Guest Posts on County 10 are provided by contributors and the opinions, thoughts, and comments within are their own and may not necessarily reflect those of County 10.
There has been a lot of talk about bringing events to Fremont County. The truth is that Lander at the base of the Wind River Range doesn’t have much trouble in bringing in visitors, either winter or summer. The same isn’t true just 25 miles away in Riverton.
We have an image problem in Riverton; it’s just an image, but images distort reality, and when they do, the town suffers.
Riverton is an awesome town that mixes the frontier with the latest 21st-century technology. We just don’t get that message out very well, despite the best efforts of some very dedicated people in the Chamber of Commerce and local citizens throughout the community.
The joke is that what Riverton really needs is another Asian or Mexican Restaurant. If you’re not from here, you might not get it, but this town of 10,000 or so people has a preponderance of both. We’re in the heart of cattle country, and there isn’t a steakhouse in town.
If you want a T-bone, ribeye, or sirloin, you must drive 15 miles to Svilar’s in Hudson or go another 10 to Lander, where you have multiple choices.
It’s an aspect of the local hospitality economy that few of us understand.
The summer brings the 1838 Rendezvous, Day in the Park, the balloon rally, a rodeo or two, and the Fremont County Fair, all great events that bring visitors to our fair city, but they’re warm-weather venues.
During the long winter months and in the early spring, it has fallen on Fremont County School District 25 to bring people to town. Fair enough.
People are wild about high school sports, the term “fan” is short for fanatic, and if you’ve been to a basketball game or wrestling match, especially, you’ve seen these “fanatics” in the stands losing their minds over the most mundane call by an official.
You don’t see that behavior as often in football and soccer, and you never see it in swimming, cross country, or track and field. Track and field bring surprisingly large numbers of fans to the stands at even small meets.
The not-so-well-kept secret in Casper is that the state track meet, held every year during the third week in May, could easily be cut to a two-day event rather than the current Thursday-Friday-Saturday schedule.
Thursday begins with the 3200-meter run at 1 p.m. With eight races, it takes two hours to complete. Then, a few preliminaries and maybe a field event or two that afternoon, and the first day concludes.
Three days does give the WHSAA the opportunity to reschedule events if the weather is uncooperative and it usually is, but that’s the only logic for three versus two days of competition.
The main force behind a three-day event is local business. Two nights in a motel instead of just one, three more meals at local restaurants, and plenty of time to shop in Casper during downtimes when your son or daughter isn’t competing.
It’s great for the Natrona County economy.
Last Friday, Riverton hosted the Spartan Invite, usually a smaller track meet for middle school kids.
It ballooned into a huge event with 940 athletes competing in 2,718 events. There were 500 kids in the 100-meter dash.
The stands were full, the infield and field event areas were packed four to five deep, and unlike Casper, there was no wind, rain, hail, snow, or lightning. Riverton and Lander are tremendous outdoor venues in comparison with towns along the “Wind Corridor” from Rock Springs northeast to Casper.
Riverton assistant athletic director and head football coach Mark Lenhardt was succinct in his assessment of the meet.
“This is what people are after,” Mark said. “They want us to have big events. This is a big event.”
I took a couple of photographs of the stands and the crowds surrounding the track. There were more adult fans watching the meet than on a Friday night in the fall when the Wolverines are at home.
It rivaled the crowd at the Riverton/Lander football game last fall at Bill Bush Stadium.
I took it a step further and left the meet for a while to drive around town and see if there was an obvious impact.
The lines at McDonald’s, Arby’s, Wendy’s and Dairy Queen were huge. I spoke with some friends who work at Smith’s, and they said they had been swamped all day.
A drive through the Smith’s parking lot had a lot of out-of-town plates parked there.
People from outside the county were in town and spending money locally. Big events work.
The crowd at Tuesday’s dual meet between Riverton and Lander was packed as well. With kids from sixth grade through seniors competing close to home, there were more grandparents than parents until after five, since it was a workday, but the crowd was still substantial.
These were all local folks, but the economic effect, at least at the fast-food places in town, was palpable.
The meet lasted until after 6. Family dynamics being what they are in the 21st century meant dad was cooking and dinner was coming from a drive-through window. Riverton or Lander didn’t matter; most of the families were heading home with paper bags filled with burgers, fries, or tacos. Another boon to the local economy.
Saturday I watched the Wolverines and Lady Wolverines dismantle Star Valley in soccer. The crowds weren’t that big, and a quick perusal of the parking lot showed just a handful of Lincoln County (12) plates.
It’s a long way from Star Valley to Riverton. That’s why the games were early in the day so the Braves and Lady Braves could make it back to Afton before midnight. The local revenue from the games wasn’t as substantial as a big track meet, the Ron Thon, or the West 2-A Regional basketball tournament, but it still had an impact.
The kids from Star Valley filling the boys’ and girls’ buses had to eat somewhere. It was either Riverton or Lander as the only option before pulling either South or Togwottee Pass on the way home.
The economic shot in the arm last Friday was unexpected. So was the arrival of 20 teams covering nearly every town from Casper northwest to Cody.
Mark was right, these are big events for both the school and the community.