The Laramie Municipal Band began its summer concert series in Washington Park last night. 

The concerts start every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., last about an hour and are free to the public.

Band members describe the summer concert series as “the best family entertainment in Laramie during the summer.” 

Robert Belser, the current conductor of the band, has been conducting the band solo for six years while co-conducting the previous two years with Edgar Lewis. 

Lewis, who the bandshell in Washington Park is named after, was the conductor of the Laramie community band for 52 years.

Belser said the community band was formed in 1871. Community bands were common throughout the states until a decline in the 1900s. However, Belser noted that the bands are becoming more popular.

The first two concerts of the season will have local guest conductors, Brad Williamson and Rich Hopkins. Belser will return as conductor for the annual July 4 concert to be held during Laramie’s “Freedom Has a Birthday” celebration.  Patriotic music will help kick off that event starting in the morning.

Belser said he chooses music based on what sounds good outside and what he thinks is meant to be played outside, such as marches. 

The concerts consist of 10 pieces centered on a specific theme. For example, the Jubilee Days concert music will have a western theme. Every year each concert has new music, so they are never the same.

Band member experience ranges widely as some of the members have been in the band prior to Belser conducting and others are high school students joining for the summer. No matter the experience, all members have about a week to learn and perfect the music.

Norma Reiners, who has been playing in the band since Lewis was the conductor, said the concerts give a good feeling to everyone. She said she looks into the audience at the concert and sees children dancing while the band plays.

Reiners said she continues to play because “it’s really fun and is a personal challenge.” Plus, she said it is something her and her husband can do together; he also plays in the band.

Belser said he really enjoys the conducting and being part of the nand. When asked when he was going to retire as conductor, Belser jokingly said he doesn’t anticipate stopping for at least another 43 years (the same amount of time that Edgar Lewis conducted the band).

Email: Sara Davis

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Although the city is moving forward on recycling, some people disagree about the overall benefits. 

According to a New York Times article written by John Tierney “Recycling may be the most wasteful activity in modern America: a waste of time and money, a waste of human and natural resources.”  

“People recycle because they have been misinformed about the facts of recycling,” Daniel Benjamin said. 

Benjamin is a professor of economics at Clemson University and author of the paper “Eight Great Myths about Recycling.” 

The truth is that recycling doesn’t save resources and energy, doesn’t help the environment and we’re not running out of space for landfills to put our trash, said Benjamin. 

Rachel Smullen, an astronomy student, feels that recycling is the best thing a person can do to protect the planet.

“I feel that if someone doesn’t recycle when they have the opportunity to, then they are just lazy,” Smullen said.

According to Angela Logomasini, director of risk and environmental policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, it costs local government around $130 per ton to put trash in a landfill, and it costs the local government around $260 a ton to recycle.

These costs are widely unknown because a lot of subsidies are put on recycling to hind the true cost, William Robert Johnson said in his paper “Recycling and Deforestation.” 

A subsidy is assistance from the government in order to encourage the production or purchase of a good that people would not be willing to pay for in the free market.

Nursing student April Pasono said if recycling saves money and resources you would profit from doing it, but instead $8 billion a year goes to recycling from subsidies.

Recycling also reduces the availability of natural resources.

In the production of plastics for example, you actually get better quality product cheaper by harvesting virgin resources as opposed to recycled plastics, according to Benjamin.

Aluminum is the only resource that it does make sense to recycle because it costs less to recycle than to harvest from virgin material.  That is the reason people get money from recycling aluminum cans Johnson said in “Recycling and Deforestation.”

Another common reason people recycle is because they believe they are helping the environment.

However, according to Johnson, all the truck exhaust from transporting the recycled goods, the factory pollution and waste from de-inking, it is actually more environmentally sound to use new paper than recycled paper. 

Also, if we weren’t making new paper many trees wouldn’t exist. Most pulp used for paper is grown on tree farms specifically grown to make paper Benjamin said,

“Recycling does not save trees. There are more trees now then there were 200 years ago.”

A third common reason to recycle is for the overall reduction in landfill usage.

According to Logomasini, the U.S. produces 220 million tons of trash per year. A landfill 35 miles long by 35 miles wide, a small area in comparison to the total area of the U.S., would hold all the trash the US would produce in a 1,000 years. 

Moreover, once a landfill is full, the land is not wasted. Landfills can be made into parks or golf courses, Benjamin said. This is similar to LaBonte Park in Laramie.

Email: Matt Spenny

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Food in Laramie is not
scarce.  Within the city limits there are
two McDonald’s, two Wendy’s, a Burger King, a Qdoba and a whopping four

Subways.  Not to mention that Laramie has
just about every pizza place you can think of, but what if none of these do it
for you?  What if you

want a bit more
atmosphere?  Well, Laramie has a lot of
that, too.  There are several Restaurants
down town that have great atmosphere and

great food. 

Owners weigh cafe

Gary Schmid, the new and proud co-owner of the 17^th Street
Café said, “I always wanted to do something like this for as long as I can
remember.”  Now that he owns the new café
Gary is finally living his dream, and he’s doing it with the woman he loves.

The 17^th Street Café is a new business in Laramie
located at the corner of 17^th and Custer streets, right across from
McIntyre Hall.  The café is open from
7:00 a.m. to 2:p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 7:00 a.m. to 12: p.m. on Sunday
and “serves up the best breakfast in town, as far as we’re concerned,” Dean
Talley, head cook for the café, said.

Schmid said he bought the café on Jan. 1 and opened it as the
17^th Street Café on Friday May 13, a daring date to start a new
business.  “I just thought it was an
interesting time to open,” he said.  “We
wanted to have a friendly little café where you can sit down and enjoy
breakfast and lunch,” Rochelle Phillips, co-owner of the café, said.  Not only is Rochelle co-owner of the
business, but she is also Schmid’s girlfriend.

“It’s like a fairy tale,” Phillips said as she looked
affectionately at Gary.  And why wouldn’t
it be?  Gary is living his dream, and
he’s doing it with Rochelle, the love of his life, but it wasn’t easy coming up
with this arrangement.

Schmid said he was living in Austin, Texas when he and
Rochelle met.  He moved to Laramie to be
with her, but before he could, he needed work. 
“I told her I wouldn’t move here unless I had a job,” Schmid said.  Phillips knew the Fat Burrito, a former
business in Laramie, was for sale. 
Thinking fast, she proposed the idea of purchasing the building to
Schmid so he would have a job.  Schmid
loved the idea, so he moved to Laramie, bought the Fat Burrito and opened it as
the 17^th Street Café.

Schmid and Phillips have been together for a year now, but
they aren’t the only couple working in the café.  Talley and Suzanne Bryant, baker for the
café, have been together for 23 years. 
“it’s like a family here,” Phillips said.

Schmid said the customers are also treated like family, and
he is very passionate about good customer service.  “It is just so cool to see everybody walk in
with big smiles on their faces,” Schmid said. 
Schmid said he is also passionate about breakfast and the morning time,
and he shows that in his menu.The breakfast at the 17^th Street Café is enough to
make your mouth water.  Schmid features
dishes such as ham and cheese enchiladas, the southwest chicken skillet and
scrambled egg tacos;  Great breakfast
dishes with a Mexican kick. Although, if Mexican breakfast isn’t your thing,
you can get traditional breakfast items, like pancakes, as well.  If the breakfast doesn’t get you, then the
lunch menu is sure to arouse your taste buds. 
“We serve best barbeque in town,” Talley said.  If your moth still isn’t watering, then wait
until you taste the homemade pies.

Bryant has been baking pies ever since she was a little girl
and now she is the head baker for the café. 
Bryant said she knows several different pie recipes, but her best pie
has to be the strawberry rhubarb pie. 
“It’s my trademark pie.  It’s the
one everyone wants,” she said.  Bryant’s
signature pie hasn’t been on the café’s menu, up until now.  Bryant said she also bakes fresh cinnamon
rolls every morning.

Not only is the café a great place to eat, but it also brings
a sense of nostalgia to the customers. 
Schmid said the café used to be a grocery store called “Rainbow
Grocery,” even before it was the Fat Burrito. 
The Rainbow Grocery sign still hangs in front of the café today and
Schmid said it’s there to stay. “The Rainbow Grocery sign will not leave; I’ll
keep that there, forever.” Schmid said. 
Schmid explained many of the customers will come in and reminisce about
a time when the café was the Rainbow Grocery and Schmid doesn’t want to take
that away from them.

Phillips and Schmid both love the new café, but times are
tough for small businesses in Laramie. 
Just in the last two years Godfather’s Pizza, the Juice Joint and Carl’s
Jr.  all went out of business, but that
doesn’t seem to discourage Schmitt or Phillips. 
“We can’t worry about the other people,” Schmid said.  Even though Phillips and Schmid are new to
the restaurant industry, they are confidant the café will be successful.

If you weren’t a morning person already you should consider
becoming one because the breakfast at the café doesn’t disappoint.  If you can’t manage to wake up before noon,
pop in for lunch for some of the best barbeque in Laramie because the 17^th
Street Café is open for business. 

Town Pokes pie pride

The aroma of freshly baked
dough and pizza sauce fill the restaurant. 
But as I venture through the kitchen, I discover it is easy to get lost
in the confusing hallways.  After much needed
guidance, I found my way to the office. 
“Sorry about the Maze,” Chris Ransom, general manager of Grand Avenue
Pizza, said.  “This place has only been
renovated a hundred times.”

Grand Avenue Pizza in Laramie, is a local restaurant that makes everything on
its menu from scratch.  It rests on the
corner of Third Street and Grand Ave. — but this pizza place isn’t the only one
on Third Street.  “You got Dominos,
Little Creaser, Papa John’s, Grand Avenue Pizza and us.  And that’s just Third street!” Derek Johnson,
assistant manager of the Laramie Pizza hut, said.  That’s right; that lonely stretch of road
known as Third Street is home to 72 percent of the local pizza industry.

Laramie itself houses just about
every known pizza franchise in the country. From Mr. Jim’s Pizza to Papa
Murphy’s, and five of the eight businesses dish it out on Third Street.

 
These big-name pizza companies that set up shop in Laramie have cheap
specials.  Pizza Hut has a carry-out
special for a large one-topping pizza for $7.99, and Dominos beats that with
its $6.99 carry-out special.  Papa John’s
doesn’t compete so much with price. 
Instead it advertises better quality pizza for just a little more cash,
as does Mr. Jim’s Pizza. “we serve quality pizzas,” Mike Gire, owner of Mr.
Jim’s Pizza, said.  So what does Grand
Avenue do?  How does it compete with all
this heat on Third Street? 

 
“It’s two different worlds of pizza.” 
Rebecka Smith, general manager of Papa John’s in Laramie, said.  “We are a slightly different animal from
Grand Avenue.”  It is obvious Grand
Avenue Pizza is distinct from the big-name companies.  After all, it is locally owned and operated,
it’s the only branch and, as Ransom put it, “where else are you going to find
Thai Pie?”

Thai Pie, a pizza that features a unique Asian taste, is just one of the many
special dishes you can only find at Grand Avenue Pizza.  Ransom bragged the Grand Avenue menu is quite
substantial.  “I could probably eat here
five days a week for a year and never have the same thing twice,” he said.    Ransom added that the variety Grand Avenue
has to offer can’t be beat by any of the big-name pizza places; and it’s no
surprise.  The menu features 17 gourmet
pizzas and pastas, and 13 specialty calzones.  Sure, every pizza place has some
sort of specialty.  Pizza Hut has a
buffalo wing pizza, and Papa John’s makes white sauce pizzas, but Ransom
believes those will never be as innovative as Grand Avenue’s pizzas. But the
price of the pizza is still important.

Ransom said Grand Avenue tries to
keep up with the competitive low prices of Pizza Hut and Dominoes.  Grand Avenue advertises a $7.99 carry-out
special, just like Pizza Hut.  But the
special is only offered until 5 p.m., and with Pizza Hut’s three-topping $10
pizza deals, the battle for the best price looks one sided.  However, Grand Avenue pizza offers a free
service no other pizza company does.

Pizza delivery.  It’s one of the many things that make pizza
so great.  Just pick up the phone, tell
them what you want and boom, a hot, delicious pie is delivered right to your door.  Papa John’s or Pizza Hut didn’t claim the
title of best delivery service in Laramie, but when I asked Ransom about Grand
Avenue’s, he only had one thing to say. 
“No delivery charge.”  Free
delivery is definitely different and uncalled for, Mr. Ransom.  No other pizza company in Laramie offers free
delivery and the fee usually adds $2 to the order, but Gire said there is no
way the delivery service is “free.”  “At
some point they are going to have to compensate the driver,” Gire said.  “It’s still costing them.”

  
Pizza Hut and Grand Avenue both have dining rooms.  Their dining rooms are very clean, have a
nice atmosphere and friendly customer service. 
The dining rooms in Grand Avenue and Pizza Hut seem to give them an
advantage on Third Street, because the other pizza places don’t have dining
rooms.  “We’re primarily a pick-up pizza
place,” Smith said.  Gire said he sees
places like Pizza Hut and Grand Avenue as “a gathering of friends.” 

These companies have wonderful
approaches to creating a good atmosphere. 
Grand Avenue Pizza and Pizza Hut both have nice dining rooms where Papa
John’s and Mr. Jim’s Pizza both have a simple, speedy atmosphere.  So, It all comes down to which pizza tastes
best.

 “Papa John’s advertises better ingredients,
better pizza.” Ransom said, “But you don’t get better ingredients than us.  Everything is fresh; nothing comes out of a
can, even our cheese is grated fresh daily.” 
As far as Ransom is concerned, Grand Avenue Pizza makes the best pizza.

Johnson has a more
personal view on the art of pizza making. 
“I make damn good pizzas,” he said. 
He said he was loyal to Pizza Hut Pizza. 
As for Smith, she seems to be a loyalist too.  “Ours” she chuckled.  “And I’m not saying that just because I work
here.”

Gire said Mr. Jim’s is
the only pizza place in town that seasons it’s crusts.  “The crust is very unique,” he said.  Gire added that he puts 20 percent more
toppings on his pizzas than the other places. 
“Everything is weighed, nothing is done by free hand,” Gire said.

It seems everyone has their own
taste, but Grand Avenue Pizza has better variety and better ingredients than
the other places.  You can’t get much
fresher than “never canned” in today’s world, but you can get cheaper pizza
from other places.  “In a low economy
where people want to save money, they are going to want to go to the cheaper
places,” Ransom said.  As far as Ransom
is concerned Grand Avenue Pizza is a good restaurant, and  must be doing something right because it is
still there on Third Street, keeping up with the competition and dishing out
pizzas like no one else’s business—can.

Email: Zachary Laux

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Thanks to the work of three community members, Ron and Susan Mavrich, owners of Caterings of Laramie, and Gary Negich, the president of First Interstate Bank, Scott will perform at 7 p.m. Sunday in the College of Education Auditorium.

“For Darrell Scott to be in Laramie, for us, is huge. He is just phenomenal,” Ron Mavrich said.

“It is a fundraiser, so we don’t make any money doing it,” Susan Mavrich said. “It all goes to the library. We just wanted to bring this guy to town because we have seen him, and we love his music.”

Darrell Scott is known mostly for his songwriting abilities, having written songs for Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks and the Dixie Chicks. Scott has also recorded six solo albums.

This will be the third artist that Ron and Susan Mavrich have brought to Laramie. 

“The Colcannon concert was for the Eppson Center for Seniors and the John Cowan concert was for the West Laramie Business Association, which does beautification projects in West Laramie,” Ron Mavrich said.

This time, the two thought the library would be a good starting point.

“The library does other things to generate money during the course of the year, but we wanted to do this concert and we tried to think who could benefit from it,” Susan Mavrich said.

After teaming up with Negich, the three continued to find others from around the community to help sponsor this event.

“Obviously, because it is a fundraiser, we cannot do this without a lot of support from the community,” Susan Mavrich said. “Our community has really done a lot of sponsorship for this, probably too many to list, but there is no way we could do this without their backing.”

The sponsorship helps pay for the event, so that the proceeds from the ticket sales can go towards the library foundation.

“The first two turned out excellent. Coal Cannon was a sellout, and the John Cowan Band was difficult because no one had known of him. Despite that, we had about 300 people and the room only holds 350,” Ron Mavrich said.

Next to raising money for the library, the Mavrichs want the community to be able to enjoy good music. 

“The thing that makes it difficult with John Cowan and Darrell Scott is they don’t have the name recognition,” Susan Mavrich said. “We just know that if we can get people in there, they are going to leave going ‘Wow.”

Tickets are $20 for general admission and $17 for students and are available at the Fine Arts Box Office or on the box office’s website.

Email: Davis Bonner

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Activist and cultural historian, and University of Wyoming’s current Eminent Writer in Residence for the MFA Creative Writing Program,Rebecca Solnit will speak next week at the UW Art Museum.

Rebecca Solnit will present an art talk at 7 p.m. Jan. 31 at the museum, according to a press release.

The art talk is titled “The Laramie Atlas Project: Work-in-Progress” and will cover Solnit’s progress on her month-long effort, with the help of an interdisciplinary group of UW students, to create a unique atlas of Laramie, according to the press release.

Aside from the discussion, Solnit will consult students across campus on their writing skills. She will work with MFA students and also attend classes across campus.

Solnit has written 12 books and been recognized for her work in non-fiction. “A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster” and “Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas” are just a few of Solnit’s latest works.

“An echo of Solnit’s work on the Infinite City Project in San Francisco in 2010, the Laramie Atlas Project is a unique opportunity for artists, writers, citizens and students to re-think and re-imagine their neighborhoods,” the press release said. “The project invites students to make new maps-from the traditional to the innovative and eccentric-and examine their communities sense of place.” 

The talk is open to all in the Laramie and university community, and admission is free.

Email the author: dbonner1@uwyo.edu

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Jamie Crew, ACTB assistant director, attributes these international visitors to an increase in international advertising and the prominence of the ACTB Website, visitlaramie.org.

“Travelers want to come through Laramie because they see on the Website the beauty of the Snowy Range and Vedauwoo,” Crew said.

Many travelers stop by on their way to better-known locations such as Yellowstone, according to Fred Ockers, ACTB executive director.

But, they are persuaded to stay the night after they see that Laramie has some of the same outdoor experiences as Yellowstone.

“These tourists are mostly European. We see many German, English and French visitors throughout the summer,” said Ockers.

The ACTB saw 700 walk-in visitors in July, and 80 of those visitors were from outside the U.S.

“These visitors really do contribute to the diversity of the town,” Crew said. “After the university students leave in the summer, Laramie loses an international presence. These visitors really help bring it back.”

Most visitors, no matter where they are from, come to experience Western society. “We really want international travelers to participate in western culture, which they have seen in movies and television,” Ockers said.

“Many older visitors remember the Laramie television show with Robert Fuller and want to come see the place for themselves.”

In addition, Laramie offers a wide variety of attractions for visitors, such as the Ivinson Mansion, Wyoming Territorial Prison and the Art Museum, but the most popular attractions to international visitors are the historic downtown and the scenic byway tours, according to Crew.

“The historic walking tour gives fun facts about Laramie’s old downtown.  For example, the dance halls and saloons on Ivinson that eventually turned into respectable shops and restaurants,” Crew said.

Also, the scenic byway follows U.S. Highway 130 through Medicine Bow National Forest.  In the winter, travelers can still see snow on the peaks and hike at high altitudes away from the summer heat.

Some international travelers simply want to find places away from the crowd and head to cabins in Centennial and Albany where they can hike and ATV, said Ockers.

Although Wyoming does not qualify as one of the most diverse states, according to an MSNBC report titled “Diversity growing in nearly every state,” Albany County does bring in travelers from around the country; some who continue to come back year after year.

“We had a French couple come in over the summer, and they were amazed at all the different things you can do in Laramie. They were already planning another trip for this upcoming summer to come back,” Crew said.

Email: Ann McGuigan

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Free laser tag for all UW students will be held from 9 p.m. to midnight on Friday January 14 in the Union Ballroom. Also there will be three showings of “The Social Network” at 6:30, 9 and 11:30 p.m. in the Union Family Room.

“Students should attend FNF events because we put on free, quality entertainment every Friday night,” Lead Student Programmer for FNF Julianne Friesen said.

“We always show first-run movies, which are movies that are still in theaters and have not been released on DVD yet. We try to put on events that Laramie doesn’t have such as laser tag, concerts, comedy shows, and different, unusual activities.”

There is no other opportunity for laser tag in Laramie. Buisness major April Hughes is excited for Laser tag.

“Bring it on, I will go Rambo,” Hughes said. “If Chuck Noris played this Laser tag I think I could beat him.”

All FNF events are made possible by student fees and take place on campus.

“FNF is great if you are looking for something to do and don’t have a lot of money—which is most college students. We aren’t just something for freshmen students to do; FNF is for every full or part time fee-paying student. Every week is completely different and 2011 is packed full with awesome events,” Friesen said.

Some other events that FNF will be hosting this semester include a performance by Dead Prez, a hip hop duo, known for their underground, political, and conscious hip hop style at 9 p.m., Friday, Jan. 21 in the Union Ballroom as part of MLK Days of Dialogue.

UW Idol will have open call auditions on Friday, Jan. 28 in the A&S Auditorium, with the semifinals and finals to follow later in the semester. Students compete for the chance to win prizes. 1st place receives $1,000; 2nd place, $500; 3rd place, $300; and Audience choice Award, $100.

Battle of the Bands, Triple Feature Movie Night and other events will also take place throughout the semester.

Email the author: lkottens@uwyo.edu

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Toastmasters is a group of Laramie community members that practices forming and delivering of speeches. The group meets 6:45 a.m. on Mondays in Room 106 of the Animal Sciences/Molecular Biology Building.

The group has had about 20 members involved at any time. Most Mondays, about 12 of these members attend.

As a weekly morning ritual, the toastmasters recite their mission statement, “The mission of a toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment, in which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills, which in form foster self-confidence and personal growth.”

Following this mission statement, every member starts with a manual that includes 10 speech projects. Each week, two to three speeches are given by members of the group.

Each speech is rated by an audience evaluator.

The last part of each meeting is called “Table Topics,” which is a portion of the meeting when a member will pose a random question to another member. After the question is asked, two to three minutes are allowed for an answer.

Table Topics functions to improve an individual’s impromptu speaking abilities.

“Individuals have their own goals. At the completion of the first 10 manual speeches, a member is awarded the title of Competent Communicator. From there, he can pursue advanced manuals or prepare speeches on whatever he chooses,” Susan Mavrich, one of the Laramie morning toastmasters, said.

Even if a member is not giving a prepared speech on a given week, other duties are given. A different member is assigned to be the toastmaster, timer, main speaker, evaluator or the questioner for Table Topics.

“The Toastmaster for the week officiates the meeting, introduces the speakers, makes sure all the duties are fulfilled [and] ensures that the meeting runs in a timely manner,” Mavrich said.

The group is available to the public. “Laramie Morning Toastmasters is a diverse group. They may be university professors, university students …, or regular townspeople with non-university jobs. Members may be professionals or blue-collar workers. We have members that have been toastmasters for over 25 years, just because they love it. We have members who join for a short time to get a boost to their careers. There is a great mix of ages and vocations in our group,” Mavrich said.

Email the author: dbonner1@uwyo.edu

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Andrew Hammond was found dead in his vehicle early on the morning of Jan. 1, after his car apparently slid off the road into Spring Creek near Seventh Street.

According to LPD, Hammond’s body was discovered at 6:45 a.m., after a neighbor notified LPD that Hammond’s Nissan Xterra was sitting immobile in the middle of Spring Creek.

In an interview published in The Laramie Boomerang, LPD commander Mitch Cushman confirmed reports that although Hammond had sustained minor injuries when his vehicle slid off of the road, he was apparently able to walk. Cushman also confirmed that police found a small amount of blood on the steering wheel.

Evidence from the scene indicates that Hammond exited the SUV and walked around the vehicle before reentering it and attempting to drive it out of the creek.

It is unclear as to why Hammond did not seek assistance by either walking to one of the nearby houses or using his cell phone, which was found in his pocket.

County coroner Kathleen Vernon confirmed that the apparent cause of death has been ruled as exposure to the elements. Temperatures on the morning of Jan. 1 were reported as being one degree, with a wind chill of 30 degrees below zero. Vernon said that whether drugs or alcohol were a factor could not be determined because toxicology tests were not yet finished.

Andrew Hammond graduated from Niobrara County High School in 2005 where he played on the school’s golf and basketball teams. He was also involved in Future Business Leaders of America. In 2009, Hammond graduated from UW with a BA in business administration.

While at UW, Hammond was involved in the business honorary  –Alpha Kappa Psi and his interests included hunting, fishing, wakeboarding and snowboarding.

Services were held in Lusk at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church last Wednesday.

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The gala has been an annual concert for the university since before the tenure of current choral director Nicole Lamartine, who is one of the featured conductors for the event.

According to Lamartine, the Concert Hall can accommodate 700 people, and most years both event times are completely sold out, as was the case last year.

“This event is a performance that includes most of the UW choirs and the wind symphony. It has a combined total of more than 150 singers and 60 wind players. We have been preparing since the end of October,” Lamartine said.

The gala includes performances by the Laramie Civic Chorus, the UW Wind Symphony, the Bel Canto women’s choir, the UW Wind Symphony Woodwind ensemble, the UW Singing Statesmen, the UW saxophone Ensemble and the full Wind Symphony. The concert will incorporate performances from combinations of the different groups.

There will be a total of 15 different pieces performed throughout the night.

The gala will be conducted by three different members of the fine arts faculty; James Bowyer, Robert Belser and Lamartine.

Bowyer was the recent recipient of a doctorate degree from the University of Washington and conducts Bel Canto and the Civic Chorus. 

The last conductor will be Belser, who is conducting the Wind Symphony and all of the performances with any sections of the Wind Symphony.

Belser will also conduct the pre-concert music in the lobby, which will be performed by TubaChristmas.

In 2000, Belser was the recipient of the John P. “Jack” Ellbogen Award for Meritorious Classroom Teaching.

“I think that it is a favorite event for the performers and the Department of Music, and it is a great way to connect to Laramie as a whole, both UW and community members,” Lamartine said.

Email the author: dbonner1@uwyo.edu

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