The Saratoga Sun Archives (2024)

Aug 17, 2023

There’s a lot of us that owe a debt of gratitude to Gary and Cheryl Ervin. They generously and thoughtfully supply probably hundreds of people with FREE firewood. We are grateful and very appreciative. It’s a shame there are morons who almost ruined it for all of us by being lazy slobs and dumping their garbage in our FREE firewood area. We need to start policing ourselves and call others if we see someone pull in with bags of garbage, pay attention. We don’t carry garbage when we go after wood, why would anyone? And can we open the bags and c...

Virginia Parker|Aug 17, 2023

With the internet readily available on your phone, computer, tablet, television and television screens invading your dining experience in many restaurants it isn’t surprising that readership of newspapers is declining. However, there are still many that do pick up the newspaper and spend a few minutes at least, perusing the printed page. Reading a newspaper is relaxing and easier on the eyes than looking at a screen. Studies also show that retention is better when reading printed material. A...

Aug 10, 2023

Hello Pickleball is something Barb and I wanted to learn to play. October of last year 2022 we went to Sarah the then Recreation Director and asked for permission to tape two courts at the gym. She got us permission, tape and two nets, paddles and balls. The three of us taped the two courts at the gym. We started playing and learning the rules as we went. Fern Clark soon joined our group Fern is the “Guru” for the rules and pickleball etiquette. It was funny we would try to play a game and question the rule have to go look it up and then pla...

Mark Davis|Aug 10, 2023

POWELL — Sobering news resulting from a multi-year Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance program by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department between 2018 and 2022 shows significant increases in the fatal disease for the state’s prized mule deer and elk herds. In one herd, the prevalence rate is calculated at 65% in mule deer bucks, and there are concerning increases in infected elk, including hunt areas popular for Big Horn Basin hunters. The disease, which typically kills infected animals within two years after initial exposure, now occurs in...

Tony Locke|Aug 10, 2023

Yes, 29.2%! That’s not a typo. Rocky Mountain Power is requesting that YOUR power bill be raised almost 30%, with 7.6% of that already in place on an “interim basis” – prior to any ruling by the State’s Public Service Commission, and prior to the People of Wyoming having a voice and the ability to weigh in on a crippling rate hike. A rate hike of this magnitude would devastate local WYOMING households and cripple local WYOMING businesses. Think of what adding 30% to your own power bill would do. Ask your employer what that will mean to the co...

Aug 10, 2023

I think it’s timely to review the results of the chemical poisoning of Saratoga Lake by the Game & Fish Department. First f all, I am confident the fisheries department mixed their chemical well and killed everything they wanted to (plus everything else). However there are some rather obvious side effects that are annoying for the lack of a better word. The large rafts of rotting, odorous, grass is one of them. They greatly hinder boats and fishermen. The delay in refilling the lake to capacity is another. The city was unable to float the p...

Joshua Wood|Aug 3, 2023

In the Platte Valley, where there is no shortage of colorful characters, there wasn’t anyone quite like John Lund. John, who lived to the age of 92, was proof that it was never too late to reinvent for someone to reinvent themselves again and again and again. In his lifetime, John was a veteran, a University of Wyoming graduate, a civil engineer, a mountaineer and an archeologist. He was also a philosopher, a writer and a dear friend. He had a style all his own, usually wearing khaki-colored pan...

Virginia Parker|Aug 3, 2023

Research indicates that water has an impact on all five senses at the same time, immersing our psyche in a rest and digest response. It triggers a parasympathetic nervous response that lowers your heart rate and your blood pressure, stimulates your digestion and makes your body relax. If that all sounds too high falutin, just remember slowly wading into the pond and feeling that cool water sink into your pores. Not far to the south of my house is an irrigation pond that calls to the locals when...

Jul 27, 2023

Editor, I just finished reading the article about Never Forget Park and would like to offer comments and a suggestion. You stated that “there are individuals who have wanted to donate funds to the park but are hesitant because of how long the project has languished in the planning stages.” Truer words have never been spoken! Personally, I think the amount of money invested in studies is abhorrent to most of us. How long must we study something and how much money must we spend? It sounds like there is a plan for Never Forget Park. If we don...

Gary Honodel|Jul 27, 2023

This was my first Saratoga Days. Despite being a working day, covering the events from the Neal McCoy tour bus pulling in at about 7:30am to Neal’s performance, I did enjoy myself. Mostly though I ended the day impressed by the event, by everything. All three music acts were great; the bluegrass boys, West King String Band, That 80’s Band were a cover band of the highest quality, and then the headliner Neal McCoy. I felt that if you weren’t a Neal fan at the start of the show, you probably were...

Caroline Elik, via Wyoming News Exchange|Jul 27, 2023

SHERIDAN — Sheridan County School District 2 is offering staff a solution to the Sheridan housing shortage by renting out properties on the old Normative Services Academy, Inc. campus to incoming teachers. The district bought six housing units on the 227-acre NSI property, which is now owned by Community Impact LLC, earlier this year for a purchase price of $1,046,571 and is currently renting out those units to new faculty. Community Impact LLC, an entity of the Homer A. and Mildred S. Scott Foundation, also donated around $500,000 to the d...

Jul 27, 2023

Jul 20, 2023

Dear Editor, Saratoga Forest Management has been pleased to offer free firewood to residents of the Valley (mostly Saratoga and Encampment) since 2012. Most of the residents appreciated the opportunity to get free firewood. However, the past few months, some people have been disposing of their garbage at the free firewood loading area at Saratoga Forest Management. Consequently, the area is now closed to the public for gathering free firewood. In a few weeks, we will open the area for people to get free firewood and will stay open unless the...

Buffalo Bulletin|Jul 20, 2023

For weeks muddy conditions on the Bighorn National Forest have been the norm. Some roads have become impassable, exacerbated by irresponsible motorists. It has become all-too-familiar to witness or hear about travelers and recreationists stuck on muddy mountain roads, despite the warnings from the U.S. Forest Service. Repairs necessitated by these incidents can strain limited resources, resulting in longer closures that impact everyone’s access to the forest. Moreover, travelers risk damaging their equipment and personal property, p...

Jul 20, 2023

Thermopolis Independent Record, July 13 Scammers are targeting us all and they seem to be coming at us from every which way. There are lottery scams, package delivery scams, open enrollment for benefits scams, utility delinquency scams, identity theft scams and the list goes on and on. Several years ago, scammers primarily targeted senior citizens who they believed were the most vulnerable. They have advanced their scams to a point where each and every one of us is vulnerable. Their tactics have improved to a point where they are tricking...

Joshua Wood|Jul 13, 2023

In the past year, I’ve discovered my inner chef and it’s something I’ve come to really enjoy. Of course, it isn’t something that happened right away. In fact, I’ve made periodic voyages into the culinary world in the past and learned a number of lessons along the way. To be honest, I’ve always been a fan of food, though it may not have appeared as such when I was a child. While I inhaled childhood favorites such as pizza, hamburgers and hotdogs I would struggle with foods like poor man’s strogan...

Virginia Parker|Jul 13, 2023

“You just can’t see him from the road”, a line from one of my favorite Chris LeDoux songs is true of so many that live and work in this area we call home. Cradled in the arms of the Medicine Bow Mountains and the Sierra Madres the history of the North Platte Valley is brought to life with a spotlight on those we can’t see from the road. Summer events include Woodchoppers Jamboree, Grand Encampment’s Cowboy Gathering, Living History Days at Grand Encampment Museum and the Sierra Madre Muzzleloa...

Jul 13, 2023

The fourth annual WyoGives virtual event, hosted by the Wyoming Nonprofit Network, will commence at midnight on Wednesday, July 12th, and will unfold over an exhilarating 24-hour period. With over 300 nonprofits participating, some of them local, this year’s event promises to be the most impactful yet. Through the website platform at WyoGives.org, individuals can easily contribute to their favorite causes and organizations. The website allows donors to search for nonprofits based on cause, location, or name. Each participating nonprofit has a...

Virginia Parker|Jul 6, 2023

In a recent poll by Wall Street Journal it was found that the percentage of Americans that say patriotism is an important part of their lives has dropped from 70 percent to 38 percent. Religion also took a nose dive from 62 percent to 39 percent. Community involvement plummeted as an important part of life, from 47 percent to 27 percent, and having children went from 59 percent to 30 percent in importance. Are these statistics surprising? Not really. I hear it all the time from people, that...

Jul 6, 2023

Jun 29, 2023

Virginia Parker|Jun 29, 2023

I love learning new things and watching videos about life hacks. It’s fun to see something as simple as fillinga long neck glass bottle with water, turning it up side down and sticking it in your potted plant for a self-waterer, and wondering why you never thought about doing that? Getting older has its perks. You get good at using what you’ve learned, it’s called crystalized intelligence. Also, it turns out you might not be a grumpy old man or woman, after all. In your 60s you’re likely...

Gary Honodel|Jun 29, 2023

Hello to all the subscribers, readers and advertisers of the Saratoga Sun. My name is Gary Honodel and I was recently appointed to be the publisher of this great newspaper. It is quite an honor. Virginia Parker will be staying on at the Sun. I'll let her address this in her own words, but will say that while she did want to achieve a more flexible schedule, she is also dedicated to our local paper. I sort of think of her as the Air Boss, a Navy carrier position that might not be flying the plane...

Jun 22, 2023

Dear Editor: Has Hobo Pool been sold? If the “Private Property, KEEP OUT” and “No Trespassing” signs posted on the four hog wire fence barricades blocking access to the free flowing mineral hot springs are official and accurate, the “publicly-owned, open and free forever”, Hobo Pool has either been sold, given away or somehow ended up in private hands. None of the signs indicate by whose authority the barriers were erected. (See photos). The barriers and signs have been up for a couple of weeks, with no effort by the town to open the healing...

Jun 22, 2023