I read where Bruce Beal got hurt while hauling hay, but now he is on the mend. I knew he would, as he as dealt with pain before and tough it out.

When I read about Bruce Beal breaking some ribs and hurting his lungs, I knew he would eventually heal. If you don't know Bruce, he has always been as tough as nails, going back to high school, when he was the Quarterback for the Juab High Football team. We didn't do a lot of winning, but Bruce had the winning mentality, and the striated muscles to endure pain. Perhaps that is what helped make him an excellent Nephi City Police Officer. Take a look at the 1964 year book shot of Bruce. Would you really want to take him on! I don't think so, and neither should a farm implement, even today, so Bruce will heal. We also threw in the whole football team with Bruce being Number Nine.

Yesterday I put a blog in about the Harvest Ball Queen of the Mt. Nebo Chapter of the FFA, from the 1950's. In the same historical box I found another one from 1963.

Sometimes it is just luck of the draw. After finding the Harvest Ball Co-Queens from the 1950's, I found another article from 1963, and courtesy of The Times News, I will submit that. It shows the Sweetheart as Joni Jackson, with other members of the royalty being Katy Sutorius, Jenny Worwood, Cassie Carter, and Angelica Vorhies.

Although there is no connection between the Harvest Ball and the patient list at the Juab County Hospital List, we thought we would make sure everybody knew the patients were properly cared for back then, which included Chloe Anderson, Bessie Johnson, Margaret, Michael and Thomas Wllbaum, Brenda Sue and Clair Dalton, Allan Steele, Michael Royce, Joseph Overson, Mrs. R. Dee Hughes, Karrie Lynn Davies, Charles Painter, Mrs. Della Tunbridge, Susan Howard, Eldon Sherwood, Craig Hardy, James McNeil, Wayne Morgan then there was one Joseph Smith.

Like mother like daughter....that is the beauty of Bernice Royce and her daughter Jean, who was the 1954 Co-Queen of the Mt. Chapter of the FFA.

This is the partial story of the Juab County Royce family. Once we get security clearance, we can write of  three generations of the male portion of the Royce family. For now, we will write of the female beauty of the Royce family. Bernice Royce passed away at the age of 87, but from the get go, she was pretty as a Peacock! That was a name on her mothers side, but she did have the natural beauty, from deep inside to her charming smile on the outside. She was raised during the depression, and lost her father when she was just ten, but always demonstrated a happy and gleeful spirit. She enjoyed her family foremost, but loved her work as a dietitian at the Juab County Hospital and for the Juab School Lunch program. She and husband Don loved their four kids, of which one is the beauty queen shown. Although the Tribune article didn't get it quite right-saying it was the "Richfield Ball", they did hit the nail on the head when they wrote "three pretty coeds", being Jean Royce (Lee); Ranae Westring and Iona McPherson.

Okay, just one more posting for this Pioneer day, with a show and tell of what it was like in 1847 via a drawing and article from the Salt Lake Tribune of 1934

In a few moments I will say good night to this year's Pioneer Day celebrations. I will eat the rest of that large pot pie I partly ate earlier, then a dap of cheesecake from the fridge. It takes about three minutes in the micro-wave. I will then shut off the TV; turn the A/C a little cooler, turn the soft music on with my remote control and drift off in slumber on that perfect cozy bed. As I do that, I will gaze once more at the copy of the drawing that was done for the Salt Lake Tribune in 1934, which depicts what it was like for the Mormon Pioneers coming to Utah. I pay tribute to those forefathers who came before us to help settle the lands. I didn't mind sleeping outside as a kid, but not sure I would be up for the task our pioneers went through. As a good night, I pay them respect.

This is a love story...a real one, eventhough Hollywood may not pick it up as a blockbuster.

Three of my favorite movies are love stories, but only one made enough money for the world to remember it. That was "Titanic", but to me, "The Notebook" and "Somewhere In Time" showed the real love between people who were destined for each other. Diane Ludlow and Vard White fell in love in 1965. At the time, some folks in Nephi had difficulty adjusting to that, thinking they were too young to know and understand what unconditional love was. Vard and Diane knew it and that was the most important thing. Some of us that were friends of Vard also knew it. On one occasion Diane came up and had a chat with me. She told me I better like her, as even though Vard and I were friends, she was going to be with him forever and I better get used to it. I did and liked her like I did Vard. When Vard wrote in my yearbook in 1965, guess who was right next to him who also wrote in the yearbook. Just before his passing, I visited with them, and it was clear they were still in love with each other, best friends forever; that it was real, not just a phrase. They were; are now, and always be in love, with mutual respect and devotion to each other. Three cheers for that. The last photo was added on June 6, 2016 when I locate it. It is Vard's car when he, Jerry Mangelson and I were taking a little high school graduation tour and that shot is in front of the Brigham Young home in Southern Utah, meeting one of Bro. Brig's granddaughter.

On this Pioneer Day, we once again express thanks to all those in Juab County who contributed to get the new Fourth Ward LDS Chapel completed.

Yes, it is true, it takes a lot of donated monies and work to complete a new chapel. It will be quite an adjustment for those of us that were used to going to the old North Ward, but Nephi is growing so that was the reason for going to four wards in Nephi. It was no small fete to get Henry D. Moyle of the Council of Twelve here to offer the dedicatory prayer, but he did it and with nobility yet with prayerful consideration.

As it is Pioneer Day in Utah, we wanted to pay tribute to those who helped build our new Juab Stake Seminary building.

All Juab County residents can feel safe now, as the high school students no longer have to take their life's in their own hands by darting across the busy highway from the high school to the Seminary building west of main. Local Attorney Udell Jensen will purchase the old building and see his clients there. We have finally got the new Seminary building built and its right next to the high school. Unofficially, we would like to give thanks to all who built this new structure.

It is Pioneer Day in Utah, a time we celebrate the Mormons arriving here on July 24, 1847. This is my way of honoring those folks who endured that trek.

We have different ways of celebrating holidays, which is great, as we are  our own person. However, many people forget the real meaning of Christmas or even the fourth of July. Same thing for July 24th, but my way is to celebrate the pioneers who helped pave the path to the Utah desert and make it blossom as a rose. After doing a little research with the documents left with the Jones family history boxes, I pay respect to the Angell who visited Salt Lake to build the beautiful Salt Lake Temple. That Angell then decided to stay and try to finish it, but vanished before it was done. No, I am not loony tunes. It is the gospel truth. The attached sketch is a drawing of the majestic and picturesque Salt Lake Temple. Although the artist is unknown to me, I believe the drawing was done in the 1950's.

Truman Angell was born in Rhode Island on June 5, 1810. He was the son of James and Phebe Morton Angell. In his youth, he learned the art of being a carpenter and took a likin to be creative in that endeavor. He labored in that capacity until 1832 when his parents moved to New York, where he met and married Polly Johnson. Soon after, they were visited by LDS missionaries and quickly joined and were fervent members. Like many early Mormons, they followed the direction of founder Joseph Smith, and moved to Kirtland, which was the gathering place for early Mormons. Because of his skill, he was instrumental in doing the carpenter work at the Kirtland Temple. When the anti-Mormons attack the LDS members, he settled in Nauvoo, and once again instrumental in working there on that Temple. After Joseph Smith was murdered, the Angell followed the new leadership of Brigham Young and arrived in the valley of salt on this day 168 years ago. Initially, he was involved in the designing and building of homes and public buildings in Salt Lake; among them were the Beehive and Lion Houses, the Council House and the Old Tabernacle. As he was the best around, Brigham Young called on him to design and build the Salt Lake Temple, and the Angell got started in 1852. That was his full time work, which lasted thirty-five years, ending only when he died in 1887, before the Temple was completed. Before his death at age 77, he told many that his destiny on earth was the building of that structure and did things in the design that people back then couldn't understand, which included leaving a space for future electrical wires and elevators. He couldn't explain why he felt the inspiration for his designs, but Church authorities knew this Angell was under angelic influence and left him alone. Most Mormons have never heard of this guy, so I felt it is time to tell his story on this Pioneer Day, so get to know an Angell today.

It is getting close to Pioneer Day of 2015 and time to celebrate our "Founders Day". So how did they celebrate it in Nephi during 1941.

The following pages are taken from the journal of Alma Jones of Nephi, whose photo is also submitted. In addition, we have copied a photo of the Nephi Gypsum Mill, which includes a car that looks like about the same year of the journal entry. A photo of the old North ward is included.
July 20, 1941
Cloudy & a little cooler today. We went to Sunday School this morning. LaVon & I went up to Provo in the evening.
July 21, 1941
Mr. Powell came out at 5 o'clock this morning for me to work helping put a power line to plaster mine. Was awful hot. Father not feeling very good.
July 22, 1941
I have been working for City today. Still hot. Eugene McPherson is cutting  barley down on the Jackson farm.  Bill Tolley has quit the Premium Oil and is in Park City in mine.
July 23, 1941
A warm sultry morning. I was watering on the lot all nite. Have been working around the lot today. Rodd Cobbley has been here for a visit.
July 24, 1941
A pioneer program was held in the North Ward park this morning. Elma & Ruth are here from S.L. today. LaVon, Pearl and family and I was in Spanish tonite.
July 25, 1941
Has been raining a little today. I have been working on Lynn Parkins house today. Erma was out and got supper for us tonite. Raining tonite.
July 26, 1941
I finished at Lynn Parkins today at noon and went for City in the afternoon.  We had an awful wind storm in afternoon followed by a rain storm.

In the early days of Nephi, Utah, well known and respected families included the Paxman's, McCune's, Whitmores, and the Cazier's. This is the historical account of a Cazier.

The first photo shows Edna Jensen Cazier, when she served in the Utah Legislator(from 1949 to 1955). At the time, the Salt Lake newspaper was pointing out two influential female politicians at a time when men were the usual representatives. When I found this newspaper article, I thought it was only fitting to bring up a little more about the Nephi Cazier families. Early Juab County pioneers showed such people as David Cazier; Samuel Cazier; Rosana Cazier and John W. Cazier. When a Pioneer  LDS Stake Tabernacle was built in Nephi, Samuel and David Cazier were influential people in obtaining the funds necessary to complete it. I recall my father talking about how influential the Cazier family was, with one becoming the President of Utah State University. In going through some family records I found additional information on the subject of todays entry, involving Edna Jensen Cazier. She was born a Jensen in 1895, but married Gerald Cazier of Nephi. That marriage was performed in the Salt Lake LDS Temple, by one Joseph F. Smith. After graduating from BYU, she started teaching in public schools, then called to be a Seminary teacher in Nephi, which she did for about ten years. She was very active in politics, and my information shows  she never waivered from serving the people. At the same time, she spent thirty years on the Juab Stake Relief Society; active in Heart and Cancer drives; Red Cross worker during World War II; Temple ordinance worker, MIA instructor; Drama Chairman; Daughters of Utah Pioneers and the main force behind the O.W.L.S.(Order of Women Legislators). During all of her service to others, she was a beautiful women, and cherished her family, being the mother of J. Richard Cazier, Geraldine, G. Marsden and Stanford Cazier. Her sister-Freda Joan, married an LDS man by the name of Harold B. Lee. Edna Annette Jensen Cazier was buried at the Nephi City Cemetery, passing away at the age of 98. She was much respected and loved by all who knew her. For a little extra information....and at no extra charge, we threw in the obituary information on Martha Cazier Eagar of Nephi, then a photo of Nephi's Pioneer Queen of 1901, who was Miss Celia Cazier. The Pages are Lila Cazier and Belle Bryan. That was courtesy of the Nephi Chapter of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers. The singular photo is of a younger Edna Cazier.

We are right in the middle of the growing season, but the fruit and vegetables will soon be ripe, all ready to place them in the Juab County Fair.

It's true, the Juab County Fair will be arriving soon. As you may remember from a year or two ago, there was a lot of fun with the activities surrounding the Fair. The photo shows the four demonstrator winners who headed to the State Fair. From left to right is Norma Sperry, Lucille Bailey, Ellen Rae Burtenshaw and Myrna Lunt. Other 4-H Club winners were Glenna Greenhalgh who demonstrated "Making Fruit Salad"; Donna Jean Bowles and Joan Jackson, "Putting in A Zipper"; Lucille Bailey and Ellen Rae Burtenshaw "Putting on a Snap Fastener".

We are not sure, but it appears the photo credit should go to the Times News, as on the reverse of the photo is the advertisement for what used to be the Beeline gas station. It also shows some bad news, as last Tuesday afternoon, between 5 and 6 p.m. between the Nephi Drug Co. and J.C. Penny, a ladies gold watch was lost. We remain hopeful that it will be turned in to the proper authorities.

If you are from Nephi, Utah or ever heard of Mormons, you may have heard of the LDS Missionary program.

This program shows a slug of Juab County folks who participated in the missionary farewell ceremony for Lynn L. Wright. It doesn't list the year, but my uneducated guess is that it was around the time of the Korean War(early 1950's). Lynn was the son of Ken and Mae Larsen Wright, and worked as businessman in Nephi, Moab and then St. George, passing away there in 1987. He and wife Janet Westring were the parents of Lee, Julie, Nathan, Sonya and Mareah. At the time of Lynn going on a mission, the LDS Church put together a big swing dig for sending off missionaries. Much of that was curtailed during the Viet Nam War, as some folks erroneously believed that young people were going on missions to circumvent being drafted. Nothing could be further from the truth, but Church Authorities minimized the send off, stopping the printing a program for their departure. I am not sure, but another guess would be that Lynn was an excellent missionary, as he not only had the necessary positive attitude, but a gift of the gap, with an excellent heart to show he really cared.

 

 

Do you remember Bill Stowell of Nephi from fifty years ago. I recalled his life and times when I read of the passing of his daughter-Betty Stowell Seppi.

First comes the history lesson. After Brigham Young and his vanguard of Mormons arrived in Salt Lake in 1847, he directed leaders to search out all geographical areas for potential settlements. Part of that area was explored 200 miles south of the present Mexico border. After President Young died, John Taylor became the leader and in 1885, on behalf of the LDS Church, purchased 100,000 acers of land in the Juarez, Mexico area. The heat was on the Mormons for their belief in polygamy, and the United States government wanted to prosecute them for it. After the land purchase, many of the faithful members were directed to re-locate in that area, including people from Nephi. Many LDS leaders felt the land in the Sierra Madre Mountains was an important link in ancient Mormon history and now they have an LDS Temple there. The Stowell family was some of those that moved there, and they thought it was pretty special when William Clarence Stowell was born in 1895. Later on in 1912, many of the Saints returned to Utah, because of the Mexican Revolution. Many a distinguished person was born there, however, including the names of Kimball, Pratt and Romney. Bill Stowell had seven brothers and sisters and 13 half brothers and sisters. He married one of the Nephi Jones girls-Desma, and they lived in the Edward Jones home which still stands on the west side of Main at about 4 and a third blocks north of the old holler. Bill and Desma were the proud parents of Faye, Betty, Roger, Steven, Marilyn and Richard. During the 1950's and 60's we would often see Bill driving that old pick up truck, which was loaded with scrap iron and spray containers, having his shop just below where the old Juab County Jail is in Nephi. Until the day he passed away at 87, he always had a smile and twinkle in his eye, but never did you see a more hard worker than Bill Stowell. As can be noted in the obituary of Betty, she too had an outstanding life. Nephi can be proud of all the Stowell family.

If you are over 60 and thinking of getting rid of your home phone for a cell phone.....DON'T.....it is not easy to figure them out. I have a better way to communciate.

Communication is an essential part of human interaction. We can't do without it, but it has to be effective in order to be efficient. Cell phones don't work, unless you have grandchildren to assist. I recently discovered that old brain cell's don't work with phone cells. I was told it was easy, but it ain't. The first one I got was the "easy" as the only thing I had to do was touch the screen and it would follow my command. Well it didn't work and confusing, so turned it in for another, and yet another, and it is still a mystery, but the sales lady didn't seem mind selling a new one each time. It was also to understand the 126 pages of instructions as they print words I only knew from Ray's Café, as it kept writing about a "Menu" and I kept wanting fries. More confusion came with such words as "devised contra pose; navigation key; prompt; submenus function; SIM1; Vibrate then ring; Divert; Open Bluetooth; MMS and SMS; calibrate and STK." Although they keep telling me it is "easy", it wasn't, so thought the best way to really communicate was to travel up American Fork Canyon and go fishing. That is where the real trouble started. I looked at the phone and it displayed the words "Emergency call". I figured somebody in the family was in dire straits and calling me so I pushed some buttons to see what the emergency was. After a variety of misplaced words, I found it was a 911 Dispatcher, so I asked her what the emergency was. Needless to say, that didn't go well, so I flipped the phone cell shut. It wasn't long before the Utah County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Posse showed up. Rather than buying another new cell phone, I have to find a good attorney. The first photo is of my cell phone, and the next three shots are of a new way of communicating, called "letters". The envelopes are from 1927; 1930 and 1940. They each contain meaningful information, and the one letter shows how beautiful the cursive writing was and you don't even have to curse when you write and read them.  The postage may have gone up from the two cents of 1927, but I would sooner support the U.S. Postal Service, rather than the one cell phone company that has been making recent Anti-American comments.

Today is the birthday of Terry Williams Flowers, so had to put the photos of her birthday party today and one from her past.

She is still pretty dang pretty ain't she.

In the 1950's and 60's it was difficult to be an Eagle Scout in the Juab County area. Here is a method that involves just five steps....

In 1959, I struggled to get my Home Repairs merit badge in the Scouting program. It wasn't because of George A. Sperry, who was the one I had to get it approved through. Mr. Sperry had been the top educator of the Juab Schools, so it wasn't him. I soon figured out this "tenderfoot" would not be able to muster the rigors and dedication required to get an Eagle. At the time, I tried to change a light bulb with a left handed monkey wrench. The house fire helped get my "Fire Safety" merit badge-and little home damage. I did learn great respect for all those kids who obtained their Eagle, as it is among the most treasured possessions a young man can ever obtain. The military still recognizes that, and once out of Boot Camp, they accelerate that kid to a higher rank and pay. After attending this Court of Honor on July 12, 2015, I had even more respect for the Boy Scouts of America. For some reason, many of us American's have forgotten our pledge to the flag and country, and a tear came to my eye when I listened to the Scouts and attendees Pledge their Allegiance. In todays world, that was refreshing, as was the openly declared prayers. Additionally, I figured that no boy can obtain the Eagle on his own. It takes a lot of volunteers, but most importantly, a strong family who supports the promise to sustain that kid. If you study the five faces of this family, you can see that strong unity.

Here are two photos of people believed to be from Juab County during the 1880's.

We are not sure you they are, so hopefully somebody can identify them. They are from the family photo collection, some of which go back to the 1850's. In the second, we have some young girls who have stunning hair, and it appears great care was taken to prepare them for this beautiful photo.

The good and the bad about getting older.........

The good part of getting older is you forget things you did badly, so it doesn't bother you anymore. The bad part of going vintage is you forget important dates, such as birthdays or bringing milk home for the kids. In today's situation, I can't remember if I have already put these old photos on a blog, but I don't think I have and can't remember how to get in to my archives. They are all from the family collection and goes back at least 150 years. They are all people from Juab County, or they are relatives who remained in the British Isles when Mormon pioneers were directed to the Nephi, Utah area. On the second page, we made a copy of the back of the photo, as it gives the address of the photographer and the position of each corresponds with the photos on the third segment. It has to remembered, that in those days, the photo taker came to the area, who oft traveled by horse and buggy. In 1903, one of the Nephi photographers was Fred Chapman Sr. and his son followed in the same business. The Sr. was often seen going up Salt Creek Canyon on his bike, trekking over to Sanpete County to take photos. Fred Sr. went in business with Alma Chase and some of our photographs show Alma's name on it. In about 1913, Alma Chase went to Provo and started his own business. The last page of photos is interesting, in that the woman in each is the same person, and although she dresses with the same high class, her age is different. Hopefully, somebody can identify these before we ship then off to the LDS Church for worldwide distribution.

If you were raised in Juab County of the State of Utah, you may be familiar with a variety of phrases that are a little perlexing.

The Ute Stampede was recently held in Nephi, Utah, and during those rodeo days I had a chance to talk to some young cousins. As they were going on their way, I reminded them not to pick up any Hobo's along the way. They hadn't heard of that term so I attempted to explain it by saying to avoid  Riff Raff, but that didn't seem to help. They did understand what a Bum was, so I let it go from there. As I returned home, I remembered a lot of the phrases I grew up with and recall some, including my mother warning us on the way out the door to "Watch our P's and Q's". It wasn't until years later, when living in England, that I found out what that stood for, which would have caused my mother to have had a "Conniption Fit". I was told by the English blokes that their beer was served in Pints and Quarts, and the barkeep would remind customers not to imbibe excessively, and when that phrased arrived in America, it was shortened to P's and Q's. I used to think the phrase of "Give me the whole nine yards" was termed by the Nephi Ludlow brothers when they were delivering cement, as that was how many cubic yards were in their truck. Another version shows during World War II, our fighter planes had machine guns that were fed by a belt of cartridges that were 27 feet (9 yards) long. If the pilot used up all his ammo he was said to have given the whole nine yards. When I did some volunteer work at Antelope Island, I recall being informed by a biologist about the owls there and how they "would caught up a hair ball", which meant that the owl eats their prey whole, then later.....yup....cough up the feathers, bones and fur. A Navy man told me what it meant to be "Shanghaied" in that during earlier times, guys would get too many "P's and Q's" in them in San Francisco, then be kidnapped by sea merchants who forced them to do slave labor all the way to Shanghai. I was never sure why people would say "God Bless" after I sneezed, and research shows that in the 1600's some people thought the sneeze was to get rid of Evil Spirits. 
Does Max Orme and the Silver Maple still use a left handed Monkey Wrench
What is so Holy about a Cow
Which plant Died on the Vine
If the horse is dead, why even talk about beating it after
If you are taking a water turn and want to take it for a"Titch longer", how much time is that
When your mother tells you to come home, how long is a "Jiffy"
Would Dean Shaw know what is "Coming out of the woodwork is"
Who at the cheese factory is really "The Big Cheese"
If you are up to snuff, then help be figure these out before I go Helter Skelter.
On and by the way, here is a photo of some Hobos passing through town.

The Ute Stampede is over, at least for a year, but in my eye, a good time was had by all.

After reading an article in today's Salt Lake Tribune, I had to write a note to the sports writer, and tell him thanks.

I attended the Ute Stampede on Saturday night, and watched the process as much as the rodeo. I was in a position to observe Cotton Rosser, a living legend. I also watched thousands of people having a great time and that made me feel good......the Ute Stampede is as noble as it ever was.

The Mt. Nebo Chapter of the FFA has changed from 1964.....and the future looks "pretty" dang good.

When an organization is built on a good foundation, it has a better chance of succeeding. At least that is my thought with the Mt. Nebo Chapter of the Future Farmers of America(FFA). In Juab County during the 1950's and sixties, the Advisers were James Anderson and Jay Dalley. They were our professional baby sitters and helped mature us, and get us to appreciate farming. When I saw a Facebook invitation to like the Mt. Nebo FFA and the Juab County Fair, my mind slid back a half century. Back then, this greenhorn was persuaded to become a Greenhand by Johnny Cotton and Rex McPherson- to get involved with that organization, and I came to love and respect it's principles. Jay Dalley lead us to two straight years of winning the State with Parliamentary Procedure teams; Public Speaker going to the National Convention in Kansas City, and winning welding and meat Judging contests. I now see where the Chapter placed 28th in the nation in horse judging and Hailee Garrett and Makayla Garrett receiving the prestigious American Degree. Three cheers to what the Mt. Chapter is doing. For a little color, I have found photos of the modern day members of the Mt. Nebo Chapter, and then some vintage photos from the members in 1964. We have also taken a photo of the jacket I wore 52 years ago. Back then they didn't make good jackets as I attempted to put this jacket on last week, and it shrunk! It has nothing to do with the hundred pounds I have put on since then.....it is the material!  I have also included the obituary of Elvin Downs, who was the State Advisor for the FFA, and a leader for the thousands of young people in Utah. He was our hero.  Most assuredly, the present day members of the Mt. Nebo FFA are a heck a lot better looking than those guys of yesteryear.