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Music, dancing, and fun at Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) event

Left: Annie Adkins in traditional Jalisco dress style and Desi read Desi's poem in English and Spanish. Mikaela Goicoechea sits controlling the sound. Middle all the participants from Bridges for Community and Unity's Coco Dance Camp pose for a photo in costume. Right: Cecilia in the traditional dress of Veracruz, dances to La Bruja.

Photo No. 1 - Music and dancing were the highlights of Saturday’s Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration in Green River

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - October 17, 2024)    On Saturday, over 170 people attended the 2024 Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration at Clock Tower Park in Green River.  The Sweetwater County Historical Museum partnered with Bridges for Community & Unity to create this year’s event.

Día de los Muertos is a holiday for honoring the dead. While it originated in Mexico, it is now celebrated in many Latin American countries. Celebrants create ofrendas (a display of offerings) using items such as flowers, food, and photos, along with photographs of loved ones who have passed on. Typically, Día de los Muertos begins on October 31 and lasts through November 2. Each year, the museum creates its own ofrenda, which is open to the public. Community members are encouraged to participate by leaving a non-food offering and/or pictures of those who have passed away.

Food and refreshments were served, and the event was highlighted by singing and Hispanic dance performances by local artists and children.

Museum Executive Director Dave Mead and his staff expressed their special thanks and appreciation to the many people who supported or participated in the event; many were young Girl Scouts who also performed as dancers. Among them was Hannah, Cecilia, Bella, Desi, Kyla, Ingrid, Swazie, Paziely, Sophia, Emberly, Jordan, Kenzley, Grayson, Octavia, Emery, Abraham, Kenny, and Colson. (Girl Scout policy proscribes publication of children’s last names.) Also working in support or performing were Brenna Kirsch and her family, Katherine Skinner, Errin Huntingon and family, Jennifer Wilkinson and family, Chelsie Kirts and family, Mikaela Goicoechea, Mercedes Ball and family, and the Romero-Adkins family. Girl Scout Troop 1548 prepared crafts for booths, Girl Scout Troop 1322 made decorations and both Girl Scout Troop 1998 and 1932 served as booth volunteers. Girl Scout Troop 1246 Prepared crafts, ran booths, and performed in the show.

Mead said Victor Hiler of State Farm Insurance in Rock Springs provided the event’s soft drinks, and the Pan De Muerto pastries came from Panaderia Los 3 Nietos, also of Rock Springs.

Check out this year's ofrenda - and the many other exhibits - at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and there is no charge for admission.

 

Special Hispanic cultural event set for Green River

 

Dancing Catrina skeletons and festive Day of the Dead style skulls decorate a poster in a blue and purple gradient. The bottom right includes pictures of two children in traditional dresses playing somberly in front of a fake tombstone in Clock Tower Park outside the Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River. Below that is a picture of children making sugar skulls below a purple tent in front of a sign reading Sweetwater County Historical Museum. A family mans the booth smiling at the camera. Text reads: 'JOIN US FOR A DAY OF THE DEAD celebration of Hispanic culture Saturday, October 12 CLocktower park, Green River 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM ACTIVITIES AND REFRESHMENTS: Food and drinks Temporary tattoos Photo both Scavenger hunt Story book booth Paper masks Arts/Crafts activities Don’t forget to visit the Museum’s Ofrenda Exhibit Dance performances begin at 1:00 PM. Local students from Coco Dance Camp will perform a variety of traditional hispanic dances. PHOTOS WITH PERFORMERS AVAILABLE AFTER PERFORMANCE Brought to you by Bridges for Community and Unity Sweetwater County Historical Museum'

 

Photo #1 – This year’s ofrenda at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River

 

Graphic #1 – The 2024 Day of the Dead event is set for Saturday, October 12, in Green River

 

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - October 9, 2024)     In partnership with Bridges for Community & Unity, the Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River is continuing - and expanding - a special autumn tradition by combining a special Hispanic cultural event with its annual Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) ofrenda exhibit. Bridges for Community & Unity is a grassroots organization dedicated to fostering unity and understanding among diverse community groups through intercultural activities. Its mission is to serve as a bridge that connects various cultures, promotes collaboration, cooperation, respect among participants, and pride in one's own cultural heritage and self-identity.

As featured in the animated Walt Disney film “Coco,” Día de los Muertos is a holiday for honoring the dead. It originated in Mexico but is now celebrated in many Latin American countries. Celebrants create ofrendas (a display of offerings) using items such as food, flowers, photos, and sugar skulls, as well as photographs of loved ones who have passed on. Typically, Día de los Muertos begins on October 31 and lasts through November 2. The museum’s ofrenda is open to the public, and community members are encouraged to participate by leaving a non-food offering and/or pictures of those who have passed away.

The free event is set for 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Saturday, October 12, at the Clock Tower Park in Green River next door to the museum, located at 3 E. Flaming Gorge Way. Family activities will include temporary tattoos, refreshments, a storybook booth, a photo booth, a scavenger hunt, paper masks, and other arts and craft activities. Dancers from Bridges for Community & Unity's Coco Dance Camp will perform beginning at 1:00 PM.

Check out this year's ofrenda - and the many other exhibits - at the Sweetwater County Historical Museum. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and there is no charge for admission.

The County Museum would like to correct some inaccurate information in circulation concerning the event. It is not scheduled to take place at the Rock Springs City Museum in Rock Springs, but the Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River as described above.                                     

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid rode again on Saturday

Bill Betenson stands in a stage in a western outfit in front of a slideshow and before an audience of people seated at white tableclothed long tables about 8 to a side perpendicular to the stage.

Photo #1 - Historian Bill Betenson was the featured speaker at the “An Evening with Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid” event at the Broadway Theater in Rock Springs on Saturday

 

(Sweetwater County, Wyo. - September 24, 2024)     The special fundraiser “An Evening with Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid” played to a full house at the Broadway Theater in Rock Springs on Saturday.

Hosted by the Sweetwater County Museum Foundation to benefit the Sweetwater County Historical Museum in Green River, the event commemorated the 55th Anniversary of the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Newman portrayed Cassidy (real name Robert Leroy Parker), and Redford the Sundance Kid (Harry Longabaugh). Etta Place, the Sundance Kid’s consort, was played by Katharine Ross.                              

Cassidy’s great-nephew Bill Betenson, noted historian and author of Butch Cassidy, My Uncle and Butch Cassidy: The Wyoming Years, provided commentary regarding the film’s historical accuracy. Cassidy and his Hole in the Wall gang had numerous connections to places in Sweetwater County, including Tipton, Rock Springs, and the Currant Creek Ranch. Sweetwater County lawyer Douglas Preston represented Butch, Matt Warner, and other of their outlaw cohorts in several legal cases. Some accounts tell of Cassidy meeting Preston secretly at Boar’s Tusk north of Rock Springs for counsel and to pay legal fees.         

Katharine Ross, who has been married to actor Sam Elliott since 1984, was unable to accept an invitation from the Board to attend the event, but sent along her best wishes to Dave Mead, the Sweetwater County Historical Museum’s executive director.

A special edition of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was shown after dinner and Betenson’s presentation.

Mead expressed his special thanks to board members Randy Walker, Budd Allen, Fay Quiroz, James Quiroz, and Bridgette Nielsen for their hard work in creating “An Evening with Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.”

MUSEUM HOSTING SPECIAL DINNER AND MOVIE EVENT

An edited poster of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

The Sweetwater County Museum Foundation is hosting a special fundraising event to commemorate the 55th Anniversary of the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The event will feature special guests, a catered dinner, and movie showing. 

 

Tickets are available on the Broadway Theater's website, click here

 
Bill Betenson, Butch Cassidy's great-nephew, will reflect on the making of the movie and provide commentary regarding its historical accuracy. Betenson's great-grandmother, Lula Parker Betenson, was Cassidy's sister and served as a consultant to actors Robert Redford and Paul Newman during the filming of the movie. Betenson is a noted historian and author of Butch Cassidy, My Uncle and Butch Cassidy: The Wyoming Years.
 
Whether in fact or fiction, many of Cassidy’s and Sundance's adventures took place in Sweetwater County, at places like Tipton, Rock Springs, the Currant Creek Ranch, and elsewhere. It is said that Robert Leroy Parker, alias Butch Cassidy, got his nickname “Butch” when he was working as a butcher in a meat market in Rock Springs. It is also well known that Sweetwater County lawyer Douglas Preston represented Butch, Matt Warner, and other members of the Wild Bunch in several legal cases. Some historic accounts tell of Cassidy meeting Preston at Boars Tusk for counsel and to pay legal fees.
 
"An Evening with Butch & Sundance" will begin at 6 PM with dinner and Betenson's presentation and will conclude with showing the movie.
 
Proceeds from this event will support efforts to refurbish exhibits in the museum’s galleries and at venues across Sweetwater County. For more information, contact the Sweetwater County Historical Museum at (307) 872-6435.
 
Tickets for the dinner and entire program may be purchased for $80 per person or $560 for an 8-person table. Tickets for the movie only may be purchased for $20 and doors will open at 7:15 PM for movie-only participants. Tickets must be purchased in advance and will not be available at the door.
Cash bar available
 

Tickets are available here

 

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