First Lady visits kids, teens, and seniors

Kemmerer Gazette
Kay Murphy Fatheree, Gazette Reporter
September 14, 2006

Nancy Freudenthal, Wyoming's First Lady stopped in Kemmerer on Thursday of last week. The Folks For Freudenthal, Governor Dave Freudenthal's re-election committee made all the tour arrangements.

Three of the individuals interviewed for this story described Mrs. Freudenthal as "gracious."

Mrs. Freudenthal and her entourage began with a lunch at the Kemmerer Senior Citizens' Center. Mickey Anden, the center's secretary reports that there was "a really good turnout." Mrs. Freudenthal spoke, briefly, to the crowd of about 50 people.

The next stop on the tour was the South Lincoln Medical Center. The hospital's administrator, Eric Boley, took Mrs. Freudenthal on a tour of the hospital, clinic and nursing center facility. Boley said, "We are really honored that she would take time out of her schedule to visit our facility. She was very gracious. She spent a considerable amount of time visiting with our staff and the residents of the nursing center."

Mrs. Freudenthal then visited with staff members, parents and children at the Kemmerer Child Development Center (KCDC). Nikki Baldwin, KCDC's director had this to say about Wyoming's First Lady, "I was very impressed with how gracious she was with parents and staff and how willing she was to listen."

The entourage then stopped at the Fossil Country Museum, where they were greeted by Dorothy Wright who gave them a tour of the museum. According to Wright, Mrs. Freudenthal saw numerous items displayed in the museum that belonged to former Wyoming Governor Ed Herschler. Ironically, Mrs. Freudenthal was an intern for Mr. Herschler when she was studying law and then worked for him for several years following. She recognized several items from Mr. Herschler's office. She even saw a few items with her own name and her husband's name on it. Wright said, "Mrs. Freudenthal was very gracious. She was genuinely interested in the museum."

Wright presented Mrs. Freudenthal with an autographed copy of each of her books: "Glencoe, Wyoming: Spelling Out Western Coal Camp History," collaborated by Norris Tratnik and Frank Scigliano; and "Echoes of Elkol: The Story of a Western Coal Camp," also collaborated by Tratnik.
TThe last stop on the tour was the Chocolate Shoppe Teen Center. The teen center's director, Jonathan Fatheree conducted the tour. Several members of the Teen Center Board of Trustees and their families, along with a few teens, were on hand to visit with Mrs. Freudenthal. Lester Fatheree, who is on the teen center's advisory board said, "She is very passionate and she truly cares about the issues she promotes." One of those issues is the reduction of teenage alcohol abuse.

Mrs. Freudenthal had this to say about her visit to Kemmerer, "I appreciate the time people shared with me and really enjoyed learning about all of the resources in Kemmerer, from early childcare to teen activities to senior citizens."