RUMOR HAS IT THAT THE OLD PREMIUM WILL BECOME THE NEW ONE

                                                                                                                                                                   

 

It started as rumor that one of the old buildings in Nephi that used to serve gas customer's on old Nephi traveling through Highway 91 long before Freeways were built like downtown LA. The Old Premium Oil building is being restored as a garage to fix and repair your car or truck. Yup, even that old jalopy that has been setting in your barn for 30 year's. I decided to check the place out. I met the new Evan Blackett of yesteryears'. His name is Bryce Chappelle, and since he married one of the Sutherland gals from Mona, he is a Local guy. And I then informed he was automatically local as the name of Chappelle was of Pioneer names that built and preserved pioneer heritage. I then preceded to grill him about himself; why he is doing this and if he was honest. No, I didn't swear him in, but I gave him a Juab County handshake which confirms the deal, better that an attorney or Judge to be honest with all customers, even those that drive in with their pajamas on, like I did. He will be officially open in a couple weeks. No he doesn't have gas, but knows oil and engines, so he will be a great person to deal with. If he does work on your pedal pusher and their is a squeak in it, take it back to him. He wants customers to be happy with whatever work he does. He won't be like some of the bad guys along your trip, who want to put a new engine in your car when you only "needed summer air taken out of the tires", which was an old trick they used to pull on customers. When it opens, give them a chance. I think they will be honest and good. And no, this is not Bryce Garner, who was an early cook at the Snak Shack, cooking the fresh eggs from the chicken Coop behind the Premium, and yes, he has his a Nephi Business License and cleared through the State to use the name of Premium and has a Clean Record, according to Ray Jackson!. Case Closed.

  

PHOTO AND NAMES OF STUDENTS OF CENTRAL SCHOOL-THIRD GRADE-1956

 

Top Row from left to right is: Gloria Jean Gustin; Joan Barton; Shelia Sperry; Betty Jo Greenhalgh.

Second Row Standing: Carol Ostler; Linda Lou Corbin; Barbara Houghton; Dennis Paxman; Clayton Anderson; Earl Bolton; ??; Connie Kendall; Linda Draper;  Marilyn Christensen; Mrs. Gadd.

Third Row-Sitting; Deann Anderson; Claudia Smith; Marilyn Worwood; Shirley Howard; Ann Hall; Kent Jones; Randy Sperry; Kent Worthington; Betty Ann Worwood; Kay Wilkey.

Front Row; Don Johnson; Kent Jarrett; Robert Harmon; Norman Jarrett; Bradley Brough; Creig Tidwell; Gean Sperry; Bruce Beal; Roger Stowell.

I apologize for any mix up or improper spelling of names. But it stands to reason. As far as I know, I still hold the record for the Juab School District as the only High School graduate who was kicked out of Kindergarten. That was when we attended it in the Industrial Arts Building, just north of the Central School. That is where lunches were prepared before the new school was built on 4th East. I helped my father tear down the pioneer built homes on Track Street, where the mother of Mrs. Harry Carter lived; Jim Bean and the Gee family. But that is what was ordered, but I look back on it and shed a tear how folks were forced out of their home's. Mrs. Gadd was a great teacher and looking back, I believe that this class and the other one or two classes were made up of some of the best kids anywhere. Some were KIA during Viet Nam; many still served their country and Church. As I gazed at the photo, I do recall in those days in the1950's, we treated each other as family,  and we as kids volunteered to put our arms around our class mates and helped them along, through high school. Citizens have to pay for those teachers now, but we all did it as an honor to serve our fellow friends. The times we had during those days are lost and gone forever, and we can just be grateful we lived when we did and the family and friends we will always be. And no, Bradley  Brough was not the Mean guy he looks like in the photo. He was one of the most friendly of all. And a better teacher can't be found. Mrs. Gadd was a God send to pranksters like me and Earl Bolton! And I started with those pranks in Kindergarten, as I didn't want to lay down and take a nap, so while the teacher turned her head, I got our pet frog out of the holding tank and put it next to the face of a class mate. Mr. Bailey was the principle, who kicked me out and called my mother. She and I had to walk across town to apologize to the teacher and to the student.

HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT HAL HARRIS JONES IS NOW 79 EARTH YEARS OLD

Hal was given the middle name of Harris, as his mother was LaVon Harris, whose family came to Nephi with the Mormon Pioneers. Of the four boys born to Alma and LaVon Jones, Hal was probably the most handsome and all you have to do is look at that smile. As a kid, he didn't seem to like work like his brothers, as he was always laying on the Thermoid woven Hammock or under the big apple tree, and always chewing on a long straw. He was told he couldn't buy that Honda 50 from Kirk Sanders unless he found work. With his pair of Engineer Boots, he walked 30 yards and Steve Greenwood hired him as a tire recap expert, and he never seemed to take a breath since then. Of all us four boys and one girl, we thought he was the least of us that could pick up a foreign language, at least one that was East of Nortonville, anyway. Well, David O. McKay sent him a letter and told him to pack his bags, as he was heading to China. And in those days, they didn't have a Language Training Center but expected to spend the extra six months learning it in the field. When Hal got to learning it, a violent civil war broke out and all LDS Missionaries' where shipped to another Pacific Rim Country, and Hal learned a new language. He finally came back to Nephi, which was a very rural town, but it ain't no mo. Hal thought he could find some dry hay to take a well earned nap, but Hell No Hal. He and my other brothers got a call from an Uncle Sam, so Hal went back to a Hell Hole as a Medic in the upfront 9th Infantry Division. He survived, but little do most of our teachers and kids have NO real knowledge of what "Shell Shock" or PTSD is. And the older the Veteran, the kids have little respect for the soldier, or so it seems. So Dec. 7th isn't just a "Pearl Harbor" day, but Hal's 79th birthday. We headed to Vegas to watch the National Rodeo Finals. And I was willing to buy him a cake, but Hell No Hal chose Pie. I knew we shouldn't have sat behind that chute! Yup, he got a face full of .....well....lets call it a Cow Pie.