Members of the Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce honored outstanding educators and a citizen, heard a talk from Secretary of State Max Maxfield, gave kudos to a longtime board member, welcomed a new president and enjoyed good company and good food at the annual Community Banquet Saturday night at the Lovell Community Center.
It was a light-hearted, festive evening, and Master of Ceremonies Bret Savage not only did the work at the microphone, he provided guitar music during the social hour preceding the dinner. Bruce Wolsey gave the invocation.
Following dinner, three awards were presented (see related stories). Rocky Mountain High School Principal Tim Winland presented the School District No. 1 Outstanding Educator Award to longtime vocational education teacher Richard Mayes.
After Winland praised Mayes with remarks, Mayes spoke and called the award “a humbling experience.” He said he has worked with a number of great men and women during his years as an educator and said he first wanted to be a teacher as a 17-18-year-old.
“It was the best decision I’ve made,” he said. “I’ve never regretted it.”
Special Education Director Jeanette Ohman presented the District Two Outstanding Educator Award to Lovell Elementary School Title One math and reading teacher Judy Ferren.
In accepting the award, Ferren thanked all of the people in her life who encouraged and mentored her, from teaching colleagues to principals. She said teaching is rewarding, noting, “It is such a joy to see students grow up and be productive citizens, a great reward.”
Now that she’s teaching the “kids of kids” she taught years ago, it is time to retire, she said, noting her retirement at the end of the school year.
Lovell Chronicle Publisher David Peck presented the Outstanding Citizen Award to Chad Lindsay for his work with youth in the community.
Having lost his parents when he was a child, Lindsay said the Lovell community helped raise him and he has wanted to give back ever since.
“This doesn’t belong to me, it belongs to the community,” he said. “So many people helped me survive and, hopefully, thrive.” He added that his wife, Lindsay, deserves much of the credit for his being able to volunteer time to youths.

Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield praised Lovell and Big Horn County for being progressive and working with the State of Wyoming on a number of projects, including the community center where the banquet was being held.
“All you have to do is look around,” Maxfield said, calling the center and other projects a “source of pride.”
Maxfield said he has worked hard to get out into the state throughout his career in Cheyenne, recalling that when he was appointed as the director of the Wyoming Recreation Commission in 1987 he paid a visit to Lovell and was “shocked by how shocked people were to see someone from Cheyenne.”
He said he made a commitment then to never be in a position where he would have to make a long-distance decision about an important project and that he would not need a road map to find places like Lovell or Torrington.
As one example, he recalled that when North Big Horn Hospital was seeking funding for a CT scanner, the project was well down the staff priority list for the State Loan and Investment Board, because there were other machines in the area.
But Maxfield said he visited the hospital in Lovell, spoke to various people and realized that the scanner was needed because of the wide area the hospital serves. He went back to Cheyenne and was able to get the scanner funded.
“It looks a lot different talking to people with their boots on the ground than looking at a piece of paper in Cheyenne,” he said. “I’ve looked in manholes in Lovell that were not safe to fix pipes from. I use this community as an example, but communities across the state do the same kind of things…People are committed to the community, more-so than any state I’ve been to.”
President’s Award
Following Maxfield’s remarks, outgoing Chamber President Mike Jones gave a special President’s Award to longtime board member Jeff Pearson, who has stepped off the board after serving for some 30 years.
Jones noted Pearson’s service to the community, including more than 31 years with the fire department, several years on the Lovell Education Foundation Board and the North Big Horn Hospital Foundation Board and many years of volunteer work and support for local youth sports and the University of Wyoming. He also noted Pearson’s dedication to wife Chris following her automobile accident 2½ years ago.
Pearson thanked Jones and the chamber and also thanked Maxfield, noting, “Max is a true friend of Lovell. He has backed us on a lot of really important projects for Lovell.”
Pearson called 30 years of service on the chamber board kind of strange in that he has a lot of institutional memory. Looking at the banquet program, he said he’s old enough to remember buying donuts from Frank Brown, who was president in 1935 and is listed as the first chamber president.
“It’s time to get off the board when I can remember a guy who was president in 1935,” he said, noting that Brown was much older when he knew him. “It’s been a good ride, but it’s time for me to go,” he added.
Wrapping up the evening, Jones acknowledged the chamber board and thanked director Suzanne Winterholler for the hard work she put into the evening. He congratulated the award winners and noted that an estimated 10 new businesses opened in town during the past year. He urged support for all local businesses, especially during the recent economic downturn.
Jones then presented the gavel to incoming President Bart Grant, who said he has enjoyed his time back in Lovell after being away for 15 years. Grant moved back to his hometown from the Phoenix area two years ago.
“I knew I wanted to get out of the big city and back to Lovell, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” Grant said. “Seeing people involved and volunteering their time to make Lovell a better community motivates me.”