Editor’s note: When the Saratoga Sun ran what we thought were the last of the student guest column’s on Dec. 4, 2013, we were notified that three of them had not been published. They had been lost somewhere in cyberspace. Encampment english teacher Leslie McLinsky emailed them to us again, so that we might run them in the earliest issue possible.
Sometimes it can feel like living in a small town like Encampment has nothing but drawbacks. Many people love living here because of the benefits our community has to offer.
The downfalls to small town life are significant. If you are like me, your family has lived in Encampment forever. This simply means that if you’re looking to date someone, you have to look out of town. This is a necessary precaution you have to take so you don’t wind up dating your second cousin, whom you’ve never met, whose family is back for the summer to visit. How about a midnight run to the local gas station? Ha, forget that, because it closed at 8 p.m. and the next gas station is 18 miles away in the neighboring town. The closest grocery store is also 18 miles away, an inconvenience often trifled over by locals. A movie theater is an hour away.
If you feel like making a spur of the moment trip to the mall, that’s at least a two-hour drive and the price of gas is enough to change your mind. These small irritations are the least of your worries, however, if you live in Encampment.
On a more serious note, the closest hospital is one-and-one-half hours away, which is a problem when you risk your life every day working with dangerous equipment and livestock that is unpredictable, as do many of the members of the community. Travel during the winter months is always dangerous and at times even going to school is treacherous and not worth the risk. These are obstacles that we live with every day.
One might agree that there are many advantages to living in a small town or community. If you’ve ever been to a community like ours, you’re more than likely going to notice the “everybody knows everybody” attitude and the change in pace right away. People seem to be friendlier and much more polite all around. This most likely stems from the fact that around 70 percent of our community strongly revolves around agriculture. Most kids who have grown up in valleys like ours have either gone to work on the ranch with their parents ever since they were old enough to walk, or have had a driving permit in order to work in the hay field during the summers. This appears to create better bonds between families since kids are constantly learning new leadership skills from their parents on a daily basis. These leadership skills translate into responsibility and respect for other people. Respect in small communities like those of the Platte Valley is something that people take great pride in. It’s this pride that drives every aspect of the community.
From simply showing up to a Friday night football game, to dressing up in skirts, blouses, slacks, and ties for a six-hour bus ride one way to Cokeville for two hours of basketball. As the whole school, K-12, gathered together in our gym for the Homecoming 2012 pep-assembly, the boys’ and girls’ basketball coaches stood in front of the crowd and read aloud a very special note that our teams had received from the Wyoming High School Activities Association about the aforementioned Cokeville game. Both teams received a recommendation for the Good Sportsmanship Award from someone we had come across on our trip home from the game. The letter stated, “I encountered these teams when they stopped at the Flying J in Rawlins on their way to a game somewhere. The young ladies and men of EHS were dressed impeccably and conducted themselves in a first class manner. They were very polite. I saw multiple examples of these students using “please, thank you”, holding doors for people and just setting a very positive example of using good manners. The athletes and coaches of each team should be commended for the way that they represented their team, school and town. The coaches from both teams obviously both model exemplary displays of sportsmanship, integrity and honesty for the teams they coach to act in this fashion.” This letter, from a complete stranger, sums up the seemingly small aspects of our community that show our respect and pride for all those we encounter. This pride means a lot to a small town like ours and always will.
Although it can be hard living in a small agriculture based valley, I believe that the benefits it has to offer by far outweigh the obstacles that we have to overcome in order to live the life we love.
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