My little town’s boast is it is the “home of 56 nationalities.” It is quite the claim for a small Wyoming town and fairly true. To celebrate our origin, we have an International Day every year in July. Which I will take you to but first let me explain how we can make such a bold claim.

This community was founded on coal. When the railroad came through on its way to Utah it used the fuel found under this ground. According to Howard Stansbury in 1850, coal seemed to exist in “quantities without limit.” While the UPRR was not the first to open a mine in the area, once they moved in the small outfit operated by the Blair brothers could not compete. The Blair brothers focused their endeavors on ranching.

UPRR, meanwhile, opened several mines in the community and this very much became a “U.P. town.” When a town first starts, especially one in the west in the 1800’s, there is not a population already in place ready to work. Recruitment needed to be done and U.P. started with British miners. The Brits had been mining since the 1700’s and came with a certain level of expertise. Expertise though had its drawbacks for the company.

While the company’s bottom line was to make a profit, the typical working miner wanted to earn enough money to live on. For him and his family. And a hope that he would return home after each shift because mining is a dangerous job. How does a worker bee accomplish such feats? UNION. One thing the company did not want is for unions to come in and take control over how it operated business.

One way the company kept the union out was hire diverse nationalities. This prevented workers from communicating with each other and perhaps socializing. Because when people socialize they talk. When they talk they connect. When they connect they discover they are not alone. When that happens it’s just a matter of time before they start planning.

This is a very simplified history lesson of my community but the point is the mines employed a diverse bunch of ethnicities. Granted, I am referring to different European nations. Some moved on over time but some families stayed.

In the 1920’s, the community decided to celebrate the diverse heritage. The first International Day was held. Part of the ceremony included participants standing in a circle dressed in their native dress. Each one held a candle. The first person would say in English, “As light begets light so love begets love the world around.” That person would then light the candle of the person standing next to him or her. The second person would repeat the phrase in his or her native language and light the candle of the person standing next in line. And so forth, the phrase would be said in different languages and each candle would be lit until it returned to the first person. I’m not sure what else was done to celebrate but it was a fun and festive day for the community. It has been noted that while the KKK was rising in other parts of the country at this time, this little community in the Rocky Mountains was celebrating diversity.

Eventually, the community did stop celebrating until the 1980’s when it was resumed. It’s been an annual event ever since. It’s a day of entertainment, food, and vendors. Which is where I pick up my story.

For some reason, I thought it would be fun to be a participant. But I have no ethnic entertainment to share. Food? I am a much better consumer than maker. That left one option: sell some kind of crafty-like vendor item. And out of that option I had only one possibility: my books.

If you can imagine, there were the big-time vendors that do this every year with their canopies and all their wares to share. And there was ck with her little table of books. People were concerned that I did not have a canopy because the event is held in our oldest park. But I did not want to hassle with setting up and taking down a canopy so I declined offers of people wanting to share.

Originally, I was going to do this all on my own. All day. Standing there. But I realized I was going to need some help. It would be nice to have help carrying my supplies and setting up. Most important though, it would be nice to have someone around when I needed to take a potty break. I didn’t want to have to pack up my cash box and leave my booth unattended.

My sister came and helped me which was more than nice. Because I couldn’t pay her. She is just a good person and did a good deed.

We arrived at about 8:30am and set up my two little tables and we stayed until 5:30pm. I did get some “pity buys” from family and friends. But I also got a couple of other sales. I managed to make enough to pay for the booth.

Did I make enough to cover the cost of supplies? No. Would I do this again? No. Am I glad I did it this time? Yes. It was definitely an experience and it was fun talking to people and seeing the crowd. It was a one-and-done thing. Next year though, I am looking forward to just being a participant and enjoying everyone else’s efforts.