Byron News : Ending on a high note

Byron Days is in the rear view mirror now. It was another successful celebration. We look forward now to Cowley Pioneer Days.

These events take many months of planning and many volunteer hours. All planning is to bring to our communities some fun entertainment and opportunities to reconnect with old friends and celebrate with family.

In Byron, it all ends with the fireworks. This year was spectacular. The music was amazing. Caleb and Josh Sanders and their family of recruits spend many hours setting up and assuring things will be safe as well as showy. It is great that their talents are being shared with the surrounding towns as well as their hometown. 

This year, our chosen band for pre-fireworks entertainment, The Tinderwoods from Lander, entertained for a few hours at the baseball field until the fireworks began. Talking with the band afterward, they shared how they were actually making a little fun of such a little town claiming the best show because their community actually claims to have the best fireworks show around. 

They said they were shocked as the crowd kept growing during their performances. Then they were awestruck from the beginning music until the grand finale. They said they had been humbled and are on board that Byron has the best show anywhere. They are coming back next year and said they are spreading the word and will be bringing friends to see the show. It is always good to hear praise from outsiders. We look forward to having them return with their original music and bandmates.

Our celebration began on Friday at noon at Riverside Park. A little history first. After the old Cowgill cabin was removed from the park, that corner of Pryor and Riverview was just a weedy patch of nothing. A few years ago, Rec Director Becky Bates and I (mayor at the time) traveled to a conference in Worland about a small grant that was available to towns in Wyoming. It was called a Placemaker grant. The proposal was to take a spot in town that was not being used and turn it into something that would enhance the community. 

We looked around and immediately thought of that empty corner surrounded by a neighborhood of young families. At that time the only park with play areas for children was across our large, busy highway through town. Not the safest pathway for the children looking for some fun after school and during the summer months. The idea of a little park sparked the beginning, and Byron received the Placemaker grant that year. 

We had lots of donations. The Lions Club helped with the basketball standard and grill area. The Bairs helped with a cement pad for the basketball court. We had an amazing group of youth volunteers and leaders help with weed cleanup and creative play creatures made from painted tires. Some play equipment was donated. What continues to be the most popular piece of equipment was the merry-go-round, designed from an old vintage merry-go-round by Ken Grant. It seems to always be full of kids now. 

Over the past few years, although the little park is still used, it has suffered some vandalism and neglect. There is a little old house still standing (barely), now used for town storage, and with no sprinkler system the green area has shrunk and is looking sad. However, this little park does get used by the children in the neighborhood and was used by the Blackmer and Harshman girls, who lived up the street and tragically lost their lives a few months ago. 

The Byron Days Committee approached the town about the possibility of a grant to spruce up that corner that began with a seed of an idea a few years ago. The council granted permission to pursue the idea and also approved dedicating the park to the memory of the girls. 

So, Friday, July 11, at noon there was an unveiling of a new sign featuring four little girls representing Brailey, Olivia, Jordan and Brooke at Riverside Park. Mayor Clark and Sheriff Blackburn shared some timely words, and Glen Hopkinson offered a dedicatory prayer. The sign was unveiled over a new bridge into the park. As Sheriff Blackburn mentioned in his remarks, “This is a beginning.” As we remember these young sisters playing in this very park, there will be improvements made over the next few years that will make this a brighter spot in our community. 

There has been discussion about removing the building, offering more space. There will be opportunities for businesses and individuals to contribute by adding more equipment and permanent tables for family parties and making this a fitting tribute to the girls and a safe place for our community youth and families.

Friday evening a family carnival was well attended. Sara Clark was the organizer of this event and with her crew of volunteers offered many fun spots from water slides to facepainting, photo booths, fishing and more. 

Following the carnival, there was a teen dance held. April and Greg Pruett ran the show with their helpers, and the teens got into the swing of things with some line dancing that spilled over from the pavilion to the grassy areas. Custom DJ, Mike Bernard and Chris Bickford, furnished the music.

Saturday started with the 5K/1mile run. Serena and Brandon Hessenthaler set up for that event, sponsored by Club Dauntless. The last runner in, Glen Hopkinson, had taken a bad fall up at the turnaround point just past the cemetery. Not realizing that his face was cut and bleeding, he finished the race with the cheering greeters shocked by the bloody head coming toward them. He is banged up and healing but is a reminder that sometimes a fun run aint’ so fun. He says next year he will be an enthusiastic spectator. 

The parade followed. It was a slow start as the vehicle for the grand marshals was missing, but that was quickly rectified, and it went on without any more hitches. Lots of spectators cheered the entries up and down Main. 

After the parade, folks gathered at the park for volleyball, cornhole, water slides and the famous food truck rally. Folks stayed around for the entertainment, good food and car show and ended with the above mentioned fireworks display. Some food trucks sold out, and others still had lines even after the fireworks began.

There are many people to thank that were not mentioned, but please know that when you are asked if you will participate in helping with Byron Days, there is actually a happy dance that happens when you say yes, show up and willingly do the job. It just can’t happen without you. 

I have to give credit to Beckie Bates, chairman of the Byron Days Committee, who fields many phone calls and somehow covers spots that are left vacant. I haven’t figured out how she can be in so many places and have the energy to solve the problems and make things work. She got involved many years ago and continues to put in the hours necessary to help our event succeed. Thank you, Beckie.