There may be life off the ranch, but any Fremont County farmer or rancher will tell you – The #aglife is “the good life!” #Aglife is a County 10 series, brought to you by Wyoming Community Bank, that pulls the curtain back on farm and ranch life in Fremont County.
There was a saying in the early days of American space flight with the original Mercury 7 astronauts, “No buck, no Buck Rogers.” Rogers was an early science fiction character, and bucks were the same as they are today, dollars.
The Fremont County Fair doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Thousands of hours of work by the Fair Board and other organizations like Friends of the Fair go into making a successful, exciting fair each year, but without the efforts of a cadre of dedicated volunteers, the fair just wouldn’t be the same.
The 4H motto “To Make the Best Better” is an excellent theme for the children and young adults who make up the group, but perhaps another motto, “Time, Talents and Treasure,” should be used to describe the efforts of the 4H leaders that make this possible.
These leaders, like Joan Eisemann, Cinde Pfisterer, Christina Bekken, Hazel Jordan, Josh Milek, Kathy and Dale Fillin, Sara Kassens, Carrie Jo Calvert, Stephanie Woods, and dozens of others, have been at it for decades, helping students with projects, holding meetings, and sharing their expertise with future generations.
Someone has to be at the helm for the various 4H groups in Fremont County, and that is Tanya Santee, Fremont County 4H Educator.
Tanya was an active member of the Burma Night Riders 4H club as a student. She graduated from Riverton High School in 1996 and the University of Wyoming in 2000 with a dual major in Business and Business Education.
In January 2001, she took a job teaching business at the James H. Moore Career Center in Riverton.
She remained active as a 4H leader from the time she graduated in 1996.
As a 4H member, she showed sheep, cows, pigs, and dogs.
“There wasn’t a goat show in those days,” Tanya said. “I did learn how to milk a goat, that came in handy with sheep.”
The Burma Night Riders closed for a while, but when her own children, Abby and Dani became interested in 4H, they revived the club.
She and her husband, Clint, have been married since 2000.
After 24 years in education, Tanya took the position as 4H Education Leader in 2024.
“My first day was the opening day of the fair in 2024,” Tanya said.
What does a 4H Education Leader do? They develop programs, work with 4H leaders, and with 4H members as a whole; they don’t work with individual clubs.
“4H is 100% volunteer effort,” Tanya said. “They provide knowledge and skills and share their talents.”
Earlier in the year, Tanya applied for a grant and offered a “Threads of Confidence” program.
“We had a group of about 10 girls that participated,” Tanya said. “They enjoyed sewing something, learned about clothes and body style, and we took them shopping to organize an outfit.”
Brady Samuelson and Tann Gopp took a group of boys, built model rockets, and launched them.
Those are all 4H activities outside the realm of livestock, ag projects, woodworking, shooting sports, archer,y and dozens of other activities.
Tanya’s busy season is May to August as club members prepare for, compete at, and clean up from the county fair.
“We have a few more activities in October,” Tanya said. “Then it slows down.”
None of this would be possible without the dedicated effort of the volunteer leaders who donate their time and talents to help these kids.
“Volunteers are the core of our county fair,” Tanya said. “They’re awesome.
Thursday action at the Fremont County Fair – h/t Carl Cote, County 10