August 29 - visiting Torrington

Morning
This is Katie. This week I spent a couple of days with Mom in Goshen County. I traveled with Mom quite a bit in the 2002 Campaign but haven't as much in this campaign partly because she just recently took leave from her law office. I was excited to spend some time on the road with Mom. Our first event was on Tuesday the 29th and we went to City Hall to meet the employees. It was very interesting to hear about city government in Torrington. Mom and I took notes about everything that was said so we could get it back to Dad. We listened to every department from dump issues to Emergency Medical Services issues to concerns over the new prison.

After meeting with City employees, we met with Jeri Covello who took us on a tour of downtown Torrington. I really enjoy when a local person is willing to take us on a tour because they know many people and where all the neat places are in town. We went into the clothing store and I was impressed with the selection. I'm glad that they have somewhere to shop and don't always have to head to Cheyenne or Nebraska. We also stopped by the drugstore to say hello to the owner and workers. Many people were surprised to see Mom in their store and gave us some thoughts on the campaign, but they mostly talked about what's going on in the state . One of the neat things we were able to see on the downtown tour was the "behind the scenes" at the Torrington Telegram. The printing press in the back of the building was pretty incredible and loud!

Lunch
For lunch we headed over to the Deacon Restaurant where we sat in on a Kiwanis Meeting. I enjoyed listening to their activities and how they are helping the community. One project that was interesting was a program which allows parents to bring their kid's car seat to be inspected for safety. If they do not meet safety needs they will receive a free car seat. I have not heard of that before but Mom and I both agreed it was a great program. Mom said a few words and asked people to sign the petition to vote on permanently removing the sales tax on food.

Afternoon
Next we visited the recently built Torrington High School. The principal, along with some student council members, met us at the entrance. We began with a tour and it was clear that their have been some amazing changes with children’s test scores and education in the last few years. I enjoyed talking with the two student council members who joined us and asked them about what they want to do for college. They both said that the Hathaway Scholarship was the reason they were going to stay in the state. I'm really glad thatstudents are actually taking advantage of this opportunity. Before we left I took a picture of the whole group. The principal gave us school coffee cups and an extra one for Dad on our way out.

Our next stop was a tour of St. Joseph's Children Home. Fortunately we took the tour when students were out of class and we were able to meet many of them. We saw programs in action and learned about the new equestrian program. Bob Mayor took us on a tour of the grounds and explained the different units, the different privileges allowed, and what they do to help the children. It was cool to see how they helped the children whether through substance abuse groups, participation in the county fair, or through developing social skills. Every child we met was so polite and most of them were excited to see visitors. In some units, particularly the little girls, they would facilitate the tour themselves! They would show us their rooms and even talked freely about all of the rules. Mom and I were really moved to learn about the children and the programs at St. Joseph's. On our way out Bob Mayor mentioned that he was glad we came for a tour and that he wished more people would visit, especially since the children enjoy seeing new faces.

August 30 - Torrington, Lingle, Ft. Laramie and Guernsey

Morning
Today we hit four towns all in one day! This morning we were in Torrington for a tour of the Wyoming Children and Families Development Center. It was very obvious that they are doing great things for children. They also talked about the recent Quality Childcare Bill and thought it was a great initiative, although they were disappointed that it did not include more slots for their program. They told us that the two biggest problems they have are a very limited number of children slots and how expensive the program costs to run, which limits the numbers. Sometimes children are on the waiting list from when they are born to when they go to kindergarten. Since it is a "needs" basis, some children have a very difficult time getting in. We enjoyed learning more about the program and seeing the different play rooms. We only wished we were there when the children were playing!

After the tour of the Wyoming Children and Family Development Center, Mom had an interview with the Torrington Telegram. I was glad they let me sit in for the interview. They talked a little about the campaign but mostly about Mom's initiatives as First Lady. Click here to read the article.

Next we went to Lingle, which is conveniently only 10 miles away. We walked around downtown and went into various businesses. We also went to the Lingle Senior Center. I was holding campaign window signs and as we were chatting with the cook, I was telling her that we ask places to put signs in their window. I also expressed my understanding that this not the place for window signs and to my surprise she said, "Why not? I'll put one in my office window!" I was surprised but really happy she was willing to put one up. She also mentioned that she knew the First Lady was going to be in Ft. Laramie for lunch and was glad she took time to say hello to the Lingle seniors. After talking with the cook and getting permission to talk to the tables we introduced ourselves to the Lingle seniors.

Lunch
After Lingle we made our way to Ft. Laramie which is also conveniently only 10 miles away. We made it in time for the Senior Center lunch. The mayor very kindly met us for lunch. We sat down, ate and chatted for while. Then the mayor said a few words and introduced Mom to speak. Here is mom speaking to the senior center. She first introduced herself and asked if anyone was interested to sign the petition to permanently remove the sales tax on food. She also took questions and asked if anyone had anything they wanted to relay back to Dad. Two of the questions I thought were particularly interesting. One was the concern over rest stops or "rural toilets" and how many of them are disappearing. The man was concerned about businesses being used by truckers for bathroom facilities. We took note so we could let Dad know when we got back home. Also there was a concern over why there weren't any fast food restaurants in Ft. Laramie and that everyone drove to Torrington for fast food. Mom related saying she knows how that is from growing up in Cody where the first fast food restaurant did not come until she left for college. She cited population and lack of attractive workforce as reasons why fast food restaurants aren't as interested in smaller communities.

Afternoon
After lunch the mayor took us on a tour of Ft. Laramie. We went from business to business and even into the saloon! Many people were eating lunch at the saloon and the Mayor introduced us to everyone including the cooks. He was a great tour guide and every place we went to he made sure everyone met Mom. It was so nice to have such a fearless tour guide! I also enjoyed going to the Fort Laramie American Grill. It smelled so good inside and the owners were very kind. Here is a picture of Mom with the Mayor and his wife, along with the owners of the Ft. Laramie American Grill (also known as FLAG). We went to the old school where they are turning it into a new community building. We were glad to see they are taking advantage of old buildings for community use. It was almost like a "Ghost School" there because it was so empty and they just left most of their teaching supplies in the art room, in the science rooms, balls in the gym, and even the lockers in the hallway were still in place. We learned about how the building could be used in the future and how some rooms are already being used by community groups.

After Ft. Laramie we were off to our fourth and final town of the day, Guernsey, which is actually in Platte County. Here we went to the Early Childhood and Development Center. If you remember to the first part of our day we went to a similar center in Torrington in the morning. It was interesting to listen to the differences between a larger town and a smaller town as far as child care. The Guernsey facility has the problem of not having enough slots; especially since they are the only daycare in the community, the demand is very high. Another difference between the two is the amount of staff and particularly the number of licensed teachers. They had two Teacher Assistants but not any licensed teachers. In Torrington they have multiple licensed teachers. We wondered if that was because of lack of training or the competition for teachers for higher wages at the public schools. The building gets a lot of use out of it and it was obvious the children enjoy and really grow in their environment. After the center we stopped by the regional center to see the business side of running several counties Childhood Development Centers. The office was pretty big and they had every corner filled with lots of paperwork everywhere. I didn't realize that it took so much paperwork for childcare facilities. Before it was time to go home for the day, Mom and I decided to walk around downtown Guernsey for a while. We talked with the Auto Parts Store employee about the Hathaway Scholarship and how he is the father of seven children so he was very grateful for the Hathaway Scholarship. He was kind enough to let us put up a window sign in the store. We also stopped by other businesses and the visitor center of Guernsey, where we learned some history about the town. After that, we decided it had been a long day and it was time to get home and rest for the next day on the campaign trail.