Our Rotarian of the Week was born in Indianapolis and for the first few years of her life she lived within eyesight of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Her family moved to Cheyenne when she was 4 years old.
She attended Central High School in Cheyenne, home of the Indians, and graduated in 1973 with around 450 fellow students. Following high school, she accepted a scholarship to Mount Holyoke College in Western Massachusetts, the oldest women’s college in the US. Not finding connection in Western Mass, she came back to the West by transferring to Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where she obtained an undergraduate degree in Political Science.
After obtaining her undergraduate degree, she returned to Wyoming to attend the University of Wyoming College of Law, where she obtained her law degree.
She recalls that her first job was serving as an assistant public defender and her salary was $14,000 per year.
Along with Roslyn Baker, she was a member of Zonta Club of Cheyenne. On a long road trip to a Zonta meeting in Lamar, Colorado, she spent a fair amount of time discussing Rotary with Roslyn’s husband Dick. Dick encouraged her to join the Rotary Club of Cheyenne, and proudly served as her sponsor into the club.
Sylvia Hackl has much to be proud of in her career and one of her proudest achievements has been becoming the District Attorney of Laramie County.
She loves the Rotary Club of Cheyenne for numerous reasons, but first and foremost is the camaraderie and friendships she has made over her 26 years as a member of this club. She has been involved in several committees over the years, and it will come as no surprise that she has been the leader of the music committee for 26 years! She has also fondly been part of the “Read to Me” committee, the Christmas Party committee, and the Peaches committee. She also served as a board member for our club.
Her most memorable experience with Rotary was the first time her team, “The Barbarians,” participated in and won the Cranium Cup. In fact, that first victory also came with a first place in the Spirit Award. With the energy of that evening, she said she felt like Miss America. It is notable that The Barbarians have since won 4 additional titles of the Cranium Cup, and although they took 2nd place last time, they hope to restore order this year with another title.
Given the opportunity to have her choice of a meal, she would enjoy a venison pot roast with roasted potatoes, carrots, and fresh dinner rolls.
Sylvia loves to sing and has appeared in a variety of plays at the Cheyenne Little Theatre, as well as at LCCC. In her very limited free time, she enjoys spending time with her daughter Amanda (born exactly 2 weeks before she joined Rotary, so it is easy to keep track of how many years she has been a member), reading murder mysteries, and, weather permitting, taking a nice walk outside.
Fellow Rotarians, please stand and honor our Rotarian of the Week, Ms. Sylvia Hackl.
