theme of this year's event will be support for working people everywhere, including organized labor, nonunion workers, and those who are looking for jobs - especially in light of Republican attacks on unions and the unemployed in many states across the nation. 

The Outlaw Inn has offered us a discounted rate of $85 per night. You can reserve your room by calling the Outlaw Inn at 307-362-6623 and asking for the Wyoming Democratic Party rate. 

We are in the process of finalizing the details for our guest speaker for the evening, so check back here for that exciting news when we are ready to make an announcement. Also at the banquet, Wyoming Democratic Party Chairman Chuck Herz will announce the winner of our Party Builder of the Year Award. 

We look forward to seeing you at the Wyoming Democratic Party's annual fall rally as we lay the foundations for victory in 2012. 

Now do you know the answer?

Laramie County Democrats and Grassroots Coalition meet Sept. 27 to discuss uses of social media

From Linda Stowers:

A joint meeting of the Laramie County Democratic Grassroots Coaliton and the Laramie County Democrats will be held on Monday, Sept. 27, 7 p.m. at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union hall. The speaker will be Juliette Rule and she will be discussing social media. Please plan to join 
us. The meeting is open to everyone.

From your blog editor:

Progressives in Wyoming have barely scratched the surface when it comes to social media. Come out and hear Juliette's talk. And get to know the people in your local progressive community. 

Grant Family Farms looking for band to play live music Sept. 24 at bus repainting party

This comes from Grant Family Farms in Wellington, Colo.:

BAND WANTED!

I'm hoping you all have heard about our bus repainting party this Saturday (Sept. 24). Well, to make this a fun day we would love to have some live music there! If you are willing to donate your time for a few hours ~9-12 please let us know. Would love to have you at the farm!

Go to http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20110917/NEWS01/109170393/Vandals-hit-Grant-Family-Farms-chicken-buses-Wellington?odyssey=tab

Cheyenne graphic novelist and librarian gets "Artist of the Month" honors

The growth of graphic novels in the past few years has been amazing. Some of my writer friends thinks that this is one of the signs of the decline of western civilization, or of civilization's general decline. But it's just the opening of a door to other ways of expression. 

Laurel Shelley-Reuss is a comic author and illustrator living in Cheyenne. As is the case with many creatives, she has a full-time job -- hers is at the Laramie County Public Library. Her mother was a librarian in Cheyenne and has since moved on to greener fields in Colorado. In her teen years, Laurel was babysitter to my daughter on a several occasions. Laurel loved to draw and was an anime and manga fan back before most of adults knew what those were. She and my son are about the same age and they could talk anime until the illustrated cows came home. 

Laurel went to school at the well-respected Savannah College of Art and Design. She returned to Cheyenne to mind our library's books and to get to work on her own. Her first graphic novel, “Olive Peril,” was released by Arcana Comics in November of 2010, following the “Olive Peril” webcomic, which went live in late 2008. She’s been featured in the Sugar Ninjas Sugar and Spice anthologies in 2009 and 2010, a series of comics created by women artists working in the comic book industry and will be in the upcoming 2011 editions. She currently works on both the “Olive Peril” webcomic as well as a second webcomic, “Chorus of the Neverborn.” Her freelance work has included book covers, websites and logo design for private and non-profit organizations.

Laurel was featured in Sunday's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle as the Arts Alliance of Cheyenne's "Artist of the Month" (see image at the top of this post). Much deserved honor for a talented young person who is really going places.

Make all Americans pay their fair share

Today I stand with Pres. Obama

Pres. Obama draws the line against the Republican war on the middle class.