Wyoming Coffee Klatch: Conversations of Old Gillette Farts…

Gillette — The men around the table spend a lot of time discussing the details of hip and knee replacements and who might be using a cane that day.

They also talk politics, and with the upcoming election, Chuck Butler and George Dunlap have a lot to say.

These guys are members of the Old Fart Society (OFS), which has been meeting at The Local Cafe in downtown Gillette since the late 1980s.

Its members, including “Doc” Harry Becker and former Gillette Mayor Ed Collins and others, are legacy families with deep roots and ties to the community in which they are deeply invested.

Although many of the original members have died, Dunlap said the remaining Old Farts still meet at 8 a.m. weekdays, making it one of the longest-running coffee gatherings in the area.

The group even donated coffee mugs, hats and other “OFS” memorabilia to the Campbell County Rock Museum.

On Friday, only Dunlap and Butler were at the table, although Bill Todd, the oldest participant at 90, was about an hour late.

Butler, a retired miner of 40 years, serves on the board of the Campbell County Public Library. Dunlap, meanwhile, owned a photography studio downtown for decades and recently lost the primary race for the 32nd Congressional District to incumbent Ken Closton.

Both are deeply involved in state and local politics, as well as the presidential election, in which they will both vote for Donald Trump.

OID farts and energy

Neither of them is shy about their right-wing politics, which Butler says is shared by all members of the group, with the exception of “Doc,” who recently became a little “leftist.”

On national issues, they cite energy as their biggest concern, especially in light of the “green agenda” supported by Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

Gillette is the epicenter of thermal coal mining, located in the center of Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, where 40% of the coal burned to generate electricity in the United States is produced.

Energy is critical to a thriving civilization, Dunlap said, saying it makes no financial or environmental sense to close America’s reliable coal-fired power plants while China continues to build them at an accelerating pace.

“Everyone’s quality of life is greatly enhanced by energy,” Dunlap said.

Both he and Butler believe the state should invest in more clean coal power plants, such as the Dry Fork plant in Campbell County, which is considered one of the cleanest coal plants in the country.

The men also believe it’s a much better investment than supporting renewable sources like wind, which Dunlap said has an approximately seven-year lifespan and requires 11,000 gallons of oil per wind farm to operate on average per year.

The media approves of Kamala

In addition to his energy, Butler also expressed skepticism about the accuracy of the media and its influence on political views.

He recalls recent trips to Idaho and Nebraska, where he saw yards littered with Trump signs and only a few Harris ones.

Both he and Dunlap have attended Trump rallies and don’t think the media is being honest about the number of Trump supporters who turn out in droves to support him at various events.

“I think it’s because the media is really in charge of everything,” Butler said, from national history to the definition of certain words.

“This tax is funny”

On pressing government issues, both cite soaring property taxes as a major problem, with Dunlap opposing Amendment A, which would place residential properties in a separate class for property tax assessment.

He believes separating residential and commercial properties will make it easier for the state to raise taxes on both sides over time.

“It’s just something that’s happening, it’s creeping up right now,” he said. “I probably pay 40 to 50% of every dollar I make in taxes, including sales, license plate and property taxes. I mean, we spend so much money that taxes are ridiculous.”

They also believe the city should continue to provide basic services and build what they can afford to maintain, rather than relying on coal mine taxes.

Dunlap also said he would like to see the county implement a policy, like other states that have limits on sales taxes, that would make it cheaper for coal mines to invest in maintenance and equipment.

Overall, they both believe Wyoming residents should be able to keep more money in their pockets.

“We’re all a bunch of rednecks, and we think you should keep what you earn,” Dunlap said. “So if you work your butt off and make money, you should keep it.”

More leftist colleagues

To their right is a women’s table, where four gray-haired women sit huddled together over cups of coffee.

They also meet at 8am, although that’s the only thing they have in common with their male coffee colleagues.

In fact, they suggest wearing an invisible force field to protect against men’s “far right” political talk.

However, none of the women agreed to officially give their names. Like the men, they have deep roots in the community and are all retired professionals or business owners.

Despite the good-natured jabs at men, they mostly won’t vote for former President Trump for a number of reasons.

One woman, a retired nurse, even said that if he wins, she would consider moving to Norway.

“Are you really thinking about voting for Kamala?” – one of the women asked the former nurse.

She shrugged, admitting she wasn’t sure, although she acknowledged Trump was sure to win Wyoming no matter how she voted.

Everyone agrees with this assessment, mocking the other conservative woman at the table who calls herself a “moderate.”

Friends first

At this table, political views – left or right – take a back seat to the decades-long friendship of women who interrupt each other to extol each other’s virtues in this rare corner of the world untouched by divinity, where disagreements on political matters Views are greeted with good-natured ridicule and humor.

Even more than the national election, these women with deep roots in Gillette are most upset about the local issues plaguing the city and Wyoming.

In particular, they are unhappy with the recent refusal of state Sen. Troy McKeown, R-Gillette, to reject a vote to change the state’s formula for increasing funding for school facilities projects during a meeting of the Legislature’s Select Committee on School Facilities in Cheyenne last week.

The women would like to see money go to Campbell County High School for much-needed infrastructure improvements, they say, for the sake of the students.

Faith in peace

Across town, at Perkins Restaurant and Bakery just off Highway 59 South, Tim Schofield sat in a booth with his Redemption Church pastor, Josh Yelton, during Friday morning Bible study.

According to Yelton, they were operating at half capacity that morning and two of their regular members were absent.

While politics isn’t usually high on the agenda, they took a break from their usual activities to discuss their biggest fears plaguing the country as the election approaches.

Schofield’s biggest concerns are the animosity and polarization of both parties, as well as the tendency to “want to lock up candidates on both sides of the aisle,” as well as attempts on Trump’s life.

“I don’t know where it comes from, but the media seems to be promoting it,” he said.

Yelton agreed that polarization is a problem that is perpetuated by the nature of the political system as a whole.

“I think we’ve kind of trapped ourselves in partisan politics, but I don’t think anyone is a perfect fit for one party or one candidate over another,” he said. “Obviously there are a lot of good things about it, but I think there are some serious flaws in it.”

For Yelton, the biggest issue is the sanctity of life and whether he will ultimately vote for the candidate he believes is most pro-life.

Inflation

The second worry is soaring inflation, which is making it increasingly difficult to feed his wife and two sons, especially in light of some of their expensive dietary restrictions.

If the situation continues to worsen, he will have to find a second job to support his family, he said.

Perhaps more pressing for Schofield is the looming possibility of a third world war, given tensions in the Middle East as well as Chinese aggression towards Taiwan.

In this particular area, Schofield sees Trump as the stronger candidate, given what he considers President Joe Biden’s “cowardly” retreat from Afghanistan and the number of civilians remaining there.

The country’s growing debt is also a huge problem for them.

Moreover, they feel the nation must embrace the faith that Yelton says is beginning to emerge in small pockets of the population. According to him, this “roller coaster of fidelity” is inherent in human history.

“You’re going to see these just mass awakenings, and then you’re also going to see the depths of what I call depravity, the depths of righteous sinfulness in humanity. And in that dark place, it can feel like there is no light, no hope, no way out, no direction,” he said. “And yet at some point, somehow, the light appears again.”

Jen Kocher can be contacted at [email protected].