A group of League of Women Voters from Cheyenne and Laramie welcomed 16 new citizens at a naturalization ceremony Nov. 7, 2023, in Cheyenne.
The site, Prairie Wind Elementary School, was aptly named that afternoon, but it afforded a chance for fourth- through sixth-graders an opportunity not only to witness the oftentimes emotional ceremony but also to participate in it. The student council led the Pledge of Alliance; sixth-graders Jane Redd performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” and Tatum Ernste “God Bless the USA,” and students presented handmade cards to each new citizen.
Of the 16, one each came from the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Peru, Canada, United Kingdom and Serbia; two from the Philippines and Vietnam, and six from Mexico. U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Kelly H. Rankin presided over the ceremony.
U.S. District Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal thanked the new citizens “for choosing us” and reminded everyone to “remember we don’t pick up the welcome mat now and go home.”
Welcoming the new citizens were a dozen Cheyenne League of Women Voters members, who distributed red roses, Wyoming constitutions, voter registration information and an enamel vote pin. In addition, Nancy Lockwood, Wyoming LWV president from Laramie, and her husband, Jeff, and Margaret Brown, state LWV board member, also from Laramie, attended.
At the conclusion, all the children swarmed from the bleachers and efficiently grabbed the folding chairs from the guests because the school gym was no longer the U.S. District Court, District of Wyoming. Instead, it was time for a P.E. class.