41 The Lovell Chronicle I June 9, 2011 www.LovellChronicle.com
Bill Powell
rll never forget the day former
Chronicle publisher Pat Schmidt in-
troduced me to Bill Powell.
I was just a kid, really, 24 years
old and was assuming the reins of
the Chronicle from Pat. He was tak-
ing me around town to meet vari-
ous people.
Pat took me to Bill Powell store
where I met a man with an amaz-
ing presence that I've rarely seen David Peck
in anyone else, an air of grace,
pride, gentleness of spirit and good humor. He wore a
suit, and his shoes were perfectly polished.
I knew I had met a true gentleman:
We quickly became friends. Bill loved to show me
the photographs he took as a photo reconnaissance
pilot during World War II, flying his unarmed, lightly-
armored P-38 behind enemy lines for pre-mission sur-
veillance or post-mission bomb damage assessment
and the like. I loved airplanes, and I loved to talk about
them with Bill and Iookat the photos. His shots of Nor-
mandy Beach just before D-Day were nothing short of
amazing.
When you walked into Bill and Lucy store, you
were treated like a king, Bill and Lucy came from the
day when customers were placed on a pedestal. Bill
had a special touch. I think he wrote the book on cus-
tomer service.
Bill had a twinkle in his eye. He told Henny Young-
man-style jokes, groaners that made you cringe and
laugh all at the same. And he loved the same kind of
jokes from others. I remember him quoting with de-
light the time George Oswald walked into his store
and said, "Bill, has anybody ever told you what a swell
guy you are?"
'3X/hy, no," Bill replied, modestly.
"Seer' George replied and walked out the door.
It is not an overstatement to say that Bill Powell
was a hero - a member of the Greatest Generation
that won the war and then built America into an even
more powerful nation. I can name many more people
made of the same fabric from Lovell and north Big
Horn County, but Bill was certa.inly a shining example.
There were so very many acets to IiJl Powell - his
hard-working upbringing, his military career, his long
service to his community and his church, his leadership
in economic development, his long tenure as a busi-
nessman on Main Street, his love of the trumpet and
his development of the Mustang Band and the Dollies
of the Follies - Lovell unofficial ambassadors - and his
unwavering patriotism and dedication to veterans that
led him to organize Memorial Day and Veterans Day
services for many, many years.
Bill was all of those things and more, but what I re-
ally appreciated about Bill was his loyalty to and his
pride in his country and his community. His feelings
were summed up in a statement he made many years
ago and quoted in this newspaper:
"I've lived in a wonderful country and had a won-
derful time. I've raised a family and am proud of each
and every one of them. I'm proud to be an American
with the blessings and freedoms we enjoy. We're free
to travel, free to work in a place we want to work. We
have freedom of speech, clean air, clean water, a won-
derful food supply supplied by wonderful farmers. We
are a blessed people."
That pride filled BillLs heart and should be an exam-
ple to all of us.
Bill Powell died May 26 at the age of 88. He was
sharp of mind and full of spirit to the end.
We will miss Bill Powell and those like him. He was a
great and kind man.
Letters to the editor
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o
Letters to the editor
A great tradition to keep graduates safe
Dear Editor:
Our area business owners,
schools, town governments and
citizens should be very proud of
themselves. The Lovell and Rocky
Seniors for 2011 had a safe and
fun filled graduation celebration
because of the generosity of these
entities and citizens of our area.
There were 74 young adults that
graduated from our high schools
this year and 72 attended the
Grad Night Out celebrations.
Wow, what a turnout for prob-
ably the last night they will all be
together. We all know that on re-
unions 5, 10 or 20 years from now,
some just can't make the day
work. The Grad Night Out par-
ties are realistically the last time
these kids will be together and to
keep them safe and entertained
through the night is something
special that our area has done for
years.
The great thing about our cit-
izens is that it didn't take a car
wreck with injured or killed young
people for us to act. We have done
this for 25 years and we were pro-
active instead of reactive for the
safety of our area youth.
This year our senior classes
both donated money to Grad Night
Out as well as participated in our
fund raising car wash. That really
shows just how much our area se-
niors support and want to contin-
ue these parties. The businesses
and citizens again were very gen-
erous in their donations and even
with the difficult time we are hav-
ing with the economy we reached
the goal for our youth.
There are many, many people
to thank and I would be afraid to
miss someone, but you know who
you are. I would however like to
give a pat on the back to Geor-
gette Lewis and Colleen Tippetts.
These two "young ladies" spend
hundreds of hours planning and
plotting these parties trying to
come up with new and interest-
ing ways to entertain our seniors.
They know if they fail the seniors
won't come so they are under con-
stant pressure to outdo last year's
parties. I'm very happy to report
they always manage to top them-
selves each and every year.
Again we should all take a
minute and thank all of those that
help put these parties on for our
seniors. From those that donate
their time, money and support we
appreciate and need each of you
to make these nights successful.
Without each and everyone of you
I would be afraid to think of what
may happen to someone's gradu-
ating son or daughter.
We live in a very special place
where it does take a village to
raise a child!
Thank You All,
Nick Lewis
Grad Night Out Committee
Ditches in Lovell well described
Dear Editor,
Joyce Kay Goodrich has
just published a children's book,
"There's Water in the Ditch!" I
just read it to my great-grandchil-
dren. They loved the colorful pic-
tures and fun story.
Lovell's pioneer history is clev-
erly remembered as she describes
the need for irrigation ditches and
the digging of canals by, of course,
her own grandfather, Reuben All-
phin. Prairie schooners, sugar
beets, storms, flooding and a sur-
prise ending make this a book in-
teresting for both children and
adults.
In the 1930s and 1940s the
ditch was practically part of our
front yard on Montana Avenue.
We were entertained by the wa-
ter skippers, boat races, mud pies
and Indian soap. In later years a
Cody boyfriend drove right into
the ditch when he came calling...
how embarrassing!
My thanks go out to Joyce
Kay for reminding me what fun it
was to splash in Lovell's ditches
before public swimming pools be-
came the norm.
Joy McCaffrey Marostica
Colorado City, Colo.
Our nation is in grave danger
Dear Editor,
Bin Laden is dead. Killed by
U.S. forces. That is all we need
to know. SEAL Team 6 has been
harmed, as well as their families.
Put in the danger for the sake of...
what??
We know and everyone else in
the world knows where they train
and, in some cases, where they live.
The technology that we have is also
available to our enemies. Why was
this information published to all of
the world?? For a few days of glory
in print and on airways?
I would encourage all people
to study the Islam radical move-
ment and learn first hand the
grave danger our nation and peo-
ple are in. We need strong, honest
people as elected officials. Men,
women, white, black and all col-
ors in between. Sex and color do
not matter if they are honest, only
their strength to do right. Get in-
volved!
Roger Hiser
Freedom through strength
A free people will be prosperous. But [
prosperity invariably attracts greediness
I
from predators. The Founding Fathers
felt gratitude to God for the United Sta-
tes, therefore a responsibility to defend
it. They knew the country could be fore-
ver preserved it if remained a virtuous
and adequately armed nation.
Benjamin Franklin exclaimed, "One
sword often keeps another in its scab-
bard." However the Founders did not in-
tend for the country to go to war for any
reason but self-defense. Thomas Paine
wrote, "Not all the treasure in the world
could have induced me to support an offensive
Joyce Collins
Principles of
Liberty
war, for I think it murder, but if a thief
breaks into my house ... am I to suffer
it?"
The Founders passed on to poste-
rity a policy of peace through strength.
They were peace loving, but not paci-
fists. Freedom and unalienable rights
had to be defended. The Founders
were familiar with these words written
400 years earlier by Scots in their own
Declaration after the Wars of Indepen-
dence: "It is in truth not for glory, nor
riches, nor honors that we are fighting,
but for freedom-for that alone, which
no honest man gives up but with life itself."
UPSP 321-060
234 E. Main, Lovell, Wyoming 82431
307-548-2217 • FAX 307-548-2218
Email: Icnews@tctwest.net
David Peck, Editor and Publisher
Editor ........................................................................... David Peck
News Editor ........................................................ Brad Devereaux
Office Manager ..................................................... Gladys McNeil
Production Manager .................................................. Pat Parmer
Advertising Manager ........................................ Stormy Jameson
Staff ......................................... Dorothy Nelson, Marwyn Layne
Jason Zeller, Teressa Ennis, Don Dover, Mike Kitchen
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