Embroidery business is far-reaching

Rawlins Daily Times, Janice Kurbjun

Jennifer Bowen, owner of Custom Creations in Elk Mountain, punched commands into one of her embroidery machines. Her business is run from home, creating custom apparel designs for companies as far away as Washington state.


By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

In the shadow of Elk Mountain, behind the bikes strewn across the gravel, the Volkswagen parked by the street and the well-used basketball net, a small embroidery shop sits adjacent to Jennifer Bowen’s home.

Serving companies from Elk Mountain to Washington state, Custom Creations is run at Bowen’s leisure.

“I hardly pound the pavement,” she said about finding customers. “It’s all word of mouth.”
She and her husband decided to buy the business almost two decades ago while still living in Rawlins. It and her two commercial embroidery machines moved with the family to Elk Mountain in 1996 and has continued to flourish.

“‘Tis the season for hats,” Bowen said, pointing toward stacks of hats of various colors sitting amongst odds and ends on the worktable. She’s currently doing projects for the Carbon County Road and Bridge Department, weed and pest and the Old Baldy Club.

Among Bowen’s more unusual projects was a wedding dress embroidered with green and brown elk tracks, designed for a Rawlins woman.

“It sounds wacky, but it looked really cool,” she said.

Bowen said she has never turned a customer away. With thousands of designs to choose from, including the copyrighted University of Wyoming cowboy, she can create a satisfying design for almost anyone.

The business is Bowen’s way to pay her share of the bills. It allows her the flexibility to go to her children’s’ events, which are many. She is also involved in the parent-teacher association and town council.

“My kids are number one,” she said. “And the business is fun and never the same. It’s never boring.”

Successful valley readers celebrate

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

The party stretched into the night for elementary school students in Saratoga who were celebrating their third quarter reading success.

Out of 140 kids, 107 first- through sixth-grade students were eligible to partake in the festivities, which turned the elementary school into fairgrounds two weeks ago.

Giant, inflatable slides brushed the ceiling of the gym, according to Saratoga Elementary School Librarian Ceile Fisher. A life-sized table soccer game stretched across a third of the gym floor, allowing kids to strap in and compete.

They bounced on an inflatable trampoline and tried to dunk a basketball against the pull of an elastic harness. They played table tennis in classrooms, danced in the cafeteria and challenged each other to shuffleboard and bowling. Two groups visited the town’s hot pool.

All this happened after a hearty sloppy Joe dinner.

That night, the kids settled in to watch “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” but Fisher said it ended at about 11 p.m., an hour short of closing time.

“It was like six in the evening again,” she said of the kids who got their second wind.

The school uses a reading program known as Accelerated Reader, which asks students to set and meet reading goals throughout the year. Each book in the program — about 100,000 total — has an assigned point value based on length and reading difficulty. Each also has a test that assesses the students’ reading comprehension. The test scores determine how many points a student earns toward their goal.

An average picture book for first- through third-grade students is worth about a half of a point. A chapter book like those in the “Harry Potter” series are worth about 25 points, Fisher said.
Goals are set based on the child’s grade level, reading ability and allotted time for reading at school and at home.

“It’s really fun. The kids love it,” Fisher said.

The reading program has been used for about 10 years, but only recently have the celebrations become so elaborate, Fisher said. Previous events have included a sleep over, a beach day with beach games and stories, and outings such as bowling, sledding and cross-country skiing.

If students meet half of their fourth-quarter goal by mid-May, they have the chance to throw a whipped cream pie in Principal Dave Rangitsch’s face. They get more pies — up to five — for every five points above the halfway mark.

For students who fully meet their year-end goal, they should be rewarded in late May with a lunch at Saratoga’s Hotel Wolf and a root beer float party with dancing.

School board irked by RHS students

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

In last week’s meeting, Carbon County District 1 School Board members complained about the attitudes and behaviors of Rawlins High School students.

Dave Dingman mentioned qualms about post-lunch tardiness as well as cell phone distractions. Juli Miller questioned the level of respect students have for fellow community members.

“It’s a frustrating event for our staff,” Dingman said of the students’ fifth-period lateness.
Dingman and other board members questioned whether students should continue to be permitted to leave campus each day.

Addressing cell phones, Dingman noted that students sometimes threaten each other and use what he called “vile language” in text messages.

“If you look up the word ‘weapon’ in a dictionary,” he said, “you can almost bridge the gap there.”

Despite the school’s “out of sight, out of sound” policy on the phones, board members acknowledged that students are often so quick and quiet, it is hard to catch them in the act. Dingman said that, aside from the threats, text messaging is a general distraction. Board members again questioned the existing district policy.

According to Miller, last week some students came into McDonald’s not long before the school’s lunch period ended. They jumped ahead of the long line to place their order. After repeated requests from Miller, the students waited their turn.

“I’m just amazed at the sense of entitlement and absolute lack of respect of these kids,” Miller said. “They need to be representing themselves and the community well. And I don’t know what to say because it often starts at home and we can’t fix that in school.”

Also at the meeting, board members:

• Appointed a selection and interview committee for the proposed elementary school’s construction manager.

• Awarded the Little Snake River Valley gym resurfacing project to Wyoming Wood Floors for $12,950.

• Approved a $251,310 contract with Hutch’s Hi-Country Plumbing and Heating for the Rawlins High School small gym boiler.

• Heard a recommendation from board member Kristi to re-evaluate the school’s activity budget prior to the upcoming budget session. According to Groshart, there is a bigger budget but fewer participating kids. The evaluation may lead to a cut in funding for less popular activities.