VOLUNTEER VAQUERO MAY 2014

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1 VOLUNTEER VAQUERO MAY 2014 From the President s Pen Spring is here! And with the new season the Volunteers can look forward to a new Board, which I think is a nice group for you to vote for at the Annual Meeting. LaVaughn Bresnahan will be running for Secretary, Linda Burton for Treasurer, Pete Hutchison for Vice President, and Heyward Schrock for President (I know, never say never). I look forward to working with this group of great people who I hope will be approved, by you the membership, at the Annual Meeting, which I might add looks to be a good event. This year we will be meeting at the Holiday Inn on May 14 th. Happy Hour starts at 5:30, with dinner from 6:00 7:00, and the meeting will be from 7:00 8:00. There are two choices for the meal to select from: pork or salmon. The Holiday Inn will also offer a vegetarian option. Call me at or Linda at , by May 7 th, for your choice. Along with new officers we will also be voting on an Amendment change to the By Laws, so please consider attending the Annual Meeting. I look forward to seeing you at the event. All Museum staff is welcome at the Annual Meeting so please attend and bring your spouse or significant other. The Historic Homes Walk for the Capitol North Historic District is scheduled for Saturday, May 17 th, from 10:00 to 3:00. If you would like to help that day give me a call. I ve always enjoyed this program and let s hope we have a beautiful day for the event. Would you please read the following and be prepared to vote on the Amendment change in our By Laws? Article III, Section 3, paragraph 3, and sentence 4: Currently reads: An Honorary Member shall have none of the obligations of membership but shall be entitled to all of the privileges except those of making motions, voting, and holding office. Proposed change: An Honorary Member shall have none of the obligations of membership but shall be entitled to all of the privileges. Also, the yearly dues are due at this time so please bring them with you. See you there! Heyward Schrock, President HAPPINESS IS: A SPRING DAY IN CHEYENNE WITHOUT THE WIND!

2 Artifact of the Month By Dominique Schultes A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done. ~Author Unknown The practice of honoring motherhood is an ancient one, which celebrated Goddesses, fertility and spring rather than actual mothers. Pagan celebrations were merged into early Christian practices and in England; the fourth Sunday of Lent was the day to honor the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ. A clerical decree in the 17 th Century expanded the celebration to include living mothers, and called it Mothering Day. Children returned home, presenting their Mothers with cakes and flowers, and participating in a family dinner. When the first English settlers came to America, they discontinued the tradition of Mothering Day. The first North American Mother s Day was proposed in 1868 by Ann Jarvis mother of Anna Jarvis who created a committee to establish a "Mother's Friendship Day", with the intention of reuniting families divided during the Civil War. Julia Ward Howe championed this cause with a Mother s Day Proclamation in Howe, distraught by the death and carnage of the Civil War called on Mother s to come together and protest what she saw as the futility of their Sons killing the Sons of other Mothers. She called for an international Mother's Day celebrating peace and motherhood. She even proposed converting July 4th into Mother s Day, in order to dedicate the nation s anniversary to peace. Eventually, Boston designated June 2nd the celebration. There were limited observances in the 1870s and the 1880s but none went beyond a local level. After Ann Jarvis death in 1905, her daughter Anna M. Jarvis took up the cause of the creation of an official Mother s Day in remembrance of her mother and in honor of peace. Mother's Day as we know it was established by Anna Jarvis with help from a Philadelphia merchant, John Wanamaker. A small service was held on May 12, 1907 in the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Anna's mother had taught Sunday school. In 1908, Anna petitioned the superintendent of the Grafton church. Her request was honored and on May 10, 1908, the first official Mother's Day celebration took place. Events were held at Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, a church in Philadelphia and in the Wanamaker Auditorium in the Wanamaker s store in Philadelphia. The West Virginia event drew a congregation of 407 and Anna Jarvis arranged for white carnations her Mother s favorite flower to adorn the patrons. Two carnations were given to every Mother in attendance. The next year the day was reported to be widely celebrated in New York.

3 G Jarvis campaigned to establish Mother's Day first as a U.S. national holiday and then later as an international holiday. In 1908 a U.S. Senator from Nebraska, Elmer Burkett, proposed making Mother's Day a national holiday at the request of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). The proposal was defeated, but by 1909 forty six states were holding Mother's Day services as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. The state of West Virginia declared Mother s Day a holiday ca. 1910, and the rest of the states soon followed. In May of 1913, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution asking all federal government officials to wear a white carnation the following day in observance of Mother's Day. In May of 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. The next day, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation declaring the first national Mother's Day as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war. G ae HAPPY MOTHER S DAY LADIES!

4 From the Curator of Education Nathan Doerr Curator of Education Who Let That Bison into the Museum? If you ve been into the Museum recently, you may have noticed a new addition to the Barber Gallery a bison cabinet that provides museum visitors with an opportunity to explore the incredibly important role of the bison in the lives of the Plains Indians. The bison cabinet replaces the touch cart that used to hold various bison parts. While the cart presented an opportunity for visitors to see and touch some of the bison parts that were used for one purpose or another by the Plains Indians, it was missing a context element. Visitors didn t have an opportunity to understand where on a bison the parts came from, plus there were important parts not included. Last fall, I started working with Larry Lujan on the creation of this new interactive cabinet. Now that it s complete, museum visitors have the chance to look over a Great Plains Shopping List, explore the bison by opening the 17 doors, and discovering examples of the many ways the bison was used. As they find each item, visitors can take a checkmark magnet and check the item off on the magnetic shopping list.

5 The cabinet, which has been in place for a few weeks, now, has already proven itself to be a very popular addition! Upcoming Events at the Wyoming State Museum May 3 Family Days, 10 a.m. 2 p.m. Pioneer Games Children and their families are invited to join us at the Wyoming State Museum to get ready for summer by playing games that were popular with children 100 years ago. Participants will imagine life as a pioneer, learn to play games like marbles, and create their own handmade game to take home! Family Days is a free program of the Wyoming State Museum that provides children and their families with fun and educational opportunities to explore Wyoming s natural and cultural resources. The program is held the first Saturday of the month, September through May, at the Wyoming State Museum. Each month s program has a different theme. For more information, contact Nathan Doerr at May 8 Thursday Night Lecture Series, 7 p.m. Re Discover Your Backyard Presented by Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites, & Trails When was the last time you explored the past by visiting the Piedmont Charcoal Kilns? What about your last hiking trip in Curt Gowdy State Park? How long has it been since you enjoyed a soak in the therapeutic mineral water at Hot Springs State Park? With State Parks and Historic sites all over Wyoming, finding your perfect backyard vacation spot has never been easier. From archery to yurts and everything in between, the department of Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites, and Trails has something for everyone. Start planning your summer adventures now by learning about each of these sites, including how far they are from Cheyenne, the recreational opportunities available, and any annual events that you shouldn t miss. There s always more to explore at Wyoming s State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails!

6 Editor s Musings Ground breaking day on our place was April 11 th. That is the day Joe took the backhoe and dug into the dirt and started to create the hole where our little berm home will be. To say I am excited is an understatement, but I have to tell you that there is a lot of stress with all of it too. It s not that digging is what is causing the stress, it s the preparation for the contractor, getting all the paperwork right for the bank, looking at windows and doors and faucets galore and trying to decide how we want the kitchen laid out and the bathroom put together. But that is not all that is going into the house. We are purposely building into the hillside to make an underground building that will be passive solar when it is finished and really green as the saying goes now. The floor will be one big slab of concrete, with color added for appearance and windows from floor to ceiling all across the front of the house so that in the winter we can collect the sun s heat and store it in the floor. Windows will be dressed with quilted curtains to hold the heat in or out depending on the season. The little place is only 800 square feet, but it might as well be 8,000 when I start looking at all the catalogs and talking to the Contractor s desk at Sutherlands. How many switch plates did you say you ll need? How long and high do you want the kitchen window and in vinyl or wood? What color have you chosen for the steel roofing? Will you want the kitchen cabinets in faux wood or real wood and what type of wood? Ash, cherry, walnut, oak? It goes on and on. I m exhausted just thinking about it all. I am so thankful that we found a contractor of integrity who is willing to work with us. Joe, my husband, will be building the house except for the foundation and floor. We decided it would be better to let the concrete pros do it. After all, it will be surrounded in dirt and we don t want any mistakes! So, in about 3 weeks he will show up with his crew and start the footers and go up from there. We are excited about this house and the prospect of seeing our dream develop before us. Will we be in it for Christmas? Probably not, but we will at least be able to put up a tree in the living room and pretend we are done with the place. I will keep you informed as to the progress and will be happy when it is all over and done with. Nothing will be more fun than to get that C.O. (certificate of occupancy) from the County! That in itself will be the best Christmas present of all even if it is next March! Blessings, Nicki Arcangeli

7 I dropped the ball on the monthly Interview and have lost all the paperwork I was given, so I guess it will be next month. Sorry about that. ~ May 2014 ~ Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Barbara Carolyn W 4 5 Mike Harriett 6 Pete 7 Deb M Linda B 8 Barbara 9 10 Nicki A Pat B Mike Linda B 13 Pat B 14 Pam & Kristen Dorothy G 15 Barbara Emma Carolyn W Mike Harriett Estelle Pris Golden 22 Heyward 23 Bev G 24 Ann Bell Estelle Harriett Glenda O 29 Heyward Emma