FORT LARAMIE – On Saturday, August 24, the ladies of Pine Ridge Ranch hosted Fort Laramie’s first firefighter appreciation buffet of many, to thank local firefighters for their hard work. The idea for this buffet started with Carolyn Matherne and she shared it with Linda Golden. They call themselves “Mastermind” and the “Stooge”. 

Matherne and Golden shared with the Telegram where the idea came from.

Earlier this month, the people of Pine Ridge Ranch, the area in which Matherne and Golden live, experienced a horrific fire around their homes. The fire was started by a lightning strike during a storm. The majority of Pine Ridge is full of dry weeds and grass. There is only one exit for the residents. The valleys, ditches, and strong winds experienced in the area caused the fire to spread and made it difficult to subdue. 

“Dickey (Matherne’s husband) was standing on the porch, and I was walking up from our shop, and he said, ‘Lightning just struck right down at Linda’s’ and he said, ‘Look it’s on fire. It’s burning’ I called her (Linda), and I said, ‘You are on fire.’” Matherne shared. 

The wind in the Pine Ridge Ranch area is very strong. The ladies shared how the wind shifted about three times during the fire, spreading it further and further. One small fire in strong winds can get much larger very quickly. 

“Well, they let some of it burn, especially when there’s the ones with no buildings,” Golden said. 

“And they can’t get down in the canyons,” Matherne added.

“The wind shifted, and it was constantly shifting,” Golden continued.

Matherne came from the Texas/Louisiana area where they frequently experienced natural disasters in the form of hurricanes. It is very common for the townspeople to come together after these disasters to make large meals for the brave people who worked to help them.

“The hurricanes are every year, and when you live in a community, we always had a generator and we didn’t live where it flooded, but we had people, family, people that we didn’t even know, that literally, you had to help them. They lost everything, every year just about, and we were just used to doing that we were used to putting together food,” Matherne explained. 

Matherne shared how she drove for 36 hours, a drive which should’ve only taken eight but was extended due to the conditions, with numerous people she helped, to share resources with those who needed it. She also shared how it is dangerous to stop anywhere at those times because people will do anything to get the resources she had. 

When Matherne moved here and experienced these havoc-wreaking fires, she thought about the way the community came together for those devastating situations back home. After these disasters, her former community came together to make lots of food for everyone impacted. She decided to share the same pleasant form of appreciation with the townspeople of Fort Laramie. 

Matherne pitched this idea to her friend and neighbor, Golden. The fire in Fort Laramie burned up to the back fence of own her home. She also has relatives who work to fight the fires. The firefighters worked for 36 hours, nonstop, to put out the fire so close to her home. Golden agreed the firefighters deserved to have appreciation shown for them. 

“The firefighters, some of them were out here for like 36 hours because they came and heard that fire was still burning. So, these boys come, and then the girls, I mean there’s girl firefighters too, but they just come, and they stay,” Matherne explained. 

Matherne and Golden then took this idea to the other women of the Pine Ridge Ranch. There was a mutual agreement of it being a great idea, especially with it being so close to them. 

In three weeks, the ladies of Pine Ridge Ranch worked to put together an appreciation buffet for firefighters all over. Matherne had decided their appreciation shouldn’t just be local. Firefighters come from all surrounding counties to help with a fire like this. The ladies opened the buffet to firefighters and their friends and families for as far as they would come. They also included all the townspeople of Fort Laramie for maximum appreciation. 

“My husband is used to making gallons of gumbo because you have to feed everybody. We empty out our freezer, we feed everybody. Everybody else does it too. Anything they got, they bring it. So, you know, I just expected people to do it here. This what we’re going to do we’re going to feed these boys. We’re going to tell them thank you. So, we needed it,” Matherne shared. 

Golden shared she also had experience in setting up events like this. She worked with special needs kids, and they did many fundraisers for special needs schools. She loved running those fundraisers for the kids. 

Something they both noticed, coming from out of state, is how the community isn’t as tight knit as most think it is. The ladies want to help build the community and help our locals learn how to come together even better for disasters such as this. For this reason, they decided the firefighter appreciation buffet should be an annual event. 

They said even if there are not as many fires, appreciation should still be shown. They plan to have the firefighter appreciation buffet happen every year. Next year, the ladies would like to have it on August 23. Now, they have the entire year to plan the event and would like to make it even bigger and better. 

The final bit of wisdom shared by Matherne and Golden was their fire prevention techniques. They shared the importance of mowing the grass and weeds, especially the dry ones, nearby to prevent the spread toward your home. Matherne said insurance can come up with a big truck and put foam all over the house. They also shared how gravel around the house, trenches nearby, Hardie siding and metal rooms, which are fireproof, to better protect your home.