Brace yourself; summer is coming.
For some students, warm weather means packing their bags and heading either back home or, if they’re really lucky, to an exotic location that promises a beach and drinks with little umbrellas in them. However, for others it means staying put right here in Laramie, with the community pool as the closest thing they’ll get to a beach.
But do not despair, those who are remaining close by – while common sense may say the means of entertainment plummet during the summer, there is still plenty for you to entertain yourself once the spring semester culminates.
For those who didn’t get enough learning during the regular school year, the University of Wyoming holds about 600 classes during the summer. Around 200 of those classes are held online, with the other 400 occur on campus.
While Miguel Rosalas, coordinator for summer classes at UW, recognizes the decrease in activities around town in the summer, he still believes students hold their summer destinies in their own hands.
“There’s lots of opportunities for students,” said Rosalas. “It’s just that you have to seek those out.”
In fact, said Rosalas, the summer is host to many of Laramie’s hallmark summer festivals and events.
“Outside of class, there’s a bunch of things going on in Laramie,” he shared. “We have Laramie Jubilee Days; there’s Freedom has a Birthday for July 4, and the Union has a lot of activities in the summer. The Memorial Union has a summer activities council that does things like take a busload of students to Denver to go to a water park or a Rockies game. There’s even stuff like summer theatre. Students just have to find things.”
Laramie Jubilee Days will last from July 5 to July 13 this year. The event includes a rodeo, a carnival, food, live music, a parade and much more.
In addition, several community events are held around the same time as Jubilee Days. From July through September, the Laramie Farmer’s Market will be open every Friday from 3-7 p.m. Beyond that, the Downtown Laramie Business Association will be hosting a pancake breakfast on July 11th and the Downtown Laramie Brew Fest on July 12.
For those who have an interest in music, the Snowy Range Music Festival is scheduled be held at the Albany County fairgrounds over Labor Day weekend. Also, the Alibi Pub hosts music every Friday evening after graduation.
After six years of doing so, the Alibi was recently awarded the Laramie Boomerang Local Choice Award for best live music. Kerri Smith and her husband, owners of the Alibi Pub, decided to start hosting these shows after seeing live music all around Florida while they were on vacation.
“It’s grown successful, but the first couple of years were rough,” said Smith.
While Smith demurs from taking credit for the growth of live music in Wyoming, she is thankful she was able to contribute and for the opportunity to watch the musical evolution occur right in front of her eyes.
“Years ago, I had to call bands to offer them shows,” she said. “Now they’re booking agents call me for shows.”
Still, there are some who prefer the quiet over raucous live shows. With the majority of UW students staging a mass exodus during the summer, there is a noticeable – and for some, more desired – difference in Laramie’s nightlife.
Dr. Eric Wiltse, a journalism professor for UW, has lived in Laramie for 24 years and said Laramie undergoes a drastic change during the warmer months.
“The town’s totally different in the summer,” he said. “The bars are a lot quieter.”
If peace and quiet is more your speed, Wiltse suggests going hiking, mountain biking, fishing or other outdoor activiPerhaps the most unusual event happening over the summer is brought to town by an unlikely source. Kaiya Rodriguez, a UW graduate in theatre, is getting together with some of her friends to make a zombie film titled FatEATERS.
“The basic premise of the story starts with a ‘FatEATER’ diet supplement,” said Rodriguez. “It chemically alters people’s brains to make them think that the best way to lose weight is to either cut or bite it off. This basically turns them into cannibals, and their victims turn into zombies.”
FatEATERS will be shot primarily in Laramie from May 15th to May 19th. More filming will occur in Casper, Powell, Cody, Gillette and Los Angeles afterwards.
“Our big focus is that we want it to be all Wyoming people involved in this production, apart from what little filming we’re doing in Los Angeles,” said Rodriguez. “We can’t make this movie without the support of the community.”
For those who want to support the film, donations are being accepted and people are invited to volunteer as zombie extras during the filming in Laramie. Rodriguez and her associates are also holding a soundtrack contest. Musicians can enter up to three original songs in an attempt to get them featured in the film. Specifics on how to participate in any of these ways can be found on the film’s website at fateatersmovie.com.
