Noso Puffy Patches was launched in Summer 2016, using a combination of crowdfunding and direct retailer outreach to make the patches accessible to the widest range of consumers, just in time for the biggest outdoor season. Based in Jackson, Wyoming, and manufactured in the USA, NOSO presents Puffy Patches, the fashionable do-it-yourself repair and embellishment patches for clothes and outdoor gear.
NOSO Puffy Patches are the coolest all-purpose patches that fix rips, holes and gashes, or just a lack of personal style. Make your jacket eye catching, not for the holes, but for the design you’ve created. Personalize your long-life gear like sleeping bags, tents or the apparel you love most, whether it’s a nylon windbreaker or down jackets, anything can be revamped or restored.
When your favorite jacket springs a leak, NOSO Puffy Patches save the day with style and versatility. Super easy to use, Puffy Patches are made of 30D nylon ripstop, uncoated and down proof with a high tenacity and heat/light inhibiting qualities. NOSO’s adhesive lasts longer than others on the market. No sewing necessary, the heat-activated technology creates a permanent bond without an iron. Just throw it in the dryer or better yet, leave it in the sun to activate. Puffy Patches are incredibly durable and can withstand extreme weather conditions and multiple washes, without gumming up on the sides.
“I am extremely excited to launch NOSO Puffy Patches,” says Kelli Jones, Founder at NOSO. “I wanted to find a better way to extend the life of your favorite gear, as well as an outlet for users to express themselves in the outdoor space. It has been an amazing process, and I’m thrilled with the product and the possibilities.”
To extend the life of your gear, or express your individuality, Puffy Patches are available in six different colors, thirteen shapes, and five variety packages of three. They are available for purchase online!
Pioneer Museum Sheep Shearing Day — A Wonderful Woolly Day!
text & images courtesy Pioneer Museum, Lander
On the prettiest day of the spring so far, over 300 people came out to Lander’s Pioneer Museum to celebrate the history and heritage of the sheep industry in Fremont County and have fun.
It was the third annual Sheep Shearing Day, which has been a popular spring event at the museum. Designed to recognize the long history of the sheep industry in the area, there were shearing demonstrations, crafts for kids, a petting zoo, horseback rides and talks on the history of sheep. Sponsored by the Lander and Riverton McDonalds, it was the first Kids Exploration program of the summer.
A new addition this year were lamb burgers grilled up by the Fremont County Pioneer Association. The lamb was provided by the Wyoming Wool Growers Association (WWGA), and was a huge hit with people.
Amy Hendricks of the WWGA said one of their missions was to get people more aware of how important the sheep industry still is to Wyoming’s economy. The fresh lamb is just one product produced in the state by the industry.
John Farr of Encampment did several talks on the history of the sheep business from the time of Christ to the present. “What a wonderful event,” he said. “It’s a great way to get young people involved in our history.”
According to Museum Curator Randy Wise, Sheep Shearing Day will be back. “We are always adding new things and making it a bigger, better event.” Wise said that there are many events throughout the summer at the museum, from Treks and Speakers to kids exploration programs. Two upcoming events for kids are Kids Gold Panning Day May 11, and Pioneer Arts and Crafts June 10.
Call the museum to sign up (space in the two kid’s program is limited) or check the museum website www.fremontcountymuseums.com for more information.
Check out the Dayton Art Loop Studio Tour — Saturday, November 19, from 10-4 in beautiful Dayton, WY.
An annual showcase of the many artists and artisans in beautiful & quaint Dayton, Wyoming!
Raffle for a basket of items donated by participants (proceeds benefit our local art scholarship), as well as a door price drawn from people who visit each stop on the map.
New to this year’s tour will be David & Donna McDougall’s new gallery — Painted Skull Studio — located at the historical Hans Kleiber residence in Dayton.
Noted local artist Alice Fuller is also back in the tour. She’ll be showing in her studio just outside Dayton. Don’t miss this stop!
Gallery on Main will host a variety of local artists as well as sweet treats, lunch and beverages, and Tongue River Valley Community Center will host lunch and a bazaar, as well as Iris Sorensen’s award-winning Lakota dolls and dance sticks. Iris’ husband Kevin will show his woodwork there as well. Barb Sellar will have new items at Dog Paw Pottery.
The Art Loop is a perfect place to pick up unique gifts by local artists!
Sonja Caywood will be celebrating her brand new studio addition, at 317 2nd Ave W! “More than 4 people will fit inside my studio now,” Sonja adds. “So bring a friend!”
Watch for signs and pick up a map to enter in the door prize drawing.
Harvest Party, City Park in Lander Wyoming! October 1, 9 am – 12 noon
MY WYOMING
A Trip Down Memory Lane in Sheridan plus Buffalo and Two Mountain Passes
By Bill Sniffin
As readers of this column know, I am no fan of the “new” JC Penney Company.
It is my contention that old James Cash Penney (whose first store was right here in Wyoming, in Kemmerer), is spinning in his grave as how his successors have managed to ruin that company.
But I loved the old Penney’s and I took a trip down memory lane at that company’s long-time store on Main Street of Sheridan recently. There, smack in the heart of the town, is an old-fashioned Penney Store, complete with a basement, a half upstairs and, well, the only edifices missing were the pneumatic tubes sending sales tickets flying around the store.
My first Penney store experience was in Oelwein, Iowa, and it was a scene right out of the movie, A Christmas Story. And that store 60 years ago looked just like the one there in Sheridan today.
Here in Lander, when I first came to work at the Journal, one of our biggest advertisers was the JC Penney Store, again, right in the heart of our downtown. And yes, it had a half upstairs and it had a basement. I think tubes were still there which would whistle sales tickets from the various cash registers back to the bookkeeping department. Even by today’s standards, these tubes were space age. Amazing. They provided a way to quickly move information around prior to the age of computers.
On this trip, we took two different scenic drives on our way to and from Sheridan.
First, we traveled to Greybull so we could take US 16 up Shell Canyon and over the mountain. The weather was beautiful and we even stopped and checked out the Dinosaur tracks outside of Shell. Also, took a photo of the canyons there at the Big Horn Mountains that seem to form a “W” and a “Y” — is that there or was I just imagining it?
Near Burgess Junction I ran into Ed Kingston at the Elk View Inn. First met Ed 15 years ago. He has done well and aged better than me. The lodge is beautiful. It and Bear Lodge plus a few other lodges make that area a snowmobile and ATV mecca.
We encountered terrible fog descending into Dayton and on our way to Sheridan and settled into a rainy trip.
Bob Grammens and Kim Love had me on the radio for a couple of mornings and that was sure fun. Radio appears to be struggling in some communities, but not Sheridan. Lots going on in that area. Don’t touch that dial!
Although energy is a big deal in the Sheridan area, you would not notice it by how the Main Street feels. It is certainly lively including a new store started by a 13-year old boy. Amazing. His name is Luke Knudsen and he started a store called The Old General Store, which features antiques.
Another neat store is the Best Out West store owned by Christy Love, Kim’s sister.
The remodeled Sheridan Inn is a real treat. The old strucure originally built by Buffalo Bill Cody is now a true modern classic.
One of the premier craft breweries in the state is the Black Tooth establishment, which exists in an old auto garage. Great beer and a great location.
Our trip was designed as loop drive so we headed south to Buffalo and were impressed by how busy the Sports Lure store was there in the main business district. Small towns are lucky to have local-owned stores like it and the Office to cater to local needs.
It is hard not to love Buffalo’s Occidental Hotel. What a beautiful job its owners have done to restore it.
This is the heart of Longmire country but despite looking for them, none of the characters were to be seen on this day. Longmire is the name of a popular TV series based on books by Craig Johnson of Ucross.
While in Buffalo, I also looked for the infamous “Bench Sitters,” made popular by the Sagebrush Sven columns in the Buffalo Bulletin. It was the wrong time of day to see them, too, I guess.
Heading home, we headed up into the cloudy Big Horn Mountains over Tensleep Pass. Ran into fog, rain, slush, snow and wind but got through it. Lots of highway construction on the very top. The flag people were dressed like Eskimos.
Worland and Thermopolis were both quiet on this wet Friday evening, although it was sure tempting to take a dip into a hot thermal pool on a cold, wet shivery night. But we kept on going.
Got home just as the sun was going down, which was our goal. Hate that driving at night in a storm.
What a great loop drive it was, though. The passes were full of amazing color. I am sure the rain and snow pretty much wiped out most of those pretty leaves, which impressed us at the time. This all occurred during the fall solstice, which here in Wyoming, truly marks a real change of seasons.
The days are getting shorter, and I for one look forward to a little slower pace…but, honestly there is still so much going on and so many reasons to visit downtown, I never do seem to get much time to unwind!
This week, our final 3rd Thursday will feature the Craft Brothers and the Sheridan High School varsity teams pep rally. Be sure to stop by the main stage for the first ever “flash mob” to be held on Main Street at 7pm!
The following Thursday at the weekly farmers’ market on Grinnell Plaza, CATO Ranch and the Cottonwood Shop are sponsoring the first “Sheridan Amateur Chopped” contest! A lively crew of local foodies will be cooking up some delicious meals comprised mostly of locally raised meats and produce. The last Thursday of September, the 29th, the Sheridan Farmers’ Market sponsored by Landon’s Greenhouse, will close out the downtown market season here on Grinnell Plaza. However, Saturday, October 8, the DSA will again cosponsor the Sheridan Local Food Expo/Fall Harvest Market. This year’s event will take place October 5th through October 8th, kicking off with a premier screening of the PBS/Farm to Fork Episode of, “Compost” at the Sheridan Public Library on Wednesday the 5th at 5:30pm.
Friday, October 7th is the Farm to Plate Gala Dinner at the Barn in Big Horn. A four course seasonally inspired dinner prepared by Chef Antonia Armenta Miller, of CATO Ranch, will be paired with wines from Jackson Hole Winery. The tickets are $75 each. This fee helps raise funds to benefit the Local Foods Expo group with a portion of the proceeds also benefiting the local youth programs that promote our commitment to support, promote and educate the community on the importance of buying and eating locally. For more information, please contact Bonnie Gregory at 307-752-5712.
The weekend will wrap up on Saturday with the Farmers’ Market Fall Festival at the Whitney Academic Center on the Sheridan College Campus. Sponsored by Wyoming Roofing, this market combines the Sheridan & Landon’s Farmers Markets from 9am till 11am with live music by Crooked Mountain and featuring other seasonal events. The morning market will be followed by a discussion panel entitled, “Eating, Growing & Selling” at noon. For more information, please contact Donald Legerski at 307-683-7849 or email sheridanlocalfoods@gmail.com.
Finally, the Historic District Promotions Committee continues to focus on year-round shop local campaigns that help to increase awareness of what our downtown has to offer as well as create incentives and enthusiasm for local shoppers during the off-holiday season. The October Hunting for Bucks shop local campaign incorporates the ever popular hunting season as well as rewarding locals for shopping downtown by offering “chamber bucks” as a weekly prize for shoppers throughout the month of October. The City of Sheridan has generously agreed to sponsor the campaign again this year. Last year, the first Hunting For Bucks campaign was a huge success with $800 in chamber bucks distributed to 21 lucky shoppers.
For more information, please call 307-672-8881 or email
Charming home nestled in a quiet & pristine neighborhood, boasting an open floor plan — easy for entertaining! French doors off of the dining room lead to the private backyard with mature landscaping and a large deck, perfect for summertime cookouts. The finished basement offers a family room, laundry room with extra storage, full bath, bedroom w/double closets, & an extra room w/an egress window; ideal for an in-home office. This home is sure to fly off the market! Call us today to schedule your private tour.
Updated 1940’s home with lots of charm and all the space you need for modern living. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the creative electric fireplace in the living room, tile baths and flooring, hardwood flooring, spacious second level bedrooms, bonus basement rooms, and the charming back yard offering mature landscaping and a large patio-convenient for entertaining. Tasteful and timeless…call Judy Bauman today to schedule your private tour!
click on the image above for a full list of Big Horn Basin Folk Festival Events & Details!
“Hear Me Now” — Wyoming Storytellers Take Spotlight
By Ellen Sue Blakely
Images provided by Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation
For a full schedule of presenters during “Hear Me Now” Storytelling Circle, August 6-7, see www.wyomingfolkfestival.com. Other weekend events include the Gift of the Waters Pageant Days, Kiwanis Craft Fair and the Big Horn Basin Folk Festival, with music performances all day, demonstrators, workshops, food vendors, juried art show & sale and kid-friendly activities.
When we were kids and all the cousins gathered for the annual Fourth of July ice cream and watermelon feast, our great aunt Kate kept all of us in line by expounding on a “haint” she called “Rawhide and bloody bones.” For years, we assumed Aunt Kate had made up this scary haunt of a creature.
It turns out that Kate had borrowed and adapted “Rawhide” from an Irish tale — probably one she had heard as a child from her grandparents who had come from the Emerald Isle. Aunt Kate is long gone; but, to this day, her scary rendition still brings chills and laughter to the now-aging cousins.
That’s the power of story. If you have ever sat around a campfire and told (or listened to) ghost stories or tall tales, you know its spell. Those who study stories as an art form say telling stories is the oldest art form; and from it grew poetry — rhyming was a way of remembering a longer story.
Although there has not been an organized effort at preserving Wyoming’s stories in recent years, our people have always been inveterate storytellers. Mountain men told plenty of whoppers when they gathered at the fur-trading rendezvous. Music and storytelling were common in the Native American tipis, cowboy bunkhouses, farmhand shacks and homestead cabins. It still is. Given half a chance, today’s outfitters, hunters and fishermen will regale listeners with tales about the “ones that got away.”
This year, Wyoming is taking a step to share our long-standing storytelling tradition at “Hear Me Now,” the state’s first organized Storytelling Circle. (The concept of a “storytelling circle” harks back to those days of campfires and tipis.) The event is part of the Big Horn Basin Festival, August 6-7, 2016, in Hot Springs State Park, Thermopolis. “Hear Me Now” is sponsored by Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation with a ThinkWyoming grant from the Wyoming Humanities Council. Additional support comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund and Wyoming Arts Council.
“Hear Me Now” will be moderated by Spencer Bohren, nationally known musician and storyteller. Although Bohren now lives in New Orleans, Wyomingites still claim him as their own since he grew up in Casper, and his family still lives and plays music there. Bohren maintains strong ties with the state, presenting educational programs in the schools and public performances in Wyoming communities throughout the year.
Professional storytellers telling tales throughout the day are Michelle King, Basin; Catherine Ringler, Powell; Marilyn Braaten, Thermopolis, and Jennisen Lucas, Cody. The group recently formed the Big Horn Basin Storytelling Guild to promote the art of storytelling.
Echo Klaproth, Shoshoni, former Wyoming poet laureate, and Dick Hall, Thermopolis, cowboy poet, will bring poetry into the tent. Mike Hurwitz, who will be performing at the Big Horn Basin Folk Festival during the weekend, will drop by with his own brand of Western stories. Karl Milner, who specializes in mountain man skills, will add a story or two from the mountain man era. Annie Hatch, Wyoming Arts Council folk arts specialist, will give a bit of historical perspective on the art of Wyoming storytelling. Miss V, sometimes called “The Gypsy Cowbelle,” will talk about her adventures homesteading in Wyoming.
As a special feature, Spencer Bohren will perform his nationally acclaimed “Down the Dirt Road Blues,” 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., Sunday, August 7, in the Storytelling Tent. Bohren uses historic music instruments as he tells how one song moved from its African roots to blues to rock and roll.
“Hear Me Now” is free and of interest to all ages. Visitors can “come sit a spell” and — if you are so inclined — you can even add your own tales — true or otherwise — during the open microphone opportunities.
After all, if you don’t tell your favorite story, who will?
Ellen Sue Blakey of Thermopolis is a textile artist, rug braider, author, musician and occasional storyteller. You can hear and see her story about rug braiding and Depression-era women on youtube. If you attend the Storytelling Circle, look her up, say the magic words “Uncle Charlie”; she may just tell you the story of Charlie, the sheriff’s hat, a blackberry pie, and how he came to Wyoming.
Out & About around Southeast Wyoming today (July 16)?
Check out Laramie’s The Bent & Rusty Cotton Company‘s Barn Sale! “The Bent & Rusty Barn Sale is open early. 10% OFF your entire purchase. Located at 4733 West End Road. Head South out of Laramie on US HWY 287 for 1.5 miles and follow the colorful flags and Barn Sale signs. Call 307-760-4139 for questions.” They have really fun & unique items & decor!
Visit their Downtown Laramie store at 117 E Grand Ave!
Check out their Jennifer Casebeer’s Pop Up Art Gallery, July 21-23!
“Bring your old barn door, gate, rusty corrugated tin, rusty tractor fender and have Jennifer Casebeer paint cowboy boots, cattle, roosters and more on it. Talented acrylic paint artist that brings life to your favorite western art with the relics of the past as her canvas. Mark your calendar!!”
We really dig shopping at the Curiosity Shoppe, a treasure trove of Laramie gifts. The location is a long-time Laramie staple, a Hallmark store that does so much more and today has evolved into a hip locale to find your favorite people a kickin’ gift. New owners Alec & Jodi Shea bring their passion and community drive to the store, and it shows when you walk in the door. Alec knows his customers, their families, their careers, their hobbies … and if he’s out hitting some awesome Wyoming water way or coaching a Little League game (yup, he’s multi-talented), the lovely Kristen is a wealth of information and help.
The store carries Alex and Ani, as well as a wide variety of Wyoming-made products and Pandora jewelry and home decor. Just a sampling of what they have to offer follows … along with a new giveaway shared June 15 …
Snowy Range Ski Area Celebrates Season End April 9 & 10!
Snowy Range Ski Area (west of Laramie on Hwy 130, above historic Centennial!) is closing out the season in style! Join us April 9th and 10th and celebrate the past winter!
Saturday April 9th, Events Include:
• Music
• BBQ at the Chute Lift Beach: (Wind and Weather Permitting). All ages.
• Food Specials
• After Party Bar Specials (21+)
Sunday April 10th, Events Include:
• Celebrity Look Alike Contest. Dress like your favorite Celebrity or Movie Character. Prizes for Best Male, Female, Child and Group.
• After Party Bar Specials (21+)
• Photo Booth (9am – 1pm & 3pm – 4pm)
• BBQ at the Chute Lift Beach: (Wind and Weather Permitting). All ages.
• Music: All ages
Best of Both Worlds… County property w/NO Covenants, surrounded by the beautiful Riverton Golf Course.
If you desire graceful living among beautiful surroundings, you must see this exceptionally gracious home. You’ll have the best seat in the house for mountain and golf course views on this 1.72 acre county lot w/NO Covenants! This home offers a 3 car attached garage, cathedral ceilings, walk-in closets, exquisite mountain views and marble, slate & parquet finishes throughout. Come experience what over 6,000 sq. ft. of wall to wall spaciousness feels like…
Lacee & Shaun Sims are good, kind people that are part of the family owned & operated Sims Sheep Company of Evanston & Lyman — Lacee is also a photographer who owns Leather-n-Lace Photography in Evanston. For a National Ag Day shout out (which we just barely missed on March 15!), we wanted to share a few glimpses into their everyday life ….
About the Sims Sheep Company … Within this company, you’ll find the most prolific and hardy range sheep in North America. Among the breeds found on the ranch are Purebred Targhee and Targhee-Fin Cross Rams. Sims Sheep Company raises Feeder Lambs, Ewe Lambs, and Range Sheep. The Ranch embodies a conservationist spirit, using sustainable farming and grazing methods. The land hosts a variety of animal species which provides excellent Elk, Deer, Antelope, and Game Fowl hunting. The ranch is family owned and operated and boasts a heritage of over 100 years of family ranching.
Realty Office: 215 S. Broadway Riverton WY 82501
