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August 7, 2014 1 The Lovell Chronicle I 7
VERDETI'O A SURVIVOR
continued from page one
his wife at a fairly young
age and raised four daugh-
ters on his own. Though he
died in 2010, she said his
indomitable spirit inspired
her and it helped her get
through her ordeal.
An example of that
toughness is when she
asked Mike to shave her
head instead of letting her
hair gradually fall out as
a side effect of her chemo-
therapy. She said by shav-
ing her own head before the
chemotherapy took it out
for her, she felt empowered
and, in some way, in control
of the situation. To show
his support, Mike shaved
his own head, as well.
"The good Lord bless-
ed me with a good husband,
a great family, wonderful
friends and a great com-
munity," she said. "People
rallied behind me, because
that is what people do here.
They tried to help as best
as they could. That support
still means a lot to me."
She said there were
times during her treatments
when her pain was over-
whelming and seemed like
it would never end. She said
she made it through the or-
deal, literally "one moment
at a time," during those
tough times, always focused
on getting through it.
"I've learned that
there is a light at the end
of the tunnel, and it's not
an on-coming train," she
chuckled. "There is an end
to it and what is most im-
portant is to keep fighting."
Paula continues that
fight moment by moment,
with her husband Mike by
her side. She still has reg-
ular checkups and has re-
mained cancer-free for
more than two years.
Editor's note: The Relay
for Life, taking place on Sat-
urday night, at Rocky Moun-
tain High School, starting at 5
p.m., celebrates the life of sur-
vivors like Paula and caregivers,
like Mike, who supported their
loved ones through their battle
with cancer. All proceeds from
the event will be donated to the
American Cancer Society.
TOURIST ACTIVITY SLOWS
DURING CONSTRUCTION
continued from page one
the concern about Nevada
Avenue.
Likewise, Lovell Area
Chamber of Commerce
President Craig Trumbull
said Main Street area busi-
ness owners are experienc-
ing mounting frustration
about disrupted traffic pat-
terns, but he said everyone
would agree that the fire
hall issue is more import-
ant. Safety is the top priori-
ty, he said.
Trumbull said he also
has more empathy for what
businesses like Minchow's
Service and Food Court went
through earlier in the proj-
ect, because tourist traffic
at his Brandin' Iron Restau-
rant has slowed significant-
ly since the project blocked
Shoshone Avenue, though
locals are still supportive.
He said he hires five or six
extra people for the summer
season but will likely have to
lay off the extra employees
due to the slowdown.
"It's going to affect us
that much," he said.
Dickson said the goal is
to keep the trucks detour-
ing at Oregon but opening
up two blocks to local traf-
fic. Taylor suggested that
one way to help traffic flow
would be to remove barriers
on south side streets on the
east end of the project such
as at Fifth and Oregon.
"I don't mind local traf-
fic on Nevada; I just don't
want the big trucks on Ne-
vada," Dickson said.
Wulf said there are
still issues with drivers not
heeding road-closed signs,
and he said a case of van-
dalism took place early
Saturday morning when
someone tipped over an ex-
pensive electronic arrow
sign on the east end detour.
Those caught in such an act
face a hefty fine, Wulf said.
After the meeting end-
ed, Wyoming Dept. of
Transportation Project In-
spector Paul Koenig said
keeping Oregon as the east
end detour point had been
confirmed and approved.
VOTERS TO DECIDE MUSEUM DISTRICT FATE co.tinued
who recommended the for-
mation of a museum dis-
trict, Fink and Spragg said.
"We started to look at
the (district) borders, and
people said to do it for the
whole area," Fink said. "A
lot of people came forward
to say that. After the sales
tax failed, a lot of them said
we will do (support) this.
They wanted a large muse-
um district that would cov-
er everybody and all of the
history of North Big Horn
County."
The district, if approved
by voters, would match the
hospital district boundar-
ies, Fink said.
In order to get the dis-
trict on the ballot, the board
had to obtain signatures
from landowners represent-
ing one-quarter of the as-
sessed valuation of the hos-
pital district, at least $86
million worth of landown-
ers. The board obtained
$98 million in signatures
during the process.
"We obtained signa-
tures from all areas in the
district - Byron, Cowley,
Deaver, Frannie and Lovell
- people from inside all of
the towns and outside all of
the towns, all around," Fink
said.
The board attended
many events to gather sig-
natures, publicizing the
museum district.
A public hearing was
held on April 1 at the court-
house in Basin, and al-
though the hearing was ad-
vertised with a legal notice
in the newspaper on Thurs-
day, March 27, only three
people attended the hear-
ing: Fink, Spragg and Peg
Snell, plus a newspaper
reporter.
With no opposition,
the county commissioners
passed a motion to put the
district on the ballot.
"Next, we needed peo-
ple to run for the board,"
Fink said. "I signed up,
Karen signed up and Craig
Trumbull signed up. We
contacted and contacted
people and passed out (sig-
nup) forms. Nobody came
through. We went back to
the towns and asked them
to select somebody to rep-
resent the towns. Only one
town provided a name (Flor-
ence Wambeke in Deaver).
' vVe want people to say, '1 want
a say in where my money
goes.' We're not taking money
from any districts. We are
asking taxpayers to pay to
(operate a museum). It's the
citizens' and the taxpayers'
decision to make."
Rich Fink
"We requested and at-
tended many council meet-
ings in Lovell, Byron,
Deaver and Frannie. People
accepted and were recep-
tive to it. There are no des-
ignated spots on the board,
but we pushed and pushed.
We wanted people from all
of the areas."
VOTERS TO DECIDE
Fink agreed with Pe-
terson that the district is
a tax issue, but he said it's
a chance for the voters to
approve or disapprove the
district.
"We want the voters to
decide, not the politicians,"
he said. "We want people to
say, 'I want a say in where
my money goes.' We're not
taking money from any dis-
tricts. We are asking tax-
payers to pay to (operate a
museum). It's the citizens'
and the taxpayers' decision
to make."
The district will ap-
ply for grants, Fink and
Spragg said, but it's no dif-
ferent than special districts
competing against districts
from all over the state.
"Are they supposed to
shut down to not compete?"
Fink asked. "Existing dis-
tricts in the county will not
lose a dime."
As for the lack of by-
laws, Fink and Spragg said
no district can form bylaws
until the board is elect-
ed and the district formed.
Neither can the current
board make any promises
or obligate the future dis-
trict board.
"We cannot sit here and
say this is the way it's going
to be," Fink said. "We can't
pledge or promise anything.
We're not in this for politi-
cal promises."
As for the Lovell-Kane
corporation, it is simply
a 501c3 non-profit enti-
ty that allows donors to
write off a donation, a way
of raising money for a spe-
cific purpose, Fink said. It
was formed three years ago
to begin the fundraising
process.
The district would be
a separate entity under
the auspices of the coun-
ty, falling under the rules
and regulations of the state
and county government,
Fink and Spragg said. As
a county district, the annu-
al budget would be posted
for scrutiny by taxpayers,
and "anybody who wants to
could come in and look at
the books," Fink noted.
As for exhibits, Fink
and Spragg said they have
no intention of taking an-
other museum's artifacts or
exhibits.
"We don't want to take
anything from other mu-
seums, we want to add to
the history," Fink said, not-
ing that the museum board
would like to obtain enough
acreage to display large
museum pieces like trac-
tors, wagons, farm equip-
ment or an old cabin.
TYING PEOPLE TOGETHER
The North Big Horn
County Museum and His-
torical Center would tell the
history of all areas of North
Big Horn County, Spragg
and Fink said, like Himes,
the Mexican Colony, Hills-
boro, Kane, Spence, Crystal
Creek and more, along with
the five communities.
"The history ties us to-
from page one
gether," Fink said. "Any-
body who lives in North Big
Horn County has relatives
and friends in all five of the
communities. We're all to-
gether. We're all related in
some way. We're all one big
community. No, we don't
want to take money out of
their museums, but there
could be projects to help
those museums."
"Their museums should
benefit from this district,"
Spragg added.
Fink and Spragg said
the North Big Horn Coun-
ty Museum and Historical
Center has about $49,000
in the bank after several
years of fundraising. It's
not enough to operate a mu-
seum, hence the need for
the district, they said, but
some of the money could be
used to purchase land.
"We're looking at that,"
Fink said.
Fink and Spragg said
the museum has received
strong support from senior
citizens, even though most
are on fixed incomes.
"The elderly are the
ones really pushing us to
do what we're doing," Fink
said. "They've told us we've
got to get a museum to pro-
tect their history, get things
put away and saved. They
are the main supporters.
They want it and say we
need it."
Fink and Spragg said
the 1 mill levy doesn't have
to stay at that level forever
and, in fact, could be eventu-
ally lowered to three-quar-
ters, half or one-quarter
mill or even could be re-
scinded at some point.
"We want to build a mu-
seum that's handicapped
accessible and gives the
history of all of the area for
all to see," Fink said. "It
would be a place to show
school classes a history of
the whole area and a place
to do research.
"Museums are economic
development. This museum
can be as good as we want
it to be and do so many neat
things for our kids and our
descendants. It would sell
the area and be a draw to
this area. People talk about
growing the tax base, but
you're never going to do
that unless you pass things
and do some things."
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ELECT
Big Horn County
Commissioner
• Big Horn County resident for 20 years
• 35 years as Wyoming Game Warden
• 4 years as Big Horn County Emergency
Management Coordinator
• Dyed-in-the-Wool Wyomingite
"To be effective, Commissioners need to put in many hours every week. It is
impossible to schedule your time around the needs of being a Commissioner. 1
don't know how anyone could possibly serve as County Commissioner and have
other employment commitments. Experience and "Time to Serve" is what I have.
With your help it will be my
"T IME TO SERVE"
p ese ts a
i iiiii!ii,i,
August 16, 6:00 p.m. ...........
....... Lovell Community Center
..........
Y sit w th friends, WIN door prizes and watch
SLIDESHOWS featuring historical PHOTOS of Byron,
Cowley, Deaver, Frannie, Kane and Lovell. :
Tickets available at the
Chamber Office or by
per calling 307-272-1931,
ticket307-.548-7212 or
307-548-6706
iii!:iii~ili~i
Sponsored by the North Big Horn County Museum Board
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