Gillette histories

From the Sept. 26, 1946 News Record
The Gillette Merchants Fall Round-up will break wide open at the fairgrounds here next Sunday, a merchants rodeo committee revealed this week. A pot of over $550 in cash and merchandise is destined to go to the winning bronc riders, bulldoggers, calf and colt ropers and other contestants who compete next Sunday at the fairgrounds. For the Merchants Fall Round-up, to begin at 1 p.m. Sunday, the owners and managers of Gillette’s business firms have made up purses of cash donations and some hard-to-get articles such as a electric razor, silver mounted spurs, Prestone, oil and gas and many other prizes, which will go to the lucky buckos and doggers. Each firm will have a card in the window telling of the item it has placed in the pot for the round-up.
From the Sept. 23, 1954 News Record
Just off hand how many musical instruments can you name? Twenty, 30, maybe 40? Well, you name them and Smiley Burnette, America’s leading cowboy musician-comic, will play them. On top of that, he’ll go right on and play almost as many more. Smiley, who will do two shows in person at the Fiesta Theatre on Oct. 8, is one of the most accomplished musicians in show business, playing a total of 52 musical instruments, and all well, too! What is more remarkable is the fact that he cannot read a single note of music and plays them all by ear. All the more astounding the contribution this great star-entertainer has made to the music world in the field of composing, Burnette has written more than 300 songs including the words, many of which have reached the top on the nation’s hit parade.
From the Sept. 11, 1986 News Record
Wyoming’s oil industry may be in a slump, but coordinators of the annual industry awareness are pumped up with optimism over this year’s event. Four thousand people are expected to attend the fifth annual Oil Awareness Day Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. inside and outside of Cam-plex Energy Hall, said Dale Ransom, chairman of the Campbell County Chamber of Commerce Oil and Gas Committee, sponsors of the event. Visitors will have an opportunity to see an expected 50 exhibits including workover rigs, frac trucks, logging trucks and a variety of tools and other equipment. Ransom said. “There’s always a variety,” he added. “We’ll even have some car dealers.” There is no admission fee and a free barbecue lunch is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., he said. Beef will be provided by Stockmens Bank and Trust Co. and Kerr-McGee’s Jacob Ranch mine. Profits from beer and soda sales will go to the oil and gas committee’s scholarship fund. With the slowdown in the oil industry, Ransom said there may not be as many exhibits ash there have been in the past, which numbered about 80 last year and 65 the year before.