The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – July 24, 2026

Published on July 24, 2026

My favorite time of year is here – Cheyenne Frontier Days. As mayor, I love getting to meet people from all over the world that come to Cheyenne to see our community at its very best, hosting the World’s Largest Rodeo and Western Celebration for an amazing 130 years now. I did a quick internet search to see what events are older than CFD, and not many American events of similar scale are older than 130 years. The Tournament of Roses Parade is at 136 years; the Kentucky Derby, 151 years; Westminster Kennel Club, 149 years; Prescott Frontier Days, 138; and Mardi Gras from the early 1700s. What makes CFD so amazing to me is the huge number of volunteers who make all the events possible. I am so proud of them and want to thank each of you for helping welcome visitors to the Cowboy State.

The city of Cheyenne has a namesake nuclear submarine, the U.S.S. Cheyenne. It is the third ship named for our city. The U.S.S. Cheyenne, SSN 773, is a Los Angeles-Class attack submarine. She went into service in 1996 and recently went under a complete refit and reactor refuel to allow her to serve for another decade or more. There is a big competition between the crew members for recognition as sailor of the year, as that comes with the opportunity to come to Cheyenne to represent the boat at CFD. This year, we were honored to have the Sailor of the Year, Junior Officer of the Year, and Junior Sailor of the Year join us for a few days. They spent time making community visits like the VA, Boys & Girls Club, and an F.E. Warren base visit; and they got participate in many of the CFD events: flipping pancakes at the breakfast, marching in the parade, rodeo, night show, and so much more. The connection between the boat and the city is amazing, and it is the U.S.S. Cheyenne committee here that makes sure it happens. Thanks Meagan and your team for the year around effort to support the U.S.S. Cheyenne.

Judy and I get to participate in a few of the CFD events during the week and we have so much fun doing so. The four parades are a marvel to me. So many moving parts and coordination required to bring the parade downtown. We ride each parade in a beautiful carriage. What amazes me are the drivers and their teams that come from all over to take part in our celebration. The drivers bring their teams and spend two weeks bringing our carriages to life. We have had drivers from Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Laramie so far. They tell me they love it and come back year after year. Our city council has made large investments to make the parades and other outdoor events safer with vehicle barricades that are designed to stop any vehicle from coming onto the parade route and endangering our spectators. I love riding in the parade and welcoming folks to Cheyenne. Thank you to everyone who has a part in the parade and those who support the effort with security and cleaning up after. It is a real team effort.

Another opportunity to ride in one of those beautiful carriages is the Grand Entry for the rodeo. Judy and I get to take part in each rodeo. I still get excited when the cannon goes off and the music plays, signaling the rodeo is starting. I enjoy watching the horsemanship of the young ladies who make up the Dandies as they ride in the arena holding sponsor flags.

I spend a few minutes each day walking through the sponsor boxes to say thank you. We have an amazing rodeo, but without the generosity of our sponsors, our rodeo would not thrive as it does today. I hear from them their appreciation for CFD and their love of being part of it.

The Morning Star American Indian Village opened this week. It has been a passion project for Renee Middleton, the executive director of the CFD Foundation. She gave Judy and I a tour of this amazing facility. What really impressed me was the great lengths the team that designed the Village went through to include the Native tribes in all aspects of the design. I love the wooden beams that are so prominent in the design, the amazing Native murals on the buildings, and the calming sense of place you feel as you walk around. The sunken dance arbor is surrounded by room for almost 1,000 people to watch the performances. Our tour concluded right when the dance performance was getting ready to start. I joined First Lady Jennie Gordon for the Honor Dance and really enjoyed meeting some of the dancers. Thank you, Renee.

Special thanks need to be given to the Hughes Charitable Foundation. Wayne and Molly’s donation of more than $10 million made the vision and dream possible. I met them before the rodeo Grand Entry and thanked them for all they have done to make CFD dream big and the Morning Star Village possible.

A couple of highlights for me this week. The first was flipping pancakes on Wednesday. I love this event and the Kiwanis Club for their decades of feeding Cheyenne during CFD. It is fun to watch how well organized their team is. Everyone has a job and they just get it done. I spent time walking up and down the line meeting folks from all over the world who couldn’t believe we do this three times a week. Bonus – the pancakes were delicious.

The second highlight was the Day of the American West. The day honors the importance of the tradition and cultural history of the American West. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum signed the proclamation a year ago and we celebrated on Thursday. I appreciate his coming to Cheyenne. It gave Gov. Gordon and others the opportunity to share the challenges and opportunities found in Wyoming to the department responsible for so much of our state. Secretary Burgum and the Governor spoke so well about the important impact of the west in our nation.

Col. Holmes welcomed the local community to the base to remind us of the important relationship we share. Cheyenne and the base were both created in 1867, and we have grown together for 159 years. Our military has participated in every CFD for 130 years. I cherish the friendships made with the base.

I love watching bull riding, and the Extreme Bulls night show is so much fun. The bulls won more than the cowboys again this year, but Wyoming bull rider Hayden Welsh dominated with two rides of over 90.

One business aspect of CFD: many people come to the rodeo that have been thinking about investing in our economy. LEADS and the Wyoming Business Council host them and I love getting to meet them and talk about Cheyenne. Diversifying our economy, creating quality jobs to keep folks in Wyoming, and building our tax base are important goals. CFD gives our economic development teams a platform to show off Cheyenne, make connections, and meet the goals.

This week wasn’t all CFD, we did meet with Lotus Engineering to discuss how they could help us with understanding the impact of power generation on our air quality. What best practices should be implemented to mitigate greenhouse gases? Recently announced power projects make understanding the industry important going forward.

I love this week of celebrating our western heritage. I hope everyone finds something they enjoy about the week and gets to take part in it. Thank you to the amazing volunteers who spend their week giving back to our community, and our dedicated City employees who are working every day to support the Daddy of ‘em All!