Wyoming
Cheyenne and Governmental Service 1970-1974
> What makes DEPAD so important is the State's overwhelming abundance of natural resources. From oil, gas, and coal (the most coal of any state in the nation) to uranium, copper, iron ore, gypsum, and a host of other elements, the biggest companies in the world are always knocking on Wyo's door.
The problem was these behemoths would come in promising all sorts of long-lasting investments in infrastructure so that there was something left behind when they left, but they often failed to follow through. Rock Springs, Wy is a town where the wind blows so often and so strong that you have to be careful when you open your car door else you spring it. The town experienced explosive growth when they built a massive coal-fired power plant to service several states.
But, the part of the company responsible for building much-needed housing one-nailed the walls. Meaning, they put one nail on the top of the 2x4 in the frame and one nail on the bottom. This allowed them to build more quickly and save a few bucks. As the wind relentlessly blew, eventually the 2x4's turned in the walls, and the houses fell down.
Hathaway brought Pops in to stop that. He did. He had story after story of multi-billion dollar proposals brought to DEPAD by huge corporations promising the moon. DEPAD would ask for guarantees. The companies would huff and puff and declare loudly and threateningly that this was their last, best-possible offer. But, absent guarantees, DEPAD said no. They storm out, but soon enough, they'd come back with more. When they finally got to the place where they were going to build a community that would truly last, DEPAD said yes, and everyone won. The wonderful town of Gillette is just one of many examples.
Alaska!
Wyoming Cheyenne State Capital Building
Rock Springs, WY (above)
Gillette, WY (right)
Fun Fact: Pops had to sign off on the Jackson Ski Corp getting financial aid from the State. Had they not gotten that, Wyo wouldn't have one of the premier Ski Areas in the world.
Coming to Christ
As Pops drove a load to the dump in his pickup, he unloaded on God.
> Cheyenne is where the folks came to Christ. In Thermop they had a church where we never went, even though the church had Muzz lead a catechism class. But in Cheyenne, there was Dave and Jan Congo. They lived a couple of houses away. Dave was the Associate Pastor of the church a block away.
They watched us when the folks were away – so sorry, Dave 'n Jan. They quickly became family. (In fact, they also became like family to the Frank and Jener Brunk family.). The wonderful relationship they had with God was very inviting. Randy and Chip started being a part of the church. Pretty soon, Pops and Muzz were watching them get baptized. Pops said that stirred something in him.
A bit later, things were disintegrating with the older boys as all too often happens with older teenage boys. Pops was really struggling. As he drove a load to the dump in his pickup, he unloaded on God. Telling Him about how badly He was doing with us. God graciously let him finish and then said: "Well, now that you acknowledge I am, we can get started."
> The deal with God was fully sealed when Pops read The Late Great Planet Earth on a business trip.
Jackson Continues
The family regularly made the trek up I-80
> Despite Cheyenne being 6+ hour from Jackson (as opposed to only 3+ from Thermop), the family regularly made the trek up I-80. This is a miserable highway. Pops always said there were two people that no one can find in Wyo. The first is the guy who put an avalanche shed on Teton Pass, which was completely wiped out by the first avalanche that hit it. And second is the guy who put I80 in the dead center of a wind tunnel, instead of up against the mountains where the old-timers did. (The I-80 valley is a low spot in the Rockies, and so all the weather that hits the Rockies funnels into it in a furry.)
More than once, late at night, in a blizzard where you often couldn't see the front of your car, we were driving 60 miles following the cop car that was closing I-80. Sometimes, you would think you were on dry pavement until suddenly you could perfectly read the license plate in front of you due to the black ice. And, by this time, we didn't all fit in one car, so kids who had just gotten their license were baptized by fire (and ice).
