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6 -- November 5, 2015
editor@newslj.com
I
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WC Senior Services Greedy 10:30 a.m.
Bingo 2:00 p.m.
November 5 Movie 6:00 p.m.
Trip to Tin Lizzie November 7
Hearing Aid Institute 7th Day Children 10:00 a.m.
Chamber Board Mtg. 12:00 p.m.Hangman 11:00 a.m.
Mexican Train 1:00 p.m. Movie 2:00 p.m.
VFW Ladies Auxiliary 4:00 p.m. November 8
November 6 Name 10 11:00 a.m.
Rolls 9:00 a.m. Church 2:00 p.m.
Bridge Ladies 1:00 p.m. November 9
November 7 Wii 10:30 a.m.
Helping Hands Quilting Day Cooking 3:00 p.m.
November 9 Bingo 6:00 p.m.
hARP 1:00 p.m.November 10
November 10 Ceramics 10:30 a.m.
Mexican Train 1:00 p.m.Keepsake Krafters/Stories
November 11 2:00 p.m.
Veteran's Day November 11
Mama Kuehne Reps 12:00 p.m.Veteran's Day
Manor Here for Lunch Catholic Study 10:00 a.m.
Creative Handcrafts After Lunch Crossword 10:30 a.m.
November 12 Bingo 2:00 p.m.
Hearing Aid Institute November 12
Bridge Ladies Food Fancy 10:30 a.m.
Mexican Train 1:00 p.m. Manicures 2:00 p.m.
November 13 Men's Club 3:30 p.m.
Roils 9:00 a.m. November 13
Beltone Hearing Aid Clin 9:00 a.m. Greedy 10:30 a.m.
Blood Pressure Check 9:30 a.m.Bingo 2:00 p.m.
Bridge Ladies 1:00 p.m.November 14
Dance 7:00 p.m.Laughter Group 11:00 a.m.
November 17 Happy Hour 3:00 p.m.
Mexican Train 1:00 p.m.November 15
Helping Hands Foundation Mtg. Trivia 11:00 a.m.
7:00 p.m.Church 2:00 p.m.
November 18 November 16
WCSS Board Mtg. 9:00 a.m. Resident Council 10:30 a.m.
Toenail Clinic 9:00 a.m. Tony's Tunes 3:00 p.m.
Lions 12:00 p.m.November 17
Mondell Heights Here for Lunch Ceramics 10:30 a.m.
Creative Handcrafts After Lunch Keepsake Krafters/Stories
November 19 2:00 p.m.
Trip to The Lodge Stories 4:00 p.m.
Mexican Train 1:00 p.m. Concert 5:16 p.m.
November 18
Manor Catholic Study 10:00 a.m.
Crossword 10:30 a.m.
November 5 Bingo 2:00 p.m.
Jeopardy 10:30 a.m.Board Game 6:15 p.m.
AI and the Gang 2:00 p.m. November 19
Dominoes 6:15 p.m. Bowling 10:30 a.m.
November 6 AI and the Gang2:00 p.m.
Alaska natives John and Laurie Bumgarner are adjusting to
Wyoming life -- but the winters here are quite familiar to the
couple. (Donna Gochanour/NLJ)
By Donna Gochanour
NLJ Senior Correspondent
John Bumgarner is a recent
addition to the Wyoming scene.
He was born and raised inAlaska
and is a relative newcomer to
the Upton area. He says that he
has lived in Wyoming, off and
on, for about four years now,
having sold the sheet metal
business he and his brother
Warren owned in Anchorage.
He and his wife, Laurie, chose
to live in Wyoming so his wife
could be nearer to her family.
Years ago, he retired from
a "paying job" and became a
member of Sheet Metal Workers
Local 23 out of Anchorage and
that turned into working for his
parents in the original family
business, Noble Mechanical.
Eventually he bought the busi-
ness from his parents when they
reached retirement age and was
joined by his brother. They
became mechanical contrac-
tors, traveling all over Alaska
and installing heating systems
in schools, malls and other
large businesses.
Noble Mechanical was
named after his grandfather,
Noble Bumgarner. Noble
was a family business which
included John's grandfather, his
dad William, his uncle and his
brother Warren, a three gen-
eration operation. About three
years into the business, Laurie
joined them as the secretary,
expediter, occasional employ-
ee's babysitter, payroll clerk-
whatever, she says.
In about 2009, they started
looking for a place in the
Lower 48 to build a retirement
home and it wasn't long before
Bumgamer located a pretty lot
m Sundown Trails, with the
help of Dan Hart. It was a sub-
division off of Dry Creek Road
north of Upton. In 2010, he
contracted with Morton build-
ings to put up a large shop on
the property and shortly after,
he got together with Hart--
who was builder of most of the
roads in the area-- found the
perfect spot to build the house
on, and had Hart put in the
driveway for them.
"Couldn't have done it
without Dan Hart," Bumgarner
stated.
In 2011, The Bumgarners
contracted Kevin Whisler to
build the house and in a year's
time, Kevin and his wife Linda
had it done. Originally Whisler
had a helper but soon the guy
disappeared and Linda pitched
in on the project. The Whislers
did a beautiful job.
Meantime, Bumgarner made
periodic trips back to Alaska,
bringing back trailer loads of
belongings from their home in
Anchorage. When John's father
died in 2014 his household was
added to the rest of the confu-
sion involved in a big move,
disposing of a lifetime accu-
mulation of belongings. John
and Warren had a pretty big job
to do.
Meanwhile, back in
Wyoming, Bumgarner was busy
learning about cows. Neighbor
Rob Taft is his teacher-mentor
and that first year, Taft made
Laurie Bumgarner the gift of
three pregnant cows. Next came
fencing the pasture, followed
by a barn, a corral fence and
gates, an equipment shed, and
so on. Now Laurie says "I'm a
ranch woman!" They have both
been busy learning about the
'cow business' as they settle
into their new home north of
Upton.
Both of the Bumgarners
are enjoying their life here
in Wyoming, although after
spending all of his life in
Alaska, it's a little hard getting
used to the heat in summer,
but Bumgarner says that he's
no stranger to ice and snow,
and Wyoming has got that too.
They like the neighborhood
and have good neighbors. His
wife enjoys being able to visit
family, but for both of them
this is pretty much a complete
change in lifestyle.
They plan another trip to
Alaska in the spring, to finish
emptying the house in Alaska
and put it up for sale, but they
plan to keep their cabin out in
the Bush for now. John owns an
airplane yet, a PAl8 Supercub,
and is still debating whether
to keep it or not. The cost of
maintaining it as opposed to
hiring an air taxi service to get
to their remote cabin may result
in selling it.
They love their property out
there in Sundown Trails and
both agree they wouldn't like
to live in town. They have two
girls back there in Alaska, along
with grandchildren and even
one new great-granddaughter
that they haven't had a chance
to spend much time with yet,
as well as relatives and friends
that they left behind.
By Donna Gochanour
NLJ Senior Correspondent
The 90th birthday of Grace
Davis filled the Michael's
Room at Weston County Senior
Services center to capacity on
Sunday, the 25th of October.
Grace reported that 140 people
signed the guest book and then
there were a few who didn't
sign it. She was very pleased
that her brother Dale came
all of the way from Centralia,
Wash., to help her celebrate,
as well as a few other rela-
tives from the Tacoma area,
and many traveling from other
places in Wyoming.
When asked what she felt
contributed to her long and
healthy life, she said that she
walks every day and also gives
a great deal of consideration to
what she eats.
Davis says that though she
did not work outside of the
home, she volunteered and
tried to be helpful wherever she
could. Born in Weston County,
she and her husband raised two
daughters. She is very active in
the Methodist church and has
been a member for many years,
holding a volunteer position as
finance secretary for something
like 50 years. The last five or so
years, she helps with refresh-
ments at receptions following
funeral services.
Grace loves to crochet
and knit, and tries to get a
lot of things done to sell at
the church's bazaar every fall.
Sharon Roness, a friend and
fellow church member, says
that, "Grace is always willing to
help out," and this once earned
her the nickname "Amazing
Grace."
Happy Birthday Grace!
My brother Larry
reminded me a few
days ago of life
when I first moved
to Wyoming, back in
1993. When I first
came here to start a
life on top of Salt
Creek Canyon with
I.~onna (;ochar~ot~r my friend Duffy,
I R0memberWhen there was no tele-
phone, no iPhone, no
CB -- absolutely no
way to contact the rest of the world.
Larry had purchased the land where
Duffy used to live, across the road, but
in those days he hadn't even started to do
much with it. However, Duffy's telephone
line was still there! The solution to the
phone problem finally worked itself out
by moving an old fridge close to the
driveway, hooking a phone to the line and
putting it in the fridge to keep it out of
the weather. Voila! A phone. There still
loomed a treacherous drive down "the
hill," but you know how women are with
phones, gotta have them, gotta use them.
So I set a lawn chair out next to the fridge
and I could call anyone in comfort. Sort of.
Soon everyone in the neighborhood
would know about the phone and the
prospect of someone making unsolicited
long-distance calls was present, so Larry
went down to the local hardware store and
asked for a padlock. The clerk showed him
to a display of padlocks. "No," Larry said,
"I need one with a much longer hasp."
Huh!
"Not many people want one like that,
what are you going to use it for?"
.... "Oh, I want to lock up the refrigerator,"
~was the reply.
"Now, why would you want to do a
thing like that?" he was asked.
And of course the reply was, "So
nobody can use the telephone."
Poor clerk could not think of aoything
else to say, so completely baffled he filled
the order and Larry went off to put it on
the fridge.
Then one day I had to use it to call an
agency in Cheyenne arid after a couple of
minutes she said, "would you mind if I put
you on hold for a little bit?"
So I said, "Okay, but not long, I'm
calling from the refrigerator." .....
A pause while she processed this and
then, "I'11 hurry!"
This was the situation for quite a while,
and every once in awhile I would suffer an
attack of "black cord fever" and go down
to my fridge-phone with a list of people
to call. All four of my children still lived
in Alaska and then there were my many
friends to visit with, "What's the latest
news?"
A cell phone wasn't common back
then! The day that we got the word that
we would have a real phone right there in
our house was like a miracle. It was a very
long way to string phone wires, and often
Duffy would be walking the entire length
of the line looking for a break. Lots of
exercise that took!
Well, it was certainly a new and inter-
esting way of life! I learned that the
cowboys had turned into ranchers who
wore work boots or tennis shoes and
ball caps and rode three-wheelers around
instead of horses. I learned that those
funny green plastic tanks on the back of
all those pickups were for hauling water.
Consequently, I learned how not to leave
the faucet running! I learned that horses
eat all of the flowers that you try to grow
and also that they have a knack of opening
up trash bags to see what is in them -- and
never put it back, the spoiled brats. Lots
different than a dog team or my snowma-
chine, gotta twist myself around and get
used to it!
i We are proud to join the City of
.... ; Newcastle in recognizing
.... ....... Lindsey Steber for the improvments
• made to her home and property at
303 Stockade Ave.
Wyoming
Refining
Company
Succes,~
is no
Accident
F,~ ~ I N I NG, I I.'C
t