TORRINGTON – Summertime madness is now moving and in full swing within the city limits of Torrington.

As nearly every single resident knows, summertime without a doubt has to be the busiest time of year for so many local entities. 

Appropriately as Alice Cooper once famously said, “School’s out for Summer.”

This of course could only mean the time for outdoor concerts, grilling barbecues, baseball games and trips to the lake are in full gear. With this fact, the need for community support and engagement perhaps is at its highest.

While entering his second summer as Mayor of Torrington, local attorney Herb Doby has once again sincerely advocated for as much community involvement as possible. Additionally, mayor Doby has also steadily given well-deserved admiration and appreciation for all local and county officials who continue to keep public fulfillment and safety a top priority.

“Summer is the busiest time of year for the city, and it’s because we have all our seasonal employees,” Doby began. “I don’t know the exact number this year but we have well over 100. We have seasonals working in every department including 16 lifeguards, pool managers, and assistant managers working all the time. We also have the golf course which is incredibly active out there this time of year. In fact, they have all been incredibly busy, and we can be very proud of Dave Dent and all the fantastic work he’s doing.”

Mayor Doby additionally mentioned the fact Torrington’s own Cottonwood Golf Course has been recently ranked by various golf organizations and media as the single best public golf course in the state of Wyoming.

A wonderful achievement from both a social and economic standpoint in the eyes of Torrington’s mayor. As such, this local recognition could greatly increase visitors both in and out of state wishing to see firsthand the scenic beauty of the community’s now famous golf course.

“A major national golf website recently did a survey of Wyoming public golf courses, and Cottonwood now has the number one public golf course in Wyoming,” Doby said. “When more golfers find out about this, they of course are going to want to play the course just so they can say, ‘I’ve played the best public course in Wyoming.’”

According to Doby, summertime can be the best time of year when everyone is staying safe and looking out for one another, but can change in a heartbeat with just one imprudent decision.

Hence why Torrington’s mayor once again is strongly encouraging all residents to get out and enjoy the summer weather, activities, and events but always remain safe and attentive.

Even more so, it never hurts to show a little extra support and appreciation for local law enforcement and emergency personnel. According to Doby, this time of year is when they are indeed going to be the busiest, and are certainly going to need help where all residents can simply do their own part. 

As mayor Doby explained, sometimes we have to look back to understand where we are now and why.

“We haven’t had any major accidents in town which is a major blessing,” Doby continued. “The Founding Fathers of Wyoming in 1890 determined in the law the cities and towns were going to provide services for its residents to lead a civilized life. Back east they had private water and sewer systems, but of course not in Wyoming. That’s a year-round thing for us like our electricity, trash, water, sewer, streets, and alleys. As far as our police and fire departments, in the old days, they were busy in winter. That was usually when fires started. Summer is now the busy fire season, and Torrington’s Fire Department has already responded and helped with the recent rural fire. Torrington has not been hit by these severe storms lately, so we have been very blessed in that regard as we continue looking forward. Summer brings people out, and I’ve noticed a lot more people are out of their houses. That’s fantastic, and we of course don’t want residents to stay at home. But more things can happen this time of year. There tends to be accidents, and there’s just a little more crime because more people are out and about.”

When it comes to issues of local infrastructure on matters of public safety, Doby was both eager and readily prepared to talk about essential local road projects coming up, particularly on East D Street.

Additionally, however, there are   other areas the city is looking at closely when it comes to keeping predominantly older and young residents safe.

“I recently talked to [Torrington Police Department] Chief Matt Johnson about the intersection by the senior center,” Doby continued. “We are hoping by this late summer or early fall we can get that intersection redone. We agree it’s heavily used by older folks, and I’m even having to slow down and really watch out for pedestrians. Everyone’s definitely out and about now. With school out for vacation and everyone either walking around or on motorcycles, bicycles, or scooters; we just ask people really watch it when they are driving.”

“We are finally getting a project going which has been in the works for 15 years,” Doby continued. “It will be East D Street from Maverick all the way up to 30th. There are going to be new water, sewer, and storm lines, as well as new curb gutters and pavement. Just by personal observations East D is probably our busiest street. In my opinion, it’s even busier than West C. We are hoping if everything lines up, hopefully by March or April of next spring we can get started on that. The plan right now is to tackle two blocks at a time.”

When it came to the acknowledgment of hard work by both local officials and residents, Mayor Doby conspicuously discussed a recent interaction with two individuals each from both the west and east coasts of the U.S. 

According to Doby, both visitors had meaningful and striking things to say surprisingly about outstanding maintenance work in regard to Torrington’s local cemetery.

“I had a couple of young lawyers come into my office right after Memorial Day. One was from Washington and the other was from Florida, and they stopped and talked to me about a case they happened to be working on. They spoke very candidly about how we have such a nice little town and said how much they really appreciated our cemetery. Almost every single grave was decorated, and the flags were graciously being put on. From where they came from they said they just don’t see that in a lot of places these days, and how nice it is we are kind of traditional in that aspect. It was amazing to speak to two people from either end of the country who thought Torrington was one of the best and cleanest places they had ever seen.”

As Mayor Doby knows and explained only too well, it takes a village for everyone to stay safe and enjoy the fun peaceful atmosphere a town like Torrington has to offer. 

Understandably enough by all accounts, it would seem Torrington in and of itself could be a dying societal breed when it comes to simple community involvement, cleanliness, courtesy, and respect for its own residents.

However, if time has proven one thing according to Doby, the old traditional ways as such are not going anywhere anytime soon, and if everyone simply continues doing their part individually, this old and quiet little railroad town still has plenty of good years ahead.

Realistically, Torrington’s best days may still lie ahead. According to the hinted words of Mayor Doby, we may only be getting started.

“We are so extremely blessed to have enough volunteers help to pull it all off,” Doby said. “I’m very glad our kids still want to be active in this day and age where so many want to sit inside and play video games. They need to get out and exercise, and they need to be getting out into the fresh air. I don’t know what we would do without them and all the activity they bring. We certainly appreciate the teams and parents for all the help. I don’t think we could pull it off without all the extra help we have around here, and it is always greatly appreciated.”

“We all want that. To continue to have a nice, safe, and pleasant town for all of us to live in. If we just keep working together, we will always have that.”