Jeffrey Hunter
Thermopolis Independent Record
October 5, 2006

All photos by Jeffrey Hunter, courtesy of the Thermopolis Independent Record

It was a friendly homecoming for Gov. Dave Freudenthal, full of hugs and stories.

He even spotted a family relic as he toured Thermopolis with daughter Hillary for nearly an hour longer than scheduled Thursday.

The midday visit began shortly past 11 a.m. with the governor bowing to Karl Allen, Freudenthal's high school civics teacher and mentor, and calling him "the boss."  Freudenthal has credited Allen with much of his success.

Allen then led the Freudenthals around the downtown area, where they handed out pamphlets, caught up with acquaintances and were introduced to business people.

When Kenny DePriest, owner of the new Bleachers Grill called the governor by his first name while shaking hands and then apologized, Freudenthal said, "Dave's fine."

"I'm just so used to seeing the Gov. Dave  signs,"  DePriest said. "That's how I think of him."

Freudenthal also visited Pumpernicks, where he walked through the kitchen and greeted workers as they cooked pancakes.

"Oh my, it's superman," Verla Meier said as Freudenthal entered. "It's so special that he comes by," Meier said. "This doesn't happen in every town. We're really lucky."

Though running behind schedule, Freudenthal stopped at the Hot Springs County Museum annex to see the old family tractor he had driven as a child on the Owl Creek farm where he was raised.

"Get on up there," Freudenthal said to Hillary, motioning toward the old, high, wide metal seat. He wanted a picture of her at the wheel.

"It'll break," she said.

"Nonsense," said her father. "They built these things to last."

About 70 people were at the museum, where handshaking, question answering and story telling kept the governor busy for nearly an hour and a half. He spoke for about ten of those minutes, at one point joking people in Worland (where he spent the morning and the day before) weren't convinced when the former Bobcat wished their sports teams "good luck."

Freudenthal arrived at Hot Springs County High School around 1:30, greeted by superintendent John Balow, principal Steve Sexton, curriculum director Janet Philp and school board members Breez Daniels, Liz Mahoney and Barb Vietti, who gave a tour of the new building, interrupting one very important proceeding.

"They're taking a test," surprised teacher Jon Bushey quietly told the governor as he entered to survey a new science lab.

"I couldn't have helped them with the answers anyway," Freudenthal said after leaving the room.

Students gathered in their new gymnasium to hear the governor's brief introduction and were initially silent when he turned the floor to them for questions.

"This kind of feels like dinner with my girls," Freudenthal quipped, before a warmed up student body prompted him to speak on No Child Left Behind and the importance of a college education and political participation.

"Get active," said the governor. "We never hear from young people, and what ends up happening is you've got old geezers like me making all the decisions, which are going to affect your generation the most."

Freudenthal was also asked what he thought about the laptop computers that were given to seventh and eighth graders and if they should be given to all students.

"I think that's one for the school board," he said, looking at a laughing superintendent Balow.

The governor flew out of the Hot Springs County Airport at 2:45 p.m.