State elected officials descend on Cody to celebrate veterans, freedom prior to July 4
CODY — “We may not all agree on where the best place in Wyoming is to celebrate the Fourth of July,” State Auditor Kristi Racines said to a crowd of over 100 in Cody on July 3. “But as you can see, there is no disagreement on where to spend the third of July.”
Indeed, Cody’s Veterans Memorial Park was the place to be in the hours leading up to the 247th anniversary of America’s independence. On July 3, Racines was just one of the statewide elected officials who participated in the Park County Republicans’ annual Freedom Celebration at the park.
Joining her were fellow elected officials Gov. Mark Gordon, Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder and Treasurer Curt Meier, along with Wyoming’s entire congressional delegation: Sen. John Barrasso, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, and Rep. Harriet Hageman.
“There’s no place any of us would rather be to celebrate our independence than Cody, Wyoming,” Barrasso said.
While each of the officials only spoke to the crowd for a few minutes , they used those minutes to thank those who had fought for the freedoms enjoyed by Americans — on July 4 and year round.
“Today, we’re reminded of all those great people who have stood to protect our freedom,” Gordon said. “... The people that we’re memorializing here today, and the veterans who are here today, are the people we give our thanks to. Thank you for remembering them not just today, but every day.”
Lummis said Wyoming’s veterans display a unique spirit that is slowly disappearing, and deserves to be celebrated.
“I saw a veteran yesterday downtown in Cody,” she recalled. “I said, ‘Thank you for your service,’ and he said, ‘No, thank you for letting me serve.’ And that attitude is changing, so I’m so proud that the people of Wyoming are keeping that attitude alive -- that spirit, that commitment to our great nation.”
It’s the nation’s responsibility, and the responsibility of its education system, to pass that spirit on to the next generation, Degenfelder said.
“We need to return to what the fundamental purpose of education is, and that’s ensuring that we’re raising and educating kids who can continue building this country … and making it a more and greater union,” Degenfelder said.
Heroism and commitment to country can be seen in places other than the battlefield, Meier said, and everyone does their own small part to make our country great.
“We can’t all join in the battlefield … but we can walk together, we can talk together and we can stand tall (for what we believe in),” Meier said. “... We should have hope because we have strength in ourselves, we have strength in our neighbors and we have strength in Wyoming.”
Hageman noted that, in the town halls she has held across the state, she has heard from many who are concerned about the direction the country is going. She said she understands that concern, but also said that the many people she has met across the state have given her hope for the future.
“The message I want to leave every one of you with is hope,” Hageman said. “I’m absolutely convinced that we are going to turn this country around because of people like you …Throughout history, it’s always been a small number of people who have changed the course of history. That’s what we’re doing in Washington and what we’re doing in Wyoming.”
Gray noted that democracy is never easy, and that even when drafting the Declaration of Independence, some forefathers were reluctant to revolt. He urged the audience to take inspiration from the signers who said, “We can get this done” and stood up for what they believed in.
“It transcends an ideological divide,” he said. “There is always a group who says we can, and a group who says we can’t ….Those men that signed that declaration fell into that first group, and I just encourage you to be part of that first group — that group that says we can get it done.”