By Mike Armstrong
Writer, Carbon County Comet
The Webster dictionary defines a comet as a celestial body that appears as a fuzzy head usually surrounding a bright nucleus that has a usually highly eccentric orbit, that consists primarily of ice and dust, and that often develops one or more long tails when near the sun.
The bright nucleus is the key.
The Carbon County Comet has a bright nucleus too.
This newspaper covers all of Carbon County.
There are ten municipalities, the most of any county in Wyoming. These places have unique histories, similar cultures yet often different and very importantly, residents who love their town, county and state.
Carbon County news is the Comet’s nucleus.
The clear starry skies that are ever constant in Carbon County when we look up make a comet that much easier to see. Sometimes, we locals take for granted how lucky we are to see such beautiful night skies that many people in the nation never get to look at. We are blessed to witness such beauty on such a consistent basis.
The same goes for our landscape when we stop to look.
There is tremendous diversity in flora, fauna, and people. Where else can you float a river and fly fish, be in mountains or canyon lands that stretch out for miles and miles as far as the eye can see?
Our communities have their own characteristics, which townsfolk are extremely proud and yet we all take pride in coming from Carbon County.
All of our towns are important because they all have stories waiting to be told. Sometimes the stories are based on many years gone by and others are brand new. It is our pleasure and honor to try and cover as much as possible of these different places. υ2
The Comet’s goal is for residents and visitors to learn about the news Carbon County produces.
Maybe it is a dedication of a one-of-a-kind World I memorial statue in Hanna, the reopening of a restaurant by new owners in Encampment, or how the groundbreaking of a major wind farm near Rawlins is a game changer for many in the county.
Carbon County is a big place geographically and the stories that are important to some in one town can be vastly different from what is important to other towns.
The Carbon County Comet is going to do its best to cover the county’s stories. A section on culture will look for stories throughout the county, as well as a page on entertainment, sports, agriculture, civics, health, or any topic we think will be of interest to those who take the time to read our newspaper.
We believe with covering all the towns and regions of Carbon County for potential stories.
We would be remiss in not thanking the advertisers who believed in us without even seeing a paper. Without them, this paper could not happen. We have to mention several businesses wanted to be in this issue, but due to this being the week of the July 4th, some couldn’t make it. That is on us, not them. To all those businesses that have encouraged us; thank you.
We also want to thank the businesses who are distributing the paper to make it easy to find. Without their confidence, we are worth making room for; a paper, sight unseen; this paper would not be as easy to find.
Then there are individuals who, over the early stages until now, have been amazing with their support and ideas. We hope you know who you are because you folks have made all the difference in the world giving use confidence to pursue this dream.
The Comet does want to do a shout-out to one person in particular, although we again want to emphasize several people who sat down with us and inspired us.
Tim Nicklas, the director at the Grand Encampment Museum, who contributed to the Museum Corner this paper, was beyond invaluable with his insight and suggestions.
Tim, the Comet thanks you. Your advice and suggestions you gave were awesome.
The Comet is far from a perfected product and we know we are a work in progress. We look forward to hearing from businesses, residents and anyone who reads our paper for ideas and inspiration.
That is what a community paper does and we will try our best to be exactly that.
Thank you for reading this edition and giving our paper a chance.
