HAPPY HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY TO LAVON HARRIS WHO BECAME A NEPHI JONES

• On this day of July 28,2026, the five kids of our mother will be celebrating what we now believe, was the instrumental person who kept each of us marching to the heart beat of a mother, who often took on the professional go to gal for secretarial work, but made sure each of us did chores around and in the house. Every week, she would modify who did what and place in on the water tank that was heated by kitchen stove. and every morning, she was up early to make breakfast for our Dad and us kids, as their wasn't enough money earned to purchase school food. But we found a clever way to get in free, and that was being one of the severs behind the line of filling up the kids. After school, she would take turns with each child to make sure we were doing our lessons and we often sit by the kitchen stove while she was cooking the great food. Pig grease was always the secret to making anything taste cook. LaVon was set upon being a secretary that insurance companies would rely on, then the Utah Pountly, then the Secretary for four different Juab School Superintendents. And to this day, teachers of yesteryear pay tribute to her to help them with whatever they needed. But she also used High School Principal Clark Newell to chase me down racing my Tote Goat. She started with Supt. Clyde Child, then Ralph Menlove, then trained Clark Newell, as well as each of the newly elected School Board Members. Although her sons didn't appreciate her advise that their would be day in the future, that "even boys will have to know how to type in the future". It  became more easy I continued to type reports in college, then used the skill to type investigative reports in my carrerr. My favorite home chore was ironing, and became proficent at it, and when I became the father of two youn boys, I used to weekends to wash and iron their levis for school, both inside and outside. The older we get the more we seem to appreiate and acknowledge what our parents had to do to get each of us kids to do only three essentail things in life. First was to graduate from High School; second was to vote and third was to pray, and for me if found that "becareful what you pray for, as yoj just may good it" and it is one of those things that we shouldn't have prayed fir.Thanks Mom. I have often felt you nearby, and it was a very comforting glow withiin, Often times when our parents past to the next level of our test, we miss them dearly, but in our family, our folks had four boys in a row, which can be a headache to any mother, but then along comes a baby girl and our sister Jaynette, is a daughter of her mother, as she takes care of not only her own kids and their kids, but every where else around from Idaho to Nevada, she keeps so busy, it makes me weary to watch her, and forces me to take a nap! Anyway thanks Mom, as you and Dad hit it right with the kindness and refinemet all parents should have. Photo is of the sister of LaVon Harris, who died at a young age. Watch is thought to have been that of John Harris, who arrived in Nephi with Mormon Pionneers. The y came from the British Colony of Wales.

                                                                                  

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARY B. JONES, WHO STILL CALLS NEPHI HIS HOMETOWN.

Although he has lived in various places in the Alaskan Frontier, he still calls Nephi, Utah, his hometown. He and his siblings have always thought the small rural town of Nephi was the best place to have grown up in and we have saved a building spot for him, and a burial plot for him. As kids we were not supposed to talk of the word "dead" or Cancer, but only call it the C word, and that was pretty radical in the Nephi Jones Kin who arrived here by horse; handcarts and wagons. Our ancestors were pretty dam tough......oh sorry, I was supposed to spell it out so D A M tough. Of the five kids of Alma C. and LaVon Harris Jones, Gary, at an early age was self taught to be tough and could survive just fine sleeping with all of his animal friends in the barn, or racing with his Mutts in the Iditarod of  the 1,000 miles across the frozen tundra. And after running with and feeding each of the dogs with placed food along the trail, he would then take a relaxation trek climbing one of the tall mountains in Alaska. And he was mentally fit more than the rest of us, aceing high school; then both BYU and USU. He had a strong voice, and could be heard throughout any concert hall, and still has that varoom to it. Although Gary has always been one of God's children that would always greet any kid or adult and greet them if they were best friends. But in reality, the forest and the animals and plant life of the mystic of Alaska put him at ease. Although we all want to see him come to Nephi again, the city has outgrown itself too much, and he would not find solace here, but we long for a visit. I have traveled to Alaska to visit Gary B. and although I am not a friend of dogs, I found it relaxing to take care of his kennel while he raced. But living up their yonder is fit only for the bravest of all, as the 20 and 30 below zero never seemed fun for me. And the first time I visited, the flight was long with a plane change somewhere along the way. When I arrived, I told him I was starved and I would buy him a steak dinner. He said he would treat me to a great meal, but kept passing all the diners. He then pulled off the road under some trees. I tried to convince him that eating me wouldn't be his cup of tea, although when he was an Army Ranger during the Viet Nam Era, he was trained to live off the land, and grasshoppers and Beetles didn't taste that good to me. He then scared the Bejeebies out of me when he pulled a shotgun out of the trunk, and yup, he took down some Ptarmigans out of the tree tops, and they were better tasting than Ringneck Pheasant's, or the Pine Hens of Juab County. When I last spoke to Gary B., I told him that their are no "Bish Belliston" in Nephi anymore, and that all drivers have gone Whackos driving like the "Herd Instinct" of Dead Horse Point near Moab and told him a couple years ago I was nearly a victim of "locus en quo" speeders  by Doc Steele's  trying to kill me. Your sister told me it just may help to take down the sign off the back of my old Mazda truck which reads " ITS A HEMI"! I am not sure you can read it, but will try to put a letter of many years ago that Mom sent to you just before her transition. Happy Birthday on July 23 and here is one of your greatest books of all, if folks want to write you a letter and buy one, then you won't have to find that ass again and hitchhike back home. You did that once on a Tote Gote, so try an airplane this time!

        

                                                                                         
  

                                                                                  

HOW DOES ONE GET A PIG TO SING?

 

WHY, TO CRASH FROM THE DAZZLING HEIGHTS OF SUCCESS TO THE DARK RECESSES OF REJECTION IS INEXORABLY WOVEN INTO THE TAPESTRY OF LIFE'S STRUGGLE. WHAT DID YOU USED TO BE?        Photo credit of New Yorker.

                         

AT FUNERALS OR OTHER NOTABLE PLACES, AMERICANS PLACE THEIR RIGHT HAND OVER THEIR HEARTS. BUT IF YOU ARE A GREAT AND GLORIOUS LEADER, STANDING IN A  FORBIDDEN AREA, ONE MAY DROP THEIR HAND AS THEY JUST MAY FEEL THE NEED TO PUKE!

AT THE END OF WORLD WAR TWO, THE ALLIED FORCES WERE ACCEPTING THE SURRENDER OF THE NAZI  KILLERS  OF GERMANY AND WALKED AWAY FROM GENERAL JODL. SOUNDS AS NOBLE AS GENERAL PATTON. AND TO THOSE WHO ARE LOOKING AT THIS HISTORY PRESENTATION WANTING TO KNOW IF PIGS CAN SING, THE ANSWER IS I REALLY DON'T KNOW, AND NEITHER WILL I SHAKE THEIR FEET OR HUG THEM, LIKE MANY PEOPLE SEEMED TO HAVE DONE IN THE VOTING BOOTHS OF YESTER YEAR.

 

INTERESTING.....BUT SAD STATISTICS ABOUT THE VIET NAM WAR

1. This weekend in Nephi, Utah is always great, as we celebrate the Ute Stampede, a rodeo that has been a yearly celebration where families and friends get together. As two of my brothers pulled up where I had been watering our horse pasture, I  recognized the 9th Infantry patch on the hat of Hal Jones, who was a Medic on the front lines of the horrific killing spree that met the Allied forces in a swamp called Nam. I thought I would put off the rodeo celebration and gather some statistics from that war of wars. I had three brothers in the military during the Era of Viet Nam, and glad they all came home, and only Hal with sadness to be a victim of that upfront fighting. Hal was partially hit with an explosion when his medic partner was ordered to go in a Chu Chi tunnel that was a booby trap that killed his partner and partially hit Hal, who turned down a Purple Heart, as he only wanted to return home which he did and safely so. And he had a chance to travel to Washington D.C. to  see the Stats on the Vietnam Memorial Wall.
2. There are 58,267 names now listed on the polished black wall, including those that were added in 2010.
3. The names are arranged in the order which they were taken from their families and within each date the names are alphabetized. 
4. The first known casualty was Richard Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Mass. He was killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III.
5. There ae 711 West Virginians on the Wall.
6. The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered for. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National forest. and in  the patriotic camaraderie typical of  Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.
7. The Buddies of Midvale, Utah were LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, and Tommy Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived near each other, and played ball on an adjacent sandlot. They all joined the military and traveled to Viet Nam. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three were killed.
8. The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968-245 deaths.
9. The most casualty deaths for a single month was May, 1968-245 Deaths.
10. For most Americans who read this will only see what the Viet Nam War created. To those who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, the survivor's and the Medics only see their faces, and hold them for that last shot of Morphine and their transition is felt. They feel the pain for ever. Remember, we too will pass, so never ever forget those who fought for our liberty. 

                          THERE ARE NO NOBLE WARS, JUST NOBLE WARRIORS.

GOD VS.THE DEVIL

                                                                              

                                                                               

A SHORT HISTORY OF NEPHI AND THE UTE STAMPEDE

Today's history lesson is a brief overview on the Utah City of Nephi, named after an individual that the LDS folks believe was directed by God to this the western part of the world. We have submitted information about Nephi's Centennial Jubilee of 1951. If you are now or may be a future leader of our area, we would encourage  all to seek out the book that I have used to explain the beginning of our County and Cities within Juab County. They didn't have hand held "Gigaphones" or "Retro Emulator's" to chat with each other and the many organizations you could join to play with the instruments' of the several marching bands or join the all female band called the "Dellu" or perhaps attend the Presbyterian Church located along Main Street on the west side at about half way between 2nd and 3th North. And since the rodeo of the Ute Stampede is around the corner, we thought about showing a page about it's beginning. I am not sure, but when it was named that, there was a big crowd of the "Ancient Ones", which we refer to as Indians, and they often came to Nephi to watch the Stampede. I don't remember Utes arriving, but several Navajos liked to be here for the good entertainment that is still here. When I was a kid, those Indians and the Cowboys would often camp out beneath the Cottonwood Trees that used to be lined up on the west side of the arena. They could wash up in the irrigation water nearby.   

HAPPY HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY TO EMMA OCKEY CARTER

 I am not sure why, but today's blog entry is on a beautiful gal now and back a few days ago for her June 18th birthday. I guess she was trying to get my attention, as her funeral program fell in front of me and perhaps that was her way of reminding me, as we had birthdays on the same day, but a couple years apart. If you didn't know Emma, you missed a golden chance of meeting the beauty within her and her dry wit and honest words. When I interviewed her a few years ago, I reminded her she and I were "First Cousins", she instantly gave me a verbal reprimand! She said something like "all of us are cousins, and not first or thirty first", and she knows the truth, and one can always expect Emma to let you know the truth of things. Her very best friend was her sister Dora, and another close friend was a "Cousin" named "Marian Garrett Mickelson" and my guess is that both are having a "Heavenly" good time. I became acquainted with Emma and her sister Dora as they both took great care of their mother- Pearl Jones Ockey, who I loved visiting as she would take me down to the farm where she grew up and we would pick mushrooms and wow, she would cook them up while I pulled her weeds. and cut her lawn. I was about ten years old and wrote notes of how things were in "the good ole days".We now present the beauty of Emma Ockey Carter, and she married Jack Carter as when he came home from the war, he looked so handsome in a uniform, just like her Dad-Bill Ockey when he returned from W.W. One and gave his 30-40 Craig Rifle to Paul Ockey and now with granddaughter-Debbie. Bill was tired of killing and told my father that! And Deb has that now, and proud of her Veteran Family!