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Spotlight Lounge hosting open jam nights on Sundays

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October 17, 2021

(Shutterstock)

CASPER, Wyo. — The Spotlight Lounge in downtown Casper is giving aspiring musicians a chance to try out the stage, share their riffs, and network with potential bandmates.

Open jams are Sundays from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with a different theme each week of the month.

This Sunday, October 17, is the second youth jam session.

First Sunday: Classic Rock and Blues
Second Sunday: Rock, Metal, Hip-Hop, and Punk
Third Sunday: Youth Jam (18 and under)
Fourth Sunday: Acoustic and singer-songwriter showcase.
Fifth Sunday: Free-for-all

Spotlight co-owner Sean Haggerty said there are house amplifiers already hooked into the sound system, and a house a drum set, though drummers should bring their snare and kick pedal.

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Candidates for three #Wyoming House and Senate seats met for a forum Wednesday at Washington Park, differing most notably on issues surrounding the state government’s role in developing industries and whether the state had a legal Constitutional basis for laying claim to the lands and minerals.

The forum is part of the Politics in the Park series being held every Wednesday at Washington Park, hosted by the #NatronaCounty #Republican Women. Many candidates for local and state offices attend each week. Social hour begins at 4:30 p.m. and the forum begins at 5:30 p.m.

#Casper

A #Casper angler has literally outdone himself, breaking a #Wyoming fishing record he set in 2021, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department said Thursday.

Christopher Bobo, 34, caught a 19.5-inch longnose sucker out of the North Platte River in May, 1.5 inches longer than the longnose sucker he caught out of the same stretch of river in May 2021. The previous record to his 2021 catch was set in 1998, according to Game and Fish.

Bobo’s 2022 record-breaking catch was a fish that weighed 2 pounds, 4.5 ounces and had a girth of 9.25 inches. While he broke the record for longnose sucker, Bobo was fishing with a worm with the aim of landing trout, according to Game and Fish.

Casper’s been known as the “Oil City” since the beginning. Naturally, Casper’s fossil fuel industry has a deep connection to automobile culture.

Countless images in the Casper College Western History Center’s archives have automobiles directly and indirectly featured. We decided to gather some of them together for a ride down memory lane.

Photos courtesy of the #Casper College Western History Center.

Eight-year-old Emma Elkins can’t wait to go camping with her family. She’s excited to fish, hike, and make s’mores by the campfire.

The fact that she’s able to walk, much less camp like a champ, is something her dad describes as a miracle. She was born in trauma due to a nuchal cord, said her dad Derek Elkins.

Make-A-Wish Wyoming director of development Nicole Tholson said her wish was in progress for a few months before it came together. Smith RV general manager Cassidy Fitzpatrick says this is the third time they’ve worked with #Make-A-Wish #Wyoming to make a wish come true.

The family is taking Emma to the Shriner’s Hospital in Salt Lake for more treatment, but after that they hope to make their first trip in their new camper.

#Casper

Hundreds gathered Tuesday on #CasperMountain to celebrate the longest day of the year and the imaginative legacy of #NealForsling, the homesteader and storyteller who built Crimson Dawn.

“Neal was a brave and independent woman who built a monument to her love of the area,” said Jessie Bell. She portrays the Black Witch, one of Neal’s enduring cast of characters.

The annual celebration began in 1931, and attending is a tradition three or four generations deep for some families, according to Crimson Dawn Association Director Rebecca Hunt. She first attended the festival as a ten-month old baby, and she’s carried on the lead storytelling role as Neal’s stand-in for 31 years.

#casper

The director of the Platte River Trails Trust, an organization that has created the Tate Pumphouse, the whitewater park along the North Platte River and trails around the #Casper area, has been honored with an award from the #Wyoming Community Foundation.

Angela Emery, executive director of the Platte River Trails Trust, was presented with the Tony Cate Prize for Nonprofit Leadership at the Wyoming Nonprofit Conference, the Wyoming Community Foundation said on June 17. The prize is named after H.H. “Tony” Cate Jr., who was a generous philanthropist who donated a significant endowment from his estate to the Wyoming Community Foundation.

Each year, the award is presented to a resident of Natrona or Converse County who has demonstrated a history of outstanding organizational leadership in the nonprofit sector.

#NatronaCounty law enforcement officers will be giving $5,847 to #SpecialOlympics #Wyoming following their Tip-A-Cop fundraiser last week.

From Tuesday, June 14, to Thursday, June 16, local officers were stationed at Texas Roadhouse Restaurant in Evansville to collect funds in which 100% of the proceeds go to support Special Olympics Wyoming.

The event is part of the continual support law enforcement gives to #SpecialOlympicsWyoming, including by joining athletes annually in carrying the Flame of Hope to the Opening Ceremonies of local Special Olympics competitions and State and National Games.

(Photos courtesy Natrona County Sheriff's Office)

The 93rd annual Midsummer’s Eve celebration will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 21, at Crimson Dawn, 1620 Crimson Dawn Road on #CasperMountain.

Rebecca Weaver Hunt, PhD, has been the event’s storyteller for 31 years and will again bring the Crimson Dawn characters created by Neal Forsling to life during Tuesday’s summer #solstice celebration.

Hunt is now seeking someone she can train to become the next storyteller to keep the tradition alive.

Until an apprentice can be found, Hunt will remain the storyteller and is encouraging people to come participate in the celebration on Tuesday.

#Casper #CasperWyoming #Wyoming

Dana Van Burgh wasn’t quite 90 around noon Monday as he stood on the corner of Second and Center streets in downtown #Casper. It was 2 p.m. when he was born, he said.

Just several years after he was born, he’d be standing on this very corner, right in front of the Rialto Theater where there used to be a cigar store. He’d be waiting for a bus in the freezing temperatures, but he and his friends were able to slip into the store to keep warm.

The cigar store is gone, replaced by the Rialto Soda fountain, where ice cream and treats are sold instead of smokes. And it’s here that Dana chose to celebrate his birthday.

Many young entrepreneurs opened for business Saturday outside of Sutherlands, competing for the best lemonade stand. Arean — whose all-American lemonade stand will donate some of its proceeds to veterans — won first place, securing him an 8-inch smart tablet.

The Best Stand Contest began at 10 a.m. outside of Sutherlands Lumber and Home Improvement. Kids were not allowed to sell their products, only to display their stands for judgment. Stands will open completely on June 25, when the participants can sell their lemonade all over town.

#Casper #LemonadeDay #business #entrepreneur

An author and historian will be at Wind City Books from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 18 to sign copies of her new book “Casper Mountain Ski History: A Community of Skiers.”

Rebecca Weaver Hunt, PhD, grew up on Casper Mountain and has skiied both familiar ski areas and runs that used to exist on the mountain.

Proceeds from book sales will benefit the Casper Mountain Ski Patrol and the book itself, which also includes a DVD documentary, will help people gain an understanding of the community effort that went into development of skiing on the mountain.

The unmistakable sounds of brass and drums bounced off the buildings in central Casper on Wednesday, like many days before.

At the Natrona County High School’s football and practice fields, some 160 young musicians with the Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps are spending hours rehearsing for the upcoming 2022 season.

This is the 64th season for the corps, which originated in Casper. Visit this story on Oil City News for a full schedule of their performances and tour!

A celebration of all things brown and gold will take place at David Street Station in Casper’s Old Yellowstone District on Thursday, June 16. The free event, which is presented by the McMurry Foundation, will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

According to a release from the University of Wyoming, UW sports fans can meet numerous student-athletes from several sports, and enjoy the sights and sounds of the Western Thunder Marching Band and Wyoming Cheer team.

Children and adults can play games such as cornhole, Ladder Ball, Giant Jenga and Connect 4 with the athletes.

Following several days of catastrophic flooding that had been hammering Yellowstone National Park, the park said Tuesday evening that the northern portion of the park would likely be closed for a “substantial” amount of time.

A park release said major sections of road, particularly in the Montana portions of the park, were “completely gone” due to flood damage between the north entrance near Gardiner, Montana, and the northeast entrance near Cooke City, Montana.

The park said that it is “probable” that road sections in the northern part of the park will not reopen this season due to the time required for repairs, noting that there will be no inbound traffic at any entrance to the park “until conditions improve and park infrastructure is evaluated.”

The Casper City Council suggested Tuesday that it is open to the possibility of providing land for the construction of a new full-scale replica of Stonehenge built out of retired wind turbine blades.

Chris Navarro presented his concept for “Windhenge” during the City Council’s work session. The sculpture would be built out of NextEra Energy wind turbine blades, with NextEra supplying the blades from a wind farm in Iowa along with money for construction, according to Navarro. The City Council is being asked to consider contributing land for the sculpture to be built.

Land near the Ford Wyoming Center is a possibility for the City Council to consider, City Manager Carter Napier said.

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