Let's Talk Wyoming - Rainstorms, Fish and Chips, and Celebrating Flag Day, with a Dash of French Flair and Father's Day Traditions

Ever wondered how a rainy day in Wyoming could turn into a heartwarming experience? Join us on Let's Talk Wyoming as we recount a surprising rainstorm that offered much-needed relief and discuss the delicious treat of enjoying fish and chips from the On the Hook fish truck in Worland. Celebrate Flag Day with us as we share personal reflections tied to this special occasion, and gear up for the crucial primary elections in August. We also dive into Caitlin Clark's phenomenal impact on the WNBA, boosting both attendance and viewership, and touch on the rising costs of everyday items, using a local burger drive-in as a prime example to spotlight broader economic trends.

In another fascinating segment, we'll explore the unexpected cultural connections between Wyoming and France, delving into the inspiration behind the state's Great Seal and its progressive stance on women's rights. Discover how French culture embraces the American Wild West, with figures like Calamity Jane and Buffalo Bill celebrated through various media. As Father's Day approaches, we honor its origins and evolution, reflecting on how it has been shaped by both commercial interests and societal changes over the decades. Tune in to celebrate the rich cultural exchanges and historical milestones that define Wyoming's vibrant heritage.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:21

Good morning and welcome to let's Talk Wyoming. I'm Mark Hamilton, your host, and today we'll be talking about our ever-changing Wyoming weather. We'll talk about fish trucks, we'll talk about, maybe, caitlin Clark, flag Day, elections, we'll also talk about the effect that France had on the early years of Wyoming and, finally, father's Day. Thanks for joining us and we hope you enjoy the show. Taking a look at weather here in the state of Wyoming, here on the 11th day of June We've had some warm temperatures. It looks like we're settling into that summer pattern. It was kind of surprising. On Sunday night we did get a rainstorm come through with a bunch of thunder and it was loud and loud and we got a quarter of an inch of rain, which was a total surprise. Earlier in the day we had some clouds build up, looked like it was going to be rain or hail. Nothing happened. Then in the middle of the night we had the sudden onslaught. So that's kind of what we're looking at right now with these temperatures and, looking long term, don't see much in the way of any relief out there. So we are definitely in our summer weather here in the state of Wyoming Again, tourist season is open, yellowstone Park's open and we're waiting to greet you here to the great state of Wyoming.

Speaker 1: 1:55

Taking a look at other happenings around here in the state of Wyoming, the highlight of the week for me was the On the Hook fish truck Was in Worland today. On Wednesday Got a chance to go up to Worland for some other business and got to stop and have some fish and chips. It's been a while since I've been able to catch up with the truck and big crowd in Worland. It stays steady through the day. Just a real treat having those fish and chips, something we don't normally get. Just wish that truck would get around a little bit more often. But again made my week complete the fish truck in Worland. Hats off to all the guys there from the On the Hook fish truck for the great job you do and glad you can get up and share your goodies around the state.

Speaker 1: 2:43

Also, this week is on June 14th, it's Flag Day. It is a special holiday for me. It's also my father's birthday. He passed away about 20 years ago and I've always shared that when I was a kid you always talked about. On his birthday people put the flag out. I didn't know any better to celebrate his birthday. But happy birthday to my father on Flag Day. You're surely missed.

Speaker 1: 3:10

One other thing that's taking place here in the state of Wyoming and it has been going on around the country is our primary elections. Our primary election is in August August and we have mainly it's our legislative branch elections and mainly it's all the Republicans, multiple Republicans, running for that Republican spot in the general election. Periodically you might see a Democrat run in most of the state. Now there are areas in Laramie and Cheyenne where you might get a Democrat, might potentially have an option or opportunity, I should say, to get elected. But it's that interesting time of yard signs and people trying to get elected. It's kind of interesting.

Speaker 1: 3:54

I saw a story in Cowboy State Daily about the amount of people that have moved here to the state of Wyoming from out of state that are running for political office and we always kind of have to be a little bit leery about these type of people. What is their intention of coming here? And I think it's really important for all citizens to take the time to review the candidates and find those candidates that believe in the same thing you do. That's how you're going to get change out there. We continue on a lot of times here in the state we call them our rhinos or uniparty, but a lot of Democrats know that they can't get elected as a Democrat, so they'll run as a Republican and then suddenly when they get into their positions you can tell that they definitely were Democrats and sometimes it's hard to get them out of there. People have a tendency to just vote for an incumbent the month of November, right around the corner, and it'll be here before we know it and all the hijinks that could potentially happen with that presidential election. There'll be a lot more on that in the future.

Speaker 1: 4:57

The other thing I want to talk about is Caitlin Clark. People are asking what's that have to do with Wyoming. Well, sometimes as a host, you get to talk about certain things. Caitlin Clark People are asking what's that have to do with Wyoming? Well, sometimes, as a host, you get to talk about certain things. Caitlin Clark is a basketball player. She played collegiately at the University of Iowa, was the all-time leading scorer for NCAA women's basketball and she just had graduated, finished her senior year at Iowa and got drafted by the Indiana Fever of the WNBA, the Women's Basketball League, and it has sure caused a lot of I don't know controversy, a lot of talk. One thing that she has brought to her Indiana Fever team are sold-out arenas. They have had more people attend games the first five games of her season at home than they did all of last year. You can tell right then that that definitely has an impact. Her TV ratings the people that tune in to watch is breaking records. Pretty amazing to watch. We'll see what happens with the saga of Caitlin Clark versus the WNBA and definitely the news media across the country.

Speaker 1: 6:07

And how about the economy? It's rather interesting to see what's going on in the world. Here in Hot Springs County I did see a post on Facebook today. Somebody went to the local burger drive-in. They serve a little bit of everything there. They said that they got their hamburger and fries and a drink. I'm pretty sure what they had was $18, $18.50.

Speaker 1: 6:30

Talking about the expense and complaining about it, and I guess it's that much everywhere you go. That person really hasn't been around much, but that's just the expense you have and everybody. It's kind of a domino effect. All the products are costing more. Also, with those products that you're putting into, that meal cost more than you have to charge more. As I was saying yesterday with the fish truck, fish meal had gone from $13 up to $15.

Speaker 1: 7:02

I think everywhere you go, and I think it's just the point, where can you afford to go out and eat? I think we probably eat out too much. It's convenient, nice to do, but I started thinking about the people that are eating out. Can they really afford it? You can go buy some food. Of course, everything at the grocery store is expensive, but I guarantee you you could make a meal a lot cheaper than that. And I'm at that point.

Speaker 1: 7:27

We used to go out a lot and just got to the point where the meals weren't that good. It was kind of subpar, I would say, and just felt like you could get a better meal at home. Felt like you could get a better meal at home. And then you start looking at how much money you were spending, because then if you get any drinks and there's a group of you, they can get pretty expensive for a night, and then you start adding that up during the week and with everything else as high as it is, it can really have a pinch on you.

Speaker 1: 7:54

So I think it's unbelievable out there and I don't see prices coming down and I think it's only going to get worse as the summer goes on and we get closer to the election, you're seeing it in the price of housing vehicles. I don't know, these new vehicles have gotten ridiculous and you can see people just aren't buying them. These car lots, these new vehicles are starting to stack up everywhere and the prices aren't changing. And I don't know what these dealers are going to do. They just continue on. I guess this figure sooner or somebody will have to buy a new vehicle and we'll give you a little discount. But you put all these together it's just not happening with the wages out there. So a lot of stuff in front of us. It's pretty crazy and here in Wyoming we're not immune to that. We're all in the same boat and we'll see how it turns out.

Speaker 1: 8:40

And finally, I had to give an update on David Schultz. I had talked about David Schultz in a previous podcast. He was a truck driver out in Iowa that had disappeared. He had been driving a semi with a load of piglets Truck was pulled over in the more or less in the road and been sitting there for hours. When somebody finally came by I was in rural Iowa. No, david Schultz never did find him. They searched and searched and looked everywhere and search parties were out and they finally just gave up. And then suddenly he appeared in a field here and a few weeks ago one of the farmers was out in the field and there was a body out there and it was about a half mile from where the truck was and it was David Schultz. And no answers. The Sheriff's Department said they didn't think there was any foul play. And I don't quite understand that that must be a standard response for everything. There was no foul play. We had a missing young gal here in the area down in Worland that went missing and the sheriff's department said the same thing Couldn't find her but they didn't think there was any foul play. That must be to push people off the path and think that nobody's looking for him. But family was notified they're going to have an autopsy. They were family's a little kind of questioning about this how he could end up out there. They know they searched that area. What was the real true story of David Schultz? And at the same time it's kind of eerie because just up across the border in Canada there was a driver, a truck driver, that had something similar happen that went missing. Crazy out there, people Kind of a different world than what we face.

Speaker 1: 10:25

France in the Wild West by Kylie McCormick from wildhistoryorg. The more I've explored Wyoming and its history, the more I have found evidence of our connections to France and the early French and French-Canadian explorers. After all, a large part of Wyoming used to be French territory until the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. You can still see the borders while driving through the Red Desert. At the Tri-Territorial Historical Site, the influence of the French can still be felt in places' names along the state, from the Tetons to La Priah Creek, not to mention early explorers and traders like Captain Bonneville and John Baptiste Richard. Even on a recent tour of the Iverson Mansion, I came upon an exhibit of a tea set imported from France. Importing luxury goods from Europe was the display of wealth and success in early Wyoming.

Speaker 1: 11:21

While researching our state symbols, I came upon another interesting reference to France and the French culture. The written law for the Great Seal of the State of Wyoming describes the woman at the center of our seal as such, standing upon the pedestal shall be a draped figure of a woman, modeled after the statue of the Victory of the Louvre, from whose wrists shall hang links of broken chain and holding in her right hand, a staff from the top of which shall float a banner with the words equal rights Thereon, all suggesting the political position of women in the state. It made me wonder if any of our legislators in 1893 had visited the Louvre to see the winged figure dramatically stepping forward with the wind blowing the fabric of her dress, despite missing her arms and head due to the ravages of time. I was taken aback when I visited the Louvre last fall and saw her standing at the top of a staircase While admiring the ancient craftsmanship of her original Greek sculpture. The great seal came to my mind, though I must admit that it wasn't until I started visiting France last fall that I realized the feeling is mutual.

Speaker 1: 12:33

France loves the wild west. Wyoming figures like Calamity Jane and Buffalo Bill are valorized in comic books, cartoon shows and animated feature films. Popular fictional cowboys first created during the post-war golden age of westerns like Lucky Luke of 1946, cherry Spring of 1954, and Blueberry from 1963, are still being featured in comic books today. And Blueberry from 1963 are still being featured in comic books today. Lucky Luke went toe-to-toe with the famous outlaws like the Daltons and even carried mail on the Pony Express Just a few years ago. In 2020, a French-Danish animated film of Calamity Jane's childhood won several international awards. The idea of the Wild West is so popular that even a small city in France the size of Casper Saint-Quentin chose as its theme for the summer fair last year. The idea of the Wild West is so popular that even a small French city the size of Casper Saint-Quentin chose it as its theme for their summer fair last year. Seeing French fascination with the idolized West and the legends of our historical figures has made me appreciate Wyoming and the opportunity to explore our history even more.

Speaker 1: 13:54

June 16th is Father's Day. I want to take this opportunity to say happy Father's Day to my father and all those fathers out there. What would we be without you? Looking back at the origins of Father's Day, the campaign to celebrate the nation's fathers did not meet with the same enthusiasm, perhaps because, as one florist explained, fathers haven't had the same sentimental appeal that mothers have. On July 5th of 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation's first event explicitly in honor of fathers a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who had died in the previous December's explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mine in Monaghan. But it was a one-time commemoration and not an annual holiday.

Speaker 1: 14:42

The next year, a Spokane Washington woman named Sonora Smart Dodd one of six children raised by a widower established an official equivalent to Mother's Day for male parents. She went to local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers and government officials to drum up support for her idea, and she was successful. Washington State celebrated the nation's first statewide Father's Day on June 19, 1910. Slowly, the holidays spread. In 1916, president Wilson honored the day by using telegraph signals to unflur a flag in Spokane when he pressed a button In Washington DC. In 1924, president Calvin Coolidge urged state government to observe Father's Day. Today, the day honoring fathers is celebrated in the United States on the third Sunday of June. In other countries, especially in Europe and Latin America, fathers are honored on St Joseph Day, a traditional Catholic holiday that falls on March 19th.

Speaker 1: 15:47

Many men, however, continue to disdain the day. As one historian writes, they scoffed at the holiday's sentimental attempt to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving, or they derided the proliferation of such holidays as a commercial gimmick to sell more products, often paid for by Father himself. During the 1920s and 30s, the movement arose to scrap Mother's Day and Father's Day altogether in favor of a single holiday Parents' Day. Every year on Mother's Day, pro-parents groups rallied in New York City's Central Park. A public reminder said the Parents' Day activist and radio performer, robert Speer, that both parents should be loved and respected together. Paradoxically, however, the Great Depression derailed this effort to combine and decommercialize the holidays. Struggling retailers and avatars redoubled their effort to make Father's Day a second Christmas for men, promoting goods such as neckties, hats, socks, pipes and tobacco, golf clubs and other sporting goods and greeting cards.

Speaker 1: 16:51

When World War II began, advertisers began to argue that celebrating Father's Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort. By the end of the war, father's Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war effort. By the end of the war, father's Day may not have been a federal holiday, but it was a national institution. In 1972, in the middle of a hard-fought presidential re-election campaign, richard Nixon signed a proclamation making Father's Day a federal holiday at last. Today, economists estimate that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on Father's Day's gifts. Thanks for joining us today and we hope you enjoy our podcast. As per the Code of the West, we ride for the brand and we ride for Wyoming. We'll be right back ¶¶. Thank you.