STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
The first time Kathy Wygle rode in the Wagon Days Parade it was on a hobby horse.
On Saturday she and her sister Patsy Wygle rode aboard a City of Ketchum wagon sporting tiaras on their cowboy hats as grand marshals.
The two were recognized for their contribution to the arts of the community, which included founding Laughing Stock Theater in the days before there was a Company of Fools, St. Thomas Playhouse, The Spot or even Sun Valley Shakespeare Festival.
“They’ve never been on stage before so be gentle. They might get stage fright,” quipped Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw as he commended the two for connecting the community through theater.
Kathy Wygle said she came to Sun Valley while in college and fell in love with the community and the camaraderie she found here--everything she had rebelled against in Bellevue, Wash.
Patsy Wygle recounted how she went away to the big pond--that is, New York, where she met her late husband Keith Moore.
They came back to Sun Valley to work with Laughing Stock Theater and the theater department at Sun Valley Community School and found happiness away from the Big Apple.
“When Keith became sick, we would have been so lonely had we been in New York. But the love and warmth we felt from this community was overwhelming,” Patsy added.
“This is a cool tribute to a cool family—they put a lot of work into the community,” said Jan Armstrong, who has played poker with the Wygle sisters for 40 years.