Have you attended any high school reunions? What impressed you the most?
Yes I have attended all but one I believe. I have enjoyed them and was impressed by how much the school had changed from when we were there of course now it has been torn down and a whole new school was built where my old elementary school stood. However the thing that impressed me the most was how much weight Wendell Moon had gained. He was always tall in school and when I would walk to places with him I really had to lengthen my stride to keep up, which turned me into a very fast walker with long strides. But when we went to the reunion he was a big man and probably two or three times the size he was in high school. Most of us had changed but I was voted the one who had not changed (appearance wise) from the day we graduated. I was still within 10 lbs of the weight I had been in high school and to this day within 20 lbs still. I weighed 148 lbs wringing wet and was 5 foot 8 inches. Today I am 163 lbs and 5 foot 7 inches. (And that's no April Fools joke.)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Mar 31, 2011
What was your graduation like? What did you wear?
It was a small graduation ceremony. I had to give a talk so for the most part I have no idea what happened. I can remember the events of that night far better after it was over than during. I also graduated from Seminary with a four year degree that year and Serena Davies and I both had to talk in that ceremony as well. I wore a suit, white shirt and tie for both events.
The events after the school ceremony have stayed well in my mind because of the life changing consequences of that night. Pauline, Marie and I all went to a movie that was shown at midnight in the local theater. (It went out of business within just a couple of years after I left Duchesne.) Anyway I don't remember which movie was played but it ended around 2 am so we went home to our place and played games. I wanted to stay up all night for some dumb reason for the first time in my short life and so when Marie and Pauline were both too sleepy to stay awake I went out to the corral behind the barn and tore down some sheds that were nearly falling down anyway. That kept me awake and busy until Dad got home from getting the mail in town that morning. When he got home I was just headed into the house and he got out of the car and asked if I wanted a summer job at the Texaco gas station in town. I did and that is where the life changing part comes into play. I spent that following night after graduation and every night that summer until I left for college on August 13 working from 10 PM to 6 AM at the Texaco Station owned by Carl Workman. I later in life worked seven years straight graveyard at Signetics and knew I could do it because I had survived the summer following graduation.
There were a number of interesting experiences from that summer which are also burned into my memory but I'll leave that for my stories about my life. Four in particular come to mind. The night I was sprayed by a skunk, the night 20 or so men got out of a black van and circle the station until the Highway Patrol pulled in, the night the bosses son came to play and I called the Police and was threatened to be killed because of it, and the night the drunk wandered toward the station just before 6 am.
It was a small graduation ceremony. I had to give a talk so for the most part I have no idea what happened. I can remember the events of that night far better after it was over than during. I also graduated from Seminary with a four year degree that year and Serena Davies and I both had to talk in that ceremony as well. I wore a suit, white shirt and tie for both events.
The events after the school ceremony have stayed well in my mind because of the life changing consequences of that night. Pauline, Marie and I all went to a movie that was shown at midnight in the local theater. (It went out of business within just a couple of years after I left Duchesne.) Anyway I don't remember which movie was played but it ended around 2 am so we went home to our place and played games. I wanted to stay up all night for some dumb reason for the first time in my short life and so when Marie and Pauline were both too sleepy to stay awake I went out to the corral behind the barn and tore down some sheds that were nearly falling down anyway. That kept me awake and busy until Dad got home from getting the mail in town that morning. When he got home I was just headed into the house and he got out of the car and asked if I wanted a summer job at the Texaco gas station in town. I did and that is where the life changing part comes into play. I spent that following night after graduation and every night that summer until I left for college on August 13 working from 10 PM to 6 AM at the Texaco Station owned by Carl Workman. I later in life worked seven years straight graveyard at Signetics and knew I could do it because I had survived the summer following graduation.
There were a number of interesting experiences from that summer which are also burned into my memory but I'll leave that for my stories about my life. Four in particular come to mind. The night I was sprayed by a skunk, the night 20 or so men got out of a black van and circle the station until the Highway Patrol pulled in, the night the bosses son came to play and I called the Police and was threatened to be killed because of it, and the night the drunk wandered toward the station just before 6 am.
Mar 30, 2011
Did you receive any awards or recognition in high school?
Quite a few as I recall. They were for various debates we won (Lee Moon and I were a debate team and went to State our Senior year) and for other things like top science and math student. Jon Telisak and I were tied for the top math student our senior year. Jon drowned in Starvation reservoir the day after we graduated in May. The highest one that I received was Salutatorian of our Senior class beat out of Valedictorian spot by a couple hundredths of a percent by Serena Davies. If I had kept up my grades the way they were going in grade school I would have been near the bottom of the class but in 9th grade I finally figured out that I could get A's in class and went from a C student to a straight A student the last four years of school. (I was trying to keep up with Leesa who was the Valedictorian of her class the year before I graduated.)
Quite a few as I recall. They were for various debates we won (Lee Moon and I were a debate team and went to State our Senior year) and for other things like top science and math student. Jon Telisak and I were tied for the top math student our senior year. Jon drowned in Starvation reservoir the day after we graduated in May. The highest one that I received was Salutatorian of our Senior class beat out of Valedictorian spot by a couple hundredths of a percent by Serena Davies. If I had kept up my grades the way they were going in grade school I would have been near the bottom of the class but in 9th grade I finally figured out that I could get A's in class and went from a C student to a straight A student the last four years of school. (I was trying to keep up with Leesa who was the Valedictorian of her class the year before I graduated.)
Mar 29, 2011
Did you go to school dances? Did you have dates? What songs or dances were popular?
Yes I went to school dances but rarely stayed in the dance hall for them. They played the music far too loud. Yes I had two dates. One of them I took all but one time for every dance after we turned 16. The other one was with Linda Peatross because Marie and I decided that we should follow the counsel of our church leaders and not steady date. So I took Linda to one dance our senior year and we had fun. Marie ended up not going if I remember correctly. It was on a Friday night and monday morning by the time we got to school rumors were all over the place as to why she and I had broken up. My mother worked in the school library and her mother worked in the school lunch kitchen. They did not hear favorable things at all and so we decided not to try that again. When I went to college my freshmen year I dated several girls during that time and then when she went to college while I was on my mission she dated and was even asked to be married before I got home. Luckily for me she said she wanted to wait and see how things would go with me and he never came back to find out what had happened.
The popular songs were from the Beatles era as well as the Beach Boys, The Monkees, Peter, Paul and Mary and other bands of the 60's. I remember one dance when I had taken Marie and the last song of the night was "Hey Jude" (the 7 minute version) and I asked her to dance with me. About 3 or so minutes into the dance Leon Mallo tapped me out and so I didn't get to finish dancing it with her. I didn't give up though and walked her home after the dance was over.
Yes I went to school dances but rarely stayed in the dance hall for them. They played the music far too loud. Yes I had two dates. One of them I took all but one time for every dance after we turned 16. The other one was with Linda Peatross because Marie and I decided that we should follow the counsel of our church leaders and not steady date. So I took Linda to one dance our senior year and we had fun. Marie ended up not going if I remember correctly. It was on a Friday night and monday morning by the time we got to school rumors were all over the place as to why she and I had broken up. My mother worked in the school library and her mother worked in the school lunch kitchen. They did not hear favorable things at all and so we decided not to try that again. When I went to college my freshmen year I dated several girls during that time and then when she went to college while I was on my mission she dated and was even asked to be married before I got home. Luckily for me she said she wanted to wait and see how things would go with me and he never came back to find out what had happened.
The popular songs were from the Beatles era as well as the Beach Boys, The Monkees, Peter, Paul and Mary and other bands of the 60's. I remember one dance when I had taken Marie and the last song of the night was "Hey Jude" (the 7 minute version) and I asked her to dance with me. About 3 or so minutes into the dance Leon Mallo tapped me out and so I didn't get to finish dancing it with her. I didn't give up though and walked her home after the dance was over.
Mar 28, 2011
What school activities, sports, or clubs did you participate in? Were you involved in music, drama, or the school band?
I was on the yearbook staff four for years and did the most with that as far as school activities. However with that said I was also on the Cross Country Track team in the fall and on the track team running the 880 yard race and mile relay aces in the spring. I wrestled in 7th and 8th grades but didn't like it well enough to continue with it through high school. I was on the drama debate team my junior and senior years and participated in the school play with the drama team for three years. I was in the high school band every year that played at the basketball games and was in a special band that played for other school plays. I was also in the science club. In a school of our limited student body count you could be in and do nearly anything that you wanted to do. It took all of us participating in nearly everything to keep the school going. Since I wasn't one who liked to play basketball in competition on the school level I spent my time playing ball for the church team. High school players couldn't play on the church team so the rest of us got too do that. It was a lot of fun without the stress of daily practice and school competition. I was actually one of the top ball stealers on the church team and played the guard position.
I was on the yearbook staff four for years and did the most with that as far as school activities. However with that said I was also on the Cross Country Track team in the fall and on the track team running the 880 yard race and mile relay aces in the spring. I wrestled in 7th and 8th grades but didn't like it well enough to continue with it through high school. I was on the drama debate team my junior and senior years and participated in the school play with the drama team for three years. I was in the high school band every year that played at the basketball games and was in a special band that played for other school plays. I was also in the science club. In a school of our limited student body count you could be in and do nearly anything that you wanted to do. It took all of us participating in nearly everything to keep the school going. Since I wasn't one who liked to play basketball in competition on the school level I spent my time playing ball for the church team. High school players couldn't play on the church team so the rest of us got too do that. It was a lot of fun without the stress of daily practice and school competition. I was actually one of the top ball stealers on the church team and played the guard position.
Mar 27, 2011
How do your fellow classmates remember you?
As the classmate who was always taking their picture. I was also the youngest boy in the class and only two girls were younger than I. I was elected in my class as the most likely to succeed but I don't think that I was actually the one who has succeeded the most. We were actually quite close as a class and had a lot of fun together. Most of us were members of the LDS church also and with that spent a lot of non-school time together. We were in the same scout troop and went to all of the Mutual activities together with the girls. The ones who were not members of the church actually spent a lot of time with us there as well.
As the classmate who was always taking their picture. I was also the youngest boy in the class and only two girls were younger than I. I was elected in my class as the most likely to succeed but I don't think that I was actually the one who has succeeded the most. We were actually quite close as a class and had a lot of fun together. Most of us were members of the LDS church also and with that spent a lot of non-school time together. We were in the same scout troop and went to all of the Mutual activities together with the girls. The ones who were not members of the church actually spent a lot of time with us there as well.
Mar 26, 2011
Who were your friends during junior high and high school? Did you and your friends have a special hangout where you liked to spend time? Where was it, and what did you do there?
I had basically two friends during those years that were really close to me even though nearly everyone in the school were friends since there were not that many in our school. The two were Marie Behrmann and Don Burgoyne Hansen. Marie and I liked to spend time at church events and school events together. I would spend a lot of time standing outside of her window talking to her also. I loved to be with her whenever I could. Don and I had been friends for years and we liked to go rabbit hunting in big hollow and also do a lot of things in the photography dark room since we were on the yearbook staff the last four years of school. We also liked scouting and would do a lot of our merit badges together. We loved to camp and hike so we spent a lot of time in the outdoors together as well. Lots of times Don would go with me to Marie's since he liked her also, that didn't always make Marie too happy but she did put up with him.
Some of my other close friends were my sisters and Pauline. We spent a lot of time together at home and school. We played a lot of games outside as well as inside. I had some very special friends and am very thankful for it.
I had basically two friends during those years that were really close to me even though nearly everyone in the school were friends since there were not that many in our school. The two were Marie Behrmann and Don Burgoyne Hansen. Marie and I liked to spend time at church events and school events together. I would spend a lot of time standing outside of her window talking to her also. I loved to be with her whenever I could. Don and I had been friends for years and we liked to go rabbit hunting in big hollow and also do a lot of things in the photography dark room since we were on the yearbook staff the last four years of school. We also liked scouting and would do a lot of our merit badges together. We loved to camp and hike so we spent a lot of time in the outdoors together as well. Lots of times Don would go with me to Marie's since he liked her also, that didn't always make Marie too happy but she did put up with him.
Some of my other close friends were my sisters and Pauline. We spent a lot of time together at home and school. We played a lot of games outside as well as inside. I had some very special friends and am very thankful for it.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Mar 25, 2011
What was your favorite subject? Why?
I have to admit that I liked math for most of my school years but science took over the number on spot during my junior and senior years. I suppose it was probably due to the teachers, Mr Evan and Mr Goodrich. Goodrich was the science teacher and I got to make a light cell my senior year as a class project but not on class time. It was extra credit and I think I was the only one that didi it. It is interesting however because after I began working at Signetics I understood quite easily the processes they used because I had done it in high school over five years before that. I did enjoy a lot of the other classes and the yearbook took most of my time and I suppose it has to be considered a class but it never seemed that way. I photographed 4 years for the yearbook and was editor as well as photographer for the last two which interestingly enough has helped me with my employment at Provo Craft as I have had charge over printing many things while in this job the last few years.
I have to admit that I liked math for most of my school years but science took over the number on spot during my junior and senior years. I suppose it was probably due to the teachers, Mr Evan and Mr Goodrich. Goodrich was the science teacher and I got to make a light cell my senior year as a class project but not on class time. It was extra credit and I think I was the only one that didi it. It is interesting however because after I began working at Signetics I understood quite easily the processes they used because I had done it in high school over five years before that. I did enjoy a lot of the other classes and the yearbook took most of my time and I suppose it has to be considered a class but it never seemed that way. I photographed 4 years for the yearbook and was editor as well as photographer for the last two which interestingly enough has helped me with my employment at Provo Craft as I have had charge over printing many things while in this job the last few years.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Mar 24, 2011
How did you like school?
I enjoyed school except for the homework but we really didn't have very much homework other than spelling and reading that we had to do in when in elementary school. Then by the time I was in High school i learned how to get it done at school so I seldom even took any homework home with me. It was quite different when I got into college however and was quite a shock.
I enjoyed school except for the homework but we really didn't have very much homework other than spelling and reading that we had to do in when in elementary school. Then by the time I was in High school i learned how to get it done at school so I seldom even took any homework home with me. It was quite different when I got into college however and was quite a shock.
Mar 23, 2011
Where did you attend junior high and high school?
I didn't attend junior high, too smart for that, so I just jumped from 6th grade to 7th grade which was a part of high school in Duchesne. I never even knew that there were such things as middle or junior high schools, just elementary and high schools. Our whole district was like that as far as I know including Roosevelt and even Vernal (it was in a different district) as far as I know.
I didn't attend junior high, too smart for that, so I just jumped from 6th grade to 7th grade which was a part of high school in Duchesne. I never even knew that there were such things as middle or junior high schools, just elementary and high schools. Our whole district was like that as far as I know including Roosevelt and even Vernal (it was in a different district) as far as I know.
Mar 22, 2011
What subjects or programs do you remember?
I remember doing various programs where we learned songs and sang them for an assembly. I remember spelling, reading, writing and math. I did pretty good in math and science as I remember but not so well in English and spelling. We had May Day programs, Halloween carnivals and Christmas programs. I generally liked school quite a lot.
I remember doing various programs where we learned songs and sang them for an assembly. I remember spelling, reading, writing and math. I did pretty good in math and science as I remember but not so well in English and spelling. We had May Day programs, Halloween carnivals and Christmas programs. I generally liked school quite a lot.
Mar 21, 2011
Did you ever skip school?
That's an easy one to answer so let me see how much I can write before giving the obvious answer considering that Dad worked for the school district and Mom worked as a teacher in the same school where I attended. So the answer is "No". I was sick a couple of times and glad that I got to stay home but as far as skipping school on purpose well that was out of the question.
That's an easy one to answer so let me see how much I can write before giving the obvious answer considering that Dad worked for the school district and Mom worked as a teacher in the same school where I attended. So the answer is "No". I was sick a couple of times and glad that I got to stay home but as far as skipping school on purpose well that was out of the question.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
March 20. 2011
What memories do you have from elementary school?
I have memories of classes being too long and spelling tests too hard. I also remember in 1963 playing marbles on the front sidewalk as someone swung open the door and yelled that Pres. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas Texas. Little did I know at that point that I would be serving my mission very close to that area where such tragic history had unfolded. I wrote about it in more detail last year. I remember being beat in my first (and last) fist fight while in 6th grade by a 3rd grader, I have written that story as well. I remember the girls being cute and some of my best friends since I was so much smaller than the other boys that I had a hard time being chosen to play ball with them.
I have memories of classes being too long and spelling tests too hard. I also remember in 1963 playing marbles on the front sidewalk as someone swung open the door and yelled that Pres. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas Texas. Little did I know at that point that I would be serving my mission very close to that area where such tragic history had unfolded. I wrote about it in more detail last year. I remember being beat in my first (and last) fist fight while in 6th grade by a 3rd grader, I have written that story as well. I remember the girls being cute and some of my best friends since I was so much smaller than the other boys that I had a hard time being chosen to play ball with them.
Mar 19, 2011
What did you do at recess? What games did you play?
I remember going out to the play ground and enjoying playing on the monkey bars and swings and other playground equipment. We use to play a lot of dodge bar and kick ball also. I also liked to play tag which we would often do and then sometimes we would divide into teams and play baseball. The swings and Monkey bars were my favorites though by far.
I remember going out to the play ground and enjoying playing on the monkey bars and swings and other playground equipment. We use to play a lot of dodge bar and kick ball also. I also liked to play tag which we would often do and then sometimes we would divide into teams and play baseball. The swings and Monkey bars were my favorites though by far.
Mar 18, 2011
What was your school like? How did you get to school?
My elementary school always reminded me of pictures we saw of the Alamo in Texas. It had double wide doors that led from the front of the building to the street. Then on each end it had a single door. It was two stories with the 3rd thru 6th grade classrooms on the second floor. I rode a bus from home to school and from school to home except for my Kindergarten year. Since it was only half day I would ride the bus to school and then walk to Grandma's place a couple blocks from school for the afternoon until mom or dad would come pick me up.
My elementary school always reminded me of pictures we saw of the Alamo in Texas. It had double wide doors that led from the front of the building to the street. Then on each end it had a single door. It was two stories with the 3rd thru 6th grade classrooms on the second floor. I rode a bus from home to school and from school to home except for my Kindergarten year. Since it was only half day I would ride the bus to school and then walk to Grandma's place a couple blocks from school for the afternoon until mom or dad would come pick me up.
Mar 17, 2011
Where did you go to elementary or grade school? Who were your teachers?
I attended Duchesne Elementary school. It was comprised of the K-6 grades. The building was torn down when I went into 7th grade. I must have just been too hard on it.
My first few teachers were ones that I cannot now remember their names. I did find a 3rd grade report card and my teacher was Mrs Lewis. Mr Foy was my fourth grade teacher and Mrs Gale was my 6th grade teachers and Mr Goodman was my Principal.
I attended Duchesne Elementary school. It was comprised of the K-6 grades. The building was torn down when I went into 7th grade. I must have just been too hard on it.
My first few teachers were ones that I cannot now remember their names. I did find a 3rd grade report card and my teacher was Mrs Lewis. Mr Foy was my fourth grade teacher and Mrs Gale was my 6th grade teachers and Mr Goodman was my Principal.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Mar 16, 2011
The traveling Cactus or was it a chunky bar?
Recently there was a Chunky Bar that was traveling back and forth between Dawna and Tia. It would end up somewhere in their possession and then the other would try to sneak it back. Well recently it has escalated and become a neighborhood traveling Cactus Plant in a jar. Rance Hutchings was reported to have been having a contest with Greg Jones, or at least their families, as to who was the best neighbor to Scott and Dawna. It was said that Rance took some horse, well road apples as we refer to them in scouting, and put them onto Scott's porch then later went and gave them a candy bar to show who was the best neighbor while making it appear that the Jones had given the road apples to them. Well we were at Britt's the other night when Vickie Hutchings brought them supper as her visiting teacher. We then got into the discussion about the road apples and Vickie explained that he had thought about doing it but didn't actually do it. So anyway we ended up giving Vickie the Cruchy bar so Rance could give it to Dawna which he did by slipping it into Dawna's purse. Well she then went to St George and the candy bar melted in her purse. Well while that was going on we went to a silent auction where an older lady had donated a large cactus in a large potting plant. (By large I mean it was about 3 feet tall and with the cactus it was closer to five foot.) Anyway Marie was told about the story and then suddenly decided to have me buy it and out it on Dawna's doorstep. So I put a bid of $5.oo and was the only bid. We then tied it into Scott's truck with a set of jumper cables that Jeff A had in his car. we had no other ropes or twine with which to secure it on the ride from Springville to Dawna's. This all took place on Saturday evening.
Sunday evening we were headed to a fireside in Provo and saw Dawna so decided to take her mail to her that we had collected while they were in ST George. Dawna then told us about the Cactus that Rance had left on her porch and she didn't want to offend him so she didn't quite dare do anything to it. She said that the tournament they had been playing in was called the Cactus Tournament and figured that he must have given it to them as a gift for winning the tournament. But he couldn't possibly think that I would like it.
Monday night Dawna and Scott had a reunion with the past Bishopric from the singles ward and expected to have a lesson on gratitude and figured that they would mention it by the end of the lesson but nothing was said. So finally today Dawna went down to Rance's and confronted him with it only to find out that he knew nothing about it. So they then went to Greg abd Vickie's where Rance proceeded to blame it on Vickie. He even said that she must have played poker and could hold a poker face but finally figured out that she really was innocent. They then called Tia as she was finishing up at work so she really didn't pay attention as to what they were saying but she did say that she had written the note but she didn't put the cactus on the porch. Tia d then called Marie and told her what had happened and while they were talking could see in a reflection in the picture in the front room that someone was coming to the front door. She hung up quickly and we went out to see them, I noticed as I went out that they seemed to be trying to get enough courage to come and knock on the door. After we walked out to talk to them Hutchings then came to us and Rance thanked us very emphatically for throwing him under bus and then handed the note "Love from Hutchings" with a large chunky bar to us. We then talked about it awhile and finally told them that it was for a good cause and explained how we had come by the cactus in the first place. They then parted after we had laughed for sometime and we came back in to have supper. I then suggested that we take Dawna and Rance a cake. Well Dawna wasn't home so we took both of them to Hutchings and gave her one of them, She said I hope we didn't make you feel bad and we told her that we had quite enjoyed it. We then decided to take the second one to Jones. We then had a geat laugh with them as well and discovered that they didn't think that we would do it either but we admitted to them that we had and then related the whole story to them as to how it came to pass. They then informed us that it was now at Gary Miner's place with a note something like "Catus Tournament Trophy". I only wish now that I had a picture of it at each place as it starts to travel around taking with it a story that all started as a gift sincerely given to help in a silent auction to pay for a young man to have an operation to restore his eyesight.
Now Tia and Britt please add your comments to help fill in the parts of the story that I have missed in writing this.
Recently there was a Chunky Bar that was traveling back and forth between Dawna and Tia. It would end up somewhere in their possession and then the other would try to sneak it back. Well recently it has escalated and become a neighborhood traveling Cactus Plant in a jar. Rance Hutchings was reported to have been having a contest with Greg Jones, or at least their families, as to who was the best neighbor to Scott and Dawna. It was said that Rance took some horse, well road apples as we refer to them in scouting, and put them onto Scott's porch then later went and gave them a candy bar to show who was the best neighbor while making it appear that the Jones had given the road apples to them. Well we were at Britt's the other night when Vickie Hutchings brought them supper as her visiting teacher. We then got into the discussion about the road apples and Vickie explained that he had thought about doing it but didn't actually do it. So anyway we ended up giving Vickie the Cruchy bar so Rance could give it to Dawna which he did by slipping it into Dawna's purse. Well she then went to St George and the candy bar melted in her purse. Well while that was going on we went to a silent auction where an older lady had donated a large cactus in a large potting plant. (By large I mean it was about 3 feet tall and with the cactus it was closer to five foot.) Anyway Marie was told about the story and then suddenly decided to have me buy it and out it on Dawna's doorstep. So I put a bid of $5.oo and was the only bid. We then tied it into Scott's truck with a set of jumper cables that Jeff A had in his car. we had no other ropes or twine with which to secure it on the ride from Springville to Dawna's. This all took place on Saturday evening.
Sunday evening we were headed to a fireside in Provo and saw Dawna so decided to take her mail to her that we had collected while they were in ST George. Dawna then told us about the Cactus that Rance had left on her porch and she didn't want to offend him so she didn't quite dare do anything to it. She said that the tournament they had been playing in was called the Cactus Tournament and figured that he must have given it to them as a gift for winning the tournament. But he couldn't possibly think that I would like it.
Monday night Dawna and Scott had a reunion with the past Bishopric from the singles ward and expected to have a lesson on gratitude and figured that they would mention it by the end of the lesson but nothing was said. So finally today Dawna went down to Rance's and confronted him with it only to find out that he knew nothing about it. So they then went to Greg abd Vickie's where Rance proceeded to blame it on Vickie. He even said that she must have played poker and could hold a poker face but finally figured out that she really was innocent. They then called Tia as she was finishing up at work so she really didn't pay attention as to what they were saying but she did say that she had written the note but she didn't put the cactus on the porch. Tia d then called Marie and told her what had happened and while they were talking could see in a reflection in the picture in the front room that someone was coming to the front door. She hung up quickly and we went out to see them, I noticed as I went out that they seemed to be trying to get enough courage to come and knock on the door. After we walked out to talk to them Hutchings then came to us and Rance thanked us very emphatically for throwing him under bus and then handed the note "Love from Hutchings" with a large chunky bar to us. We then talked about it awhile and finally told them that it was for a good cause and explained how we had come by the cactus in the first place. They then parted after we had laughed for sometime and we came back in to have supper. I then suggested that we take Dawna and Rance a cake. Well Dawna wasn't home so we took both of them to Hutchings and gave her one of them, She said I hope we didn't make you feel bad and we told her that we had quite enjoyed it. We then decided to take the second one to Jones. We then had a geat laugh with them as well and discovered that they didn't think that we would do it either but we admitted to them that we had and then related the whole story to them as to how it came to pass. They then informed us that it was now at Gary Miner's place with a note something like "Catus Tournament Trophy". I only wish now that I had a picture of it at each place as it starts to travel around taking with it a story that all started as a gift sincerely given to help in a silent auction to pay for a young man to have an operation to restore his eyesight.
Now Tia and Britt please add your comments to help fill in the parts of the story that I have missed in writing this.
Mar 15, 2011
How Time flies, just home from mission ,4 years for Lynn
As I have grown older time has grown shorter not only for my time left on earth but also seems to be going faster each year. I remember just after returning from my mission that I had been talking to Lynn and thought about the fact that he had now been home from his mission twice the length of y mission in other word for four years. It seemed the to me to be a very long time but four years later it seemed to be extremely short and now that I have been home for 36 years it really seems short. I have had a great time and lots of experiences in my life and over the past 5 years have been trying to write some of them down I now have around 100 of them done and at least two hundred to go. I have a hard time remembering all of the details but started out by just writing a line that would remind me of an event. That is why I know I have at least two hundred left but I keep having more so I may never get caught up and certainly will never get done. Hopefully my posterity will enjoy the stories though and maybe even learn something in the process. Lyn has now been home for over40 years, wow has time flown.
I had a conversation with one of my scouting friends as we traveled down to work on a woodbadge staff one year. He reminded me that it could easily be that days are physically shorter from year to year because the ord has stated in the scriptures that time will be shortened in the latter-days for the sake of the righteous. I always interpreted that as meaning the Lord would return sooner than planned but can easily see how the interpretation could be time during a day is shorter and I suppose if the earth were to slowly get closer to the sun and the rotations be shorter that time in turn would also be shorter. That is one of those mysteries that I don’t worry about knowing the answer to now but look forward to knowing it in the next life. It really has little bearing on my faith or testimony since I know that all of these things are done according to a law that God knows and someday if I can live the commandments that I will know also.
Note added after the 9.0 Japan Earthquake March 15, 2011.
It has been reported that due to the earthquake that the earth now spins a little faster and thus time has been shortened by just s a fraction of a second but things adding up as they are has led me to believe that indeed the time of a day can truly be shortened.
Mar 14, 2011 Happy Birthday Hallie 4yr old today
Learn well the Rules of Your Youth.
Life has a way of teaching some valuable lessons to us. One being “Rules of your youth also apply to your adulthood.”
Marie and I have not been married for 34 years. I cherish the time that we have been able to spend together and the love that we have for each other. That 34 years of course has not been void of it’s challenges for each of us and it has been many times that I have heard her say to me “We don’t seem to be having a very good relationship” or something to that effect. Now I have been a typical male and thought things were going great but she has had things missing in the relationship that I just didn’t understand. I have worked hard to change that and can now say that I haven’t heard those statements for several years and hope not to if I can avoid it. Some of the things which helped foster those feeling was my lack of doing the dishes and other household chores. When we were married Marie became pregnant on our honeymoon and Ben was born 3 weeks premature just 8 and a half months later. I was working for a TV repair shop and required to be on the job from early in the morning until the job was done which many times was till late at night. I felt as though I didn’t ever get to see her or Ben until Saturday and Sunday. When I would try to help with the dishes or whatever she would always chase me away and say that it was her job not mine and I finally quit offering and found other things to do. That was a big mistake but one that I made and it has taken years to be able to occasionally help with the dishes. We did always go grocery shopping as much together as possible and I always liked to take her with me when doing errands in the car or being required to go somewhere for something when I could take her along. However our love for each other has been challenged several times.
One particular instance started when another member of the ward took a liking to her and found ways to talk to her and be with her even though I might have even been there as well. During the years that I worked on swing shift he would call her form his shop and talk to her for long periods of time knowing she was home without me there. The occasional times he would call and I would answer when I was there didn’t seem to puzzle me for long because he always had something to ask me about and then would hang up. The there was a ward adult party where we met as couples and left babysitters with our children for the night. We had gone up to a cabin in Hobble Creek and had a great evening meal and then settled in for games and eventually as movie. It was a bit chilly so we had blankets that we put over us as we watched the movie and I was on one side of Marie and this fellow had sat on the other with his wife next to him. It wasn’t unusual to me because I was there family home teacher and knew them both fairly well or so I thought. It ended up that while we were watching the movie had had his hand high up on her leg and was caressing her during the time on the couch. This is why I titled this story as this ws one of those lessons from our youth “Never sit under covers together when dating while watching a movie.” I never knew this had happened for several years or that he was calling her late at night but have always been thankful that she loved me enough to stick with me during those tempting times for her. He eventually moved on to another woman in the ward to whose family he was assigned as Home teacher and broke up that marriage. Then ended up with his own marriage broken and living out of his car.
I too have had a challenge that I never recognized until later. I had become friends during this same period of time with a divorced young mother that worked at Signetics on the same shift. I was a supervisor over the work crew repairing the manufacturing equipment and had 5 or six men whom I was responsible for during that shift. One of the fellows was single and quite liked this woman and she would often talk to me about their relationship. I would “counsel” her about the relationship as though I really knew how to do it and unknown to myself he was somewhat jealous of the time I would talk to her not knowing that I was talking to her for his sake. Then there were a couple of times that she became scared that someone was stalking her and following her home to Spanish Fork after the shift was over at midnight so a couple of times I followed her to her apartment and waited for her to go in before going on home to Mapleton. She had even invited me in to the apartment as well but both times I told her I would stay in the car until I saw her light come on and then I would leave. I was tempted to go in with her but knew that I had a far better girl waiting at home for me. Later my employee told me in an interview for a raise that he thought that I was trying to get her from him for myself. I was shocked because I had never wanted to do that and told him that and then a few months later was invited to their marriage. I thought that I had really helped cement the relationship for them however when looking back realize just how close I had come to falling in love with her at the expense of my own marriage. Then a few years later learned that they had divorced and I have often wondered if she was really after me rather than him. Thus a second lesson was learned again that applied from my youth to “Always remember who you are and do the right thing”.
Well I have been grateful that I learned these and many other rules in my youth. I also am thankful that they apply even more once you are married and have found one that you can be eternally happy with and deeply in love with as well. But my reason for telling these stories is that you must always remember those rules that applied during your dating years and during your youth because they apply even more if you want to have a lasting relationship. Life is not as shown on TV and those who fool around texting, calling, sitting next to under blankets in the most causal of circumstances or even trying to counsel for all the right reasons will loose that which is most precious, a wonderful partner whom you must have once loved or you wouldn’t have decide to marry the first time. Love is something that has to be constantly nurtured and never left to chance or left alone. I love you Marie and thank you for all the wonderful years together that we have had and hope to still have.
Mar 13, 2011
Eagle Court of Honor 8/13/1971
I enjoyed scouting as a young man, at least the activities of scouting but not necessarily the merit badges of scouting. I did them however and was almost ready to receive my Eagle rank at age 14 like my older brother Lynn had done. However there were two merit badges that stood in my way and I just couldn’t get past them. I did my eagle project and everything else required for the rank and still just couldn’t get past those two badges. I then stopped earning badge s as I went into the teachers quorum at church and later into the priest quorums where scouting wasn’t a major part of the activities. I still had everything to be an Eagle Scout except the leadership or personal motivation to get those two badges. Now you might be thinking what were those badges and why were they so tough. They were swimming and lifesaving and I was not a deep end of the pool swimmer since I swam so well as a rock rather than a person. Then Sister Caldwell moved to town and had been a professional lifeguard for years and upon discovering my plight with water took me on as a special project the day after I graduated for high school. We went swimming during the day and evenings as I had a graveyard shift at the Texaco for the summer and had time tat I could learn to swim. I finally passed off those two merit badges and four days before my 18th birthday passed my board of review for the eagle rank in scouting. I received it four days later on a Sunday afternoon at a District Eagle Court of Honor. We held that Courts of Honor at a district level back then and everyone from tabiona, Altamont and Bridgeland came to the court of honor. It was a great day and I was in my scout uniform still able to have parents who put enough importance on the program to buy me uniforms as I grew. Luckily I didn’t grown too much and only had to have new pants and shirts a couple of time between 12 years old and 18 and then they were pretty much hand me downs form the older brothers. I was the only Eagle presented that day and right after it was over and the pictures were taken for the local newspaper (in Roosevelt) I got into the pickup with Lynn and Leesa and headed off to college at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. When we got there we quickly unloaded our things into our apartment with Sister Anderson and Lynn informed me that we had a dinner engagement and I didn’t have time to change from my uniform before we were to be there so I went in my uniform to the home of Brother and Sister Findlay. He, Brother Findlay, just happened to be the Director of Training for the local council the Utah National Parks Council from which I had received the Eagle rank. I think it was a setup but I have always been thankful for it since it set me on a trail of scouting that has helped me to help other young men who have been in much the same predicament that I was in during those years and I always tell them about Ray Hansen and Sister Caldwell.
Mar 12, 2011
My personal Eagle Project
Scouting will be the subject of many of my historical stories. I was not the most avid scouter as a youth but became such many years later. However the reason it became so intense an interest in my later life was due to a few stories that did occur in my youth. One such story was the story of my Eagle Project. I was I suppose as many of the youth of today and dutifully did my project even though I didn’t understand the scope of the reasons for it’s being required.
The reason for an Eagle project is so that the youth can show his use of the leadership skills that he has learned through his scouting experiences.
I didn’t know that back then but as I look back now I realize that I did have to use many skills that in the time since then I have fallen back on many times.
My project was a deep cleaning of the LDS church meeting house where we went each Sunday to church. I had a number of good friends during my youth and most of them were involved in this project since we all went to church each week together. One of special interest was also there whom I later married and with whom I still do many scouting projects and activities. Marie and I were about fifteen at the time if I remember correctly. (Another story that will require verification from Mom’s journals.) I had planned what we needed to do including such things as removal of gum from under the benches and washing the windows on the inside and out. I can’t remember how many were there but I do remember working on one of the windows and Marie was working on the next one to the side of me. It was such a special feeling that I suppose it stuck where many other details have long been forgotten. It was tough one of the many times during our youth that I knew I loved her (or thought I did at that age, I have since discovered that it was love but not to that extent that it has since become.) I always enjoyed being around her during those years as we were growing up and she made many of my memories very pleasant.
I went on to earn my Eagle Rank even though it was several years later as I was nearing my eighteenth birthday. Another story.
Mar 11, 2011
The next few posts are some stories from my history.
Years: 1961-1971 Chores
When I was in High School I had the responsibility to do chores. Milk and feed the cows. Feed the horses and chickens and whatever other livestock we would have on the farm at the time. Generally Dad would get me up in the morning to milk the cows and then I would do them in the evening after school. When I was younger it was in conjunction with my older brother Lynn but since he was four years older than I then he was off on his mission by the time I was fifteen. Until I was 18 and off to college then chores were my daily routine at home on the farm.
The getting up routine was an interesting one for I was not unlike any most other teenager’s. That bed would be able to have a strong pulling power in the morning and breaking out of it’s grip generally took Dad about three trips to my room. He would start at about 6 AM and come down to my room and would say “It’s time to get up.” The furnace room was just on the other side of the door from my room so then I would lay there and try to sleep as he would remove the clinkers from the furnace and fill the coal bin with new coal. After that job was complete he would again open the door (if it wasn’t already) and again announce “Come on son, it’s time to get up.”
Dad would then go out to the barn and get the cows into the barn and once again return and tell me. “Get up, it’s time to get up.” He would then usually succeed and I would crawl out of that very warm bed into the chilling cold of the basement room that serves as my bedroom. I would then go up and help him carry the buckets of hot water the 50 yards out to that barn. Part of the water was used to wash the cow’s tits and then the rest later served to wash up the buckets and other milking tools.
The main reason the cows were so easy to get into the barn was due to the grain that we would put into the stanchion. After they stuck their heads through the bars we would then move one of them into place and lock it there so that the cow couldn’t back out and walk out of the barn while we were trying to milk them. We would also put hobbles around their back legs to prevent them from kicking us (and the bucket) while in the process of milking them. These hobbles were sometimes more trouble than help.
We had one old cow that wouldn’t let anyone milk her by hand so we would have to hook up the milking machine to her and then milk the other two cows by hand. This was accomplished by removing a one legged stool from off the wall and while balancing on it put the bucket between your legs tilted toward the cow and then spray the milk into the bucket. We could each take one of the two cows and have them milked about the time the automatic milking machine, or what we referred to as the “milker”, would be finished with the first co
We then would put the milk into another room and let the cows out of the barn. I mentioned that the hobbles were sometimes more trouble than help and it was during this part of the chores where that happened. There were a couple of times (OK several) when I would forget to take off the hobbles before releasing the cow's head. She would then go to step back and if she didn’t fall she would go out of the barn jumping with her back feet each time she moved them. It was of course very hard at that point to stop her and get the hobbles off but if we were lucky they would fall off or she would stop long enough that we could flip one side free so that they would then fall off. I always felt bad when I did this because of the terrible time it would give the cows but even more because of the hard time I would have in getting them off. There were times in my later years that I wouldn’t hobble them because I found out it was easier for me to move when the cow wanted to kick than it was to get her back up off the floor when she would still try to kick and thus slip and fall down while her head was still locked in the stanchion. There were those times of course when she would reach up to relieve a minor objection to my milking and catch the edge of the bucket and then get her foot caught in it and spill it out onto the floor. Of course though the cats and our dog Pee Wee loved that because then they got more than an occasional squirt that they would lick up off the floor under the cow beside my stool.
After the cows were let out of the barn we would then put the milk through a milk strainer to remove all of the hair that would fall in as well as any other foreign objects that might have fallen in as well when the cow would flick her tail or move her leg or let out other objectionable stuff while we were milking. (It is funny as I think back over the years realizing that all that stuff that came from the strainer never once made me stop drinking it or using the cream on my cereal.)
After the milk was strained we would either pour it into glass gallon bottles that I would get from our neighbors who bought the milk form me or put it through an old crank up milk separator that would separate the cream from the milk. We would save the cream and feed the milk to the pigs.
We would then go to the house carrying the extra milk we kept for our use and the empty buckets. The other milk was left in the barn where our neighbors could pick it up later in the day. I kept the bottles it in cold water or would take them to the house depending on the temperature in the barn and how soon they would be over to get the milk. The cold water would keep the milk good for almost a full day if needed.
I then would have breakfast if there were time and then get ready for school and ride the bus to school. Dad would usually have left to go to work earlier while I was finishing up the chores.
At night after I got home from school I would change into my old clothes and go out around 5 pm to do the evening chores. The routine was much the same in the evening as in the morning except for the fact that the cows would not be waiting in the barnyard but rather would be somewhere else on the farm. I would either walk down to the bottom of the field and drive them back to the barnyard or take the horse and put a halter on it and ride bare back down to drive them back to the barnyard. The evening always found me having to go out to the stack yard where we kept the hay and spread out a couples bales into the place where the cows could stick their head in and eat the hay. I then would carry some of it over for the horses as well. I only did this at night since Dad would usually have it done in the mornings while I was still battling my mattress.
I do not regret ever the responsibilities I had doing the chores for it taught me how to work and how to stick with a job until it was done regardless of the way I was feeling. There were many times I still had to do the chores when I was sick and didn’t want to do them. One time in particular I will relate later that has stuck with me throughout the years.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Mar 10, 2011
How is the world different now from what it was like when you were a child?
Many many ways. Cars are greatly improved ad have air bags and seat belts and lots of laws about when and where children can sit.
There is more than just the US Mail service to deliver letters and packages. UPS, Fed-Ex and a host of other smaller ones.
There were converse All-Star tennis shoes and that was pretty much the only choice. Now there is Nike, and a huge host of others including the ones that I have now that rock back and forth with you when walking and are suppose to help improve your muscle strength. I also wore special shoes all the time and most everyone wore nice shoes that now we pretty much only wear on sundays except for the rising generation that wears tennis shoes to church. Well I guess I used to as well but only to play basketball. We had to cook on an electric stove and use an electric oven. After Marie and I had been married three os so years we bought our first Micro-wave oven for $800.00 and it was listed for more than that. Marie took lessons to learn how to cook cakes and other meals in the new oven that lasted us for a lot of years. Now they are less than $50.00.
I watched the first man carrying rocket go into outer space and now they are stopping pretty much the space shuttle program where they can fly the same ship up and down from orbiting the earth for several trips before retiring it. Airplanes have also become very advanced especially warship aircraft including Drones taht are remote controlled from miles away.
Super glue was invented along with a whole host of other things that were invented for use by the military and then marketed to the public.
We had a Black and White TV and no computers, and in fact no calculators. I used a slide rule in college the last two years that they were teaching classes with them. Calculators capable of adding, subtracting and some other limited calculations were possible. I even went and toured The computer floor where University of Utah had their computer. It was capable of doing a lot but took up an entire floor of the building. Calculators can now do more than it could and in lightning speeds faster than it as well. Home computers were invented after Hayden was born or at least started to be marketed to the public in general. Apple and IBM were the two main manufacturers of them and we had a small version called a Instructor 50 that I had bought when working at Signetics. The other computers at the time were the TRS 80 by IBM and the Apple computer for education purposes mainly by Apple.
Record players played the old 78's and then 33 and a 1/3 rpm records and now I can't buy a player to play them.
Video cameras and cassette tape players were invented and replaced by smaller video camera's including ones on the computer and Ipod and Ipads have replaced a lot of them. We had a cartoon called Dick Tracy who spoke and looked at the person to who he had called on his wrist watch. Well cell phones are almost there now and I am sure video capabilities are not far off in the future.
Camera's were capable of Black and White images and not color even though it would come out soon in my youth but now digital camera's are almost knocking film out of existence. There a few die hard photographer's still using film but very very few.
TV's are now standard in every home but just not any TV they have to be big screen TV's. 42 inches and larger if possible. I repaired TV's when I was first married by replacing electronic tubes and now new small TV's can be purchased for less than repair bill then.
Wind generating power plants are all over and the coal ones are going away. Hydro plants are still in use but they too are meeting with a lot of enviromentalist restrictions. We had Presidents who loved their country and now one that hates it yet he is the President and Commander in Chief.
The internet was also invented by the military and then released to the public. Now shopping on line makes it super easy to spend money t hat you don't have along with credit cards that were only used for gasoline when I was young. It is uncommon not to get several invited to a credit card company for a card in one week anymore, except I now send it back to them with all the trash I can stuff into them so they will get the idea that I really don't want them. It is working.
A letter in the form of a blog is much faster and easier than the old handwritten ones and will more likely be kept over time a lot longer than they were.
Cruise's were not heard of then even though people took vacations all over the world then. But now they are almost so common that if you haven't been on at least one if not one a year you are considered very odd.
I use to haul 4 buckets holding about 40 lbs of coal from the coal shed to the furnace around 60 feet and into the house and down the steps into the furnace room every day. I got to where I would pack all four at one time so I didn't have to do two trips. Now we have a gas furnace and no coal other than out in a shed for emergency heat only. (That 160 lbs of coal each trip has not been missed at all.)
We have gone from single pane glass windows to standard two pane and lots of times three panes. It has helped with conserving heat inside of the home and using less energy.
We have even seen changes in the church. There was an assistant quorum of the 12 when I was growing up and now there are several quorums of the seventy and no assistants to the twelve. The church has also gone for a million members to nearly 14 million and my mission in Texas is divided into about 7 or 8 of them.
I have seen a lot of change and most of it for the good even though the devil uses each new technology for himself as well. I won't list them.
Last but not least the cold war has changed dramatically. The Berlin Wall which I never expected to see come down is now down. The world politics have changed. Japan and China have become world powers and America stands on the brink of disaster but the Lord isn't finished here and it will stand until He comes again.
Many many ways. Cars are greatly improved ad have air bags and seat belts and lots of laws about when and where children can sit.
There is more than just the US Mail service to deliver letters and packages. UPS, Fed-Ex and a host of other smaller ones.
There were converse All-Star tennis shoes and that was pretty much the only choice. Now there is Nike, and a huge host of others including the ones that I have now that rock back and forth with you when walking and are suppose to help improve your muscle strength. I also wore special shoes all the time and most everyone wore nice shoes that now we pretty much only wear on sundays except for the rising generation that wears tennis shoes to church. Well I guess I used to as well but only to play basketball. We had to cook on an electric stove and use an electric oven. After Marie and I had been married three os so years we bought our first Micro-wave oven for $800.00 and it was listed for more than that. Marie took lessons to learn how to cook cakes and other meals in the new oven that lasted us for a lot of years. Now they are less than $50.00.
I watched the first man carrying rocket go into outer space and now they are stopping pretty much the space shuttle program where they can fly the same ship up and down from orbiting the earth for several trips before retiring it. Airplanes have also become very advanced especially warship aircraft including Drones taht are remote controlled from miles away.
Super glue was invented along with a whole host of other things that were invented for use by the military and then marketed to the public.
We had a Black and White TV and no computers, and in fact no calculators. I used a slide rule in college the last two years that they were teaching classes with them. Calculators capable of adding, subtracting and some other limited calculations were possible. I even went and toured The computer floor where University of Utah had their computer. It was capable of doing a lot but took up an entire floor of the building. Calculators can now do more than it could and in lightning speeds faster than it as well. Home computers were invented after Hayden was born or at least started to be marketed to the public in general. Apple and IBM were the two main manufacturers of them and we had a small version called a Instructor 50 that I had bought when working at Signetics. The other computers at the time were the TRS 80 by IBM and the Apple computer for education purposes mainly by Apple.
Record players played the old 78's and then 33 and a 1/3 rpm records and now I can't buy a player to play them.
Video cameras and cassette tape players were invented and replaced by smaller video camera's including ones on the computer and Ipod and Ipads have replaced a lot of them. We had a cartoon called Dick Tracy who spoke and looked at the person to who he had called on his wrist watch. Well cell phones are almost there now and I am sure video capabilities are not far off in the future.
Camera's were capable of Black and White images and not color even though it would come out soon in my youth but now digital camera's are almost knocking film out of existence. There a few die hard photographer's still using film but very very few.
TV's are now standard in every home but just not any TV they have to be big screen TV's. 42 inches and larger if possible. I repaired TV's when I was first married by replacing electronic tubes and now new small TV's can be purchased for less than repair bill then.
Wind generating power plants are all over and the coal ones are going away. Hydro plants are still in use but they too are meeting with a lot of enviromentalist restrictions. We had Presidents who loved their country and now one that hates it yet he is the President and Commander in Chief.
The internet was also invented by the military and then released to the public. Now shopping on line makes it super easy to spend money t hat you don't have along with credit cards that were only used for gasoline when I was young. It is uncommon not to get several invited to a credit card company for a card in one week anymore, except I now send it back to them with all the trash I can stuff into them so they will get the idea that I really don't want them. It is working.
A letter in the form of a blog is much faster and easier than the old handwritten ones and will more likely be kept over time a lot longer than they were.
Cruise's were not heard of then even though people took vacations all over the world then. But now they are almost so common that if you haven't been on at least one if not one a year you are considered very odd.
I use to haul 4 buckets holding about 40 lbs of coal from the coal shed to the furnace around 60 feet and into the house and down the steps into the furnace room every day. I got to where I would pack all four at one time so I didn't have to do two trips. Now we have a gas furnace and no coal other than out in a shed for emergency heat only. (That 160 lbs of coal each trip has not been missed at all.)
We have gone from single pane glass windows to standard two pane and lots of times three panes. It has helped with conserving heat inside of the home and using less energy.
We have even seen changes in the church. There was an assistant quorum of the 12 when I was growing up and now there are several quorums of the seventy and no assistants to the twelve. The church has also gone for a million members to nearly 14 million and my mission in Texas is divided into about 7 or 8 of them.
I have seen a lot of change and most of it for the good even though the devil uses each new technology for himself as well. I won't list them.
Last but not least the cold war has changed dramatically. The Berlin Wall which I never expected to see come down is now down. The world politics have changed. Japan and China have become world powers and America stands on the brink of disaster but the Lord isn't finished here and it will stand until He comes again.
Mar 9, 2011
What did you do on New Year's Eve? Were you allowed to stay up until midnight? Did you do anything special at midnight?
I remember one particular New Year's Eve and it was in Metarie, LA. I had gone with mom and dad and Stan down to visit Alma and Loyle. We had gone to visit between Christmas and New Year's. I remember going to New Orleans earlier that evening and going through the French Quarter's. It was an education for me and I didn't particularly like it. We stayed in the car with the doors locked. Then we played Monopoly after we got back to Alma's. It lasted all evening but I didn't play the entire time. I don't remember for sure but it seems like I was pretty tired and fell asleep before midnight but was awaken easily by the noise of the fire crackers and fireworks that started going off just before midnight.
So that was the most memorable one I ever had but I am sure that I stayed up for some of them but I really don't recall for sure. Anyway ringing in the New Year I don't remember being any real big deal or I would probably had a few more memories stick. I am sure we banged pots and pans or made some noise for a short period of time but we never did use and fireworks or fire crackers. It just wasn't something that we needed to spend any money on since money was never in great abundance.
I remember one particular New Year's Eve and it was in Metarie, LA. I had gone with mom and dad and Stan down to visit Alma and Loyle. We had gone to visit between Christmas and New Year's. I remember going to New Orleans earlier that evening and going through the French Quarter's. It was an education for me and I didn't particularly like it. We stayed in the car with the doors locked. Then we played Monopoly after we got back to Alma's. It lasted all evening but I didn't play the entire time. I don't remember for sure but it seems like I was pretty tired and fell asleep before midnight but was awaken easily by the noise of the fire crackers and fireworks that started going off just before midnight.
So that was the most memorable one I ever had but I am sure that I stayed up for some of them but I really don't recall for sure. Anyway ringing in the New Year I don't remember being any real big deal or I would probably had a few more memories stick. I am sure we banged pots and pans or made some noise for a short period of time but we never did use and fireworks or fire crackers. It just wasn't something that we needed to spend any money on since money was never in great abundance.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Mar 8, 2011
Did you have a Christmas Tree? Buy it? Cut it? What were the decorations like? Tell about your most memorable Christmas.
We had a Christmas tree every year and they were always fresh cut from the farm or bought from the scouts because I had gone on a fund raiser and cut them also. Most of the trees were cedar trees with the occasional white pine that we brought from the scout fund raisers. Those were cut from Grass Hollow in Indian Canyon south of Duchesne. We would then put them into a water stand and they lasted really well until we took them down after Christmas.
Our decorations consisted of breakable glass ball ornaments, pop corn strung on thread that were usually long enough to go around the tree several times from the top to the bottom. We also had silver tinsel that was always fun to put on but hard to take off. There would be occasional ornaments that we had made in school but they were far apart and few. There were also candles on the tree that we lit, oh wait a minute I am not that old, we had strings of lights with the big bulbs in them that we would string around the tree as well. Then there was a star that we would put on the very top. I always loved the smell of the fresh cut trees each year.
As far as my most memorable year I have already written about it in my 2010 edition. 1963.
We had a Christmas tree every year and they were always fresh cut from the farm or bought from the scouts because I had gone on a fund raiser and cut them also. Most of the trees were cedar trees with the occasional white pine that we brought from the scout fund raisers. Those were cut from Grass Hollow in Indian Canyon south of Duchesne. We would then put them into a water stand and they lasted really well until we took them down after Christmas.
Our decorations consisted of breakable glass ball ornaments, pop corn strung on thread that were usually long enough to go around the tree several times from the top to the bottom. We also had silver tinsel that was always fun to put on but hard to take off. There would be occasional ornaments that we had made in school but they were far apart and few. There were also candles on the tree that we lit, oh wait a minute I am not that old, we had strings of lights with the big bulbs in them that we would string around the tree as well. Then there was a star that we would put on the very top. I always loved the smell of the fresh cut trees each year.
As far as my most memorable year I have already written about it in my 2010 edition. 1963.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Mar 7, 2011
On Christmas, what time did you get up in the morning?
When I was little it seemed harder to go to sleep than to get up. But if I recall correctly it was sometime around 5 or so but then I would have to lay in bed until much later. Then when I began milking cows and helping with the chores we would go out and do the chores before we could open any presents or see what had been left by Santa. So it was usually around 5:30 or 6 that we would start doing the chores and then come back in about a half hour later and get everyone else up. I thought it quite mean to have to do chores first but it was so much better because then we didn't have to stop in the midst of playing with our toys to go do them.
When I was little it seemed harder to go to sleep than to get up. But if I recall correctly it was sometime around 5 or so but then I would have to lay in bed until much later. Then when I began milking cows and helping with the chores we would go out and do the chores before we could open any presents or see what had been left by Santa. So it was usually around 5:30 or 6 that we would start doing the chores and then come back in about a half hour later and get everyone else up. I thought it quite mean to have to do chores first but it was so much better because then we didn't have to stop in the midst of playing with our toys to go do them.
Mar 6, 2011
The next question was about Christmas but that was covered last year so I am putting another segment from my histories about my grandparents.
Grandpa Poulson's lap and Grandpa Hansen’s blessing |
Many of the memories of my Grandparents were with my mother parents. Grandpa Hansen gave me my patriarchal Blessing and Grandma Hansen lived until I was home from my mission and had my first son. Dad’s parents however were a part of my memories as well but Grandpa Poulson was only a part of one specific very vague or faded memory. I remember sitting on his lap while I was three years old just prior to his death. I can’t remember his funeral even though I was most likely there but I can remember sitting on his lap just that one time. I have often wished that I could remember him better but know that someday I will get to know him just as I did my own father. Grandma Poulson was a big part of my childhood though since she was my babysitter after mother started working for the school. I would go from Kindergarten to her home just a coupe blocks from the school. I would play there until Mom or Dad came to pick me up. Dad was working as a carpenter and at that time was helping Mr. Grant build a home just a block away from Grandma so she would let me go visit him once in a while also while he was at work. We got to spend most of the holidays with her since she lived in Duchesne. We always loved to go there to do our Trick or Treating on Halloween and I always loved her tapioca pudding. Grandma lived until I was ten years old, seven years after grandpa had passed away. She was in our home for the last couple of months prior to her death and passed away the day after Christmas in 1963. Mother said she always felt that Grandma had stayed until after Christmas so that she wouldn’t spoil Christmas day for us children. We all loved her very much and she was the lucky Grandma that we got to live close enough with that visiting her was almost a daily occurrence. I loved my other Grandparents as well but getting to visit them required a trip usually taking up a couple of days.
Received My Patriarchal Blessing from Grandpa Hansen
My Grandfather Hansen had been a spiritual leader in the church most of his life. He was a Bishop and a Stake President and late a Stake Patriarch. It was the last calling that I remembered him as being in the church during my lifetime. I could hardly wait to receive my patriarchal blessing since I could receive from my Grandfather even though he was in a completely different stake of Zion. I knew my Brothers and sisiters had all received theirs from him so I was anxious to get mine. It was a soft policy I suppose in the church while I was growing up to wait until you were older than 14 to receive your blessing. However there were some allowances made for my younger sister Marsha and I when we traveled to Centerfield to receive them from Grandpa. I was 13 and Marsha was 10 years old. I remember it seemed like hours as I sat on the chair with Grandpa sitting on a stool behind me nd with his hands on my head and then Grandma sitting to the side with a pencil and paper recording the blessing for him as he spoke it. That was part of the reason for the length of time since he would pause regularly to give her time to write each word down. Marsha and I were dressed in Sunday clothes and it was on a Sunday that we received the blessing. I have always felt very fortunate to have been able to receive that blessing when I did because only a few months later he had a heart attack and passed away. Marsha was really lucky since he was only 10. Grandpa was always special to me for a lot of other reasons a swell. I would wait for him to go get water from a lake north of Gunnison and then help carry in the gallon bottles filled with their drinking water. The water apparently was so hard from their well that they could only bathe and do dished in it. I also loved going out to the corrals behind the house to watch him do chores and help feed the livestock. I never got to know my Grandpa Poulson since I was so young when he passed away and so Grandpa Hansen filled both of the roles so to speak and did it well.
March 5, 2011
What did you do on Thanksgiving? Who came to visit? Where did you go to eat?
Thanksgiving was always held at home. Mom and the girls would cook a large meal and we would eat it as a family. I do remember after the older children (Alma, Clair) were married that we would have their families and after Clair had built his home on the farm that we would sometimes hold it over in his yard. I don't remember any more than that. I am sure Grandma Poulson would be there when she was living and we may have even eaten in her home a few times but I don't remember for sure on that point.
Thanksgiving was always held at home. Mom and the girls would cook a large meal and we would eat it as a family. I do remember after the older children (Alma, Clair) were married that we would have their families and after Clair had built his home on the farm that we would sometimes hold it over in his yard. I don't remember any more than that. I am sure Grandma Poulson would be there when she was living and we may have even eaten in her home a few times but I don't remember for sure on that point.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Mar 4, 2011
What did you do on Halloween? What did you wear for a costume? Did you make your own costumes or buy them from the stores?
I have a lot of memories of going to Halloween Carnivals but not many where we ever dressed up in costumes. I don't remember even doing any Trick or Treating other than at Grandma Poulson's after the carnivals. The carnivals were always fun however and the had a lot of fun booths to spend money at and win prizes. I think they were used as fund raisers for the most part but it basically was also designed to prevent Trick or Treating for safety reasons. I remember one specific year when I went with Marie to the marriage booth and was married by Don Hansen, my best friend. I think I still have the paper we used for it. Other fun booths included face painting and ring tosses. I don't remember a lot to then though, just the fact that they were pretty fun. If I ever did dress up in a costume it was most likely home made and a ghost at that. I don't remember any store bought costumes until I was older and then it seemed like it was mostly just masks that we put on for a few minutes. No wonder it was always more fun for me to stay home and hand out treats that to go out for treats.
I have a lot of memories of going to Halloween Carnivals but not many where we ever dressed up in costumes. I don't remember even doing any Trick or Treating other than at Grandma Poulson's after the carnivals. The carnivals were always fun however and the had a lot of fun booths to spend money at and win prizes. I think they were used as fund raisers for the most part but it basically was also designed to prevent Trick or Treating for safety reasons. I remember one specific year when I went with Marie to the marriage booth and was married by Don Hansen, my best friend. I think I still have the paper we used for it. Other fun booths included face painting and ring tosses. I don't remember a lot to then though, just the fact that they were pretty fun. If I ever did dress up in a costume it was most likely home made and a ghost at that. I don't remember any store bought costumes until I was older and then it seemed like it was mostly just masks that we put on for a few minutes. No wonder it was always more fun for me to stay home and hand out treats that to go out for treats.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
March 3, 2011
What did you do on Valentine's Day? Did you make your own valentine's? How did you deliver them? Did you have a valentine box at school?
Valentine's holds a special place in my heart. I didn't like to make all the valentines that we did each year and it wasn't always easy to make the shoe box Valentine Boxes each year. Yet it was always fun to give out the valentines at school and then get others back from our classmates. They were usually the store bought variety but hand written by each person. I didn't really enjoy writing on all of them either but there were probably a couple of them that I did like to do each year and usually they were to girls. Later in my teenage years though there was one Valentine that I really liked getting something from and of course still do.
Valentine's holds a special place in my heart. I didn't like to make all the valentines that we did each year and it wasn't always easy to make the shoe box Valentine Boxes each year. Yet it was always fun to give out the valentines at school and then get others back from our classmates. They were usually the store bought variety but hand written by each person. I didn't really enjoy writing on all of them either but there were probably a couple of them that I did like to do each year and usually they were to girls. Later in my teenage years though there was one Valentine that I really liked getting something from and of course still do.
March 2, 2011
Do you have any special memories of holidays or family reunions?
I have mentioned our holiday memories before but I have not always mentioned much about family reunions.
The first reunions that I can remember on my Poulson side were held in Duchesne. The one or two that I can remember are probably mixed into one memory but it was pretty good. We had it at our home and at the fireplace in the yard. I remember most however the fact that Dad, Milton, and Ned all three laid down on the grass with their cowboy or other hats covering their faces and going to sleep. I remember wondering how they could do that but have since learned that it was pretty darn easy.
Later years we held several more reunions at Uncle Tennis's home in Orem. We had a lot of fun at those as well and in fact it was held around their outdoor fireplace as well. I had a lot of second cousins that were my age and didn't know the difference until I was much older.
The Hansen reunions were always held at Centerfield where Grandma and Grandpa lived. It was always a long trip but worth it and then even longer to go on down to Circleville to Uncle Carlings which we would often do as well. I remember Grandma and Grandpa always coming out of the door to meet us and it was always worth a great big hug as well. It was always fun to play Red Rover and other games outside with with my cousins. It was fun and they were my first cousins on that side of the family. There were a lot of cousins and we always had a lot of fun together.
I have mentioned our holiday memories before but I have not always mentioned much about family reunions.
The first reunions that I can remember on my Poulson side were held in Duchesne. The one or two that I can remember are probably mixed into one memory but it was pretty good. We had it at our home and at the fireplace in the yard. I remember most however the fact that Dad, Milton, and Ned all three laid down on the grass with their cowboy or other hats covering their faces and going to sleep. I remember wondering how they could do that but have since learned that it was pretty darn easy.
Later years we held several more reunions at Uncle Tennis's home in Orem. We had a lot of fun at those as well and in fact it was held around their outdoor fireplace as well. I had a lot of second cousins that were my age and didn't know the difference until I was much older.
The Hansen reunions were always held at Centerfield where Grandma and Grandpa lived. It was always a long trip but worth it and then even longer to go on down to Circleville to Uncle Carlings which we would often do as well. I remember Grandma and Grandpa always coming out of the door to meet us and it was always worth a great big hug as well. It was always fun to play Red Rover and other games outside with with my cousins. It was fun and they were my first cousins on that side of the family. There were a lot of cousins and we always had a lot of fun together.
March 1, 2011
What were your favorite family traditions?
I suppose my favorite traditions would have to be using the outdoor fireplace in the summer for family dinners and entertainment. It was always a chore to take all the food from the house down to the fireplace but it was also always worth it. Sometimes the bugs were also a bit bad but that didn't seem to dampen it much either.
Sleeping out side on the 23rd of July so the canon's going off would wake us up on the 24th of July. That was always quite fun. Here again the mosquitos were sometimes a pain or an itch but still fun.
Making homemade ice cream in the summer and swimming in the canal. These were also fun even though the entire family was not always involved in the swimming part.
And maybe this wasn't a tradition but it seemed like it and that was going to Dinosaur land with the cousins every year or so.
Then of course the annual trips to Grandpa Hansen's and the Christmas evenings with Grandma Poulson.
I suppose that was probably most of them that I may or may not have written about. The Family Home Evenings or Sunday Evenings singing around the piano would also have been included in this list as well.
I suppose my favorite traditions would have to be using the outdoor fireplace in the summer for family dinners and entertainment. It was always a chore to take all the food from the house down to the fireplace but it was also always worth it. Sometimes the bugs were also a bit bad but that didn't seem to dampen it much either.
Sleeping out side on the 23rd of July so the canon's going off would wake us up on the 24th of July. That was always quite fun. Here again the mosquitos were sometimes a pain or an itch but still fun.
Making homemade ice cream in the summer and swimming in the canal. These were also fun even though the entire family was not always involved in the swimming part.
And maybe this wasn't a tradition but it seemed like it and that was going to Dinosaur land with the cousins every year or so.
Then of course the annual trips to Grandpa Hansen's and the Christmas evenings with Grandma Poulson.
I suppose that was probably most of them that I may or may not have written about. The Family Home Evenings or Sunday Evenings singing around the piano would also have been included in this list as well.
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