These three original photos are thought to be 130 years old; of the Tolley family from Juab County, Utah, USA.

The first photo is of Floyd and Fonda Tolley of Nephi, Utah. The second identifies those involved with the handwritten words on the back "To Aunt Sarah. From your loving grandnieces. Connie(or Corinne) & Helen Legare.  Age 5 yrs. and 2 half yrs. As a remembrance".  Sarah is thought to be Sarah Warren Tolley( born Aug. 1, 1848).  The third photo shows no names on the reverse but found in the same location of other Tolley family photos.

A couple more things from the education history box from the 1920's of Nephi High School of Utah, USA.

It doesn't need much explaining, as it is all here in black and white and fun to see that Juab County school kids knew all about some  great composers when they did a Band Concert, but never knew that Dvorak wrote any "Humoresque" stuff.

It remains hot, but it is Friday, so time to consider doing something cool tonight, like pretending it is Dec. 21, 1928

Last evening we discovered the four page large print of the Nephi High School "Clarion" produced by students. That was in Nephi, Utah, USA for Friday, Dec. 21, 1928. Following this entry, we will take the original to the Nephi Library for safe keeping. This will give the reader a variety of what school kids were doing way back then, and interesting to see some of the business' that were alive and well. Remember to attend the Big Show Tonight, at the high school auditorium. Curtain time for "The Goose Hangs High" is at 8.

If you grew up in Juab County, Utah, USA during the 1950's and 1960's you may known some of these folks.

Common family names in Juab County were and still are Newton's; Carter; Tidwell; Ostler; Sparks, Jackman, Wilkey; Garrett; Higginson; Nyman and Mangelson. I came across these photos while looking for another, so thought I would expose the truth....yup, some of them are way back before you were born, but you may recognize some of them. Just for a little color, we also included some gals from other Counties within Friday night driving distance of Nephi, Utah.

I think I missed the birthday party for Cliff and Carl Howard, who were born on July 2nd.

While going through a history box of school friends from Nephi, Utah, I found this birthday party invitation for Cliff and Carl Howard, who were and still may be twins! The party was scheduled for July 2nd, 1955, and it is assumed I attended as we were friends back then and still are and only had to walk a block to get to the pubic park party place. I figured I had a photo of them somewhere, but the trouble with that is I find too many photo's, so had to include others. The first photo page should show the mischievous looking non-twinly looking twins, but the page also shows their older sister-Susan Howard, who always knew those brothers were up to something.

It is back to the future time in Nephi, Utah. The Juab County Complex looks the same today as when it was built nearly a hundred years ago.

Although I am not sure of how long it took for it's construction, I do recall my father talking of coming in to town from Nortonville, and became friends with it's builder, who publicly declared he built the then called Nephi High School to last a hundred years. I believe that was in 1920, with the first students moving in during 1922. Through the years, various people and groups have tried to tear it down, but it has survived quite well, and it is only an assumption, but back then, it may have looked like it does today. One photo is taken from Alice McCune's book which shows the first Nephi High School, which was later called "Central School", and located just east of the present day ambulance shop on 1st North or Track Street. That was around the year 1900, with the photographer standing near the west side of where the rose garden is. The first entry shows my official student body card and a good place to hide out if one was to travel all the way up to Provo, Utah.

A short history of Nephi High; Levan High and Juab High School.

I know the answer, I just can't remember the question. I know it had to do with Juab High and why they have the school colors of  Crimson and Gold. Well, I think I found an official thought, at least taken from "The Juab Handbook" given to all students in 1958. Although it may still be up to further discussion, it seems that I recall a member of the Nephi High Class of 1928 had told me that they had been using different colors around 1900, but since I am both color blind and tone deaf, I can't recall what she told me, but thought one color was a green. Anyway, here is your color code for today.

Nephi, Utah is the place to be for a great County Fair.

Have you herd? Yup, that is the way we spell it here in the heart of Utah. The Juab County Fair is set for August 8-13, 2016.  We wasn't sure how many different varieties of  Buckwheat we could enter, so we went directly to the County Fair office and got the latest. Demolition Derby Tickets are going fast, so ya better get em soon. If you have something to enter, put it in, as you can't win unless you try.  Even the old fat man in the tub got his share of ribbons over the years. If he can get one, so can you and fun to look at all the good stuff made in Juab County.

Buckwheat is more than the name of one of the Little Rascals of 1950's TV fame.

It seemed like a good idea at the time! I recently discovered that Buckwheat was more than just the name of one of the Little Rascals of 1950's TV fame. There was a grain called Buckwheat that was very popular in the Great Lakes area, and used for making pancakes. We had a lot of Spring rain in Juab County, so I figured the time was right and bought some Buckwheat to plant right here in Juab County, the heart of Utah. After all, Juab farmers had so impressed the world with dry land farming, that Utah State University built a satellite office on the Levan ridge in 1903. Well, when summer came, the water went away, and remembered that Utah was the second driest State in the Union. The local John Deere dealer thought I was plum local when I asked about buying a miniature Buckwheat harvester. I had no other choice other than to hire McCord Jones to hand pick the Buckwheat and have a chat with Jeff Banks, the Juab County Agent. The good news is that the Jones Boys may be the first to have produced Buckwheat in the valley and should get a ribbon at the Juab County Fair as the only entry. The bad news is it takes a lot of water to grow, and we are in a severe drought. Jeff gave us some detailed information about farming in Juab County, which we have included. He also said that Buckwheat is good for those who are allergic to Gluten, which is found in grains, and acts as a glue holding foods together. Buckwheat is Gluten free. We had no choice except to grind it the same way the Ancient Ones did, with a thousand year old grinding stone from the Fremont Indians, made out of Basalt. I think in another week or so, McCord should have enough flour for one pancake. While he is doing that I will be at Denny's having pancakes, with a little extra Gluten on the side.

It has been twenty years since I raced a race, so is 2020 a good year to start again!

In just the last week I viewed Ute Stampede foot racers; saw an ad for the Nebo HOPE Run; an ad in The Time News for Operation Support Your Local Hero's 5-K, then as I tried to leave the Nephi City Offices today, a bright lite application beckoned me to pick it up, which was for a Biathlon and 5-K Run. For those unaware and have never ran an ankle bender, a 5-K means running five kilometers or a little more than 3 miles, with your first and last race being the worst. If you do sign up for one of these, do so with caution, as it can be addicting. My love for the sport didn't hit me until I was 45, and it wasn't by choice. My kids little league Coach-Craig Siciliano died during one of our games in the Union area of Salt Lake County. Craig was an adorned Coach with that special knack of dealing with kids, making them better in baseball and with themselves. His sudden death was not only a shock to the kids, but to his pregnant wife and son who was playing on the field. I went through my own shock and pain when trained in CPR I had never thought I would be doing it on a friend and not able to bring him back. Feeling enormous guilt, I confronted the Medical Examiner, who I knew, and felt less guilt when he declared that an artery was so blocked that he had died before he hit the ground. It shocked me enough to start my own exercise, in a way running away from my pain and it seemed to dull the sense of his loss. Below is the races I ran, being over a hundred. The top race was when me and my two sons all won trophies in our division. The fun race was in San Francisco, called Bay to Breaker. I ran with 80,000 people, with 100,000 people watching. I thought I was doing good until the entire Rams football team passed me in full uniform. I haven't raced for twenty  years, but the year 2020 seems like a comfortable year to start again.

I don't want to smoke a cigarette, I just want to smell it burn.

The 82nd Ute Stampede is now history, and most can prepare to go back to work tomorrow, which also means the Rodeo Committee and their volunteers will start to prepare for next year. Most of us don't know how much behind the scene work goes in doing that, but we acknowledge it with a heartfelt thanks. Although I probably won't attend as many as Mrs. Morgan or Ellen Garrett, I have been to several and this year was as good as ever, not only watching world champion Cody Wright, but supporting our Nephi kids as well. The problem was there was something missing at the rodeo, but I couldn't put my finger on it until midway through the second rodeo. I wandered aimlessly, even among the carny workers. As I was returning to my seat above the chutes, it hit me like a bolt of lightening. I could smell the aroma of freshly lit tobacco. I sought the source and found it coming from a cowboy who just finished his event. I hollered at him to move closer to me. Good thing he didn't want a boot fight, as it takes a long time to get mine off. I just wanted to smell his cigarette. Sometimes our senses are heighten when we smell something of fondness, as a fresh burning cigarette does for me. It was something I grew to love at the rodeo, as it was always present. The cowboy told me it had been outlawed on the Fairgrounds, so at least I feel better knowing what I was missing. Mr. Bracken, a local school teacher of the past, showed us kids the dangers of smoking so I didn't need the government telling me in over the top TV warnings. That teacher had an impact on the Class of 65, so most of us never took up the habit. Mr. Bracken placed a drop of tar or nicotine in the mouth of a sparrow and then let it fly. It was a matter of seconds when the bird dropped dead. Back in the 1950's and 60's there were a lot of enticing ads to smoke a stick and we bought candy cigarettes to think we were the Marlboro Man. Trouble was, those guys died pretty dang quick, and it wasn't from saddle sores. I still like to smell burning tobacco, so if you are smoking, don't punch me if I want to come up close and just want to sniff! In the 1960's, Juab County had a lot of smokers, and thinking back, they all seemed to be good family men; great neighbor's; excellent cops; hard workers and guys who would stop what they were doing to give a helping hand. I idolize our soldiers, many of which learned how to smoke-getting the cigs from the C-rations. If you spend much time in a foxhole or thinking about getting killed, a cigarette became a calmer. If a shepherd couldn't read the Good Book or play the harmonica, he would roll his own to pass the time. Now the rest of the story-and without a smoke screen. For the past sixty years, I have been collecting stuff from around the world, which include packs of cigarettes and just found my box of cancer. It is too hot to burn in a yard and the rising smoke may give cancer to migratory birds. I could take up smoking, but not really interested, so I interviewed a cowboy among us and he told me he was committed to continued smoking. Today, I presented my box of legal stash to the Amarillo Kid of Texas. He won his version of the Lottery.

Get your hats and spurs on, as next weekend is the rodeo of all rodeo's at the Ute Stampede.

As hundreds were aware, Nephi's 4th of July celebration was as good as it ever was. The first photo shows a prior time when Erma Garrett babysat her grandnephew-Justin Jones. We can now put the Cherry bombs on hold and put our western attire on as the Ute Stampede is returning to Nephi, Utah for its 82nd showdown. I heard this year will be the best ever, but can't find my latest copy of The Times News, so will go with what I got. Indications are the carnival has moved away from the Central School and tennis court and moved to the Juab County Fairgrounds. I also heard that Monte Young's Rides and Shows are no longer around, so just show up to the "City of Fun" and see which carny will spin you the most on the merry-go-round. I am not sure if Kemp Motes is the Grand Marshall of the parade, but if he is, who could be more proper. Same goes for the Stampede Royalty, with a Lunt or a Winn, or is it that Kendall gal Roy Gibson wrote about. One thing I know for sure, I am excited to see which of all of those beautiful gals neath the majestic heart of Nebo will win the beauty contest, especially the one in the two piecer. It is 1967 isn't it! To round it all off, it is great to cheer for the locals participating, including Bryce Gardner; Joel and Mark Winn and after all who has roped in more rodeos that Kemp Motes. It is a good thing I turned my 1951 Ute Stampede Badge in to the Committee. Somebody can keep track of things better than me. Get your rodeo tickets for next weekend at Nephi 4-D, then you can get all the real factual facts, rather than the fictional facts.