Enter Bruce A. Hellbaum, First State Bank’s President and Chief Operating Officer, with the fifth fortuitous event. “It was a long-standing bank policy to do something special for a Board member after his or her death,” Bruce told me in an interview at the Platte County Library. “John had been an avid reader, so I approached Julie Henion, the Library’s Director, with an idea; a circa 1900 Wyoming ranch house reading room, containing western literature and art, rustic furnishings, and a place for local residents to hold meetings or just to work quietly. (See photo). With her help, we flexed out the concept.”

“When Bruce came in, we’d been wondering what to do with some space which used to be the alcove at the Library’s old front entrance,” Julie explained. “We wanted to do something different with it. Bruce’s idea was exciting.”

The next event was a gathering of people who could make it happen; DaMarr Raben, a local artist and interior designer, and Blayn Tamlin, maintenance supervisor with Platte County. “The bank set our budget,” DaMarr, who did the design and decorating, said. “It was a generous but also realistic $10,000 – $11,000.”

Together these two talented people came up with a concept for the room’s entrance (See photo), and an interior design for the 28′ x 13′ space. “Our idea featured two French doors that can be closed for meetings, for laptop use, or just reading and research,” DaMarr said. “On each side of those doors are two decorative panels that I painted,” she elaborated proudly, “The subject is Wyoming’s State flower – Indian Paintbrush. The panels are canvas painted and applied to sheet rock, and antiqued to remind of turn of the Century architecture.”

Meanwhile, Blayn recalled seeing an old oak table and several chairs in a storage room in the Courthouse, which appeared to date back to 1910-1915. “The County Clerk and Commissioners were all in on it,” he chuckled. “With their permission, I negotiated that table and several chairs from over there, in exchange for a few chairs the Library had on hand.”

It took several months to put the project together. “We used all local resources,” Julie Henion said. “We didn’t have to go out of town for anything. Or anyone.”

First, an acoustic tile ceiling was installed, with track lighting on each end designed by DaMarr Raben. Then the block walls were coated and textured, creating the effect of a leather finish, merging modern function with early 20th Century style. Crown molding was then added. Next, bookcases with adjustable shelving were built on both north and south walls, allowing plenty of room for expansion. Finally, additional furniture was introduced.

“The Library already had several barrister bookcases,” Julie said. “and also a beautiful hat rack with mirror, which had been around for ages. They fit the look we were striving for, so we moved them in.”

What about the leather couch and two comfortable overstuffed chairs, which add so much character to the room? Another fortuitous event. DaMarr Raben explained: “They’re reproduction pieces from the 1800s. A client of mine, local developer and collector, David S. Cronk, was downsizing his home. He wanted to dispose of them. I was able to acquire all three pieces.”

Some other very interesting artifacts adorn the Wyoming Room. These include a framed, undated but very early reproduction of a map of Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, a Charles Russell (1864-1926) print – The Broken Rope; a historic photograph, entitled Winter-Absaroke – donated in October 1985 by W. R. Jones, William K. Vines, and Raymond B. Hunkins, of the local law firm of Jones, Jones, Vines & Hunkins, a bronze sculpture of an Indian on horseback, entitled The Scout, by James Allard, and another, Cowboy on bronc, presented in memory of Rachael Ann Fish.

But the crowning item – a piece of artwork that dominates the room and brings everything together – is an original oil painting on Masonite, by Wyoming’s noted landscape artist, Conrad Schwiering. Donated to the Library by Ed Foreman in April 1967, the painting portrays the famous twin peaks of the Grand Tetons towering above the Snake River, with trees in the foreground. Schweiring’s work completes the theme originated and carried out by Hellbaum, Henion, Raben, and Tamlin, and is part of a fitting tribute to John B. Bunker, who adopted the Cowboy State as his home in his later years, and served it well until his death.