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more and more.
to school for his first day of
what that ‘.would look like
amid a global pandemic.
Would I be able to take
the first day? What would
lunch look like? How is he
Will he actually be able to
play at recess? What about
or staff?
be okay.
of luck.
‘ l l
im Owen is one of the
1 Jbest-known, least—known
' people in Wyoming.
, The’author of both
I Cowboy Ethics and The Code
of the West, Owen had a huge
influence on the
state in the last
decade by helping
Wyoming adopt
these codes, which
seem to make
more sense here in
the CoWboy State
than anywhere else
I am riot ashamed to be the first one
to admit that I absolutely hate the health
guidelines put in place in response to
the COVID-19 pandemic. I am also not
ashamed to admit that as this twilight zone
of a year has carried on, I have found myself
respecting the reasons for those guidelines
For the first time ever, as I
prepared to send my youngest
kindergarten, I was dreading
a picture with his teacher on
going to find his classroom?
the ability to interact with other students
The listvof questions rolled on forever ,-
and as a mom the fear and anxiety ate at , x
me until the first morning of school. AS'we ’ ' ‘
drove around town, it was like Kazen could
read my mind, questions flooded out of his
mouth. All I could do was hope for: the best
and assure him that everything would
As we approached the school, I was
pleased to see teachers in dinosaur cos-
tumes, kindergarten teachers standing ,,
outside waiting to greet us so I‘c0uld snap '
that first day photo, and parents hugging
their children and wishing them the best
I was pleased to see a first day of school,
just like any other. There was excitement on
the faces 10f parents, staff; and Mud tears
l rolling the faces 0 V just as many. I saw
Starting school
out the right way
some wearing masks and others maintaining
their distance.
as possible.
kids.
Alexis Barker
Worse than
her bite
noon on Sept. 6.
Owen traveled the world
giving talks about Cowboy
Ethics to places like West
Point, the FBI Academy,
Navy Seals, and onward. He
was flying around
giving 35 speeches
a year and found
himself in the worst
physical condi-
tion of his life. He
weighed 205, his
knees creaked, and
his lower back was
in America. killing him. Through
” I talked with MBilvlvsnimf‘ a number of changes
‘6 Jim Saturday about Y°m'“9 in his life, which he
1- his latest project,
11 which has a lot of
interest to me.
-= His three-stage career as
-l a successful investor, then a
a proponent of Cowboy Ethics,
3 has now turned to “aging
[1 well.” He has produced a
documentary with Jim Havey
called The Art of Aging Well
which follows his journey
n as he tried to re-invent his
physical self at the age of 70.
Now, ten years later, he
Says he is in the best shape of
his life and he wants to share
his journey. The program will
be on Wyoming PBS Friday,
Sept. 4 at 7:30 pm. and at
l'!
is anxious to share,
he now weighs 150
and feels no pain. Earlier
he wrote a book called Just
Move! published by National
Geographic.
I am looking forward to
seeing his documentary but
his history with Wyoming
really piqued my interest.
It all started with the ubiq-
uitous late Mick McMurry of
Casper. McMurry wanted to
start his Jonah Banks and had
seen a copy of Owen’s book
Cowboy Ethics. McMurry
thought his bank needed an
ethic guide and with his bank
president Mark Zabach, they
I saw children who were chomping at the
bit to get back in that building and teachers
eager to start a school year as normal
«What I didn’t see, despite the last five
months of confusion, stress and the
overwhelming fear of the future,
was people judging others for our
decisions. I didn’t see both sides of
the debate, I saw a community that
could come together and respect
each other for the betterment of our
That evening, during the Weston
County School District No. 1
Board of Trustees meeting, I heard
school administration praise the
kids. I heard them talk about how
excited they all were to be there,
about how things went much more smooth
than they ever could have imagined. I heard
4, them bektruly grateful to be back with the
students and doing what they love.
“For the first time since March I could
hear kids on the playground. That’s what
we are about, that’s why we do what we
do. It will all be better if we listen to the
kids on the playground,” WCSD No. 1
Superintendent Brad LaCroix said. “I have
never been happier to be back at work.”
As parents, we need to encourage a posi-
tive learning environment, we need to do
What we can to keep our children in school,
and we need to support the staff at the
schools. The more we all come together, put
our different beliefs aside, and abide by the
guidelines, the more time our kids will get
to spendwith the teachers and administra-
tion that'haye a drive and passion to are for ,
them, to educate them and to love thrfm.
i
r..r *5"
met with Owen about incor-
porating it into the bank’s
system of operation.
The late McMurry, who
died in 2015, was probably
Wyoming’s biggestbooster,
with his wife Susie, during
this last decade and pretty
soon, the idea of Cowboy
Ethics was speeding all
across the state. Ultimately,
it was even adopted by the
Wyoming Legislature as a
code of conduct..Wyoming is
the only state in America that
has such a code.
During his visits to
Wyoming, he recalled one
dinner with former U. S. Sen.
Al Simpson in Cody. “I never
met a man more interesting,”
he said.
Owen, who now lives
in San Diego, has a special
affinity with Wyoming that
goes back a long way. In
the early 19805, Jim and his
wife of 52 years adopted two
children. Their son was born
in Sheridan and his wife had
to be a Wyoming resident in
order to complete the adop-
tion, so she lived in a ranch
outside of Sheridan for six
months.
From that date years
ago, they came full circle
EEpro TALK To A PUBLIC SERVANT?
' ,raChair)
(Board Vice-Chair)
bard Clerk)
, Treasurer)
School Board Trustees’ contacts:
629-1 01 0
746-2338
746-2473
746-2079
746-51 16
465—2268
746-9480
465-2214 ,
629-0378
746~M51
F’ll
Letter to the Editor .... .; ......... ..
No doubt about the state’s
spending spree
To the Editor:
This is an answer to the question of the week. There is no
doubt that Wyoming has been on a spending spree because
of the abundance of money that was available, and if there is
money, politicians feel they have a mandate to spend it. The
money fountain is going dry and probably will not recover.
Coal will persist with limited sales and oil will probably
recover to above $50 per barrel. That will not cure the basic
problem that Wyoming spends nearly 10 times as much for
services, according to some reports, as it receives from its
citizens. This means that for every person who moves to
Wyoming, the amount
for the citizens
diminishes.
There is a group with
their head in the sand
who seems to think this
party can go on and on.
They have convinced
enough of the legislators
of this idea that they
have been able to stop
any movement to change the tax system. During Gov. Stanley
Hathaway’s term the state was almost unable to write a check
so he made an effort to get a severance tax on minerals, and
he succeeded. We have a cushion available now but it will not
last long.
Cutting spending will help but the cuts should be selective
where they do little harm. Total budget cuts are the easy but
inefficient method. The tax system in Wyoming needs a major
revision to require citizens to pay for some of their services
and for business to pay a share of the burden. At the present
a business which does not produce minerals only pays ad
valorem tax on its property and pays nothing on any profit it
earns. The people could be paying an income tax in incomes
above $100,000. We have never hesitated to tax minerals, so
there is no reason not to tax the wind. It is a natural resource
and companies only come here to make a profit from it.
Increasing taxes is always difficult and unpleasant but that
is what the legislators signed up for.
How to age gracefully according to J Owe
ten years ago when Mick
McMurry made that fateful
phone call.
“Wyoming is a great
place,” he says. “Cowboy
Ethics really matter here.
They just do not anymore
in Texas, Colorado, or
Montana.” He paused. “But,
Wyoming, is the real home
of the cowboy. And it is the
home of the mythology of the.
West.”
He recalled being on a
panel at the University of
Wyoming and being nervous
that he might be stumped by
the professors on the panel
with him. But when he started
talking about the mythology
of the West and how all great
systems in mythology have
to have heroes —— well, in
Wyoming, the cowboy is the
hero. “When I was growing
up, cowboys were always my
heroes,” he says. “We need
heroes in our lives today
more than ever.”
“Heroes always live by
a code of honor, loyalty,
honesty, bravery . . . think
of the Knights of the Round
Table or the Samurai, for
example. In every culture,
there are noble heroes. They
all have ethics they follow,”
“(M It; Pelt!- DQnMThorfin
i) l
and flu!
Md ..
he says,” and it is the same
for Cowboys.”
But now he has moved on
from cowboys.
“I am trying to inspire. I
guess I am in the inspiration
business. I want people to
reach for the best in them-
selves,” he said. “to do that it
means taking care of yourself
and taking on a healthy life-
style.”
He doesn’t like the
word exercise but believes
the first step is to just move.
“My wife and I call our
workouts training, which
seems to fit us better. We like
to do our exercises together.”
Like Jim, it appears
the best thing for all of us to
do is just move!
Bill Snifi‘in is a retired
newspaper publisher who has
penned a number of books
about Wyoming. He appeared
for author ’s receptions at
both the Weston County
Library and News Letter
Journal. Check out additional
columns written by Bill at
www. billsniflin. com, and find
volumes from his coffee table
book series, which have sold
over 30,000 copies, for sale
at the News Letter Journal.
Deadline
for letters
is noon
on Frlday
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September 3, 2020 — 3
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