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Last Updated on Saturday, 12 November 2011 00:00

Written by Saige Albert

Douglas – Nearly $100,000 has been raised toward the goal of $500,000 for the 2012 Wyoming State Fair.

The 2012 event marks 100 years of the event and promises to be packed with special events and improvements to the state fairgrounds.

A grant by the state of Wyoming provides matching funds when the $100,000 fundraising goal is reached, and matching dollars continue up to $250,000.
Individuals have the opportunity to help in fundraising efforts by purchasing any of several commemorative items.

Heritage pins and bracelets are now available, giving purchasers admission to the Wyoming State Fair for 100 years and these items are transferrable. A limited number of only 1,000 pins and bracelets will be produced, and each is individually numbered. The purchase of a heritage pin or bracelet also grants admission to a special event and grandstand events (excluding concerts) during the 2012 state fair. Heritage pins and bracelets are available for only $250.

By contributing a hundred year steer with the one-time cost of a steer calf or yearling steer or $750 cash, contributors receive all the benefits of pin or bracelet purchase, as well as recognition on the 100th Wyoming State Fair Monument and the chance to win a commemorative saddle, as well as a buckle. Only 150 buckles will be produced, making the item a collectible.

By purchasing all three items, the Wyoming State Fair will give the purchaser the opportunity to choose the number for all three items, completing a 100th State Fair collector’s set.

Additionally, the first 10 numbered bracelets, pins and buckles will be sold at auction to the highest bidder.
Two styles of boots will also be sold to commemorate the 100th Wyoming State Fair, available for $495 a pair. Boots feature an embroidered logo and are available in two colors.

With the upcoming holiday season, any one of the commemorative items is a great gift idea for your friends and family that enjoy attending state fair every year, says the committee.

Photos of all items are available at wystatefair.com.

Contributions will be used to finance special commemorative awards for youth and adult exhibitors, an illustrated commemorative book as well as permanent improvements to the grounds.  Fundraising efforts will also go toward providing special events and attractions for the 100th Wyoming State Fair.

While fundraising constrains the events that will be held, the committee has discussed adding a number of special attractions to the 100th state fair celebration events. Ideas include providing an additional concert featuring a rock n’ roll band, additional contests and displays from each county in the state.

The theme for the 100th Wyoming State Fair is “Times Change, Traditions Remain,” and fundraising efforts provide the unique opportunity for contributors to be an integral part of the celebration.

For more information, call 307-358-2398, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or visit wystatefair.com. Saige Albert is editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Last Updated on Monday, 19 September 2011 09:23

Written by Heather Hamilton

Douglas – “What we are trying to do is stress the importance of water quality, and make it interesting to attract people here and help them understand that water quality is important and will become more and more important in the future,” explained Southeast Wyoming Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Coordinator Grant Stumbough during a recent open house for the Pathway to Water Quality project, which is in the works.

The Pathway to Water Quality will include a number of interactive projects for kids, a hoop house, grass plots, wetlands and will incorporate a number of innovative materials. It’s designed to be a long-term, continually evolving project that can be added to over the years.

Stumbough said the Wyoming State Fairgrounds are a great venue for the project.

“Fair attendance ranges between 43,000 and 48,000 annually, and there additional events year round on the grounds. That’s what makes this a good potential tool for reaching people,” added Wyoming State Fair Manager James Goodrich.

“One big benefit is this will diversify the State Fair. We all love the livestock and other exhibits, but it’s really neat to see the State Fair diversified to include natural resources. There are a lot of young people interested in natural resources and this is a great venue to reach them in,” noted Stumbough.

One partner in the project is the Wyoming FFA Foundation, and Stumbough said he hopes to include FFA members in choosing projects that appeal to young people and will be the most effective learning tools.

Cameco is another major sponsor, and recently donated $40,000 toward project efforts.

“We put a lot of effort into protecting ground water and surface water quality as part of our daily operations. Our main product, which is uranium, is produced using ground water, and when we’re done mining we want to return that ground water back to the condition it was prior to the start of our operation,” explained Cameco Resources President William Paul Goranson.

“A lot of the techniques and approaches to protecting water quality shown in this project are also techniques and approaches we want to pass on to the rest of the world, so they can learn what we do,” added Goranson.

“We’re at ground level, and this is when we need help the most. I think once we get it up and running it will become well known and very successful, but it will take a little while to lay a foundation from which we can build off of,” noted Stumbough.

“The first thing is to get the pathway installed, then get the projects, grass plots, wetlands and signage put in. Hopefully a year from now we’ll have those things in place and from there can begin some science curriculum and get some educational efforts put in place,” said Stumbough of the timeline for the pathway.

Heather Hamilton is editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Last Updated on Monday, 19 September 2011 09:22

Written by Jennifer Womack

Douglas – Anticipation is already building for the 2012 and 100th Wyoming State Fair and Rodeo (WSF). That’s especially true amidst the Wyoming Pioneer Association (WPA) membership as the group prepares to make its latest in a long history of investments in the WSF and the associated infrastructure.

During the recent WSF, the group broke ground for what will be a new addition to the Wyoming Pioneer Museum located on the Wyoming State Fairgrounds. K&R Construction of Douglas has been hired to construct the building with plans to have it finished prior to the 2012 Wyoming State Fair & Rodeo.

In 1956 the WPA accomplished one of its greatest goals when the Wyoming Legislature appropriated funds to build the Wyoming Pioneer Museum. The museum was built next to the Wyoming Pioneer Cabin, the group’s early day meeting site.

“In 1927 the WPA built the Pioneer Cabin to host their annual meeting. Just one year earlier, the group dating back to 1884, was incorporated,” says WPA President Mary Engebretsen.

The original cabin cost $1,400 to build, with the logs ordered shortly after the Pioneers’ formative meeting. Shortly thereafter the group’s membership grew to 720 members, and a tent was pitched to accommodate the growing attendance at annual meetings.

“In recent years, with a group too large for the cabin, we’ve been meeting in the Wyoming State Fair Cafeteria,” said Engebretsen.

The group saw a need to not only provide their own meeting facilities, but also involve additional community members with the museum by offering new space amidst some of Wyoming’s finest historical collections.

Engebretsen explains, “It’s a very exciting time as we move forward with plans to build a Ruthe James Williams Memorial addition to the Wyoming Pioneer Museum. With this addition we will have space to host our annual meeting, become the home of the Centennial Ranch program and house art shows, receptions and other events.”

Each year through the Centennial Ranch Program, ranches that are 100 or more years old are recognized during the WSF. The reception has been held at various locations in Douglas, and the WPA would like to bring the event to the museum and its new facilities.

“While Ruthe James Williams’ generous contribution to the Pioneer Association will go far in helping us reach our building goal, additional contributions are needed,” says Engebretsen. “It will truly take community involvement and investment to ensure this much-needed expansion of the Wyoming Pioneer Museum becomes a reality.”
Engebretsen says investing in the museum is a great way to permanently recognize an individual, a family or a ranch while supporting a beautiful new building rich in history and with a bright future.

“We plan to hold our 2012 meeting in the new building,” says Engebretsen.

During initial planning stages, she says the group has requested a building completion date of late June or early July 2012. It’s fitting that a group with such close ties to the WSF could complete this project on the year the event turns 100!

Those who would like to support the Wyoming Pioneer Association’s building efforts are encouraged to contact Mary Engebretsen at 307-334-2929 or mail the Wyoming Pioneer Association at PO Box 1545, Douglas WY 82633.

Jennifer Womack is a freelance writer who can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 307-351-0730.

Wyoming Pioneer addition to be named in Williams’ honor

Douglas — Ruthe James Williams’ story is laced with Wyoming’s pioneer spirit. Fittingly, Ruth, who passed away in September 2008, left a large portion of her estate to the Wyoming Pioneer Association. Beyond allowing the Pioneer Association to pursue its building goals, the gift has resurrected a World War II story of heroism and perseverance during hard times.

In 1917 William and Carrie James, along with their two oldest daughters Gladys and Louise, arrived in Douglas and homesteaded 18 miles from town. The young family from Iowa lived in a tent while their new home was built and sod was broken for the crops they’d grow.

In December 1919 a mid-wife delivered the James’ third daughter – Ruth, who would later add an “e” to the end of her name. Ruthe’s sisters were ages eight and ten at the time of her arrival.

At age six Ruthe was sent to Douglas for schooling. She, along with her then high-school age sisters, lived in a long-narrow building with cement floors.

“I believe it was originally a laundry,” Ruthe later wrote in a short memoir. “We were comfortable and lived under the watchful eyes of Margaret and Jim, a Catholic sister and brother who owned this boarding house for ranchers and farmers who visited the county seat for business or doctor’s calls.”

The following year Ruthe was able to receive her education at a country school a mile from the family’s homestead.

“In good weather I walked a mile, a little less if I cut across the pasture. Sometimes I would see meadowlarks nesting under the sagebrush, and their song can still make my heart quiver.”

While attending this school Ruthe made her first of two “grade skips,” which landed her in high school three months before her twelfth birthday.

“1927 was the only year they ended in the black, moneywise,” wrote Ruthe. “How proud and happy my folks must have been. We made a trip to visit relatives in Iowa. We had new clothes. My mother bought me a red rubber-like raincoat and hat.”

Good times were short-lived.

“Depression did not start for farmers in 1929,” recalled Ruthe. “It had been building for some time and farmers were the first to know it.”

Hard times took a toll on Will and Carrie’s marriage, and Ruthe and her mother were soon living in an apartment in Douglas and later Iowa. Ruthe graduated from high school in Iowa at age 16 and shortly thereafter returned to Douglas.

Back in Douglas, Ruthe and Jack Williams began courting. Five years later, in September 1941, the young couple married unbeknownst to their families. At the time of Jack’s death in a March 1942 barracks fire Ruthe had resigned from her job with the telephone company and had been making plans to join him on the coast. She followed through with the move and lived the remainder of her life in the Seattle area.

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Last Updated on Monday, 19 September 2011 09:23

Written by Saige Albert

Douglas – Generations of farmers and ranchers gathered in Douglas on Aug. 20 to celebrate 100 years or more in the agriculture industry at the Wyoming Centennial Farm and Ranch ceremony.

This year, 26 family operations were honored at the ceremony, which was attended by a number of dignitaries, including Governor Matt Mead and First Lady Carol Mead, Senator John Barrasso and wife Bobbie, Senator Mike Enzi and wife Diana and Representative Cynthia Lummis and husband Al Wiederspahn, along with Wyoming Stock Growers Association Executive Vice President Jim Magagna, Wyoming Department of Agriculture Director Jason Fearneyhough and Wyoming State Fair Director James Goodrich.

The Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources takes the lead in hosting the Wyoming Centennial Farm and Ranch program.

Magagna commented at the ceremony, “As I look around today, I see a lot of the people who have played significant roles in bringing these ranches to their centennial, but what I’m really focused on is that I see a lot of young people in the room. I hope that those people represent the generation that will carry these ranches on to their next centennial.”

This sentiment was echoed in his comments regarding the upcoming 140th anniversary of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and its goal to maintain Wyoming farms and ranches.

“We are really focused right now as a priority on assuring the transfer to the next generation of Wyoming ranchers,” said Magagna, “whether it is a member of the family or other people who have that burning desire to have a future in farming and ranching.”

Magagna emphasized continuing the traditions of farming and ranching in Wyoming as incredibly important, and he noted that a vital step in maintaining those traditions is recognizing the history behind the centennial farms and ranches in our state.

Fearneyhough reiterated the need for the next generation of farmers and ranchers in a growing world. The rapidly increasing world population and need to double food production in the next 40 years shows promise for the future of agriculture, according to Fearneyhough.

“There is opportunity for the young people in this room and in agriculture to continue the traditions that your families have set forward in marking their 100 years,” he said.

The praise for Wyoming’s centennial farmers and ranchers continued with remarks from the Wyoming Congressional delegation.

Senator Mike Enzi reflected on his past in Campbell County, noting that the majority of this year’s centennial award winners reside there, and the loyalty of the agriculture community in Wyoming.

“One of the things that kept us in business were the loyal customers of the farm and ranch community,” said Enzi. “Agriculture is loyal to Wyoming businesses, and keeps people in business.”

He further emphasized the achievement of operating for a century, saying, “The average business in the country lasts only five years, and you have withstood everything that has been thrown at you for 100 years.”

Enzi also commended the role of centennial farms and ranches in continuing Wyoming tradition and continuing the rich history of the state.

Representative Cynthia Lummis added to Enzi’s comments about Wyoming history and traditions, highlighting agriculture as the culture of Wyoming.

“It is the Wyoming Centennial Farm and Ranch celebration where people come from all over the state to celebrate those of you who have spent many generations in the business that has formed the backbone of the culture of Wyoming,” commented Lummis.

After success in establishing agriculture as one of Wyoming’s primary industries, Senator John Barrasso recognized the struggles each ranch has endured to reach their centennial.

“There have been storms, droughts, wolves and politicians that you’ve had to deal with,” said Barrasso. “Under those struggles, you have survived and you have succeeded. We’re very proud that you are not just part of the incredible heritage of the state, but also a very important part of the future of the state.”

In closing remarks, Governor Matt Mead recalled a quip from his great grandfather.

“If you hold onto a cow’s tail long enough, it will eventually pull you out of a hole,” said Mead. “There are a lot of times in ag that is it really tough, and if you can just hang on, eventually the good day is coming. Things are pretty good right now, but there are challenges ahead.”

“The story of a hundred years is a story of perseverance. It’s the story of a family holding on to that cow’s tail day in and day out for 100 years,” continued Mead. “Every family here is to be congratulated for that remarkable feat and that true story of perseverance.”

Mead further emphasized the impact of Wyoming farms and ranches and the aptitude of the industry for improving they land they live and work on.

“My grandfather used to say that in Wyoming, where you found one blade of grass, you leave two. That’s the story of ranching. It is always improving and leaving the land better for the next generation,” said Mead. “All of you who have survived 100 years and who have thrived for 100 years have left behind two blades of grass.”

Saige Albert is assistant editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .