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Schoenberger
to Ski the Stage in Pinedale
Friday & Saturday, November 22-23, Pinedale Auditorium,
7:30 pm
On November 22nd and 23rd, performing artist and world
champion skier Alan Schoenberger will appear in Pinedale with his unique
stage snowless ski performance, "Schoenberger Skis the Stage".
Schoenberger has spent more than two decades cultivating a stage career
that blends magic and the beauty of skiing with vanguard circus arts
and ski dance. During his performance, he transforms the theater into
a virtual swirling mountaintop with unique staging apparatus. He entertains
the audience by combining the metaphysical skills and charm of the European
circus with the surreal imagery of figure skiing. It is a whimsical
fusion of fast-paced clown, juggling, unicycle, slapstick, balancing
acts and stage, performed live on stage, on skis-without a single flake
of snow. Schoenberger performed during the Salt LAke City 2002 Winter
Olympic Games and across the United States. The two performances in
Pinedale are sponsored by The Turning Point Ski Foundation. Proceeds
to benefit the new USSA Ski Clubs for alpine, nordic and freestyle skiing
and the volunteer National Ski Patrol at White Pine Ski Area and Resort.
Advance tickets are $10.00. Box office ticket price is $12.00. Children
under 6 free. Tickets are available at the usual Pinedale ticket outlets
or online at: http://www.tpsf.org/pianoroll.
The
Drift
For
those of you who are wondering, "What's going on in Pinedale?",
we've compiled a number of tidbits  that
attempt to give a picture to answer that question. These items don't
really fit well into a story, so we're presenting them here more as
a collection of observations and things that aren't really news, but
may be of interest to you.
Around town:
The snow is almost melted off in town with just some small piles lingering
here and there. Grass is back and even still green in some protected
locations. We had a couple of inches of snow on the ground a few weeks
ago, but no measurable new snow since then. Even the icicles have all
fallen off the roof eves. Daytime temperatures have been lingering around
the 20s. Frost has to be scraped off the car windows each morning. Snowpack
readings in the mountains range from about a foot to 2 foot accumulation
between Big Sandy in the southern Wind River Range, Blind Bull Summit
in the Wyoming Range, and Gunsight Pass in the Upper Green. You can
tell everyone is ready for snowmobiling season to begin as the covers
are taken off the machines and folks have them loaded up in the back
of their trucks as they drive around town.
The Pinedale Hockey Association has started flooding
the ice skating rink on the west side of town. It will take several
floodings over the next several weeks before the ice is ready for hockey
lines to be put down. Then new layers of ice will be laid down on top
of that before the rink is ready for skating. The black curtains above
the rink help shade the ice and reduce the temperature over the rink
to preserve the ice during the day. The shades make it possible to start
skating earlier in the season and approximately 1-2 weeks later at the
end of the season by keeping the direct sun off and melting the  ice.
The rink has hours for recreational free skating as well as scheduled
times for youth and adult ice hockey team practice and games.
The Sublette Hi-Country Senior Citizens Center is
in the process of planning and designing a new building. The process
is in the pre-final review stage with Providence Architecture. Anyone
interested in giving input can call 307-367-2881.
There seems to be new construction going on all over
town. The biggest new building on the west end of town is the almost
completed Shell building 
just south of the Pinedale Entertainment Center. Work progresses on
the remodeling of the new courthouse and jail complex and the old library
has been converted into the new circuit court building. The Town of
Pinedale is remodeling their town shop just west of Pine Creek and expanding
their facilities. New duplexes and multi-family units are springing
up in many places on the west end of town. Redstone
Properties has many building lots for sale close to Pinedale.  Just
south of Pinedale, the Old Brazzill Ranch subdivision has been approved
for 35+ acre parcels and several smaller lots near Aspen Storage Units.
Developers are in the process of erecting a new entry gate for that
large tract development south of Ponds Edge east of Hwy 191. Pinedale's
newest real estate agency, the Pinedale Branch office of Sotheby's,
opened last June. The fine art and collectibles auction services company
added real estate brokerage and marketing to their business in 1976
and has a global network. The Pinedale Branch office offers land, residential,
farms, ranches and commercial properties. Local real
estate agencies offer a wide range of properties for building your
in town home or out of town ranchette on 35+ acres. If you can afford
it,  there
are also several multi-million dollar ranches for sale in the county.
During the summer, new "right turn only"
signs appeared at the Pinedale Post Office parking lot to make it easier
and safer for drivers exiting the Post Office to merge onto Pine Street.
The Sheriff's Office, Pinedale Post Office and Town of Pinedale worked
together to get the new signs posted at the parking lot. Despite the
new signs and brightly painted red "no parking" markings on
the curb in front of the building, locals don't seem too inclined to
change their ways. So far the Sheriff's Office hasn't been writing tickets
for those who still are determined to cross the lanes and turn left.
It has been a challenge over the past couple of weeks
trying to figure out how to get into Faler's as the construction progresses
to correct the drainage problems on Bridger Avenue across from the Bank
of Pinedale. Bright orange cones move around closing one entrance or
another as the work proceeds. Customers zig zag around the large dump
trucks, equipment and workers on the job trying to learn the new traffic
flow pattern of the week. Usually at least two of the three entrances
are open, but you never know in a given week which two those are. The
main entrance from the highway is expected to be closed off for just
a short while longer as crews complete all the work they can do for
now and then shut down for the season. And speaking of Faler's, they
just completed renovation of the inside installing new freezers and
completly revamping the check-out stands with those new moving belt
grocery movers and customer computer display screens showing items purchased.
Calamity Jane's, the restaurant in the back of the
World Famous Corral Bar, is being converted to Pinedale's first sports
bar. Sports enthusiasts will be able to enjoy their favorite games on
the 53" big screen tv and other televisions located around the
bar.
If you're into playing music, you can go over to Stockman's
every Wednesday night from 8-12 pm and join in on the jam sessions.
All musicians and patrons are welcome. Rumors Cafe behind the Post Office
closed its doors for good earlier this month, leaving many of us greatly
missing the wonderful food and company.
What does it cost to live in Sublette County? We're
rated as having the 6th highest Cost of Living of the 23 counties in
Wyoming according to the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information
Economic Analysis Division. Teton County is rated the most expensive
place to live. During the 2nd quarter of 2002, the average two bedroom,
unfurnished apartment cost $472/month excluding utilities. Rent for
a two or three bedroom home was $611/month, excluding utilities.
Unemployment for the county increased a bit in September,
going from 1.9% to 2.3%. Still, that's lower than the state average
in Wyoming of 3.3%. Jobs needed in the county range from service industry
needs, construction, the medical field, and oil and gas profession workers.
The Sublette Swimmers took 4th place at the 3A State
meet in Gillette earlier in the month, losing out to Jackson, Newcastle
and Lander. Twelve teams competed in that meet. The Sublette team is
composed of swimmers from throughout Sublette County. The Pinedale High
School Lady Wrangler Volleyball team took 2nd place from the 2A State
Championships. Volleyball Coach Bev Walker received the Rocky Mountain
Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors for the 5th time!
Events:
December 6th: The 9th Annual Museum of the Mountain Man Wreath
Auction takes place at 6 pm at the Pinedale Entertainment Center. There
will be a complimentary holiday buffet and cash bar. This wonderful
annual event helps support the Museum.
December 7th: The Pinedale Lions Club is holding their 13th Annual
Snowmachine Raffle drawing for a 2003 Polaris RMK 700, 144-inch track.
Only 225 tickets will be sold for $50 each. The reverse drawing will
begins at noon at Bucky's Outdoors in Pinedale with many door prizes.
The proceeds benefit the Pinedale
Lions Club's non-profit programs including providing eyeglasses for
the needy, helping Pinedale schools acquire a braille reader for blind
students, and working with the McMurry Foundation on improvements to
the new playground in Shelter Park in north Pinedale. Tickets are available
from any Lions Club member or at Big J's Auto Parts or Bucky's Outdoors
in Pinedale.
December 21st: The Daniel Community Center is having their Christmas
Party at 630 pm at the Daniel Schoolhouse. The Community Center will
provide beverages, turkey, potatoes, gravy and stuffing. Participants
are asked to bring potluck salads, desserts and your own flatware. Bring
a gift marked with your child's name for Santa to give.
There
are a number of popular events that AREN'T taking place this winter:
Pinedale 100 Snowmachine Race, Pinedale Classic Sled Dog Race, Mountain
Sled Speed Run, Green River Rondy Sled Dog Race
Skiing
White Pine Ski Area hopes to begin their 2002/2003 ski season beginning
Thanksgiving this year. They have limited snowmaking capabilities and
at least hope to have the Little Spirit lift and run open for kids by
the holiday. There are several new runs that will be open for skiers
this year on the western side of the mountain and some of the existing
trails have been improved. They are also working on an inter-mountain-affiliated
ski racing programs for kids kindergarten to 12th grade. The resort
plans to host a number of events for nordic, alpine and freestyle skiing
this season. The ski shop at the lodge is open Fridays and Saturdays
from 10 am until 6 pm and they have a ski lease program available. Skis
and snowboards can be rented in Pinedale at Two Rivers Emporium and
the Great Outdoor Shop. Season tickets will be available at the pre-season
rate of $250 for adults and $200 for youths only until Wednesday, November
20th. After that date, cost for pre-season passes will be $360 for adults
and $285 for youths 12 and under.
Efforts are underway to start a "Youth White
Pine Ski Club", an independent organization devoted to promoting
youth alpine skiing. This club is not affiliated with White Pine Ski
Resort. Anyone interested can attend a sign up meeting on Monday, November
25th at the Sublette County Library in Pinedale at 5:30 pm.
Oil & Gas
The Pinedale office of the Bureau of Land Management approved the Veritas
Merna 3-D Geophysical Project which involves seismic exploration for
natural gas of 265 square miles centered in Daniel. The Merna Project
originally included the Hoback Ranches area, but that was later dropped
from the project. The BLM only received 21 letters from the public about
the project expressing concerns for crucial wildlife winter range, migration
routes, sage grouse habitat, wetland and riparian areas, and discharges
and surface disruption. The BLM issued a report finding no significant
impact for the project in early October.
The oil and gas industry contributes the lions share
of the sales tax revenues collected in Sublette County.
Sublette County Recreation Planning
The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment on the Warren
Bridge Recreation Plan for the Upper Green River Special Recreation
Management Area. The BLM Pinedale Field Office will be hosting a series
of meetings during the week of November 18th to discuss recreational
project plans. An open house will be held on Friday, November 22nd in
the BLM Pinedale Field Office conference room to review the recreational
conceptual project plans. Projects concern improving existing recreational
facilities and river access along nine miles of the Upper Green River
near the Warren Bridge Campground approximately 22 miles northwest of
Pinedale.
Annual
Turkey Trot 5000
Thursday, November 28, Thanksgiving morning
This 3 mile fun run, walk or trot has been a tradition on Thanksgiving
morning for many years now in Pinedale. It starts at the home of Craig
and Ellen Sheppard in south Pinedale at 22 Sportsmans Loop with participants
taking the course at their own pace to start Thanksgiving Day. Registration
is at 8:30 am at Sheppard's house. Look for the orange cones to find
the place. The race starts promptly at 9 am. Participants must register
(for newspaper article info and also to see how many contestants are
in the event). It does not cost anything to participate, but to get
the long sleeved "World Famous" Turkey Trot T shirt, there
is a charge. Orders for the shirts will be taken race day and the shirts
will be delivered as soon as they get printed. For more information,
call Craig or Ellen Sheppard at 307-367-4654. Hope to see you there!
Annual
Holiday Gift Fair (11/19/02)
Don't miss the annual
Gift Fair to be held on Saturday, November 23rd at the Sublette County
Library in Pinedale. This is your chance to get some great gifts for
your family and friends and do it by shopping locally and helping local
merchants. Vendors at the Fair will include BeautiControl Bath &
Body Gifts, Creative Memories, The Grand Basket, Longaberger, PartyLite
Candles, Pampered Chef, Stampin'Up! and Tupperware. Come and bring a
friend!
View
of the Mesa above the New Fork River.
Photo by Dave Bell. For more of Dave's photos, please go to our Photo
Gallery.
Moving
Waters Exhibit, History and Meaning of the Colorado River, comes to
Pinedale
Friday, November 15
The concluding program and reception for the Moving Waters exhibit,
a seven-state project which explores the history and meaning of the
Colorado River, will be held in the Lovatt Room of the Pinedale Library
at 6:30 pm on Friday, November 15th. From December 2001 through July
2002, the seven states that share the waters of the Colorado (Arizona,
California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming) have been
collaborating on a project to generate regional consciousness of the
river. The Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado River, has
its headwaters in the northern Wind River Mountains in Green River Lakes.
The Moving Waters exhibit involves 22 communities, some along the river,
some far from the river, but all dependent on the river. The Pinedale
Middle School Technology class created a web site, "The River WE
Know" at: http://www.pinedalemiddleschool.com/movingwaters/home.html.
The program on Friday evening will include humanities scholar and moderator
Anne MacKinnon who will lead a historical panel with longtime background
and involvement in Wyoming water rights. This lecture/discussion/deate
will focus on classic water law cases and issues centered around the
Green River. The program is sponsored by the Wyoming Council for the
Humanities, the Sublette County HIstorial Society, and the Museum of
the Mountain Man. More about the Moving Waters exhibit can be found
at the web site, http://www.movingwaters.org.
Pinedale
Turkey Shoot
Saturday,
November 16
Shooters,
come to the Pinedale Turkey Shoot on Saturday, November 16th for a day
of fun. The event will take place from 11 am-3 pm at the Trap Field
in the Pinedale Shooting Complex behind the Industrial Park west of
Pinedale. There will be shotgun games, Annie Oakley Stump Shoots, and
Trap. Any gauge 71/2 or smaller shot. For more information, call 307-367-2307.
Love
to snowmobile? Join the Pinedale Snow Explorers Snowmobile Club!
Saturday, November 16
The
Pinedale Snow Explorers Snowmobile Club is a very active organization
that holds many snowmobiling events throughout the winter, and summer,
including snow drags and races, poker runs, the Pinedale 100 Snowmobile
Race, grass drags, and family events. They are holding their annual
membership drive on Saturday, Novemer 16th from 6:30-8 pm at Wind River
Rendezvous Pizza in Pinedale. There will be a free roast beef buffet
for all renewals and new members for the 2002-2003 season, but you need
to RSVP to Debbee at Bucky's Outdoors by Tuesday, November 12th, at
307-367-4561. Annual dues for members will be collected at this meeting.
The popular Pinedale Snow Explorers Snow Drags are scheduled for February
1, 2003, so mark your calendars.
Local
musicians to participate in Southwest Wyoming Honor Band and Choir
(11/11/02)
Contributed by Craig Sheppard
On Thursday and Friday,
November 14th and 15th, twenty one Pinedale high school musicians will
participate in the annual Southwest Wyoming District Honor Band and
Honor Choir. These students will practice with other musicians from
the area schools for two days at Mt. View and will perform a concert
on Friday night in the Mt. View High School Auditorium. They were selected
from nominations sent in by the directors from the nine schools participating
in this clinic/concert.
The all district honor choir will be directed by Steve
Grussendorf. He is currrently teaching vocal music at Natrona County
High School in Casper, Wyoming. The all district honor band will be
under the direction of Gary Glass who now is teaching instrumental music
in Evanston, Wyoming.
Pinedale members in the Honor Choir are Katherine
Bennett, Tillie Bennett, Amanda Adams, Amanda Hyatt, Sam Nelson, Jami
Anderson, Melanie Stevens, Shuree Youngberg, and Greg Allen. Pinedale
band members selected to the Honor Band were Laurel Bennet and Casey
Dean - flute, Forrest Maclean, Sara Domek and Kari Boroff - clarinet,
Jessica Transtrum, Wes Gooch and Adam Mrak - trumpet, Coulter Stroud,
Cassie Lovato and Allie Maxam - alto saxophone and Parker Stowe - baritone
saxophone.
These students are under the direction of Gena Anderson
- Pinedale High School Choir Director and R. Craig Sheppard - Pinedale
High School Band Director. Schools participating will be Lyman, Mt.
View, Evanston, Cokeville, Jackson, Kemmerer, Star Valley, Big Piney
and Pinedale.
These students will be performing at 7 PM Friday November
15th in the Mt. View High School Auditorium. The concert is free to
the public and all are encouraged to attend this annual display of Southwest
Wyoming's finest young high school musicians.
PTC
All Sports Swap (11/10/02)
Saturday,
November 16, 2002
Hey skiers! Here's your chance to swap all of your winter sports equipment,
and get a chance to win a season ski pass at White Pine Ski Area. On
Saturday, November 16th, the Parents and Teachers for Children (PTC)
is holding a Ski & Sports Swap at the Pinedale School Cafeteria
from 8 am until 1 pm. You can drop off your equipment for the swap on
Friday from 5 pm-6:30 pm, but please just bring good, clean equipment
in working order! There will be jackets, skis, ski boots, hockey equipment
and more. The PTC will receive 25% of each sale, and the original owner
of the equipment will get a check for 75% within one week of the sale.
White Pine Ski Area has graciously donated one season pass to be raffled
off for $5 per ticket. Raffle tickets for the White Pine Ski Area season
pass are available for $5 from PTC Board Members and at the Swap, and
you need not be present to win. For more information, please call Jennifer
Binning at 307-367-4789.
Angel
Tree Project (11/2/02)
The Hi-Country Senior Citizen Center is once again sponsoring their
Angel Tree project in Pinedale. This project benefits needy children
and adults who 'need an angel' at Christmas. Angel trees or wreaths
will be up by November 15 at the Cowboy Shop, Faler's General Store,
the Pinedale Library, First National Bank and the Bank of Pinedale.
For more information, call the Senior Citizen Center at 307-367-2881.
Winter
makes an appearance, caught on the Lodge at Pinedale web camera. Click
to go to Camera Page
Photo by Dave Bell. For more of Dave's photos, please go to our Photo
Gallery.
Draft
Wolf Management Plan Presented at Open Houses in Wyoming
Comments Due December 12th
Wyoming Game & Fish
After approving the draft gray wolf management plan this week, the Wyoming
Game and Fish Commission announced the draft plan will be presented
at open houses across the state. Interested parties can submit written
or email comments through 5 p.m. Dec. 12.
The open houses feature a 5-minute continuous loop
Power Point presentation presenting the highlights of the draft plan.
The major components of the plan will also be displayed on poster boards
at the open houses. G&F employees will be on hand to answer questions.
Forms will be available for written comments to be submitted at the
meeting or taken home and mailed. Verbal comments will not be recorded
at the meetings. The open houses run 6-9 p.m.
Nov. 13 Jackson Snow King
Nov. 14 Afton National Guard Armory
Nov. 15 Pinedale Pinedale Entertainment Center
Nov. 18 Cody Holiday Inn
Nov. 19 Lander The Inn at Lander
Nov. 20 Sheridan Holiday Inn
Nov. 20 Rock Springs Western Wyo. College, Room 1003
Nov. 21 Casper G&F Regional Office
Nov. 21 Laramie G&F Regional Office
The
draft plan will be posted on the G&F Web site at http://gf.state.wy.us
by Nov. 9. Written comments can be emailed to wgfwolf@wgf.state.wy.us
or mailed to:
Wolf Plan
Wyoming Game and Fish Department
5400 Bishop Blvd.
Cheyenne, WY 82006
The
plan will be revised from the comments received and presented to the
commission in January 2003. Any additional revisions resulting from
the meeting will be incorporated and taken back to the commission for
final approval at its February meeting. The plan will have to be approved
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before that federal agency will
begin the process to remove gray wolves from the endangered species
list.
The draft plan was constructed from comments received
from scoping meetings held across Wyoming in July. The gray wolf was
reintroduced by the federal government to Yellowstone National Park
in 1995. Subsequent growth and expansion of the population has made
removing it from the endangered species list possible as soon as 2004.
Anyone requiring auxiliary aids to attend an open house should call
(307) 777-4501. The G&F supports the Americans with Disabilities
Act. Every effort will be made for reasonable accommodations.
BLM
Seeks Comments on Upper Green River Special Recreation Management Area
The
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public input for recreation
facility improvements for the Upper Green River Special Recreation Management
Area. The recreation project plan will direct the improvement of facilities
and twelve existing river access sites on a nine mile reach of publicly
administered lands located upstream from US Highway 191 in Sublette
County, Wyoming along the Green River. The nature of the improvements
may be in the form of improving roadway access, providing potable water,
formalizing camp ground sites, adding more picnic tables, the addition
or reduction of boating access points, upgrading toilet facilities and
perhaps restricting access.
Prior to preparation of a plan that recommends any
improvements, the BLM seeks input from stakeholders, interest groups
and the general public. The incorporation of stakeholder desires, issues
and needs early in the planning process prevents the need to retrofit
the plan based upon unforeseen, yet important considerations at the
end. The BLM plans on accomplishing the BLM's objective by conducting
a series of stakeholder/interest group meetings at the Sublette County
Library during the week of November 18. A general public meeting is
planned for Wednesday evening November 20th. They will meet with the
stakeholder/interest groups independently allowing all interested parties
to express their respective opinions and issues. During the dialogue,
the BLM will be documenting all input and share the information with
other stakeholder groups as the dialogue progresses. A BLM staff planner/designer
will be present during the meetings to prepare plan concepts that respond
to the stakeholder comments.
On
Friday, November 22, the BLM will hold an open house during the late
afternoon and early evening hours. The draft plan concepts and design
features will be presented in the form of various alternatives. At this
time, the participants may provide additional comments and express their
preference for a particular alternative. The participants may at this
time suggest modifications to the particular concepts and proposed actions
which may improve the overall project design.
For
more information, contact: Martin Hudson, Pinedale Field Office Recreation
Planner, Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box 768, Pinedale, WY 82941,
Office phone: (307) 367-5315, email: martin_hudson@blm.gov.
Eden
Valley History Program (11/2/02)
November
9, 2002
The Eden Valley History Project will be sponsoring a program featuring
stories and sharing of photographs by long-time area residents Bob McMurry,
Paul McCracken, Joann Zakotnik and Kathie Roghair. The program, entitled
"The Past Retold: A Sharing of Stories by Eden Valley Residents"
will be held at the Farson/Eden High School auditorium on Saturday,
November 9th at 2 pm. Audience members will be invited to share their
memories during the discussion at the end of the program. The program
is free to the public and refreshments will be served at the conclusion
of the program.
The Eden Valley History Project Planning Committee
also invites past and present Eden Valley residents to help in the gathering
of stories for a second book about the community's history. People are
encouraged to help by writing a story of their own or their family's
experience in the Eden Valley, by being interviewed for an oral history,
or by contributing letters, journals, photographs, diaries or other
documents about the history of the area. A limited number of copies
of the first Eden Valley History Project book, "Our Valley",
which is now out of print, are still available.
Cowgirls
on Parade (11/2/02)
November
10, 2002
Don't miss the Cowgirls on Parade Green River Valley Cowbelles Style
Show on Sunday, November 10th from 4-6 pm in the Sublette Center Heritage
Room. The $10 admission charge will go towards the Cowbelles Education
Fund which is used to provide college scholarships and scholarships
for teachers to attend Ag in the Classroom training. Refreshments will
include beef hors d'oeuvres and wine, tea, and crumpets. Door prizes
will be given. Fashions modeled will be by the Great Outdoor Shop, Western
Trails Boutique and the Cowboy Shop. Tickets are available at the Sublette
County Extension Office. For more information, call 307-367-4380 or
307-276-3301.
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