Sunday, May 30, 2010

May 30, 2010 Gabriel Thomas Poulson 6th Birthday

Happy Birthday Gabe.

Is there anything you have now that you have kept from your childhood?
There are several things. I have an old upright Zenith broadband radio, my father's old .22 rifle, a couple of other old radio's that were antiques (actually I don't have those radio's anymore since no one thought that they were worth keeping around so I was talked into taking them to Deseret Industries.) I still have my father's old ammo box converted into a photo paper exposer. It was used to transfer the negative to the photo paper. I have a number of my old books as well and several of my model cars and trinkets from my youth. There were a lot of things that I loved as a child and have a great deal of meaning to me.


Friday, May 28, 2010

May 29, 2010

Tell about the closest friend you had during your childhood.

I had two close friends, one boy and one girl. You have heard a lot about both of them throughout these stories. The boy, Don Hansen and the girl, Marie Behrmann, your mother. I spent lot of time with Don hunting rabbits and doing scouting. Then I spent a lot of time with Marie as I had a chance to at church functions and school activities. I really didn't have a lot of free time since I had chores and work to do on the farm for a good share of each day when I wasn't in school. Don likes Marie as well so we spent a lot of time as a trio also much to Marie's dismay but she put up with him.

May 28, 2010

Did you play a musical instrument?

I played two instruments. The Alto Saxaphone and the Trumpet. Dad played the Sax for a lot of years in a dance band with his brother and sister. They played throughout a lot of the basin. Anyway I played dad's old Sax from 7th grade until 9th at which time I shifted to the trumpet for two years and back to the Saxaphone for my last two years. We played at the basketball games (Duchesne didn't have football) and then had special bands such as a dance band that we played with in competition and then played for the drama plays. It was really a lot of fun.

May 27, 2010

Share a special memory of Memorial Day.

I have a jumbled memory that is probably a composite of several trips to Holden. However I do remember going to see Uncle Mark and Uncle Hart that had fought in the Koren war. One of them had lost his legs and the other had also received many wounds that I do not remember what they were. Anyway we went to Holden where my father had spent the first four years of his life and where his parents were buried. While there tough I remember listening to Uncle Mark's stories and how fun he was to listen to that day. I also met some of my other relatives that knew their names but had never seen. It was a special experience.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

May 26, 2010

Tell about Memorial Day traditions in your youth.

Grandma always had beautiful flowers by the time it was Memorial Day so we would go cut several bunches of them and take them to my Grandmother and Grandfather Poulson's graves in Holden. It was always a very long day and we would then go to Centerfield to do the graves there as well. In my teenage years I think it was getting harder on dad to travel so we didn't do it nearly as much as I had remembered earlier. There were a few family relatives in the Duchesne Cemetery that we would also take flowers to so that we could decorate those graves.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

May 25, 2010

Describe a very proud moment in your childhood?

Well other than graduating from High School, and receiving my Eagle rank, I would probably have to say one of the moments that made me most proud was catching a fly ball out in right field. I only played one summer and that was not a real good year so having caught the one and only fly ball to right field was pretty amazing. I really don't remember much of that season other than that one catch and riding my bike to Duchesne every time we had a practice or a game. I seem to remember going to the store for treats after the game and enjoying it more than playing. Maybe that was why I only played one year.

Monday, May 24, 2010

May 24, 2010

Tell of someone you envied and why?

It would probably have to be Leesa because she was so smart. However I finally got to catch up a little as I got to 9th grade and started getting straight A report cards, something she had always been able to get . She was also very good on the piano but I had to realize that I had my chance, we started piano lessons the same year and I stopped after just 8 weeks. Oh well I was only 8 at the time and hated the piano at that time also.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

May 23, 2010

Did you have homework during your school years?

Well if I did I don't remember it very well. I might have had a few days of homework but I can't think of any. Our teachers usually gave some time in class for doing homework and I took advantage of it as well as the time before and after school in the library. I think the teachers were a lot more aware of the work they gave us since they knew a lot of us also had responsibilities on farms and had work to do after we got home. I probably could have taken more home but didn't.
Then I got to college and had a shock of a lifetime with homework that kept me busy well into the night a lot of days. It was a totally new world.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

May 22, 2010

How many students were in your high school? approximately 300.

In your graduating class? A grand total, still holding the school record, of 54.

Duchesne had a lot of activity during my high school years adding a lot of people to the towns head count and census. There were a lot of oil well people working the new fields and Starvation Dam was being built so there were a lot of people with the government in town. That was what created the largest class ever to go through school.

Friday, May 21, 2010

May 21, 2010

What year did you graduate from high school? What do you recall about your feelings, emotions, hopes and dreams at this time of your life?

1971, at the age of 17. I was close to the youngest in my class. I think one girl was younger.
I was a bit scared about the future as well as excited for it. I knew I would have a full year in college before I could go on a mission so since Lynn and Leesa were both attending Snow I applied for and received a scholarship to SnowCollege in Ephraim, Utah. It was a small school but highly accredited and had an electronics program which I had decided that I wanted to go into. I knew I would miss MArie terribly but did look forward to dating without fear of judgement. (I did date that year also and I also dodged and ducked from one girl that was chasing me.) It was a good time of my life but one filled with a lot of questions and few answers. The answers did come however and I have enjoyed all of my life with the challenges and activities that I have had and done that never crossed my mind at that time.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

May 20, 2010

Tell about your graduation exercises or traditions.

When I graduated I was the Salutatorian of my class which meant I had t write a talk for graduation. I really don't remember much about my graduation except that it was held in the gym of the High School. However I do remember the night. The local movie theater stayed open for a show from about 11 PM to 1 AM. W, Pauline, Marie, and I went to the movie and then went home. I wanted to stay up all night just because I never had before so we played games for awhile until they became to tired and fell asleep. I then went outside and tore down the sheds behind the barn to stay awake. Little did I know the plans that would be put into motion the next day. Dad came home from getting the mail and asked if I wanted a summer job. I ended up working from 10 PM till 6 AM every night for the remainder of the summer at the Texaco station at the west end of town.

May 19, 2010

If you have another photograph of your childhood to share , place it here.

My foster sister Pauline Shepherd (Novak) Denetsosie

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

May 18, 2010

Share another memory involving a war during childhood or youth.

I am actually going to answer this question from an experience in my young adulthood not earlier because it has been a major part of my life. When I was newly married and worked for American Television my boss Carl sponsored an electronic technician from Viet Nam. His name was Khoi Ngoc Vu. Khoi became a very dear friend to me through the next two years as we worked together at the television shop. I then left AM TV and went to Signetics. About two years later I was able to get Khoi to get a job at Signetics. I really don't remember how it all went together but I was glad when he came and applied and we began working together again for several years. We took our children to his home several times to shop in his home store for special candy that he sold from his homeland. Khoi was the son of one of the French Diplomats from Viet Nam. He was Vietnamese and when the communists came in promising freedom from the french his father was one who helped them until he started to realize what they were really up to in their country. His father owned thousands of acres of land and Khoi said that when he rolled out the maps of their land they had to use magnifying glasses to be able to see the detail since it was crammed into a large map but made small enough to get it all onto the map that covered the large front room floor. When he discovered what was happening however he fled with his family to South VietNam leaving it all behind and grateful for their lives. They started from scratch again to make a living but never getting anywhere near the fortune that they held in the North. Then when Khoi, who was an attache to the American military, was told as he was going into a meeting to turn round and get his family out of the country and onto one of the boats headed for America, he turned around and went to the school and got his daughter and then went for his wife and went directly to a boat owned by his brother who then took them to the American ship. Khoi would have been killed had he not left at that point since the military was pulling out that day and the officer who was his friend gave him a head start to leave in time. They came to America into a tent city of sorts where they were being housed until people from America were able and willing to sponsor them and give them jobs. We were really lucky to have Khoi, his wife and his daughter come to Orem.

May 17, 2010

Share a memory involving a war during your childhood or youth.

The memory that comes to mind is one involving my Senior prom. We were decorating when Jack Skewes came into the gym (where we held all of our proms and dances). He was coming to tell his wife, Dea, that he had just received word that his brother, my cousin, had been killed in Viet Nam. Bobbie was close to my age and had only been in Nam for a short time when he was killed by friendly fire. A bomb had gone off and he was hit by shrapnel from the bomb. It hit Jackie pretty hard and I was glad that he was married to Dea so that he had a support system very close to him at that time even though as cousins we were also there.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

May 16, 2010

Describe your military experience or that of someone in your family.

I had an initial drat number of 314 or something high like that and therefore was never a consideration for the draft to go to the Viet Nam War.However Stanley was drafted and Clair went in as an MP so that he could avoid the draft. Clair served at Fort Ord in southern California and Stan went to Viet Nam. After Stan had been released from military service he came home and shared my room downstairs when he wasn't at college. He told me of some of the experiences that he had and some of the challenges in Viet Nam. He went to Viet Nam as an Army Corp Engineer. I don't know if he had any officer rank but I don't believe he did. He sat in the gunner seat as his partner would operate one of the large dump trucks. He told me once that the convoy would not stop for anything due to the dangers of sniper fire and ambush attacks so if a truck would get a flat tire you were left there. I don't know if they would then call in air support or anything but he was blessed to not have had that happen. There was one time when the driver was killed by a claymore mine that went off and Stan just had particles hit his jacket. Stan showed a picture of one of the trucks and told me that if he were to stand net to the tire he would barely come to the center of the tire or in other words the tires were a little over twelve feet tall.
Stan then received a blessing from the Lord which would end his military service and bring him home with an honorable medical release from the service. He woke one day and was seeing double. It wasn't blurry he said just two images of everything. he was sent to the military hospital in Japan and they could not discover the problem so after a month in the Japan hospital they sent him to the military hospital in Colorado. Still nothing could be detected as the cause and then one morning he awoke and the problem was gone. he was then released and has had one 5 minute attack in his life since that time. i am sure the Lord was saving him for service as a Stake President as well as a Bishop and other positions that he has held since tat time.
One time I discovered why Stan was made a rifleman or whatever they were called. We took the 22 rifles out and he showed me how he could hit walnut rolling down the bank from the canal in the driveway. He wouldn't even have to put it to his eye and would shoot them from the hip position. It was fun to see how well he could shoot. And then it became clear why he couldn't stay in the army without his proper eye sight.

I cannot leave this blog without making a comment about the sacrifice that other members of my family have given to our country. I had two great Uncles that fought in WW 1. Both of them sustained major injuries. I remember best Uncle Mark Johnson. He lost both of his legs and was in a wheel chair. However he was a lot of fun and I always loved it when we visited them in Holden on Memorial Day.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

May 15,2010

Tell about your high school prom or formal dance.

I don't remember a lot about my prom or Marie's even though I do remember that we went to them both of them and she was my date both times. I also remember her yellow dress and I believe it was for her prom. It doesn't matter so much as to which prom but rather the fact that she was so beautiful.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

May 14, 2010

Tell about the first dance you ever went to.

If my memory serves me correctly and usually it does(n't), I remember going to dances in Elementary school in the later grades. It was usually with a small piece of paper and ten names that we had to write down of girls that we would dance with and that was where we were first taught the square dance. Then in Junior High (or actually High School since 7th thru 12th grades were included) we continued by having special dances that were just for 7th -9th grades around the same time as the major dances for the high school only they were during the last two class periods of the school day. We were not allowed to go to the High School dances so that was how they appeased us. The only major dances that we had though were the Home Coming, Junior and Senior Proms. There were no girls choice dances. It was fun and we would have some less major dance after ball games on friday nights once in a while but even then they were very few. So to answer the question well I can't since I don't remember the first dance I ever went to. There were also dances that were put on by the church and they were even fewer.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

May 13, 2010

What kind of dances did you do as a youth?

Foxtrot, waltz, jitterbug, square, swing, ChaCha, Charleston, Tango. But do not ask me to remember any of them besides the waltz. I could always seem to dance that one pretty well. Marie and I were in a dance festival and practiced for several weeks then when it came time to go I became very sick and was unable to go. I have never forgotten how I let her down.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

May 12, 2010

Tell a favorite singer and a song that he/she sang.

My song that I remember the most is "Hey Jude" by a group called (and you may have never heard of them) The Beatles. It was special to me because it was a song that lasted seven minutes and I got to dance with Marie for about 5 minutes of it before another guy (Leon Mallow) tapped in and took her for the rest of the dance. And worse than that it was the last dance of the night. I did get to have the last word of the night with her since I walked her home after the dance. There were other songs that I liked and when I looked through the list the other day I could instantly recall the music in my mind. They actually made some really great songs during that area that are still popular today.

May 11, 2010

What was your favorite singing group or band?

It was probably “the Sons of the Pioneers” first and then the Monkee’s and the Beatles. However Neil Diamond has come to be my most favorite over the years as time has gone on and his songs have continued to be created aand sang as well as the old ones still being popular.

May 10,2010

Name some popular hit songs from your youth.

I went to the internet and was flooded with memories and was interested in how many I could still sing. Music does make an impact on our lives.

1960’s.

1960s Top Ten Dance Songs:

1. The Twist - Chubby Checker

2. Build Me Up Buttercup - Foundations

3. Sugar Pie Honey Bunch

Honey Bunch

- Four Tops

4. I Want You Back - Jackson 5

5. More Today Than Yesterday - Spiral Staircase

6. Heatwave - Martha and the Vandellas

7. Ain't Too Proud To Beg - Temptations

8. The Loco-Motion - Little Eva

9. Jimmy Mack - Martha and the Vandellas

10. Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley

Sunday, May 9, 2010

May 9, 2010

Do you remember any childhood songs or rhymes?

We sang all of the primary songs that were written at the time like "Give Said the Little Stream" and "Pop Corn Popping on the Apricot Tree". There were others but those are the two that come to my memory first. Then there were all of the nursery rhymes like"Little Boy Blue Come Blow your horn", Jack and Jill fell down the Hill", and "Jack Be Nimble Jack be Quick". Plus there were a host of them and it has been every fun going to Lori's preschool graduations and seeing them acted out by the children and they always do such a great job that it brings those rhymes back to my memory very vividly. I think though that there might be one or two that might post date my youth. I am looking forward to seeing them again at the end of May this year and I will have to pay a little closer attention to see if I knew them all and had just forgotten them or if there are really some new ones.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

May8, 2010

Relate your family Mother's day traditions, or tell me more about what kind of person your mother was.
Mother's Day traditions were always go to church and watch mother graciously receive the flower from the Bishopric, Sunday School and Relief Society. I think they were all a part of it. Then the rest of the day was spent at home doing the sabbath type things.
I would love to tell you more about my Mother however. Mom was a very loving and kind person, she got this trait from her mother and father. She was always very forgiving and loving toward anyone she knew or met or had any association with in her life. I remember her getting upset but can't remember her ever really getting mad. A story was told about her when we were gathered as a family after her funeral that was a good depiction of how she was as a person. It was told that mom felt really bad after hanging up on a caller trying to sell something over the phone. She felt very bad about having hung up on them. (Now I don't feel bad about hanging up on them and even often try to think of things that I can do to waste their time a little by just setting the phone on the counter until it starts to beep letting me know they gave up.) I know though that mother would let me know how unkind that was and that it was just their job and I should just be grateful I don't have to make a living doing that. Mother was kind to animals as well even though she still wouldn't allow them into the house even on the coldest of days, they had plenty of other areas where they could go to get warm such as all of the other buildings on the farm like the barn.
She was also very much into giving and not letting people pay for what she gave. An example of his was when we were visiting her sister in Mapleton and Aunt Zelma had given her some fruit from their orchard or something, I can't really remember what it was for. Well Aunt Zelma, a younger sister to mother, wouldn't have anything to do with it either and she promptly lovingly handed it back. They were just raised in the same home however so mother promptly returned it to her again. I don't recall how times this sequence was replayed but Aunt Zelma finally gave up and took me off into another room, gave me the money (I think it was 5 dollars) and told me to give it to mom after we were a long ways away from their home. Well I waited for a long distance, to a child, and gave it to her after we were about a half mile from their home. Dad was instructed to turn around and we returned to give it to Aunt Zelma one more time. I think that mother would have mailed it back to her even if I had waited until we got home to give it to her.
She also loved flowers and trees and would plant them all over the yard. The only instance where she was unable to get to grow one of her trees was when she planted a mighty Oak as a seedling that kept getting ran over by the lawn mower. Dad didn't mean to do it but it was just to small to see. It never made it but a lot of other trees of various kinds did and a whole lot of flowers as well. There were even a number of rock gardens that were planted around the farm because mother loved beautiful rocks of all sizes.
So that is just a little more about my mother whom we all loved very much. She and dad were a very perfect union and thus she would never remarry after dad passed away even though she had someone who wanted to marry her. She was in love with dad and no one else. She spent her 21 years without him going on a mission, taking care of Great Aunt Zelma until her passing at a ripe young age of 104, doing temple work and family history work. She loved her family and grand and great grand children and spent as much time with them as possible as well.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

May 7, 2010

Tell about some good advice your mother gave you.

There were may times that my mother gave me good advice and the one that sticks out in my mind the most was “The Holy Ghost goes to bed at midnight so be home before then.” It was good advice then and good advice now. Obviously the Holy Ghost never goes to bed but our ability to listen to him becomes more weak the later it becomes in the night or earlier it becomes in the morning. So when I was dating I was always asked to be home by midnight and knew that mom would be awake when I got there. Actually she was always awake until midnight or after and Saturday nights were especially bad because the kitchen floor had to be mopped before we could go to bed and it always seemed like it was almost midnight before we could get to it.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

May 6, 2010

May 5, 2010 Leilah Poulson birth
We are welcoming a beautiful child into the world, Leilah Poulson. 6 lbs 19 inches.

Also the question for the day is:
Tell a favorite memory of your mother.

There are a hundred stories I could probably tell about mother but none come to mind at the moment. I spent a lot of time with mom in the library for several years and really cherish the time that we were able to spend together then. A story that just came to mind is when Richard was engaged to Lauren we found out that mom had spent her mission in South Dakota when Lauren's father was a young Elder in the mission. There is a picture that shows them with their companions when they served in one area together. It was an interesting connection and the world got a lot smaller when we found out.
I'll have to tell more later. It is bedtime.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

May 5, 2010

Did your mother ever make anything for you?

Yes, an awful lot of dinners, etc. However I am guessing this is more along the lines of something specifically for me. Well the only thing that I can think of is a stuffed bear that was made from the old fabric that had been used to cover the couch. Most of you will remember the couch that we had while you were growing up and it was that couch that had been reupholstered giving way for fabric to make a few stuffed animals for the children.

Monday, May 3, 2010

May 4, 2010

Were you ever bitten by a dog?

Well this one is easy to answer.

No.

I had a dog that I loved and later pups that were a lot of fun but I was never bitten by any of them or by any of the neighbors dogs as well.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

May 2, 2010

How much do you remember paying for an ice cream cone?

We always referred to them as Dime Cones or 10 cent cones. It was a real treat to get an ice cream cone but my favorite ones were the ones we got in Roosevelt after every visit to the dentist Dr Mantyla. He would always give us a free ice cream cone certificate after we had been to have our cavities filled. It seemed kind of strange to have sugar right after going to the dentist but it would keep bringing patients back to him. That wasn’t why he did it I am sure but does seem strange. They were always good to eat though.

May 3, 2010


Did you have a treehouse?

No, but I had plenty of trees to climb and play in as we had an apple orchard as part of our yard.

Here is a story about one of those trees.

Climbing the Green Ash tree in the yard.

Boys just love to climb and trees were made just for boys who love to climb no matter how dangerous that might be to the boy. Well we had many trees around our yard because mom liked trees or Nana did earlier that that. There were two trees though that were my favorite ones, a green ash tree and a Red Delicious apple tree. The apple tree because I could climb up it’s trunk and into the top branches when they were loaded with apples and then slide down the top of the branches to the ground, a round trip sort of thing. I di that countless times and maybe that was why it seemed to have grown so old when I returned from my mission. The green ash tree however was a different sort of challenge. It had a trunk that went up for several feet before the first branch so I had to shinny up that distance before being able to climb onto the branch and rest. It seemed like that branch was 100 feet off the ground because my first tow or three years attempting the climb always ended in failures due to the distance of that first limb. I did finally conquer the methods and talents and skills necessary and had many successful climbs. I returned a few years ago with these memories in my mind and I was shocked at how low that first branch was to the ground, well it must have dropped twenty feet through the years after I had stopped climbing, or else my perspective had changed as I grew taller. You can probably guess which was the real thing.