Lander, Riverton Wyoming TAP Presentations

I will be doing two TAP (Taxpayer Advocacy Panel) presentations on Friday, April 10.
The public is welcome!
TAP's Mission Statement:
The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel listens to taxpayers, identifies taxpayer's issues, and makes suggestions for improving IRS service and customer satisfaction.

TAP primarily focuses on Wage & Investment and Small Business/Self Employed issues.

The panel does not consider legislative issues nor do they assist with individual tax problems.

Special thanks to Carol at the Lander Chamber of Commerce for arranging a room at the library for me! She has been great to work with. A big thank you to the Lander Public Library for helping me with a room for the presentation. Special thanks to the Lander Journal for helping to get the word out to the public.

3pm - Riverton Public Library
Thanks to the Riverton Public Library for helping me with a room for the presentation. They are also going to help get the word out to all interested public. A big thank you to Keith at the Riverton Ranger for patience. We had several phone calls and email exchanges to get the correct information together for a small notice in the Riverton Ranger. (I love reading the Ranger when I go to Riverton!)

NOTICE: The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is currently recruiting Wyoming citizens to be TAP alternates. Fill in an application at www.improveirs.org for this service opportunity.

What is the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel?
The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is an advisory panel charged with providing direct taxpayer input to the Internal Revenue Service. Panel members provide a taxpayer perspective on critical tax administration programs and help to identify "grass roots" tax issues.

Riverton, Wyoming in the winter

A quick weekend trip to the beautiful town of Riverton, Wyoming led to new experiences and new friends. I hope to make another trip in two weeks and will have a free Saturday. Perhaps Riverton group would be open to a short TAP presentation? Let me know.

I enjoyed meeting Amanda at Daylight Donuts. We had a nice shopping time at "ReUse" and a consignment store as well as the enclosed Flea Market. Riverton still sparkled with it's silver tinsel wrapped around the light posts, my 4 year old daughter loved it.
































We tried to get to the animal shelter but it closed at noon on Saturday.

Someday, I would like to visit with the people at Wyoming.com but it is closed on Saturday.



As usual, I started my weekend visit by reading the Friday Edition of the Riverton Ranger. I was very sad to read the story about little 11 year old Sage and the sadness her entire family feels.




We did see the Rendezvous site.
















I also drove by the Wyoming Fire Academy where I have attended for a couple of mid-winter fire schools during my years as a volunteer fire fighter.

Lander, Wyoming

I am spending tonight and most of tomorrow in Lander, Wyoming. My husband is taking a class so I left the house, the kids, my mother and her new husband, the whole elk hunting thing, the cat, my new part-time job working on the wonderful Wyoming Newspaper Project...and I came to Lander.

I met a very nice lady (Judi) here at the hotel where we are staying. She is Methodist (I add that just to add a detail I learned about her. Don't read anything into it just because I don't usually add religion after someone's name that I just met...) and she told me about a Methodist turkey dinner/fundraiser that is tomorrow, starts at 11am. There is also an art show in town that looks great. So, I will take a few snapshots and post after what I think will be a lovely trip.

I may run over to Riverton as well and see Jake Korrell, if he is around. He is this ancient (!) living trapper, my boys are thrilled to know that on our last trip to Riverton they met the oldest living trapper. I took some great pictures and then LOST MY CAMERA. Such a bummer because Jake, and his dog, were so good to my kids. We bought a bunch of stuff from him. I want to go see if his new Wind River Heritage Center is up and going...

Riverton Museum

We recently visited the Riverton Museum in Riverton, Wyoming. It was a very full place and my children and I saw many interesting displays. Chris, who was working at the museum gift shop that day, was very helpful.


We were able to buy several first day stamps and covers from various Wyoming places from the gift shop. It was like someone had a collection of first day Wyoming stamps that is being sold one item at a time. Around $3.

More pictures and information coming

Fremont County Library - Riverton Branch

My children and I had a wonderful time at the Fremont County Library - Riverton Branch public library. We played checkers, put together a puzzle and enjoyed a few magazines. I love public libraries. The library was all decorated with "bugs" for the youth summer reading program. The librarians were really nice. The children's section was really well organized and decorated. Fun place.


added later:
I asked about the internet use policy especially regarding pornography viewing but they had just moved their computers and didn't have it posted. The librarian working didn't know how to get me a copy but she said she could email it to me or mail me one. I left my name, email address and P.O. Box but I never got a copy sent to me.

Riverton Chamber of Commerce

The Riverton Chamber of Commerce was closed on Saturday so we weren't able to get any visitor information from them. I was going to ask them to help a local hotel get an updated map of the area, as the hotel map I used had Ethete located on the wrong road! Click here to go to the Riverton, Wyoming Chamber of Commerce Website.

Wind River Heritage Center

The Wind River Heritage Center is located in Riverton, Wyoming. Despite it's big name, it is a tiny little place packed with animals killed and mounted by a local trapper. It is very interesting, my children loved it.

Someone (s) has (have) spent some time and money making the WRHC "sound" in brochures a little more than it is, but that's ok! That's what having "vision" is all about. There is a little area when you walk in with some glass cases that have some items for sale, the "gift shop" if you will. Some bead work in the form of earrings and belt buckles that friendly desk help Donna said were made by people on the Indian Reservation was available for purchase. I didn't see any artisans names or profiles (a little artist sheet with photograph with each item to purchase or something) and that would have definitely made me more inclined to buy a handmade item or two.

Free to get in but modest donations are encouraged. We purchased two books and will definitely go back when we return to Riverton in the near future.

We found the WRHC when we asked two different Riverton citizens the same question, "If you recommended one spot for visitors to see in Riverton, what would it be?" Both the lady under 30 an the man over 50 said, "the trapper museum" which turned out to be the Wind River Heritage Center.

Central Wyoming College

My kids and I walked around a little bit of the Central Wyoming College Campus at Riverton recently. The flowers were beautiful. Not another sole besides our family walking around anywhere on the Saturday we were there. I was surprised at two things, one was that there student center was all locked up on a Saturday afternoon. Seems like a waste of a building, even in the summer. The second was that Central Wyoming College seems to be a bit of an "artsy" place but the two of the three pieces of art that I looked at seemed a bit too "in your face" rather than inviting, pleasant, or even something to inspire or ponder about. One was a long metal "sculpture" with some prose engraved on it that was rather bleak, especially for a place of higher learning. The other was a rather unattractive piece of some naked people, not at all appealing. Not because they were naked, but because it was just totally unappealing.

However, the statute of what I assume was Sacajawea was beautiful-looked at from different angles gave two very different sides of the young Indian women and it was quite inspiring to look at.

St. Stephen's Mission

We drove to St. Stephen's Mission, located near Riverton Wyoming. It was deserted, really. Maybe it's always that way on a Saturday or maybe it had to do with the three young girl's deaths, ages 15, 14, 13, just days before our arrival to the area.

Riverton Wyoming

I spent a couple of days in Riverton recently. The next few posts will tell about the different places in and around Riverton that I was able to visit. It's been a long time since I've spent any time in Riverton and then, it was either to attend "fire school" or long, long ago when my husband's volleyball team had tournaments there.

It appears many people and organizations have spent a lot of time trying to help Riverton be visitor friendly. Working with a chamber of commerce myself, I know this is not an easy task so I applaud those who do all the work.

One thing I noticed is that Riverton could use additional signage or signage language to help the visitor. For instance, "Castle Garden" could be changed to "Castle Garden - Pictographs - 46 miles" or something similar. I had never heard of Castle Garden and when I read of it, really wanted to go. I was warned that with the rain, I should not attempt without a 4 wheel drive vehicle, which I had. When I tried to get directions from a waitress, she told me it was 2 1/2 hours away and north of Shoshone. That didn't sound like what I had read so I disregarded the advice.

Finally, on returning from someplace else, I noticed a green sign pointing to Castle Garden. I may have missed an earlier sign, as I wasn't looking, but if that turn off sign was a little bigger, more like one of those brown informational signs, it may be easier for visitors to know what they are in for, or missing out on.