Dunn ... and done

Writing the “Dunn in the Sun” column every month is often a well-needed change of pace.

With columns there is no digging through notes, no listening to interviews, no research involved. It’s just me and my thoughts – talking about everything from life events to political issues.

I’ve written more than one dozen columns in my year-long stint at the Saratoga Sun, but this will be my last. I have recently accepted a position as a staff writer with the Sheridan Press in Sheridan, Wyo.

While it has always been my dream to live near the Bighorn Mountains, I can’t say enough how fortunate I was to live under the shadows of the Snowy Range. The experiences I had here were second to none.

My time in Saratoga made me experience the chaotic gathering of hundreds of people standing on a frozen lake during the Ice Fishing Derby. I got to see one of the world’s oldest racing sports in front of my eyes during the chariot races.

I watched the dazzling play of world’s greatest pool players at Wyoming Open, and sat shotgun in a massive Wyoming Department of Transportation snowblower as it cleared off tons of snow on top of highway 130.

I was amused as grown men and women raced to see who could cut down a tree the fastest during Woodchopper’s Jamboree, and looked up with a smile as the Staddle Camp campers made their way across the high-ropes course at Brush Creek Ranch.

I put in 80 hours of work one week to cover the floods in the town, and was moved to see volunteers throw thousands of sandbags along the riverbanks of the North Platte.

I saw the town of Riverside host thousands of concert-goers at WHATfest, and I felt emasculated as I sat near the chutes during Bullfest.

I was nearly brought to tears hearing the story of Jack Riddick and Curt Campbell’s survival in the Medicine Bow Forest, and sat entranced listening to Wyoming’s first four-time state wrestling champion Dave Edington talk about his wrestling career. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as the Saratoga Panther football team celebrated their one and only win in Ethete, Wyo, and watched change come to Saratoga Town Hall.

For a small town of 1,700, there is rarely a dull moment. I was fortunate enough my job gave me the ability to fully experience the town I was living in.

But even after a year in Saratoga, there is one thing I have not done. So in my last week in the Platte Valley I am going to finally cross the final item off my Saratoga bucket list and go to this “hot pool” thing that everyone has been talking up.

Thank you all for reading the Saratoga Sun while I was here. Your words (even the bad ones) have helped me develop as a writer and as a person.

It’s been one hell of a ride Saratoga. No matter where life takes me, the Platte Valley will always have a special place in my heart.

Thank you all.