Night of Discovery Gala For NHMW

Keeping dinosaurs in Wyoming was the theme of the second annual Natural History Museum of Wyoming fund raising gala held on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Tom Hebert, executive director of the museum, welcomed the crowd and introduced the first speaker, Shelia Flynn, wife of the late Mike Flynn, who started the museum in Sheridan. She said he was the first one to discover Caesar, the dinosaur whose replica now stands on the second floor of the Edward A. Whitney Academic Center at Sheridan College.

Hebert talked about Flynn and thanked the volunteers who helped him keep the museum going.

Hebert also talked about why the funding for the museum is important.

He talked about another museum that recently closed.

Hebert is passionate about keeping Wyoming fossils in Wyoming.

Following the dinner, Tristen Schroeder, summer intern and guest youth advocate at the museum, was the keynote speaker.

Schroeder said he looked into other possible career paths, such as wildlife biology and veterinary medicine. He said shadowed veterinaries and attended a game and fish camp, exploring them as possible career paths. “While all were very interesting, none of them seemed to fill the desire I harbored within me.” he said.

He said that the Natural History Museum here in Sheridan offers many hands-on opportunities,

Following the keynote speech, there was a raffle, a live auction with several interesting items, including joining a private dinosaur dig for dinosaur bones, a Gulf Coast Shark Expedition in Florida, and a vacation in Mexico. There were also many items in the silent auction as well.

There was also a surprise reveal of new fossils found at the Newcastle dig site,

He added that so far, they have dug up 20 species of dinosaur, and some are brand new species.

A good crowd attended the event and there was good participation in the live auction.

Western music and songs were provided by Rich Bratten for the audience’s dancing and listening pleasure to conclude the event.