Guy Cameron: 2020 has been a rough year on bars and restaurants across the state of Wyoming. And the revenues generated from cowboy skill games have kept many of these small businesses alive. Let’s meet David and Rhonda wetlander who own Wyoming amusement services from Barton on Wyoming.

David Waylander: My name is David Waylander and our business is Wyoming Amusement Services Inc. My wife Rhonda are partners. 

Rhonda Waylander: We’ve been part of Wyoming Amusement since 1991. We run pool tables, dark boards, jukeboxes, and Cowboy Skill games. These all go in bars in our area. 

Rhonda Waylander: We employ nine people. They go on-location, they fix equipment, and they travel all over. Our guys put a lot of miles on their trucks.

David Waylander: Kaycee to Glendo, over to Lusk, Wright, and Alcova and everything in between. 

David Waylander: Our customers are great. Bar owners are our customers but I also consider all the customers of the customers of the bars to be our customers.

Rhonda Waylander: I’m a little worried that people don’t understand how important the Cowboy Skill games are to the small, small mom and pop kind of places.

David Waylander: It’s a matter of helping them pay their bills, number one, keep all their employees employed, and hopefully buy some new equipment so they can expand their kitchen or do something new for their business. 

David Waylander: Cowboy Skill games help them draw in a few more customers.

David Waylander: I worry about losing the small town bars. You know the feeling when you go in there and you know the owner, you know the bartender, you know the swampers, and y’all get together and see each other and enjoy each other.

David Waylander: All of a sudden if it turns into big corporate casinos, then all of that is gone and the ma and pa bars are gone. And, you know, in the small communities, that’s where everybody goes.

Rhonda Waylander: It’s our livelihood. It’s what keeps us going, it’s what we want to do. It’s what we like to do. I get to go see Nancy at Frosty’s and check on her and how her kids are. I mean, it’s kind of you become a big family of friends.

David Waylander: We gave away a fair amount this year. 

David Waylander: We gave away to the first responders here in Casper. We also donated a van to a family that was really in need. 

David Waylander: The last thing we did was the Mullen Fire. I mean, to me, volunteer fire departments are huge. These guys have their own jobs so they are own their own time and when the fire happens or an accident happens, theydrop everything and go run it