CHRONICLE
4 I The Lovell Chronicle I March 15, 2012
A special moment
in Las Vegas
The Mountain West Conference col-
lege basketball tournament in Las Ve-
gas is always a fun event, and Susan
and I were able to join other family
members at the Thomas & Mack Cen-
ter this year for three days of college
hoops.
We enjoyed the efforts of the Wyo-
ming Cowboys and Cowgirls, the spirit-
ed rivalries among top seeds New Mex-
ico, San Diego State and UNLV and the
general atmosphere at the arena, with
David Peck
UNLV fans singing their trademark "Re-
bles, Re-bles" answered by the "woof, Observations
woof, woof" of New Mexico Lobo fans.
Both groups were there in droves, along with many
SDSU and Wyoming fans, a contingent of TCU fans, a smat-
tering of Colorado State fans and a few Air Force support-
er.
It was all great fun.
But perhaps the best moment of our trip took place
Sunday on our way home. Susan and I were waiting at
the gate at McCarran International Airport for our flight to
Denver when'we noticed a mother and three children ap-
proach the desk bearing posters and balloons. They were
clearly waiting for someone who was on the flight soon to
arrive.
Looking at the welcome home posters and overhearing
the conversation, we realized we were about to see some-
thing commonplace but yet special.
A soldier was coming home.
We heard the wife say she hadn't spoken to her husband
in a week and hoped he had made his connections and
was on the arriving flight, and she dabbed tears from her
eyes as passenger after passenger came down thejetway
and emerged from the doorway. A look of nervous excite-
ment was on the faces of the kids.
No arrival yet.
A buzz went through the crowd as word spread of the
expected serviceman arrival, but still he didn't arrive. More
waiting, more nervous moments. We all craned our necks
to watch.
And then it happened. A tall young man in fatigues
emerged through the doorway, and the waiting area erupt-
ed in applause.
The woman threw her arms around her man, an older
boy was fighting back tears, a middle boy gave Dad a bear
hug that I thought would choke him and then the most
special moment: a little girl hugged her dadL neck bearing
the biggest smile rve ever seen.
Forget the commercials. That was priceless.
I have no idea who they were or where the soldier was
serving. I don't know if he had been in harm way or had a
desk job in Germany. But clearly he had been gonea long
time - and his family missed him.
There have been emotional scenes like this as long as
there have been soldiers returning home. In this case there
were no TV cameras, just a family with balloons and post-
ers, tears and smiles. And an appreciative public.
What struck me the most was the reaction of the crowd
of airline passengers - a spontaneous, heartfelt applause.
How different it was than the reception many Vietnam '
veterans received when they returned home in the 1960s
and "70. How marvelous for this soldier and his family.
There seems to be a growing war weariness spreading
across our nation after 11 years of fighting in Afghanistan
and almost as many years in Iraq. But unlike Vietnam, peo-
ple aren't taking out their frustrations against the soldiers,
who are simply serving their country and often facing many
dangers.
On that Sunday, one family in Las Vegas, at least, expe-
rienced the appreciation of the American people, a bunch
of strangers in an airport, yes, but surely a cross section of
America - proud citizens who felt a bond with that family of
five and what they sacrificed.
Forget the basketball. That was special.
Letters to the editor
The Lovell Chronicle welcomes let-
ters from its readers and will make every
effort to print them. Letters longer than
400 words may not be printed. Letters
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Unsigned letters will be discarded. Writ-
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All letters must conform to the law
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be mailed to The Lovell Chronicle, Box
787, Lovell, WY 82431, or delivered to
our office at 234 E. Main St., Lovell. A
strict 1:00 p.m. Tuesday deadline will be
enforced.
Letters to the editor
Family use of a county vehicle?
Dear Editor:
It has been a few months, pr-
haps more than a few months,
that I and others have noticed a
situation that makes us wonder,
"why are we taxpayers paying for
these goings on?"
I know this has been ad-
dressed to the Big Horn County
Sheriffs Department more than
once and perhaps more often than
I know. I would hope so, for on
the surface it looks entirely Out
of order. I have heard, "there are
reasons," but what reason could
there be for this erroneous and
wrongful way of running the de-
partment?
In 2011, after seeing it hap-
pen time after time, I finally asked
someone that I thought would
be in the know about it. I asked,
"Why is the van that the Sher-
iffs Department owns sitting in
Lovell?" I was told because, "she
has to drive between Basin and
Lovell." OK, I can handle that.
My next questions was, "Why
does she take her family with her?
I see her at the grocery stores, at
convenience stores, etc. in both lo-
cations." Moment of silence - the
question should be asked!
Not too long after my snoop-
ing began, I heard this van was in
an accident in Lovell; come to find
out, she was taking her son to a
sports event or something simi-
lar. Now, this no doubt means an-
other van that we pay for and all
that goes with it; perhaps this ac-
cident will change things. Not on
your life did one thing change! We
are back to seeing the family be-
ing taken to and from, stopping to
eat at convenience locations, etc.
I do wonder why the Sheriff
defends this practice? The van is
for county use, not her personal
use; taxpayers pay for not only
the van but also the maintenance
including the insurance.
Being the snoop that I am,
I called a couple other county
sheriffs. One said, "That is a no
tolerance" in their county, the
other, "That is not a practice al-
lowed." Again, why does it hap-
pen in Big Horn County when
counties around them deem this
wrong?
Barbara Anderson
Editor's Note: The Lovell Po-
lice report on the crash aforemen-
tioned shows no passengers in the
vehicle. The sheriffs vehicle was
stopped at an intersection and the
crash was caused by a drunk driv-
er who has been charged. Cur-
rently, county employee policy
does not prohibit family members
riding in county vehicles.
Scanned as delivered?
Dear Editor,
The electronic age of scanners
has saved some time and suppos-
edly lets interested parties know
that, and when, items have been
delivered and accepted.
All well and good if the item
was actually delivered, when it
was scanned, to the proper ad-
dress. If the item was not received
• by the intended party, yet "scanned
as delivered," there is no recourse,
just tough stuff. Well, this time it
was VERY EXPENSIVE.
So if someone has seen a small,
white box, mistakenly delivered to
the incorrect address, please let
me know. It will save us thousands
of dollars.
Jerome Leech
Lovell
Time to reduce government
Dear Editor,
We need to reduce the cost of
federal government and size. We
have 535 members of Congress
and it is growing in number. Cut
it to 200 total, saving on 335 times
minimum expense of $6 million
per member. $6 million times 335
is $2,010,000,000 a year.
Have term limits, no retire-
ment and no lifetime medical ben-
efit. Do away with all agencies ex-
cept for Defense and State. One
member of the House of Represen-
tative and one member of the Sen-
ate to co-chair any agency needed.
Supreme Court judges han-
dle all legal matters of the nation.
They get paid the same as Con-
gress and are appointed for life.
The Supreme Court and Congress
need to work. If they can't handle
the job, get out. Limit the number
of aides to the President to four.
Again, if they can't handle the job,
get out.
Roger Hiser
First farm safety training a success
We had a very successful first Farm Safety
Training in Big Horn County. We had 20
participants that learned how to safely
operate a four-wheeler and utility tractor
and many other safety aspects of working
on the farm. I had forgotten how many it
takes to put on an event like this. A big
thanks goes out to all those that helped
with this training.
Steva Dooley was tremendous in
helping. She led several of the sessions,
helped cook lunch and helped write out
the awards. Phil Boreen and Sam Smith
helped run the driving courses on the
spur of the moment. The Farm Bureau
sponsored the lunch and Butch and Bon-
nie Krause did a great job cooking and ca-
tering the lunch. Thanks goes out to the
fair board for the use of their facility and
the tractor.
The Big Horn REA sent Fred Sher-
burne and Warren Adams to teach us how to deal
with electricity safely. REA also sent over a four-
wheeler and helmets for the hands-on four-wheel-
er course. Dale Clark from the Slim Ranch also
brought his four-wheeler for use. Brent Godfrey
from the Basin fire department came and taught
about the different kinds of fire extinguishers and
how to use them correctly.
BNSF Railway sent Roy Harper from Sheridan
to teach us about how to safely cross railway cross-
ings. Did you know it takes 200 feet for a car trav-
eling 55 miles an hour to come to a complete stop
under normal conditions, it takes a semi 300 feet
or more, depending on the load, and a freight train
takes a mile to stop once they apply the brakes. The
Utah Farm Bureau, the Wyoming Off-Road Vehicle
Safety group and Wyo-Ben provided teaching mate-
Dallen R.
Smith
BHC Extension
Agent
rials and handouts for the training. I would also like
to thank Lorraine Gonzalez, my staff as-
sistant, for all her help in helping us pre-
pare for this training session.
I was asked some questions by some
of the participants that I was not able to
answer. One question was, "How does
this training help those between 14 and
16?" Under the current law it is unlaw-
ful for a farmer to hire someone between
the ages of 14 and 16 to operate tractors
and four-wheelers. Under the current
law those that have been trained and cer-
tified through the course we taught be-
tween the ages of 14 and 16, may work
for farmers operating tractors and four-
wheelers.
I was also asked if there have been
any fines given to farmers for non-compli-
ance. A.J. Ferguson, the safety coordina-
tor for Utah Farm Bureafl, told me that
one farmer in Utah was audited and fined $3,000,
because he had three workers under the age of 16
working for him and operating tractors and four-
wheelers. I do not know if there have been any fines
levied in Wyoming dealing with farmers hiring of
youth under the age of 16 to operate tractors and
four- wheelers.
I asked AJ how successful the training program
has been in Utah. He told me in the 10 years that
they have been doing the training none of those that
have been trained have died from a farm accident.
The law is currently under revision so we do not
know what will be the law next year.
I have four-wheeler safety videos produced by
the Wyoming Off-Road Vehicle Safety group that
can be picked up at my office at 4782 Highway 310,
in Greybull.
I
The Lovell
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David Peck, Editor and Publisher
Editor ................................................................................. David Peck
Reporter ........................................................................ Patti Carpenter
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