Casper kids will have one more option for reading this summer.

This time, history is the focus, and the program will happen in the newly renovated Fort Caspar museum.

The Wyoming Humanities Council recently gave the museum a grant to bring two Wyoming children's authors to the historical site to kickoff Fort Caspar's new summer reading program.

This isn't the first grant for the Fort Caspar Museum, said Erin Rose, the curator of education, but it is the first grant after the museum's expansion.

"It's exciting to have this opportunity to bring some of the youth in the community to the museum and expose them to the rich history we have here," Rose said.

The two authors, Eugene Gagliano from Buffalo and Kenneth Thomasma from Jackson, will begin the summer-long reading program.

Gagliano will read his books "C is for Cowboy: A Wyoming Alphabet Book" and "Four Wheels West: A Wyoming Number Book." Both focus on letters and numbers with a Western theme.

Thomasma will read portions of "Naya Nuki: Shoshoni Girl Who Ran," to older children.

Museum director Rick Young said the reading series, as well as upcoming traveling exhibits, are one of the reasons for the new expansion.

"The multi-use room and classroom have allowed us to do the programming we have wanted to do but didn't have the space to do it. It also makes us more year-round. In the past, the few programs we were able to accomplish, we had to do outside and hope for good weather."

On Tuesday, the museum will have a spring break series for children about what life was like on the new frontier, something Young said would not have been possible in the past.

The summer reading program will not conflict with the summer programs at the Natrona County Public Library, Young said.

Contact city reporter Christine Robinson at (307) 266-0639 or christine.robinson@trib.com



Upcoming Fort Caspar events:

March 11-14, 2-3 p.m.: Adventure on the Plains

April 19, 10 a.m. to noon: Family program with the traveling exhibit: "Washakie: Through the Lens of Time."

April 25, 7 p.m.: Gregory Franzwa lecture and book signing

May 18, 2-4 p.m.: Family program with the traveling exhibit: "Howdy! From Big Wonderful WYOMING"



For more information:

For more information about the Fort Caspar museum or its programs, call 235-8462 or visit www.fortcasparwyoming.com