LUSK-Dragons love tacos and Senator John Barrasso loves reading. So, it was only natural to find the Senator reading a copy of Adam Rubin’s Dragons Love Tacos to an energetic crowd of youngsters at the Lusk Early Childhood Center on Tuesday, February 20. Barrasso praised the center for its work with young children and its educational contributions to the Town of Lusk.  

“This program does such a great job in the community,” Barrasso told the Herald. “They’re all around the state of Wyoming. I really wanted to come here to do this. I’ve heard so many good things about the Lusk program.”

Barrasso also praised his selection of reading material for his youthful audience. Rubin’s Dragons Love Tacos is a #1 New York Times bestseller and occupies more than a few bookshelves at schools across the country. It explores two objects of youthful affinity… dragons and tacos. These two occasionally spicy artifacts of pop culture are also near and dear to the Senator.

“I love that book,” said Barrasso. “My kids loved it. Dragons love tacos. Who doesn’t love tacos?”

Initially, Barrasso was slated to make an appearance at the center in January. Unfortunately, that reading session had to be rescheduled because of heavy snowstorms. However, Tuesday’s weather decided to cooperate with the Senator, whose itinerary is understandably robust during weekends.

“I travel the state every weekend,” Barrasso said. “This is a holiday weekend in the Senate. So, I’m traveling the state. I’m going to meet with the Legislature. We’re headed to Cheyenne from here.”

Barrasso stated that he would also be meeting with medical students who are participating in the WWAMI program. WWAMI is an acronym for those states that are served by the University of Wyoming’s School of Medicine. They are Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. WWAMI significantly reduces educational costs by providing in-state tuition rates for every segment of the program. Tuitions are subsidized by each student’s home state. The program was formed to address the shortage of primary care physicians in rural areas like Wyoming. Barrasso hopes to see more doctors practicing in the Cowboy State.

Barrasso said, “They [medical students] go to the University of Washington in Seattle for their medical school. The idea is to get them to come back to Wyoming and practice. I was a doctor for a long time in Casper. I took care of a lot of families from Lusk. We need to make sure we keep a wonderful healthcare facility and hospital here. We need to make sure that we can continue to get Wyoming-trained doctors home to Wyoming to take care of Wyoming patients. The best way to get them to stay here long-term is for them to be from here originally.”

Of his youthful audience, Barrasso said, “They’re inquisitive. They’re bright. They look at the pictures. They see the words. They recognize the letters. They count real well. These young kids are going to make us proud.”