John Kadlick

by Christi Marsico
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 2:49 PM MST

Creating one of a kind gifts for others not only brings joy to those John Kadlick cares about, but also has inspired imaginative moments throughout his life.

Born and raised in Casper, Kadlick is one of five siblings. After he graduated from Natrona County High School and before he attended Casper College, he appeared in the 1968 movie, “Hellfighters” starring John Wayne.

Part of this film was shot outside of Casper in the Red Butte area, and Kadlick along with his brother, Frank were cast in the film.

“John Wayne was a great guy, and the only line I had was that I was supposed to get on this porch and yell,” Kadlick said.

With six days on the film set, Kadlick contemplated venturing out west to the bright lights of Hollywood.

“I could have gone to California, but I was a teenager and it was a real quick decision, and I decided to stay in Casper,” he said.

From the film set to raising a family, Kadlick’s imagination took root in Casper. One moment where his creative nature really came alive was when he decided to make a pirate game for his children.

“For the past 30 years, my kids and grandkids have played this game,” Kadlick said.

It took only a few days for him to make the game as he acquired and made silver, gold and chocolate coins, along with various figurines for the game pieces.

To help the pirates find their loot, he created clues that he typed up on different colored papers.

The game takes about 45 minutes to play and accommodates anywhere from 2-5 pirates.

Kadlick’s design inspirations for the game board came from various places, including his own neighborhood.

“At garage sales, I got these Disney magazines and they had these pictures and stories in them, and I glued them on the game board for looks,” he noted.

On days that the game could be played outside, Kadlick would bury Eisenhower dollars in different places at Adams Park, making sure there was one treasure for each pirate.

If the weather was fierce, it was all about inside imagination, “and the object of the game is to be the one who ends up with the most gold coins,” Kadlick said.

Creating happy memories for his family didn’t stop with the pirate game.

He decided to make a miniature in-scale model of the Casper Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Depot out of sugar cubes for his brother Frank, who retired this past June.

“When Frank retired, I got the idea to slap sugar cubes together to make him a depot,” Kadlick said.

Recently retired himself, Kadlick and his brother both worked as clerks at the depot for more than 30 years.

“I’d arrive and depart trains in the computer among other duties,” he explained.

Kadlick invested around 80 hours to complete this depot project and used 121 sugar cubes.

“I’d only work for an hour or two at a time because it was pretty tedious,” he said.

According to Kadlick, the hardest part about making the miniature depot was the windowsills.

He used a carpet knife to achieve the precise details for the windowsills and when it came to the other depot specifics, Kadlick aimed for accuracy.

“I used Elmer’s glue and a mixture of gray and red paint that gave the depot a purple color that really does look like depot bricks,” he added.

The last sugar cube was used for the dumpster and with added model accessories; the depot was completed in September.

With at least two more depots to make, Kadlick looks to the past to create the future.

“I’ve always been interested in history, especially Casper’s history and maybe that was some of my motivation for this project, and maybe I’ll make Fort Caspar someday,” he said.

Kadlick strongly believes there’s no one way to be creative, and with a man who enjoys giving as much as he does creating, he’s found many ways to make someone’s day.

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