At the Town of Ten Sleep council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 2, Nowoodstock organizer Pat O’Brien explained to council members how funding the music festival will change moving forward.

According to Ten Sleep Mayor Ernie Beckley, groups such as the Wyoming Arts Council had to make financial donations to Nowoodstock through the Town of Ten Sleep, and the town was the, “financial sponsor.”

Now, O’Brien said organizations can no longer donate to Nowoodstock through the town and that donations need to be given directly to an entity. Because of these changes, O’Brien said Nowoodstock is in the process of becoming a 501c(3) nonprofit so funding may continue and go directly to the festival.

O’Brien ended his statement by announcing that this will be his final year acting as organizer of Nowoodstock. “I really want to thank the Town of Ten Sleep for 23 years of working with us,” said O’Brien. He hopes that the relationship between Ten Sleep and the festival will continue into future years, and that he will still be available to help the festival as needed.

OTHER BUSINESS

Council members had a brief discussion regarding the ice rink not being able to open due to weather. “It’s cold enough at night, but then it has been warming up too much during the day,” said Beckley. It was reported that the heater in the warming hut is no longer functioning as well.

Maintenance Chief Todd Harstad reported that a young mountain lion has been seen near the edge of town over the past several days and that a game warden has been contacted.

The council’s second meeting will be Thursday, Jan. 18 at noon.