GILLETTE, WYOMING S GILLETTE NEWS RECORD
FROM THE FRONT
Forecast: Sudden and severe
weather changes are normal
Continued from Page A1
that year.
For Gann, it was more
personal. The hail tore
holes in the cowboy hat
worn by his daughter,
Jessica Gann, as she pre-
pared to compete in the
pole bending. It also scared
her horse, which had never
experienced hail before,
and as each hailstone
struck him on the rump,
hed kick.
In the 10 NHSFRs
Gillette has hosted over the
past 24 years, most of the
visiting cowboys, cowgirls
and their families have had
similar experiences every
year. For them, it might be
unforgettable.
For Wyoming, its nor-
mal.
Heavy rain made gumbo
of the rodeo grounds one
year where the mud would
suck the boots off cowboys
in the tie-down roping and
steer wrestling events until
things dried out.
And thats pretty much a
possibility in the northeast
Wyoming area and Gillette
over the next 10 days, said
Melissa Smith, a hydrol-
ogist and meteorologist
with the National Weather
Service in Rapid City,
South Dakota.
The best advice from
Wyomingites and emergen-
cy officials for those visit-
ing is just to use common
sense: Be prepared for any
kind of weather. You may
not see a hurricane in the
Cowboy State, but other-
wise, its game on.
Weather has been a fac-
tor in many of the emergen-
cies outside of the arenas
during the NHSFR. Thats
why the National Weather
Service in Rapid City ded-
icates a meteorologist to
cover this event alone until
the end of the rodeo.
The Campbell County
Emergency Management
office also will provide free
alerts to cellphones and
digital devices during the
rodeo you do have to
sign-up for that service
and go through by hand to
eliminate those who arent
Campbell County residents
so you dont receive alerts
after the rodeo.
It will notify people of
any system moving over the
area.
The office also moves its
headquarters to Cam-plex
Central Pavilion for the
duration of the rodeo.
The reason is simple, said
David King, the emergency
management coordinator.
Weve got a whole lot
of people camping and
outdoors and our weather
is different than theirs, he
said.
The outlook
Smith said the heat
that has baked Campbell
County and Cam-plex for
the past few weeks with
temperatures in the mid- to
high 90s should ease a
bit by Monday.
Volunteers and folks at
the NHSFR should see
temperatures easing into
the normal mid- and high
80s through Wednesday,
then gradually return to
highs in the upper 90s start-
ing Thursday and continu-
ing Friday and Saturday.
As temperatures cool,
theres more likelihood of
showers and thunderstorms
Welcome rodeo
contestants
and their
families.
Stop in to the Campbell
County Convention &
Visitors Bureau for more
information on local area
tours, attractions, dining,
and shopping.
Visitgillettewright.com
1810 S. Douglas Hwy. #A
307-686-0040 Gillette, WY 82718
every afternoon, a normal
summer weather pattern in
northeast Wyoming. Those
storms can include heat
lightning, hail, strong winds
and hot temperatures,
Smith said. There also may
be an increased chance of
monsoonal moisture draw-
ing into the area starting
Tuesday and continuing
through the end of the
rodeo.
Its still hot
King said one of the
common problems for con-
testants or spectators is that
they come from states with
much higher humidity than
Wyoming. Because of that,
they think its much cooler
than it actually is.
Mother Nature is a bit
sneaky in that respect.
Just because youre not
sopping wet, though, you
still can be close to heat-
stroke, King said.
Its important to stay
hydrated and take precau-
tions, he added.
If there are problems,
Cam-plex itself a small
city that boosts the popula-
tion of Gillette during the
NHSFR will have law
enforcement and emergen-
cy officials on scene every
day of the rodeo.
The Campbell County
Sheriffs Office will have
patrols of five to six depu-
ties at Cam-plex 24/7. The
patrol will include a dis-
patcher.
The Gillette Police
Department will have a
full-time officer on site as
well.
Fire crews will move
from Station 1 to Station
7 across from Cam-plex
so they can more quickly
respond to any calls in that
area. The Campbell County
Fire Department also will
have two to four riders
from its new bike patrol at
Cam-plex during the week.
Ambulances and emer-
gency personnel are on
hand for every perfor-
mance. And theres a
first-aid station staffed by
a nurse in the Wyoming
Center locker rooms at
Spirit Hall. (Those need-
ing help have to go to the
office for treatment or aid,
though. It wont come to
you.)
Sirens and alerts
The emergency man-
agement agency has three
ways to notify the public of
safety and weather threats
this week, ranging from
wireless digital alerts to
sirens. King said officials
are considering the use of
the wireless digital system
that would notify everyone
with a landline or regis-
tered cellphone in Gillette
of a possible threat or in
a particular area based on
where they live.
Sirens also can be sound-
ed for tornado warnings,
and the emergency man-
agement office will monitor
its lightning alert system,
which will tell officials
where strikes are happen-
ing within 10 miles of Cam-
plex. Then officials can
make a decision on wheth-
er performances or events
need to be delayed because
of the danger of lightning.
The system gives us a
better idea of where it is,
King said of monitoring
lightning activity. I can see
the progression of it.
Visit Gillette-WrightWyoming
S Sunday, July 16, 2017 PAGE A3
Make it happen: Preparations start more than 6 months in advance
Continued from Page A1
ROCKY MATHISEN
Position: Maintenance super-
visor
Duties: Making sure the elec-
trical, water and sewer are all
fully operational before the first
contestant checks in. Mathisen
oversaw all projects that dealt
with additions. In the last year,
his crews added more power to
Morningside Park and other areas
of Cam-plex that were lacking at
last years rodeo, built an addition
on the crows nest to make more
room for rodeo officials during
competition, added more wireless
internet locations in the RV park
to meet spectator needs and
added light poles to the Black
Hills RV area for safety.
What he looks forward to
most: The thousands of awe-
some people from all over the
country. Having every inch of
our Cam-plex grounds filled with
some of the nicest people in
America.
What to expect: Checking
and double-checking every build-
ing, RV park and ground to ensure
all electrical, plumbing, lighting
and HVAC units are working cor-
rectly. Im checking to make sure
they are safe for the public.
Favorite event to watch: Bull
riding.
KATHY ASHTON
Position: Senior administrative
assistant
Duties: When not doing her
normal 9-to-5 job at Cam-plex
logging countless hours on the
computer organizing, planning,
messaging, writing and staying
late to get all the work done,
Ashton is in charge of feeding the
volunteers.
What the job entails: Ashton
will spend most of her time work-
ing in the Energy Hall kitchen
overseeing the volunteers, picking
up food donations from town and
making deliveries to all of the
volunteers who cant leave their
posts because they are helping
rodeo guests. She also will be
working with all the concession-
aires and had to set up every
round of bleacher cleanup.
Cam-plex will serve breakfast
to volunteers every day. For lunch
and dinner, they relied heavily on
donations from restaurants, gro-
cery stores and other businesses
in Gillette.
Negative affect of the rodeo:
Ashton has the rodeo on her mind
so much that she can remember
only one night in the last 14 when
she didnt wake up in the middle
of the night to write something
down on a bedside notepad about
something she forgot to do.
Favorite moment: With all of
her responsibilities, Ashton rarely
gets to enjoy any of the perfor-
mances. However, one rodeo hap-
pening stands out.
Back in 2010, I did enjoy the
rabbit that entered the rough
stock and timed event arenas,
she said, adding that she got a
kick out of the cowboys and cow-
girls trying to rope and chase it
out.
A crew works on setting up for the National High School
Finals Rodeo at the Gillette College Landers-Smith Arena on
Monday afternoon.
News Record Photos/Kelly Wenzel
Workers put up banners at Morningside Park on Monday morning in preparation for the Na-
tional High School Finals Rodeo.
MARK SMITH
Position:
Marketing man-
ager
Duties:
Smith and his
staff start work-
ing four months
before the rodeo
comes to town.
Hes in charge of
MARK
securing spon- SMITH
sorships from
local, regional
and national organizations, selling
program advertisements, putting
together the vendor show, taking
reservations for camping and col-
laborating with the National High
School Rodeo Association. Kathy Ashton points out the volunteer meal schedule for the
week of the NHSFR at Cam-plex in Gillette.
What about his job would sur-
prise people: How we handle over
200 vendors, over 1,400 campers testing all equipment and con- STEPHANIE MCGEE
figuring every sound system for
and 50 sponsors and keep them all Position: Arts education facil-
happy. the NHSFR. During the compe-
itator
tition, Schuff can be found at
MARY Morningside Park and running Duties: McGee said she has
from building to building between the distinct honor of coordinat-
SILVERNELL
performances. Something that ing the Queen Contest. For the
Position: people might not know is that event, she works side by side
Campbell Schuff has his crew set up a num- with volunteers, the NHSRA staff
County Public ber of redundant backups in case and a local queen committee
Land Board of failures in the sound or other along with her coworkers at
chairwoman technical portions of the shows. Cam-plex. Like so many other
What get- We control many systems from staffers, McGee starts prepar-
ting ready for our phones, so when people see ing for the rodeo six months in
us looking at the phone and then advance.
rodeo is like:
Drinking from a
MARY the problem is fixed, it can be sur- This kind of magic couldnt
fire hose.
SILVERNELL prising, he said. happen just anywhere, McGee
said, commending the communi-
What makes
the NHSFR special: The number
ALLYSSA TORRES ty as a whole for how it responds
of people involved in making the Position: to the NHSFR. Our community
event successful and the attitudes Assistant facili- members can be proud of cre-
of everyone in town to work hard to ties coordinator ating a positive experience for
families from around the country
help create a memorable event. Duties: Last
and the world.
Her favorite part of the expe- year, Torres
rience: Watching the contestants dealt with a
JANELL
achieve what would be impossible lot of the mar-
PARIS
for me. keting setup
like building Position:
ADAM SCHUFF
signage, distri- ALYSSA Trade Show
Position: Technical director bution of golf TORRES coordinator
Duties: Schuff is in charge of
carts, handing
Duties:
out keys, creat-
Paris duties
ing marquee slides and covering
when work-
the front office. This year, shes
ing the Trade
excited to be working the horse
check-in along with all of her Show entail JANELL
lots of walking,
duties from last year. PARIS
talking, prob-
Why its so busy: Torres said
lem-solving
people dont realize that while
the craziness of the rodeo is in and heavy-lifting. She attends
to vendors needs, manages
full swing, Cam-plex employees
still have to keep up with their shipping and receiving from hun-
dreds of companies that pack
actual jobs. That means prepping
the Wyoming Center and helps
contracts, setups, other items for
facilitate the shopping experi-
(future) events and running the
marquee. ence for patrons.
But when the rodeo comes to On what getting ready for
town, she and other staff mem- rodeo like: Its like training for
bers add a whole list of other a marathon, and if you arent
duties. prepared for race day, the ambu-
Every morning when arriving lance will have to transport your
to work, the normal routine of body across the finish line to the
News Record Photo/Kelly Wenzel turning on the computer to check tent with the paramedics. Our
emails doesnt happen, she said. volunteers are the people on the
Instead, the radio is turned on, sideline handing out water and
volunteer schedules printed and Gatorade, greeting you at the fin-
its on to the first task. ish line with snacks and a medal.
Your
S u c c e s s
is our goal.
ATM Locations
4th & Kendrick (Drive-up/Walk-up)
106 N. Hwy. 14-16 (Shell Food Mart)
10800 S. Hwy. 59 (Shell Food Mart)
520 Running W Drive
2400 S. Douglas Hwy. Hwy. 59 2400 S. Douglas Hwy.
(307) 685-7000
520 Running W Drive RC Ranch
685-7070
Campbell Countys ONLY
319 South Gillette Ave. Downtown
Hometown Bank.
686-3300