82717 January/February 2019

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

Gillette’s Lifestyle Magazine

Love THE

ISSUE

OC Photographer Adam Ritterbush captures the love of his life, Andee – their love story on page 19

Ins i d e WHAT ’S BEHIND 82717’S NEW LOOK

Culture LOVE, ACTUALLY

Life LOVE IN THE MOMENT

Family MARRIED...WITH CATTLE

Find Us on

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82717 FEATURES Culture: Love, Actually What’s the secret to a lasting relationship filled with love? Three Gillette couples share their stories – for better or for worse. page 19

Life: Love in the Moment Hollywood, social media, and society can define great moments in short, simple quotes. But that’s not Ryan’s experience. page 41

Family: Married with Cattle A real-life Campbell County cowboy and self-proclaimed “city girl” fall in love. She leaves the bright lights of the big city behind for a new country life, and they live happily ever after. But... page 15

Editor’s Note: What’s Behind 82717’s New Look For Valentine’s Day 2019, we celebrate love and invite you to fall in love all over again with our revamped look both in the magazine and online. page 13

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82717 FEATURES Community: Cat Wranglers Newcastle natives Amanda and Ginger are out to save the city — one displaced, unwanted kitty at a time. page 35

Home: Love Your Home Your home is the most important space to your world. Campbell County’s magnolia, modern-day homesteader Megan Huber shares her best hacks for ultimate DIY success. page31

Health: A Realistic Outlook 85-year-old patient William Todd gets back to work — and enjoying life — thanks to Gillette’s Powder River Orthopedics and Spine. page 28

#IGT: Everything You Need to Know A sweet, curated list of our editor’s top picks for Valentine’s Day and beyond — from Gillette’s annual Dad & Daughter Ball to a relaxing couple’s retreat in Newcastle and the best truffles you’ve ever tasted ... all available locally! page 26

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GREAT SAVINGS

82717LIFE.COM

• Friendly, courteous staff • Huge one, two & three floor plans • Full-size washer/dryer included • Clubhouse, playground & fitness center with all-new exercise equipment • Close to the Gillette Rec. Center • Located at Southern Drive & Enzi Drive • Civil Discount for Select Employees

Start the Conversation Our Chief of Staff, Lisa, keeps us all on track. Whenever we need advice, we pin her down and she sets us straight, from everything like what to wear on a first date to how to have those hard, but necessary relationship-defining talks. She’s crazy smart about such things, and we’d be lost without her wisdom and advice. Now, we’re sharing her with all of you.

Let her help you out at 82717Life.com More 82717 online at 82717Life.com Though 82717 Magazine may only be published once a month, don’t forget to go online to 82717Life.com to keep up with our local community. You can re-read our print stories, find a full calendar of local events, additional features from our team of reporters and community mavens, and video discussions about the stories you see here in print.

facebook.com/82717Life

Let’s Ask Lisa > Dating Sites For The Over 50 Crowd > In A Quandry > When You Start Dating Later In Life…Oy!

@82717Life

#InGoodTaste We’ve got the best selections of stylish local living just for you! From what you wear or where you eat, to how you decorate and personalize your home, we’ll be your go-to guide for living #InGoodTaste.

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Gillette, Wyoming

Gillette College - The Bridge to Your Future

Areas of Study Administrative Assistant* Agriculture Business Biology Business* Computer Information Systems Computer Networking Administration Criminal Justice* Cyber Security* Diesel Technology* Education, Elementary* Education, Secondary Electrical Apprenticeship Engineering Engineering Technology English

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Alison Clarke Hometown: Gillette, Wyoming Major: English

“All of the faculty and staff at Gillette College are really helpful and always available to answer questions. Living on campus is a great way to get to know other students and find ways to get involved.�

* NOTE: For more information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who have completed the program, and other important information, please visit our website at http://www.sheridan.edu/gainful-employment.

APPLY NOW! www.gillettecollege.org (307) 681- 6070 JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

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Editorial CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Erika C. Christensen MARKETING DIRECTOR Stephanie L. Scarcliff CHIEF OF STAFF Lisa A. Shrefler SALES Jessica L. Pierce Jason N. Kasperik CONTRIBUTORS Jennifer C. Kocher Kevin M. Knapp Megan K. Huber Ryan R. Lewallen T. J. Parks Kim Phagan-Hansel ART DIRECTOR Richard W. Massman DESIGNER Candice E. Schlautmann PHOTOGRAPHER Adam D. Ritterbush

ABOUT THE COVER Andee Wilcox plays up the cover shoot with boyfriend Adam Ritterbush behind the camera. Part of being a photographer’s girlfriend means she’s often his subject, which works out great considering Andee loves to model. This is just one of the pastimes the close-knit couple shares, and you can read more of their story on page 19.

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Inquiries & Customer Service Outliers Creative, LLC P.O. Box 3825 • Gillette, WY 307.686.5121 • 82717@mcllc.net 82717 is a publication of Outliers Creative, LLC © 2018, all rights reserved. Reproduction in any form, in whole or part, without written permission is prohibited.

This magazine accepts freelance contributions. 82717 is not responsible for loss, damage, or any other injury to unsolicited manuscript, unsolicited artwork (including but not limited to drawings, photographs, or transparencies) or any other unsolicited materials.

Outliers Creative, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The MC Family of Companies, LLC.

Editor’s Note:

What’s Behind 82717’s New Look

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umption. As a community, we’ve got it; the energy, wit and wisdom to enterprise. There’s no question about it. Together, we’ve pioneered the West, endured challenges of the boom and bust cycle and continue to combat the onceunprecedented hurdles still facing Powder River Basin coal.

As a lifestyle brand, we’re working hard to always represent the same goals and values as the community we endorse. To do this well, we’re called to innovate and adapt.

Not that you needed me to point this out, but we’ve got a new look.

In fact, this month, we’re rolling out our fresh and exciting makeover in 82717 Life Magazine and online at 82717Life.com. Most notably, we’re featuring news stories and viewpoints (that you’ve told us you want to see) alongside those iconic topics — like Life, Home, Culture, Money, Family and Health — that make us the city’s source for timely, locally-relevant content.

On the website, you’ll find the revamped homepage with larger, bolder images and more saturation up top.

We’ve also chosen to include past issues, so you can check us out whenever you like and are guaranteed not to miss a beat. We’re placing new focus on easy, reader-friendly feedback opportunities,

too, so you can contribute and engage like never before, and share us with friends.

The change comes in celebration with the magazine’s recent one-year anniversary (thank you, Gillette), and we’re stoked to continue expanding the range of important stories immediately available to you — our epic readers — both when you pick us up and visit the site.

We’re also boasting heightened online capacity, which is important, in part, because of a series of big stories we’re going to be covering over the next few months, including an exclusive exploration into an oil and gas drilling organization’s local production, and the industry’s overall economic impact.

But that’s not all I’m excited to be sharing with you. Our annual Love Issue, the January / February 2019 edition of the pub, features intriguing love stories of the feline – and human – varieties by new 82717 contributor and award-winning journalist, Jen Kocher. We’re thrilled to have her on-board. Find her thoughts on page 19 and 35.

Up next, we’ll bring our own, exclusive videos into the spotlight, where we’ll showcase local CEOs, entrepreneurs and influencers, as well as share our editor’s top picks and inside tips for living large in the 82717.

FUN THINGS ARE HAPPENING HERE.

Continue the conversation online at 82717Life.com.

Stephanie L. Scarcliff, Production Editor

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Married with Cattle

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top me if you’ve heard this one before: A real-life cowboy and a self-proclaimed “city girl” fall in love. She leaves the bright lights of the big city behind for a new life in the country, and they live happily ever after. But perhaps what’s left out of the story are the challenges they will face as they fuse together their immensely different backgrounds to create this “happily ever after.”

To say the adjustment has been difficult for me would be an understatement. It hurts to

Candice and Caleb on the morning of their engagement during a once-ina-lifetime trip to Australia. Photo by author.

admit that I often wonder if I “belong” here.

My rancher and I just recently celebrated our second anniversary in November, and I’ve been on the ranch for about two-and-a-half years. Our love story is fun (and my favorite, of course), but not unique in the ranching world. I am not the first, nor the last “city girl,” to leave the bright lights behind for the star-filled, country night sky, trading in her heels for work gloves, muddy boots, and cow sh… well, you know.

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You see, I’m a “city girl” at heart. A “town kid” as my husband would say. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a “big city” girl (think LA, NYC) by any means, but I was enjoying the perks of a more urban lifestyle - living in Billings, Montana, before making the move to the ranch. Indulging in martinis with my bestie for girl’s nights out, attending a variety of social events, and enjoying abundant shopping opportunities and amazing restaurants to satisfy my inner foodie.

My life is so much different now. Girl’s nights have been replaced with date nights in the calving shed…and oddly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Farming and ranching are a highlyromanticized lifestyle, and have recently become incredibly trendy – think urban backyard chickens and farmhouse décor. Overscheduled, overworked, and overtired urbanites are pining for a “simpler life,” when in reality, modern-day farmers and ranchers are just as stretched thin.

Ranching is more than just a job, it’s a lifestyle. For my husband, it runs through his veins – and he is a “lifer” (his words). I am in awe daily of his work ethic. His job is 24/7, 365 – and time off is sparse.

Nonetheless, I wasn’t prepared for this.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time feeling sorry for myself and frustrated when plans fall through as they often do because a tractor broke down, or it’s the middle of spring (calving season) and I’m crawling into bed alone for week three, and counting, while he sleeps in a shed near the corral to check on our laboring “first-time moms.”

There are times when I find myself eating supper alone in the summertime when my daughter is out of state at her dad’s house, and my husband is wrapping up a 14-hour-day out in the hayfield.

Or, I turn down our third summer barbeque invite or show up to another wedding without my designated “plus one.”

In addition to the steep learning curve faced by a greenhorn ranch wife, which causes me to question my legitimacy and place in our operation, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the incredible sense of inadequacy I feel on a daily basis. I promise, I am not an inherently negative person, so let me explain.

It’s true that almost always we are harder on ourselves than anyone else. I, like most women, feel so much pressure as a wife, mother, daughter,

Feeding bulls on an icy winter's morning.

Photo credit: Caleb Schlautmann

sister, friend, and employee. I wouldn’t say that it is pressure to be perfect, but more so, pressure trying to keep all of those balls in the air and not let something important fall.

I know, I’m preaching to the choir, right ladies?

The dishes and laundry are piled up (I’m a bad housekeeper). I haven’t texted my friends back (I’m a bad friend). Work deadlines loom, and I feel so far behind (I’m a bad employee).

Sound familiar?

We need to work cows and the kiddo needs to get to swim practice in town… 30 miles away (bad wife, bad ranch hand AND bad mom). I forgot to call my mother back (bad daughter) and haven’t cooked in what feels like a month; in reality, it’s just a few days – I hope. Oh yes, and I should probably take a shower - that’s important! Will I ever get it together? Thanks, anxiety.

In spite of the laundry list of “bad at everything”, I was reassured by a conversation with two friends, neighbors and fellow ranch wives

The author and her husband on their wedding day. Photo credit: Jenny Lee Lorenz - Jenny Lee's Photography

recently at a community get-together. Two amazing, hard-working women who I look up to immensely, as they’ve been doing this a lot longer than I have.

“So, how are you liking the ranch life?” one asked. I sighed and said to her, “I feel like the biggest failure on the planet.” She chuckled and nodded.

“Well if you don’t feel like a failure, you aren’t trying hard enough!” They lamented that it was hard for them as well, and the weight is oftentimes heavy.

The silver lining in the craziness of it all, is that the busyness takes the edge off of the loneliness that ranch wives often feel.

My husband has admitted to me that his dream was to work side-by-side with his wife. I suppose he gets pretty lonely out there, too. The reality for us (and many other farm and ranch families) is that the wife has to work a job in town to pay bills, carry health insurance, and make ends meet. There are times where he needs me in which I can’t be there and it kills me, every time. Sometimes I worry he thinks I’m just looking for ways to get out of helping.

I’ve rode with babies in the back of the pickup as we try to reunite them with mama, or in some cases, swoop in and save them from a being killed by their mama who is “hot” from a painful birth or who is, unfortunately, a bad mom. Those girls, I learned, “go down the road.”

I also realized how quickly I (and my 66-yearold father-in-law) can move when a high-headed bull broke through a weak point in our corrals as we were trying to load them into the stock trailer.

I don’t even remember doing it, but it turns out I can climb up the side of a slippery aluminum stock trailer in less than three seconds. We named that bull “Taco”, and he ended up on center stage at the taco bar at our wedding reception.

All of these things we have done, together.

I have so much left to learn, but the lessons I have been taught thus far have been life-changing, and fuel for this “city girl’s” soul. When my insecurities and anxiety get the best of me and I proclaim I feel like I don’t “belong” here, my husband puts his hands on my shoulders, looks

Luckily for us, I have an incredibly flexible job – so it doesn’t happen too often; however, I feel like I can’t give the ranch 110 percent like he does, which hurts my heart and makes me feel “less than” and question my worth here, and wonder if he would have been better off snagging someone else. A woman that already knows how to do the things I am slowly learning, a woman that has more time, a woman with more grit.

Despite these wretched feelings, when I take a step back and remove myself from the “pit of despair” that anxiety often throws us into, a different picture emerges.

I am incredibly proud to say I can now drive a tractor and pull a rake in the hayfield (admittedly my corners need some work). I help move pairs (mamas and babies) and bring in bulls on the fourwheeler (we don’t have horses on our operation – just the steel ones). I can also fix fence (although I’m not very good at it). I suppose I need more practice, and rougher hands.

I’ve observed heifers (first-time mothers) giving birth in the pasture, waiting in the wings with my husband to rush to their side and pull the “bag” off of baby’s head so it doesn’t suffocate. Sometimes the first-time mamas are a little slow on the uptake.

They’re learning too.

I’ve helped “pull” distressed calves from struggling mamas who could die without assistance (granted, at this point I haven’t graduated from holding the tail to the side), and felt my heart shatter as the calf comes out lifeless, and mama tries so hard to rouse her baby. Conversely, I’ve felt the joy of a squirmy, slimy baby make it shakily to their feet and take their first steps after being pulled, and knowing that two lives, both cow and calf had been saved.

me in the eye and without an ounce of hesitation proclaims, “Yes, you do.”

In those moments, I remember the day I said “I do,” and it strikes me that those two words mean so much more than I ever imagined. And you know, maybe beneath the “city girl” glitz I do have the grit because I’m not going anywhere.

By: Candice E. Schlautmann JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

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Love,

Actually What’s the secret to a lasting relationship?

Three Gillette couples share their stories – for better or for worse.

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Andee Wilcox & Adam Ritterbush

THE REAL DEAL: talk first dates, the importance of good communication, and taking it one day at a time

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t was a rocky start.

In the beginning, Adam had a short-lived fling with Andee’s best friend and college roommate, so the pair got to know one another – sort of – because Adam was always coming over to talk to her and her friend. Then, one night, the friend invited Adam to a bonfire, but when he got there, the girl was hanging out with some other guy, which had Adam out of sorts. He sat down in front of the fire only to realize he had sat beside Andee, who asked him if he was okay.

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“I’m fine,” he’d told her. He wasn’t; he was pissed.

She was quiet for a second.

“You don’t sound so fine,” she told him.

He wasn’t up for talking about anything that night, so Andee extended the invitation to chat if he ever felt like it.

He didn’t, until one night when he was driving back from Sheridan and saw a flash of pink pass him in the opposite direction on the interstate. He instantly recognized Andee’s newly dyed fuchsia hair.

“Was that you?” he texted her. Soon after the pair started hanging out as friends.

At the time, Andee had a boyfriend of two years back in her hometown of Casper, and Adam wasn’t sure he wanted to disrupt the relationship just because he was starting to like her.

Doubts about them working out and interfering in her life plagued him but finally he told her he liked her.

That night the two went to Lasting Legacy Park. They ended up talking all night long, and when it became light, they went to Walmart and got

“She’s smart.

When it comes to words, she nails them.

That’s just one of the things I LOVE about her.”

a meat and cheese tray, went back to the park for a sunrise picnic, all the while talking away.

“I knew he was different,” Andee said of that almost-first date years ago.

Right away she felt immediately comfortable with him in a way that she hadn’t ever before, even with the first serious boyfriend, so she did what she knew she had to do and broke up with that guy.

Andee said she realizes exactly how right that decision was. She and Adam celebrated their two-year anniversary on Nov. 18, a date both know immediately off the top of their heads.

At ages 22 and 20, respectively, Adam and Andee sound more like middle-age adults than college kids, speaking with a reverent maturity that belies their youth. They talk about communication being the key to a successful relationship and understanding that you don’t have to necessarily

share a mate’s personal interests to support them, as if wizened beyond their years.

But they have their quirks and issues, too, they acknowledge, and sometimes their strength – communication – is also their weakness, as they tend to over talk everything, whether it needs to be analyzed or not. Andee tends to be the sillier of the two, which grates on Adam from time to time, like when she answers the phone “Henlo” and he hangs up on her.

When she calls him back laughing he tells her he’s not talking to her until she speaks normally, which coincidentally, is also something silly his two sisters do as well just to get under his skin.

Andee’s a lot like his sisters and mom, in fact.

Comforting, and he likes that.

He remembers that when they were first dating and he was leaving Gillette to go home to Sheridan for a stint, the two were having a hard time saying goodbye. All of Adam’s life, his mother would sign “I love you” in ASL (American Sign Language) when he was feeling down and, when Andee made the same gesture, without even knowing it, as she rolled up the window and got ready to leave. It made Adam cry.

“That was the first time I ever cried in front of a girl,” Adam said as he sat beside Andee on the couch nearly two years later. The two smiled as they reflected about their early months as a couple.

And they get along well with each other too.

Andee's the most relaxing person he knows, Adam says, and she’s super smart. She’s also an amazing singer and is at Gillette College on a singing scholarship.

For her part, Adam’s just so cool, she counters, which is how she describes him to everyone she knows. On top of being exceptionally creative as both a photographer and videographer and understanding the ins and outs of social media marketing, he also continually surprises her with all the other things he can do. Strange stuff like beat boxing and magic, pulling quarters out behind her ear when she’s feeling grumpy. He can also ride a unicycle, do card tricks and draw well too.

“He’s inspiring,” she said, sneaking a shy smile at him sitting on the couch beside her. Today, she’s volunteering to be his model for a photo shoot for an exercise video for a client and is fresh-faced in black tights and white Nike sweatshirt with her hair pulled back into a pony tail. Side by side on the

floor, her shoes are a smaller, more feminine version of Adam’s.

Both in their young 20s and on the cusp of graduating from community college in the spring – she in physical therapy, him with an associate of science, both going beyond the tradition two years it takes to obtain the degree – they acknowledge they’ll have some big decisions to make moving forward.

Andee loves school, takes it seriously and thinks she’ll return to finish her degree in physical therapy after taking a year off to work and gain experience, but as far as Adam is concerned, he’s done with school and never particularly liked it in the first place.

This is one of their areas of compromise – Andee’s excited appreciation for higher education and Adam’s lack thereof.

“It’s taken me some time to realize that you don’t have to fake like another person’s interests,” he said. “It took me a while to understand that I can support her decisions without necessarily agreeing with them.”

Andee nodded.

“We have a lot to figure out,” she said, “but none of it scares me.”

Given their ability to communicate, she thinks that their various goals will not have a negative impact on their relationship.

Adam agreed, and said that the end goal is marriage and family, which immediately made Andee smile.

“That makes me super happy to hear,” she said.

Regardless of what lies ahead, Adam added, there are just some people you don’t call it for or give up on, and as far as he’s concerned, she’s one of them.

Neither are too sure of their plans at this point but think they’d both like to own a business together. Maybe open a coffee shop in downtown Casper, where Adam will run the show behind the scenes and Andee will take care of the day-to-day operations and waiting on customers.

Either way, they’re content to take the future one day at time while enjoying their time together.

“It’s a choice,” she said, to which Adam immediately snapped his head to hers in agreement.

“See,” he said, “she’s smart. When it comes to words, she nails them. That’s just one of the things I love about her.”

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IN IT FOR LIFE:

Nick and Norine Kasperik look back on a life of love, politics and golf

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fter 45 years, Nick is proud to say he still finds his wife hot.

Norine crumpled in embarrassment on the couch beside him in the couple’s sprawling Westover home.

“Oh, Nick,” she said with a playful swat. “Nobody wants to hear about that.”

“Why not?” he said. “It’s true.”

He’s just retold the story about how the pair got together, or more particularly, when he first noticed her at the pool in her swimming suit when the two were in high school.

Prior to that jolt of recognition, she’d just been a part of the neighborhood pack of kids that he’d ran around with, playing basketball, and other games.

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The pair had grown up together as neighbors in Blairsville, Pennsylvania, where Nick’s parents moved in next door to Norine’s grandparents. Up until their high school years, when couples started pairing off, they’d always been just casual friends.

Norine noticed Nick first. Well, he and his curlyhaired twin brother Don, who she’d also been eyeing for the simple reason that they both were still single.

The day Don walked her home, Norine didn’t feel a spark but Nick was different. She felt comfortable immediately and figured they were fated to be together.

Nick was slower to come around.

“We were friends more than anything,” Nick said, admitting he wasn’t keen to get tied down too

young before playing the field a bit. This was back in the 50’s when rules for dating were pretty rigid and neither attended any drinking parties. They were good kids, Nick said. Like their parents and their parents’ parents.

“Times were just more simple then,” Nick said.

“We had great childhoods and had a lot of fun.”

Two proms and graduations later, Nick was off to the University of Pittsburgh to study engineering while Norine headed across the river to nursing school. Nick continued to play the field, though Norine’s focus remained steadfast.

A lot of boys needed a nudge, she noted, and she was all too happy to give him one.

She recalled crashing a college party where

she heard Nick would be only to find him carrying another girl’s coat, presumably to walk her home.

“I put an end to that,” she said, with a sly smile.

On yet another weekend, Norine returned home alone to Blairsville for a family visit, and Nick stayed away at college “because he was being kind of a jerk.” When Norine ran into Nick’s mother that weekend, she told Norine that she needed to keep chasing him, and eventually, he’d give in.

“She gave me permission,” Norine laughed.

Today, after more than 45 years together, it’s hard to imagine a time that the pair weren’t an item.

Both in matching black glasses, the two laugh comfortably and fill in each other’s gaps in memories of their early years together.

“She chased me down,” Nick said, while Norine nodded with a shrug.

What could she do?

They were fated to be together from the start.

The casual courtship abruptly ended when, after graduating from college and heading out into the working world, Nick learned his brother Don was getting married to one of their mutual friends from high school. “Why not us, too?” he’d told Norine.

“It wasn’t exactly the most romantic proposal,” she said with a laugh.

But it worked; they beat Don down the aisle by six months and haven’t looked back since.

If Nick and Norine have any advice for young couples, it’s not to give up. As simple as that might sound, there’s a lot of years and experience behind it.

They’ll be the first to admit that life together has not always been easy, particularly when the couple first moved to Gillette more than 20 years ago when Nick got transferred. As an mining engineer, Wyoming was a hotbed of activity but for Norine it was a frigidly cold, treeless, tiny outpost in the middle of nowhere, resembling the moon more than any kind of city.

“These were tough years,” she said, though Wyoming slowly began to grow on her.

Oddly, it was Norine who fought Nick years later when work would take him back to St. Louis.

She grudgling went along, though Jason, their son, chose to stay put. Eventually, they returned to Gillette and now both can’t imagine living anywhere else.

They are grandparents now, and both active in local

politics and other civic groups.

Nick had a successful career in the mining industry – beginning with his first entry-level job in an underground mine in Pennsylvania and culminating with his position as head of the environmental division at Peabody in St. Louis, and followed by a stint as operation manager at P&H MinePro (currently Komatsu Mining) in Gillette.

He is now officially retired and free to pursue his

her and she suggested hiring some part-time help.

Why hire help when he could do it, Nick told his wife, and he’s been doing it ever since. A trick Norine, over the years, has learned to exploit for her purposes.

How do you think she got that enormnous 24-plus-foot Christmas tree through the front door?

Just tell Nick they need to hire someone.

The two also share a love of public service.

After a career in ER nursing and teaching, Norine inadvarently found herself in politics when she decided to go back to school to get her bachelor’s degree in nursing, only to be told there were no such long-distance accreditation programs available locally. This didn’t sit well with the ambitious wife and mother, who would later become part of the task force responsible for bringing higher education programs to Gillette. Eventually, she’d go on to earn not just her bachelor’s in nursing but also her master’s degree and without leaving town, which also kicked off a career as one of the few female Wyoming state legislatures and turned Nick into a political spouse.

As the sole male in his group of legislative spouses, the newly retired Nick jumped right into his role as both spouse and partner, going with her to Cheyenne during legislative sessions and helping to run her campaign and make vital decisions. He even went so far as taking the other political spouses – all female – bowling.

Never did he resent being the spouse, and not the politician.

“One of us had to run and she had more experience,” he said simply, given her years in politics, beginning with chairperson of the local Republican party.

Not only did Nick help her with policy, he propped her up when she was exhausted and brought her – and still does – coffee in bed every day.

And though both agree that there have been many trying periods in their lives together, never once did either contemplate throwing in the towel.

“We were brought up to believe in our vows for better or for worse,” Norine said. “To this day, we take those seriously and we do everything in our power to make it work.”

Nick agreed. They’re in it for life.

“She chased me down,” Nick said, while Norine nodded with a shrug.

What could she do? They were fated to be together from the start. passion, perhaps the one interest on which the couple do not agree.

Golf.

Apart from Nick’s extensive golf club and paraphernalia collection that has long since outgrown the allotted space into a storage shed in the backyard, he likes to spend a lot of time out on the links, where Norine is happy to let him go alone.

Norine jokes that when her father found out she was marrying Nick, he offered to buy her some golf clubs. Norine never caught the bug and brags that her golf skills today are about as good as they ever were. That, and the fact that she has one of the most beautiful golf bags she’s ever seen.

“I enjoy accessorizing it,” she said of her bag.

That’s the extent of her interest, and the course is one of the few places that the couple are not seen together. Otherwise, they’re inseparable, whether it’s volunteering in the Rotary or a number of other local charitable organizations or just going for a walk or a coffee.

That’s another reason why they work so well together, according to Nick. They genuinely like doing things together and enjoy each other’s company, which goes a long way in making a lasting marriage stick.

That, and knowing and respecting one another’s roles. They’re a traditional couple, they admit, with Nick taking care of the money while Norine cooks and does the shopping. Cleaning had been on her list, too, until full-time work and motherhood got the better of

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

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Marion and Mary Scott’s

67 YEARS & COUNTING: faith in God and each other are secret ingredients to a lasting marriage

M

arion Scott still remembers that skinny little girl with beautiful eyes that he knew he just had to meet. Mary was just 14 when she caught 18-year-old Marion’s eye. The two, both from Gillette, had frequently crossed paths in 4-H Club and other local FFA activities but had never spoken. Mary can recall a bunch of boys in 4-H that she used to run with–Marion among them–but it wasn’t until he asked her out that he truly made it onto her radar.

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Today, nearly seven decades later, Marion and Mary sit side-by-side in recliners in their living room, which doubles as a happy hour lounge when they open up their ranch to guests during hunting season. The 30-foot walls are covered with animal mounts from a lifetime of hunting. Bighorn sheep perch on stone overlooks, enormous elk, caribou, and bison heads stare down stonily. Fish frozen in mid-air leap in arcs amid trophies, ribbons, and early photographs of Marion and Mary with dark hair, and later, varying shades of gray.

Their shared love of hunting together is on full display as the couple talk about each animal and hunt reverently.

Their accomplishments are many. Along with being honored as Professional Hunters of the Year by the Safari Club International, they have also won the CJ McElroy award for outstanding service to the hunting world among other accomplishments.

Most notably, the Scotts are among a handful of couples to conjointly hold the Grand Slam of North American Wild Sheep accomplishment, which

much as they were when they first met, back when, as kids, many of their relatives were betting against their marriage working out.

Along with them both being the oldest siblings, Mary was too young, they argued. Still in high school, Marion was 20 when he asked for 15-year-old Mary’s hand in marriage. He wasn’t sure what her father would say and was fairly blown away when he gave his blessing.

But, as the couple pointed out, marrying young back then wasn’t such a big deal. In fact, several of Mary’s friends also got married while in school, and like Mary, quickly had children. The difference then,

“We put God first and raised our children that way, too,” Marion said.

They had four daughters, though they lost one to cancer a few years ago, and now have 11 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild.

“We must be doing something right because we’ve never had to bail any of them out of jail,” Marion said with a laugh.

The couple recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary, and along the way have marked each marital milestone with a party or hunting trip. On their 40th anniversary, they even got married again, complete with the same wedding party, and only a few

“We enjoy spending time together and always have,” she said. “We work together and appreciate what we have.”

entails harvesting the four distinct subspecies, including Dall Sheep, Desert Bighorn Sheep, Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, and Stone Sheep.

Though retired, the Scotts still have a steady hand in their ranching and outfitting operations they have spent their lives running together. Very much a team to this day, Mary helps Marion, who now uses a walker, get around the house and the two occasionally finish each other’s sentences.

“My body gave out before hers did,” Marion joked, blaming his 50 years of ‘cowboying,’ just like his dad and brothers, who also rodeo-ed. “But we’ve sure had a great life together. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Even now, although they’re no longer climbing up mountains or trekking through North America hunting down trophy wild game, it’s clear the Scotts are still very much in love, and as both say, just as

was that most didn’t graduate. It’s a point of pride for Marion that his wife–who he considered the smartest girl in her class–graduated alongside her classmates despite having two children.

It was never a question that the couple would live on Marion’s family ranch, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, where he first worked for his father for $100 a month. When he got married, his father gave him a $25 raise.

“Imagine trying to live on that today,” Marion laughed.

But this simple, honest way of life–working hard, going without, and honoring your word with a handshake–is what they attribute to their long, happy marriage.

“We’ve had our difficulties, both financial and otherwise, and we’ve had plenty of hard disagreements, but we’ve always managed to get back through it,” Marion said. “We’re as close to being best friends as any married couple can claim.”

Mary nodded.

“We enjoy spending time together and always have,” she said. “We work together and appreciate what we have.”

The key to a happy life and marriage, they believe, is putting God first. Both in your family and life.

Although both grew up Presbyterian, they joined the Family Life Church more than 20 years ago, where they remain active members.

exceptions. Marion’s brother and best-man couldn’t be there and the original pastor had died. The flower girl, however, was once again Marion’s younger sister, who during the second-go-around, at age 45, replayed all the cute mannerisms of her five-year-old self.

Most memorable for both is their 25th anniversary which they spent in Mexico hunting desert sheep with a group of indigenous guides, who didn’t speak a word of English. To Mary’s surprise, Marion had snuck in a bottle of champagne, and though he had a heck of time pantomiming what they were doing, the guides ultimately joined in the celebration, and more importantly, Mary got her sheep.

The two have traveled throughout North America on a number of hunting expeditions– always together with the rare exception when Marion went alone–and never once fought about who got to take the first shot.

That’s just part of how they work: patient, respectfully, like two oiled cogs in a wheel, Marion might say.

Out of all of their many awards and accolades – including Mary’s wall-full of ribbons for photography and Marion’s hunting honorariums– both would put their marriage on the top of the list for their greatest achievement.

“And to think we weren’t supposed to work out,” Marion said with a big smile.

By: Jen C. Kocher JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

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#InGoodTaste: We’ve scoured the town to bring you the best

OH, MY GANACHE

DAD LOVE

SORRY, BRAISES

Each individual truffle from Forget Me Not Floral is handmade by a candy artisan, and no piece is identical. Over 40 flavors made of the finest quality ingredients, these jumbo Sea Salt truffles are rich and indulgent confections that can be purchased individually or in customized boxes ($2.95 each or a Dozen for $32.95). gilletteflowers.com

Gillette’s Dad & Daughter Ball is a hometown tradition over a decade in the making. Held this year on Saturday, February 23rd from 6 – 9 p.m., it’s the opportunity of a lifetime for dads to create lasting memories with their princesses. Limited tickets are available at Top Notch Auto, 1502 W. 2nd Street ($35)

We’re taking it slow! Slow roasted pork tenderloin with a burgundy-Dijon cream sauce, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and house vegetables ($23.99). railyardgillette.com

TRY ME: HERE’S OUR CURATED LIST OF THE TOP SIX 26

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

Everything You Need to Know

(and tastiest) things to tr y this fall in Gillette.

GIFT OF GLAM

SWEET RETREAT

ETERNAL LOVE

For the month of February, Lil Tiffany’s Spa and Bonita Beauty Makeup Studio pair up to offer a special 30-minute massage package with customized facial and makeup application ($115). liltiffanysspa.com | bonitabeautymakeup.com

Sweet Country Spa in Newcastle, Wyoming, invites you for a unique aroma touch treatment.

Using eight different essential oils, this light touch technique helps with relaxation and reducing stress and inflammation. Treatments available in 30- or 45-minute sessions (starting at $55). sweetcountrysuites.com

What’s more romantic than a dozen beautiful red roses? It’s a nice touch, and women love feeling special. Let Laurie’s Flower Hut, located in the Southview Shopping Center, help you pick the perfect bouquet for your special someone. Flowers are their specialty and they’re celebrating 30 years in business. (Special Valentine’s Pricing available). lauriesflowerhut.com

PICKS FOR JANUARY / FEBRUARY IN THE 82717. ENJOY IT. Check out addtional #InGoodTaste at 82717life.com JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

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JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

A Realistic OUTLOOK 85-year-old patient

EXPERT ORTHOPEDIC & SPINE CARE Relieve pain and get back to work or play with the help of PROS board-certified, experienced orthopedic providers and surgeons – conveniently located right here in Gillette, Wyoming! ____________________________________

back to enjoying life thanks to PROS surgeon

W

illiam Todd doesn’t like to slow down.

At 85-years-old, he still goes to work every day at the company — TIMCO Service and Supply—that he started 53 years ago.

When his knee pain started to get the best of him in the last couple years he had to cut back on some of the activities he enjoyed doing.

“A few years ago, I was jogging three miles a day,” William said. “But recently walking was really beginning to bother me. Getting around was getting more difficult.”

Earlier this year he decided it was finally time to do something about it and scheduled an appointment with Dr. Stanford Israelsen, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon at Powder River Orthopedics and Spine, a Campbell County Medical Group clinic.

Immediately, William was pleased with Dr. Israelsen, who took the time to visit with him and help him to thoroughly understand the surgery and what the recovery process would look like.

“He’s extremely knowledgeable and is a good listener,” William said. “He’s blessed with a good bedside manner.”

William underwent surgery in May and spent 10 days at The Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center recovering in their Short

Term Rehabilitation area. Staying at The Legacy is pretty common for patient’s around William’s age, Dr. Israelsen said.

“The advantage of that is that instead of getting physical therapy a couple times a week, they’re actually getting therapy a couple times a day,” Dr. Israelsen said.

After returning home, William has continued physical therapy and is back to work, something William says he’d like to keep doing as long as he can. That attitude toward work and life is something that Dr. Israelsen credits to William’s recovery.

“He came into surgery with a really positive attitude and a realistic outlook,” Dr. Israelsen said.

That positive attitude and a willingness to work hard are among several important things that helps patients get on a quick road to recovery. The other things that help with recovery is a good diagnosis and quality surgery followed by physical therapy.

But William’s said he believes Dr. Israelsen also played a big part in helping him get back to his daily routine.

“I don’t have enough words in my vocabulary to describe what a good man he is,” William said. “He’s a good doctor and man, and I would recommend him to everybody.”

By: Kim Phagan-Hansel, Wyoming freelance writer

Dr. Stanford Israelsen is a board-certified physician at Powder River Orthopedics and Spine. The physicians at PROS take an innovative and comprehensive approach to the treatment of acute and chronic orthopedic pain. Have your procedure in our modern operating rooms at Campbell County Memorial Hospital or Powder River Surgery Center. ____________________________________

See the PROS for: á Foot and Ankle Surgery Ü General Orthopedic Surgery Ü á Joint Replacement Surgery Ü á Hip and Knee Surgery Ü Shoulder, Elbow & Hand Surgery á Spine Surgery Ü á Sports Medicine Ü á

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JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

Love Your Home

Love Your Health

W

e’ve all watched and laughed along with shows like HGTV Rescue My Renovation. Maybe we have all experienced a project or two go south such as theirs. One thing is for sure: projects that end badly all too often were never set up for success from the start.

Prep work and maintaining a safe work zone is worth the time invested in the beginning of a project, because at the end you get to post those amazing before-and-after pics. Prep work and good safety habits create positive repetition, which transforms into a safe and productive work space. Over time it becomes less invasive and easier to manage.

VOC HAZARDS I use chemicals on an almost daily basis. Some of which can have negative effects on our health.

I’m talking about the VOC chemicals found in the paint, stain, aerosol cans, and many materials

and products we use to complete DIY home repairs and projects.

VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) can cause headaches, dizziness and even nausea if inhaled.

While the change to zero-VOC paint is a positive one, I still want to stress the importance of keeping your windows open and allowing fresh air into your work area. I always try to wear a respirator mask if I cannot avoid using VOC containing products.

NON-VOC PAINTS TO TRY Latex paint now offers low-VOC or no-VOC paint options to check into. The chalk paint craze has come alongside latex paint for refreshing and re-painting furniture and household décor. Chalk paint, which is made from mineral particles, contains zero VOCs. I use chalk paint for this reason alone. It can be used to paint walls as well, but be weary of the price tag because chalk paint is higher priced than that of your average latex paint.

Because chalk paint is made of minerals, you can water it down to make a more transparent coverage, and it also blends well with other chalk paint colors to create a custom color not sold in the store. It washes up with water and can be stored in a dry room temperature room just like regular paint. The wax that is used to seal the chalk paint is also more health savvy, replacing polyurethane (which contains VOCs). Wax may take extra elbow grease and is recommended to allow several months for it to completely cure.

NEW OPTIONS FOR WOOD STAIN My personal preference is a gel stain to the liquid version. I find it is less offensive to the nose and it applies more evenly and is easier to control the saturation (how dark the stain soaks into the wood).

I tend to splash the liquid stain all over the place. It does still contain chemicals, so wear a mask.

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

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4.

The importance of a good brush is essential to trim work, but buying a new brush every single project can get spendy. I like to buy the big bag of cheap chip brushes and foam brushes for one-time use projects and toss them when done and keep my good brushes for furniture painting or trim work where I don’t want the brush strokes to show. Painting with the wood grain and keeping your paint strokes going in the same direction,

MEG’S BEST HACKS FOR ULTIMATE DIY SUCCESS

1.

Clean stain off of your skin with lemon essential oil. It is amazing and leaves your hands smelling fresh and is not harmful like paint thinner when used on the skin. The brand really doesn’t matter; I end up using so much of it that I buy a less expensive oil than I do for others essential oil uses. I keep a bottle by the sink and everyone in the family has found a use for it. I have also gotten permanent marker off of wood and sticky residue off of many surfaces using my good old bottle of lemon oil.

2.

Combine fabric softener and vinegar to clean brushes. It works wonders if your paint has almost dried on the brush, softening them up and making them usable again. I am the worst at letting my brushes dry out. Don’t make this same mistake.

3.

When painting a large area of the house, which I know will take more than a day, I wrap my paint roller in plastic and keep in the fridge. I also do this with paint brushes and this eliminates the need to wash and rewash brushes and rollers when I know I will just get up and use them the next morning.

*I will note here that I have a separate refrigerator just for my paints and rollers because any VOC in the paint can taint food that is kept in the same space and might possibly make you sick if you eat it.

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JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

however, helps no matter what kind of brush you are using.

PREP FOR A SAFE WORK ZONE Our community is driven by industries where safety is extremely important. While not all of us work in mining, gas, or oil field industries,

we can implement a few safety guidelines for our own personal protection and that of our families as well:

• Make sure all cords are taped down or placed under a work mat to avoid tripping (clumsy girl right here)

• Shut off the electricity to the breaker box in your house when rewiring and attaching light fixtures or doing any kind of electrical work (forgot to do that once and got yelled at by my husband)

• Work in a well-ventilated area, keeping the windows or garage door open to allow fresh air in and the fumes out (Yep, have been sick from forgetting this step!)

• Label all chemicals and cleaners and keep out of reach of children (I have grabbed the wrong container MANY times because the labeling on products is so similar)

• Wearing long sleeves, gloves, a respirator, and safety glasses protects your skin and eyes (I am getting better at this)

• Sawdust can cause breathing and respiratory issues. Exotic woods are especially offending. Wearing a respirator, mask, or installing an inhalation system can be a proactive way to avoid symptoms. (We have learned the hard way cedar dust is especially offending to a hubby who has asthma)

• Remove nails, and other sharp objects from reclaimed wood (especially wood pallets which are super popular DIY material these days) to avoid stepping on them and getting a nail through the foot. (And NEVER wear flip flops while doing projects. I have cut my feet

numerous times because I made the wrong shoe choice). NOTE: The Center for Disease Control recommends getting a tetanus booster every 10 years to stay protected.

LOCAL PAINT DISPOSAL When I contacted our local Sherwin-Williams paint store for paint disposal tips, they suggested contacting the city dump for specific questions regarding oil-based paint disposal specifics.

Employee, Brittany Clapp, was very helpful and suggested adding kitty litter to water-based paint to dry it out before taking cans to the city dump. The local landfill specified that oil-based

paint would need to be dropped off at the new Hazardous Health and Waste Bldg., located at the old recycling center at the former dump.

PREPARE FOR SUCCESS That boost of self confidence in your newfound and upgraded DIY skill set is achieved over time with practice, consistency, and sound judgement just like anything else. Don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and get busy. Just remember, safety first!

By: Megan K. Huber Photos by Megan K. Huber of Huber Farms

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

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WHC W Y O. COM 34

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

C AT W RANGLERS

A

manda Bench and Ginger Franklin-Fields are crazy about cats.

I mean, really crazy about cats, to the point that they’ll climb underneath trailers in the mud or stalk through the woods in the middle of a snowy, winter night just to save one – or seven.

It doesn’t matter to them.

Their efforts have not gone unnoticed either.

In a small town like Newcastle, Wyoming, they’ve made a reputation for themselves as the “crazy cat ladies,” and anyone with a stray cat problem or an extra litter of feral kittens knows just who to call.

That happens a lot.

Just like tonight when a local landlord called to let Ginger know that a renter had just vacated a trailer but had to leave a cat behind after it freaked out in the middle of packing and had barricaded itself underneath the sink.

That the cat’s owner had just up and left when it refused to come out doesn’t seem to faze the ladies at all as they reach for their fishing nets and cages.

They’ve seen much worse. Much, much, much worse, in fact, and this is just par for course when saving unwanted animals.

With their arsenal of equipment loaded into the back of Amanda’s white SUV, the pair headed over to the trailer to fish out the cat. By then, the renter was long gone and the trailer was dark and empty. The lingering scent of Pinesol and thick odor of lilac carpet cleaner wafted through the thin walls.

After a quick check in the closets and bedrooms, Ginger grabbed her flashlight and crawled headfirst into the kitchen cabinet, calling for the stray kitty as she shined the light in a tiny gap between the cupboard and cracked linoleum floor.

The previous owner had at least thought enough of the cat to leave behind full bowls of

food and water and a litter box on the kitchen floor, so presumably the cat wasn’t hungry enough to come out quite yet. After several minutes of cat calls without response, the pair decided to leave behind a couple of live animal traps, which they covered with thick blankets, so if trapped, the cat would at least stay warm as it sorted through its abandonment issues.

They’d be back to check their traps either tomorrow or later tonight, despite the fact that it was already 7 p.m. and both had worked a full day at their respective “other jobs” – Amanda as owner of a day spa and small inn, and Ginger a nurse – a fact that doesn’t seem to dawn on either of them as they discuss stopping by the municipal dump on the way home to put out some more fresh bowls of food and check on their new heating system.

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This year, the women had put out Styrofoam coolers throughout town in an effort to keep the strays alive through winter, including at the compost heap, where they were concerned workers may have removed them.

Technically, it’s illegal to be out there, but many things, like no trespassing signs, become arbitrary when these two are on a mission.

Like that night, as Ginger grabbed a couple containers of soft cat food and shimmied on her stomach underneath the barbed wire fence, as giggling, Amanda held it up for her.

Ginger’s husband, who is a police officer, would likely not approve of his wife’s actions, but in the time that the two have been married, he’s come to understand his wife’s passion for saving animals.

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Ditto Amanda’s husband, Darren, who recently died unexpectedly of an aneurysm this past fall, which is the one cloud hanging over the women’s shared mission.

While alive, Darren had been an avid supporter of his wife’s excessive love of felines. Not only did he provide financing for her passionate operation, but he also built her an outdoor cat atrium off the back of their house where her kitties can sun themselves or get some fresh air in the winter.

The fact that they no longer have his financial contributions weighs heavily on the future of their volunteer operation, which both women pay for, almost exclusively, on their own. This means cat food, toys and litter, medical expenses, including spays, shots and neuters which, even with local vet discounts, are through the roof.

Unbeknownst to many, their Sweet Country Angels cat rescue is entirely self-funded. It’s not a non-profit, nor is it linked with any larger, national group but rather a grassroots mission born out of the women’s big hearts and compassion.

They have a Facebook page to try to help adopt out and save local cats. Otherwise, it’s all done in their spare time, free of charge and mostly on their own dime, with the help of a small group of donors and volunteers, who shuttle the cats to neighboring cities or states including Gillette and Montana.

They’re not benign to the sometimes lunacy of their mission and both admit that at times it seems ridiculous – even to them.

Nor do they fall into the stereotype of “crazy cat ladies.” With manicured nails, well-coifed hair and stylish yoga pants, the two are more like supermodels than women used to digging in the mud or underneath cabinets.

Absent, too, is any resentment for the people who cast the stray cats into the cold or the fact that so many cats requiring saving. Friendly with big smiles and contagious laughs, the two are more like a French vaudeville act as they banter back and forth in high-pitched voices and giggles, making cat wrangling almost look like fun.

They enjoy laughing at themselves and their crazy passion, which both agree is a bit over the top.

“We’re a little bit crazy,” Amanda said, looking at her friend as she once again shimmied under the fence and reported that the cooler “cat condos” were doing just fine, left alone by the city workers.

Once again, they hopped into the SUV and with nothing more to check on that night, headed home as they discussed plans for the next day.

They’re in this together and have been for several years.

The two instantly bonded almost a decade ago over their shared love of God and His creatures, a deal that was sealed when Amanda noted how out of control the stray cat problem was in the “Camp of the Trees” section of town on the far west end of Newcastle, at which point the two decided to do something about it.

It took them two weeks to trap all the strays, sometimes requiring sitting for hours at a time in their car to keep watch.

“It was a successful mission,” Ginger said with a smile.

In the eight or so years since they’ve been at this, they try not to think about how many hours

goes into their cat saving, but instead try to celebrate the fact that they’ve found so many cats good homes.

In Newcastle, the choice for stray cats is pretty limited. The local animal shelter can only house so many and to combat over-population, years ago the city opened the Cat House with the primary purpose of indiscriminately euthanizing any cat who is missing for more than three days, whether it’s a stray or pet.

The opening of the Cat House, in fact, is what prompted the pair to launch Sweet Country Angels,

which is putting a big dent in the stray population.

And though the Cat House is controversial to some, others feel it was exactly what was needed to put an end to the rampant stray cat problem, which back then most would agree required a swift solution. Between the cat wranglers and the Cat House, in fact, the stray cat problem appears to be more or less under control.

At a recent city council meeting, News Letter Journal reporter Alexis Barker noted that council members were lamenting the lack of

business at the Cat House, which for two months sat entirely empty, as council questioned the cost and need of keeping it open.

In the seven or so years since Sweet County Angels stepped in, and up, with the mercenery mission of saving these cats, the business seems to be solidly going in their direction.

For every cat killed, they figure they have saved a dozen.

Their Facebook page is filled with testimonials from those who have adopted cats and those who’ve helped find adoptive homes. Photos of cats begging to be adopted stare from the page with big eyes, and often recently stitched wounds, from their perch on the sofa or cat bed. Many are in various stages of recovery from situations of abuse or being attacked by other animals.

Were it a matter of simply eradicating stray cats from the city, their mission would have likely been accomplished years ago. If humans stayed out of the mix, that is.

“Humans are the biggest problem,” Ginger said.

There are a few notable situations throughout town, primarily hoarders and lonely people and others with mental disabilities, who don’t view their excessive animal populations as a problem.

In one case, one hoarder kept a houseful of unaltered cats whose population exploded with a mixture of starving and ill cats in various need of attention. It took the women months to convince the owner to let them get the cats fixed and the medical attention they needed, which they singlehandedly accomplished through frequent visits, and sometimes, through bribes.

“I baked a lot of cookies,” Ginger said with a laugh.

It had worked, too, until he brought in a whole new slew of unfixed cats and the cycle began yet again.

Another time, one of the cat hoarders died, and with police tape still on the doors, the women frantically set about freeing the trapped cats.

“It’s frustrating,” Amanda said.

And sometimes controversial.

The two take plenty of heat for their sometimes-unorthodox methods of saving animals. On social media, they’re sometimes lambasted for stealing other people’s runaway cats or not doing due diligence when it comes to getting them all the necessary shots or doing proper background checks prior to adoption.

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

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JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

To them, however, the end justifies the means of saving animals from much worse fates, including a life on the streets where they just continue reproducing.

Another drawback of the job is that cat saving often is a full-time job with no holidays, particularly when people drop their unwanted cats off at their door.

Unfortunately, in a small town, everyone knows everyone, which in Amanda’s case amounts to lots of strays dropped at her door, despite her continual pleas on Facebook to respect her privacy.

A few weeks before Christmas, after Amanda had been to the Festival of Trees fundraiser with

her family, she returned home to find a cardboard box on her doorstep. Thinking UPS had dropped off a package, she kicked it through her front door. Two kittens flew out, scaring Amanda, who shrieked as the cats flew under the couch.

She was livid. Beyond the fact that someone had essentially just dumped their cats at her house, they’d left them sitting out in the cold without food and water. What if she’d been out of town?

This is the kind of stuff that really gets under her skin.

That night, with fresh wounds of her late husband on her mind, she took to social media to air her grievances, declaring her cat saving days were done.

The next morning, however, she deleted it. But not before many had read it, including Ginger, who worries about her friend.

That said, Amanda’s loss seems to have made her realize that it’s impossible to save every single one.

As a nurse, Ginger tends to view death in some cases as a much kinder alternative than suffering or procuring ridiculously high medical bills just to keep a cat alive.

“I don’t like to see anything suffer,” Ginger said, “cats or anyone else.”

The first time they had to put one down,

Amanda cried hysterically, insisting they needed to pay whatever it cost to keep the animal alive.

The last time they had to put down two sick kittens, Amanda faced it stony-eyed, with no tears.

“She did incredibly well,” Ginger said. “I couldn’t believe it.” Amanda shrugged.

“They were sick,” she said. “The vet had them on medication for two weeks and they weren’t getting any better.”

This is just part of the operation, they acknowledge, and not every mission ends successfully – or at all.

But their hearts are always in the right place, and that keeps them going every time.

By: Jen C. Kocher

PHOTO CREDIT: Amy Menerey/Lost Cabin Photo Design

Amanda Bench and Ginger Fields have teamed up to form Sweet Country Angels for the purpose of rescuing cats that would otherwise be euthanized. The selffunded Newcastle, Wyoming, duo make sure each of the cats they rescue are spayed or neutered before finding them homes with families in Gillette and beyond.

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

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JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2019

Love

in the

Moments A MOMENT

To think how brief a moment can be is mind-boggling; could it be a second, a millisecond, or a microsecond?

C

ould it be the time that passes while you wait for your crush to respond to an overly loud profession of love, or is it that awkward pause on the street when your eyes meet and there is that overwhelming feeling of not being able to breathe properly?

Perhaps a moment should be thought of in the official capacity where it can be broken down into dull, academic definitions such as a time of excellence or conspicuousness.

The official definitions could be correct, but so too could the unfathomable feelings associated with the unknown, such as how a moment can last for hours yet, at the same time, it can pass in the blink of an eye. Details are lost, but the feeling remains.

Hollywood, social media, and society would have you believe that great moments can be surmised in short, simple, and meaningful quotes.

But that’s not my experience. For me, 2018 was the year I first experienced a moment of greatness in

my relatively short and limited lifetime. I found a girl, fell in love, and married her.

Three years ago, if you were to ask me what I saw in Megan Benton that made me want to marry her, I probably would have shrugged my shoulders and given you a blank stare, unable to provide a straight answer.

Today, if you asked the same question, I would smile, pull up a chair, and put on a pot of coffee, because we would be talking for a good, long while.

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How does one go about telling someone else their most intimate feelings? I suppose my responses would mimic those of my father, to whom I had posed a similar question: why had he chosen to love my mother?

He sat me down and beguiled me with stories of laughter and remorse, happiness and sadness, and of love gained and love lost. He could never tell me the precise moment he fell in love with my mother, but he could tell me the stories associated with it.

Whenever I pressed him for more information, at the time wanting to know if I was truly in love with Megan, he merely responded with more stories.

At the time, I was slightly frustrated. I could not understand why my father couldn’t tell me what I wanted to hear. It was only recently, after my own wedding had come and gone, that I have come to understand what my father had been saying.

On September 8, the day of our wedding, Megan and I had been together for two-and-a-half years. Within our first year, we had fallen madly in love, or at least what we believed love to be.

Last spring, we became engaged and jumped headfirst into the age-old swamp that is wedding planning. It became a stressful period that tested us both. There was anger and hurt, but there was also happiness and excitement. One by one, we tackled the issues that fell in our path together, until the big day finally arrived.

I was a busy body, not wanting to stand around and chit-chat awkwardly with family and friends. I rushed about the Big Lost Meadery and Brewery and adjusted seats, straightened the aisle, triple-checked decorations, and greeted guests.

When I checked the time on my phone, I had only 10 minutes to spare and made my way to the staging area. I greeted my best man,

Edwin Saenz, who has been my friend for over a decade, and made my way to the front of the crowd, hyperventilating slightly as crowds have never been my forte.

Two by two, I watched as my parents, Megan’s mother and brother, and members of the wedding party made their way down the aisle. I recall picking up my guitar, readying myself to play the song that Megan was going to walk down the aisle to. It was Yiruma’s “River Flows in You,” a song that, over the years, has become our special song.

When Megan stepped through the door, smiling as her eyes found mine, nothing else in that moment mattered. The faces of the crowd seemingly blended together and my fingers fumbled through the notes of our special song as a tirade of memories flooded my mind.

It was if time stood still, and a movie of our time together started in my mind. One by one, I watched every moment. We laughed, we cried, we shouted, and held each other. I remembered the times we hiked up the mountainside and the time we made 400-mile road trips just for the hell of it.

Lastly, I remembered the way her eyes lit up when I dropped to one knee, her perfect smile as she held out her hand to accept the engagement ring.

As the moment passed and her father placed her hand in mine, I realized what my own father had been trying to tell me, though I doubt he knew it.

It is not a single, grand moment that determines when and where someone falls in love.

Rather, it is the combination of many moments, grand and common, angry and joyous, happy and sad, that creates the foundation for true love to emerge and build upon.

By: Ryan R. Lewallen

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR January 15

NE Wyo. Furniture Restorer’s Workshop Do you have a furniture project that is waiting to be restored? Annual 10-day rehab beginning Fri., Jan. 11 and continuing daily Tues., Jan. 15 through Sun., Jan 20 from 8 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.

CAM-PLEX Central Pavilion. Booths from $25 - $150. Register at Magpie Designs or contact Tara Stoneking at (307) 682-2124.

January 19

Master Classic 3D Archery Shoot Archers can come and have some fun and shoot some foam. Hosted by Pronghorn Archery Club.

Participation fees: Adult $20, Young Adult $5, Youth and Cub free, Hunter Round $15.

CAM-PLEX Barn 3 Sat., Jan. 19 and Sun., Jan. 20 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Contact Brett Montey at (307) 680-5442 or facebook.com/pronghornarchery.

January 19

Dance Outreach Workshop Series Ballet class with instructor Madeline Jazz Harvey.

Dance Outreach classes are free and open to all ages and skill levels. Families are welcome. CAMPLEX Heritage Center Green Room Sat., Jan. 19 from 2 – 3 p.m. Contact Jill Huff to preregister at jill@cam-plex.com or (307) 682-0552.

January 22

Million Dollar Quartet This worldwide smash-hit musical is inspired by the famous recording session that brought together rock ‘n’ roll icons Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins for the first and only time. CAM-PLEX Heritage Center Theater Tue., Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.

Contact CAM-PLEX Ticket Office at (307) 682-8802 or visit cam-plex.com.

February 2

Wild West Champions Wrestling Online registration through Tue., Jan. 30. If spots are still available at weigh-in there will be a $15 late fee. Weigh-ins Fri., Feb. 1 from 4 – 6 p.m. for all divisions. General Admission $15, Floor Pass $30, Kids 4 and under free. Sat., Feb. 2 from 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. CAM-PLEX Wyoming Center. Purchase tickets at eventbrite. com. Learn more and register at rmevents. com or call (303) 635-1549.

February 2

The Choir of Man “The ultimate feel-good show” offers up to 90 minutes of indisputable joy! It’s a party on stage.

It’s the best singing, dancing, stomping pub crawl of a concert you’ll ever see. Cheers! CAMPLEX Heritage Center Theater Sat., Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Balcony tickets $45, Orchestra $55. Contact CAM-PLEX Ticket Office at (307) 682-8802 or visit cam-plex.com.

February 16

Gillette Dinner The Annual Ducks Unlimited Fundraiser Dinner in Gillette is so much fun! More importantly, the revenue generated from these events is critical to the Ducks Unlimited conservation mission and the future of waterfowl hunting. Join DU Sat., Feb. 16 from 4 – 9 p.m. CAM-PLEX Wyoming Center.

Buy tickets online through Feb. 14 at ducks.org or contact Mark Bunney at (307) 680-4963.

February 7

The One and Only Ivan For 27 years, the world of Ivan the gorilla was a dull cage in a roadside shopping mall. But when he meets Ruby, his ambitions must grow to meet the challenge of rescuing his new companion. Based on the book by Katherine Applegate, a #1 New York Times bestseller. CAMPLEX Heritage Center Theater Thurs., Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. For tickets, contact CAM-PLEX Ticket Office at (307) 682-8802 or visit cam-plex.com.

February 16

Sundance Winter Festival A family-friendly and exhilarating Winter Festival of extreme horseback ski-joring on Main Street, downhill bar stool races, wild horse races, tube races, a crazy costume contest, food vendors and fellowship. Sat., Feb. 16 from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Town of Sundance. Contact Reggie Gaylord at (307) 283-2438. Learn more and view a full schedule of events at sundancewinterfestival.com.

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