Episode Details

Wendy Corr:

Well, hey there folks, welcome to The Roundup. We are a Cowboy State Daily podcast that focuses on really interesting people in the Cowboy State. Oh my gosh, our enthusiasm today, I'm going to apologize in advance because our guest today and I have just been chit chatting before we get started recording, and we are going to have a ball today, and we hope that you're going to have as much fun as we are.

There are so many things that I want to ask De Shann about, but first I want to tell you about the Wyoming Business Alliance's "Business From the Basement" podcast. We love working with Wyoming Business Alliance. We love promoting what they do, because they're so helpful to people in Wyoming who are business, people who have an interest in business, who want to do better in their business.

So go ahead, give them a listen. Shoot on over to the Wyoming Business Alliance's, "Business From the Basement" podcast, and you won't be sorry. We're glad to have them as part of our team as well.

Now though, I want to make sure that you all know and get to know our guest today. This is De Shann Schinkel. De Shann, I hope that I'm pronouncing your last name right.

De Shann Schinkel:

You did Wendy, beautiful.

Wendy Corr:

De Shann Schinkel, she is the executive director of the Wyoming Senior Olympics. Now, I know, if you're like me, it's like, 'Oh, Senior Olympics. That's for actual athletes, or people who've always been athletic,' but that is not the case, and De Shann is going to tell us about that today.

But she has a great story of her own, and the people that she's met and the people that have influenced her life, and whose lives she has influenced, is just a story in itself. So I'm very pleased to introduce everybody to De Shann. Hello, De Shann! I'm so glad to have you on the podcast today.

De Shann Schinkel:

Hi, Wendy. Thank you guys so much for doing this for us and bringing me on. I appreciate it. We all appreciate it. Board of Directors for the Wyoming Senior Olympics.

Wendy Corr:

Well, I tell you, this is so fun for me, because the more that we chatted - beforehand, folks, we just had such a good time figuring out that Wyoming Senior Olympics, it's not just about these people who have been athletes and just want to continue that in their in their older years. The Wyoming Senior Olympics is about staying fit. It's about community, it's about so many things that are a part of who we are. And you don't have to be an athlete to participate.

On that note, De Shann actually is an athlete, so I'm going to let her tell her story. So De Shann, tell me how you got involved with Wyoming Senior Olympics.

De Shann Schinkel:

So I started at the age of 50. So I had heard about it. I was the recreation director in Rawlins. Heard about the Senior Olympics. Okay, you know, I'm still competing, I'm still running, I'm playing softball, playing volleyball, all that stuff. So let's see what this is about.

I looked, signed up, Wendy, for 16 events. My first go around at the age of 50, thinking, 'okay, I can do all this. You know, I'm going to run to the swimming pool. I'm going to do the swim, swimming events. I'm going to go to the triathlon. I'm going to try out the triathlon. I'm going to go do track events.'

I went and did track events. By the end of that weekend, the individuals, the people I met, they're a family. They - you know what? That saying you don't have to be blood to be family is so true. Wendy, I met some amazing, amazing people.

Bill Stone, at the time, was the president. I met him, and I was just like, in awe of all they put on for these senio