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editor@newslj.com June 18, 2015 -- 3
news letter journal 008W$
Funding
help with the bucking shoot project. In recogni-
tion of that donation, a sign was placed near the
bucking shoots. The original contract was for
five years, at which time the donors would be
given the opportunity to donate again.
Damell explained that through time and cir-
cumstance, the group decided to wait before
approaching businesses and community members
for more money. Now a decade has passed and
several of the signs need to be replaced. Because
there have been requests from other businesses
to advertise on the bucking shoots, she said,
Friends of the Fair members felt the timing was
appropriate to approach the donors again.
"So we decided the time had come to say,
'Here's your opportunity. Do you want to re-up
for the $2,000 for another five years or maybe
longer? We guarantee the sign will be up there
for five years and we buy the sign," she said.
This time the money left after purchasing the
sign will go for general improvement -- such
areas as upgrading the playground equipment
and improvements to the restroom facilities,
Damell said. She added that when the event
center is usable again, it will need to be furnished
with kitchen equipment, and money will be
needed to do so.
Board member Bob Bonnar argued for
meeting both funding requests.
"I think the Gymkhana is pure recreation for
all ages; I like that project," he said.
He also responded to arguments that the
recreation district should not be purchasing
advertising signage by pointing out that a banner
would allow people to see how their taxes were
spent.
"So I don't think of our sign being advertising
so much as a demonstration of what we do with
the tax money that we get -- $400 a year for
$120,000 of taxes that we collect every year -- I
don't think is outrageous so people can see a
little bit of what that money is going for. I think
there is merit in both of them (funding requests),
to be honest with you," Bonnar said.
At least one board member asked why the
fairground's own funds were not used to help
with the upkeep of the facility.
"Quite frankly, I was there a few of weeks ago
during the rodeo, running concessions, and it was
a disaster. I don't see why this rec board should
have to fund for them to stay up to date, code and
clean. I disagree. I would rather see it go towards
the Gymkhana," said board member Joe Corely.
I
from page 1 .................................................................................... I
Board member John Riesland replied that
he previously had the same discussion with not
only the Friends of the Fair but also the Weston
County Fair board, because he has had concerns
about why the county commissioners have not
been able to fund upgrades. He said it is easier,
as a recreation district, to see that money spent on
the Gymkhanas goes toward recreation.
"Some of that stuff is hidden in a lot of
ways on how they get funded. If it wasn't for
people like the Friends of the Fair or the Junior
Livestock Committee, a lot of stuff that goes on
there wouldn't get funded. I think both causes
are good," Riesland said. "We could earmark our
money to a certain degree, but I wouldn't want to
tie their hands."
Chairwoman Tina Chick suggested that
Friends of the Fair might come back with a
request when money for a specific project was
needed.
"I trust the Friends of the Fair. I trust that
$300 of this will buy a sign that says, 'Activities
at the facility funded in part by the Eastern
Weston County Recreation District' and the other
$1,700 will be used to help fund that," she said.
"I can guarantee I am going to be glad we
spent the money. We saw fit to support that
10 years ago, and I guess I see fit to support it
again," Bonnar replied.
Corley agreed but said he found it hard to
swallow putting money into a facility that can't
seem to run itself. At the same time, he said
he didn't want to take away from the youth or
groups that use it.
Riesland said he agreed to a certain degree.
He added, however, that he also felt the rec board
was there to help others.
'Tve been involved there, Joe, but I am with
Bob $400 a year for a little bit of recreation
over there I think is a good cause. It is more than
just a sign," he said.
Board member Dean Johnson said he agreed
with helping the facility and didn't mind if there
was no advertising, but Bonnar asked board
members if they knew what the Eastern Weston
County Recreation District did before they were M e m b e r
on the board. F
"I look at it as informing the public of where
their money is going. I disagree with pulling out
the sign. I think the public should see where we
spend the money," Bonnar said.
The board unanimously approved funding
both requests.
Collection
appearance over social media
in the hopes that somebody
could reveal the fate of the
photos.
"Annette put it on Facebook
'and put a reward out if they
brought them back," Leonard's
wife, Linda, stated, indicating
that Koester has offered
a reward of $100 per photo
album for their return.
Unfortunately, while her
posts have elicited a number
of sympathetic responses, there
have been no clues leading to
recovery of the photos.
"She had an inquiry from
Casper last night, but they just
wanted pictures of the albums
so they knew what to look for,"
Linda said Tuesday morning.
"The response has been very
positive," Leonard said.
Owens said that a number of
factors are involved in the dis-
appearance that are hindering
his department's investigation.
One of the biggest hurdles lies
in establishing when the alleged
theft may have occurred.
"He doesn't know when
they were taken," Owens said.
For his part, Cash can't say
with any certainty when the
albums were taken from his
home, but believes it happened
a relatively short time before he
discovered they were missing.
"Just a few days before that,
I was putting some others in
one of the books, and I think it
was still laying on my desk,"
he said.
Cash's willingness to share
his collection with other his-
torians, and the pride he takes
in showing the old photos to
anybody who expresses an
interest, likely played a role in
their disappearance.
"Whoever must have taken
them had to know where they
were kept, because that is
the only thing missing from
his home," Owens indicated,
noting that the suspected crime
is not being called a burglary
because there is no indication
that access to the home or col-
lection was forced or unauthor-
ized.
"He was told to check with
someone who has access to
his home. The indication is
that someone who was in his
home, maybe even with him in
there, must have taken them,"
he explained, adding that Cash
also has two dogs who likely
would have sounded an alarm
at the approach of somebody
unfamiliar.
Unfortunately, that doesn't
narrow the field of suspects by
from page 1 ...........................................................................
much because Cash has eagerly
welcomed visitors into his
home to view the stash he has
been collecting for more than
five decades.
"We really don't have a i0t
to go on at this point'. About the
only thing we go t was a descrip-
tion of the photo albums, so
we just start watching for the
photos to turn up. We sug-
gested he keep an eye out for
them too," said Owens, who
indicated that he has instructed
the officer who took the initial
report to follow up with Cash
and investigate the issue further.
Lending to the mystery is the
fact that while it doesn't appear
anything is missing besides the
five photo albums, there were
other albums and photos that
were left in the home.
"They missed my two big
ones (albums). I've still got
them. I don't know how they
missed them because they were
just above one that was taken,
and they missed my postcard
collection. We figure I had it
with me because I was doing
a project. That's probably why
I've still got it," Cash said,
revealing that he would have
been even more devastated if
the post card collection was
gone.
"That would have been a
heartbroken one. I took it to
Antique Road Show in Rapid,
and he said it was valued at
several thousand dollars. He
was just drooling over it," Cash
claimed, estimating the value of
the photos that were taken to be
between $5,000 and $10,000.
His wife was also puzzled by
the fact that some photo albums
can't be found, but others were
apparently undisturbed.
"They got the little Cambria
book, but they didn't get the
big one. It was such a targeted
thing," Linda mused, stating
that a pickle jar full of change,
located in the same area as the
missing albums, was still sitting
in its proper place. She said
there was medication nearby
that wasn't taken either, and no
electronics are missing.
"They did not get into the
file cabinets as far as we can
tell. His research is safe. It's
just the pictures that prove
the research that are missing.
Whoever did this knows how
to hurt him. Someone is upset
with him, and that's the best
way to hurt him is to take his
history. He was so proud of
his picture books. EverybodY
knows that," Linda sighed.
She has theorized that the
photo albums were stolen
sometime in the morning, when
she is at work and Leonard is
generally at the library doing
research.
She •also believes that
they had t9 ,have been taken
sometime in the thee or four
days before Leonard noticed
that they were missing because
she remembers him having
them when he retired from the
museum board (on which he
had held a seat for 39 years) on
the previous Thursday.
"There's a two-hour window
in there that the house is
empty," she said, claiming that
the couple had also received a
number of hang-up phone calls
a week or two before noticing
the photos were missing.
Linda also said that she and
her husband have canvassed
the neighborhood, but nobody
was able to report that they
saw anyone entering their home
in th time frame in which
she believes the theft to have
occurred.
That leaves them with
little more than the hope that
somebody may identify one or
more of the missing photos and
report the lead.
"They're all from the
Weston County and Newcastle
area. It's about 50 years worth
of research," Linda said.
"There were a lot of Old
Mill ones in there, and the
refinery buildings they've
been tearing down," Leonard
reported, saying that a number
of the photos were taken of
Newcastle's downtown area
and that the missing pieces
also included fires that ravaged
the city at various points in
its history, as well as photos
taken when old buildings were
demolished intentionally.
Unfortunately, Cash's will-
ingness to share items in his
collection, and allow them to be
copied, will make it even more
difficult for law enforcement to
locate or identify photos from
his collection.
"We're not going to be able
to identify the photos. There
are a lot of old town photos
around," Owens said.
For now, the couple can do
little but wait and hope that the
photos, many of which were
originals, turn up again.
"Some of them are one of a
kind. If they don't want to give
them back to us, please don't
destroy them. We have said that
if anybody returns them, there
will be no questions asked,"
Linda said.
Day
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