GILLETTE, WYOMING S GILLETTE NEWS RECORD
FROM THE FRONT
Lost and found
has got your goat
By KATHY BROWN
NEWS RECORD SENIOR WRITER
kbrown@gillettenewsrecord.net
Theres been everything
imaginable missing and turned
in to the lost and found in the
first two days of the NHSFR,
including three back numbers,
a little girl and a big sister.
It all hasnt been found.
Were still missing a straw
hat (blown off in Sundays
performance) and a new pair
of boots, said Kathy Kintz,
director of the lost and found/
information booth in the
Wyoming Center.
Theyve even found a pad-
lock with a chain, and keys for
a pickup and a cart that no one
has retrieved.
But it was the goat that really
got the volunteers going. It
apparently got loose during the
jackpot around Boxelder Road.
When the volunteers called
a sheriffs deputy to report the
lost goat he asked one ques-
tion: What direction did it go?
Team ropers Chanse Switzer, left, and Tanner Froshaug have
been team roping together since the sixth grade.
Team: Even 150 miles cant keep
pair from finding time to practice
Continued from Page A1
For the last seven years,
when they wanted to practice
one would have to travel three
hours to the others place.
But theyve made it work,
and this fall theyll compete
together on the rodeo team at
Dawson Community College
in Glendive, Montana, where
theyll both study welding.
Froshaug said that through-
out high school, he and
Switzer always hoped they
could continue roping togeth-
er after graduation.
We just loved the sport and
wanted to continue doing it,
Froshaug said.
Then they learned they
were going to the same col-
lege. (We) figured its worked
for this long, so why not?
Switzer said.
Although theyve had seven
years of experience under their
belts, everyone has bad days.
Switzer said he and Froshaug
didnt have any good luck last
year at the NHSFR.
We call ourselves the
swat team, because in the
first round, Chanse swatted
the steer in the head, and in
the second round I swatted
it in the back of the head,
Froshaug said.
But its how the two deal
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
S Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Hello? Kintz said. Hes
running in circles. Every time
a car or cart comes near him,
he swerves away and goes the
other direction.
Just before Monday nights
rodeo performance, Kintz
reported that the goat had been
found.
The goat was black and
white and was retrieved and
returned to Colorado team,
she texted.
Thats not the only thing that
got her goat Monday, though.
Shortly before that, some-
one came to the booth with a
paycheck that a woman didnt
even realize shed lost in the
Trade Show. She had just
picked up her husbands pay-
check, she told the volunteers.
She came about five min-
utes after we announced
her name, Kintz said of the
Gillette woman. She said, Oh
my God, I didnt even realize
that I dropped it. I had just
picked it up. ... But dont tell
him.
Courtesy Photos/Carla Froshaug
with situations like these that
has kept them together for so
long. They always take equal
blame when something goes
wrong.
We dont point fingers at
each other on what we did,
Switzer said. We just solve it
as a team, learn from our mis-
takes and go on from there.
And they always do it that
way.
The main thing is we
dont get mad at each other,
Froshaug said.
Were both pretty easy-go-
ing, Switzer added. If you
have a good friendship, then
youll have a good partnership
too.
Once this rodeo is over,
theyll start preparing for a
new chapter in their friend-
ship.
Itll be neat to move on. Im
excited to see what the future
brings, Froshaug said. Itll be
neat to see how different the
competition is.
And the partnership might
not end once their college
careers are over, Switzer said.
There might be years in
between where were busy
working or something, but
were definitely not going to
quit rodeo, so I guarantee well
be back together eventually,
he said.
Visit Gillette-WrightWyoming
PAGE A3
Kathy and Mike Bramlett of Georgia find shelter from the sun under a tree next to their RV on Saturday afternoon.
They are in town to see their granddaughter compete in four National High School Finals Rodeo events.
Campers: Some rodeo travelers are roughing it more than others
Continued from Page A1
luxury.
The heat can be an issue. They rely
on the breeze quite a bit. The golf carts
whipping around the dirt at night can be
bothersome too.
The close quarters also lend to some
awkward moments.
When youre arguing with somebody,
you cant just leave them like that,
Lynnette said, snapping her finger.
Daltons grandparents are staying in a
camper in the lot next to theirs. If it gets
too hot, Lynnette said, theyll jump in
there to cool off.
The Mays werent aware Cam-plex
had showers, which was a pleasant sur-
prise.
We dont have to worry about having
their motor home full of ... Lynnette
said.
Teenagers, Josh finished with a
laugh.
Cam-plex estimates that 6,508 peo-
ple are staying at its campgrounds this
week, enough to make it the 16th larg-
est city in Wyoming.
Most of the campers are used to living
out on the campgrounds. A rodeo life
is one spent on the road. The NHSFR
might be the largest rodeo in the world,
but most of the families on the grounds
spend a majority of their summer, and
even the whole year, traveling to and
from rodeos and living in campers, RVs
or tents.
Team Nebraska was stationed right
off south Garner Lake Road near team
California.
Tracy McCully, mother of break-
away competitor Brittni McCully, said
her family made the trip directly from
Lebanon, Tennessee, from the junior
finals to Gillette.
McCully said she and three other
families she usually travels with are so
experienced that they barely have to go
grocery shopping in town.
They meal plan for nearly every meal,
mostly cooking on the grill.
Before dinnertime on Sunday, the
kids took advantage of the kiddie pool
the family bought years ago after a
rodeo in Rock Springs. Three of them
splashed around and raced from end
to end in the blow-up pool that was
barely 10 feet long.
A new addition this year was created
to handle the heat.
My husband installed the air condi-
tioner in the back of the horse trailer so
he can stay cool while he drinks beer,
McCully said. For the man cave.
Even the veteran campers are still
learning as they go.
At the Alberta team camp, Cassidy
Smith, Kylin Ziemmer and Skyler
Fuchs took turns pumping up the
Your
S u c c e s s
2400 S. Douglas Hwy. Hwy. 59
520 Running W Drive RC Ranch
319 South Gillette Ave. Downtown
News Record Photos/Kelly Wenzel
Cassidy Smith, 17, left, Skyler Fuchs, 16, and Kylin Ziemmer, 16, from Alberta,
Canada, take turns pumping up a pool outside their RVs on Saturday after-
noon to stay cool before the NHSFR.
new pools they bought at Walmart on
Saturday.
We live like this every weekend,
Ziemmer said.
But this is hot. Really hot. Its 10
degrees hotter here than where were
from, Fuchs said, adding that at times
there it snows in the summer.
Team Alberta is 48 athletes strong this
year. How many people will share the
two mini pools?
About 48, Ziemmer said.
As a hose filled up the inflatable
pools, Laura Lucas and Shannon Gina Granlees of California grills bar-
Stevens unloaded water bottles into a becue chicken outside her RV before
cooler full of ice where team Minnesota the first event of the National High
was camping. School Finals Rodeo on Sunday.
The crew from the land of 1,000 lakes
traveled 30 families strong this year. Lucas said. Kids these days seem to
Stevens said she absolutely loved the feel entitled that they deserve things. In
feel of Wyomings summer heat. rodeo, the parents cant fix anything for
Theres no humidity, she said. Back them. They have to go out and earn it.
at home you can hardly breathe. Its at their fingertips.
I remember last year at night we put For the rest of the week, relaxation
on jackets and winter hats, rolled up in and anticipation was at most of the
a blanket. It was great, Lucas said. campers fingertips.
Another key to survival for Lucas and
This is our cabin, Shannon said.
her family is Roys Lemonade.
Some people like going to Mexico for
I buy one of these at the beginning
vacation. This is our vacation.
of the week. Six bucks. I refill it every
day and our whole family shares it, she Water bottles were safely submerged
said. Life saver. in ice. McCully held a beer in a koozie
Both Lucas and Stevens were as she watched her kids splash in the
impressed by how Cam-plex accommo- shaded pool. The Alberta team retreated
dates everyone from volunteers to the into their campers to change into their
contestants, including their kids Sam swimsuits.
Lucas, Jacqueline Lucas and Garrett For everyday Gillette residents, chaos
Stevens. on golf carts had taken over Cam-plex.
What we look forward to most is see- But to the contestants and their families,
ing and hoping the kids do their best, its just another week at the rodeo.
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.
(307) 685-7000
685-7070
Campbell Countys ONLY
Hometown Bank.
686-3300