All posts by Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area

TBSI Has “Fairy Tale” Experience, Helps Restore Castle in Wales – Press Release 4/12/2004

DATE 04/12/2004 3:03 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

TBSI Has “Fairy Tale” Experience, Helps Restore Castle in Wales

It has all the makings of a fairy tale: a couple buys what they think is a chicken farm and 17th- Century manor house complete with a tower in the Wales countryside. But once they move in, they start to uncover clues about the house’s history. They discover that their farm house is really a palace, the last home of a brave prince and his baby daughter.The prince’s wife died in childbirth, so the little girl is his only family and heir. The story takes an even sadder turn when the prince is killed by a bitter king when the child is less than a year old. The little girl is forced to spend her life in seclusion in a convent, never knowing she was the first and last true born princess of Wales.

What makes the tale so compelling is that it is true, and it has also become the real-life adventures of Kathryn and Brian Pritchard Gibson, of Wales. Now, Snow College’s Traditional Building Skills Institute (TBSI) is part of the story.

The first chapter involving TBSI began this spring when director Russ Mendenhall and 10 others associated with the institute spent three days working on the “castle.” Mendenhall heard about the house through John Lambert, owner of Abstract Historic Masonry in Salt Lake City, who found out about it on the Internet. Eventually, Mendenhall and Lambert contacted the couple and the group was on their way to Wales.

Mendenhall says he didn’t know anything about Pritchard Gibson’s before meeting them at their farm in Wales, and the couple didn t know anything about him or TBSI. “Our only contact had been through the Internet, so we didn t know what to expect when we got there,” he says.

“It turned out to be one of the most delightful experiences any of us had ever had…right away, we could tell we were working on a building that is 600 years old at least.”

The group focussed on a 12 foot- by-12-foot section of the home, removing old cement and mortar and restoring it back to the historical lyme putty-type mortar and doing other repairs. It was the oldest structure we have ever worked on, Mendenhall says.

TBSI, which aims to further the art of traditional building skills and educate people on how to use such skills in preserving historic buildings and in new construction, holds hands-on workshops throughout the year in Utah. But its students often travel to work on restoration projects like the one in Wales.

The entire group stayed with a host family in the town of Rhyl at a former bed & breakfast. They also travelled a bit around Wales and England. “It was wonderful. Kathryn, who is a historian, was able to tell us all about the area and about the house, so we got to see and do so much more than you would as a typical tourist,” Mendenhall said.

After the Pritchard Gibson’s moved into the farm house in 1992, they started discovering secret rooms and hidden stairways. Kathryn Pritchard Gibson started researching the house and found letters and documents in archives throughout Wales that provided clues about the home.

Locals had long called the home “Llewelyn’s Tower” but no one knew why. Turned out that Llewelyn the Last, the last prince of Wales, had lived in there with his baby daughter, Gwenllian. The prince was killed in a skirmish that was the result of a long-time feud involving King Edward I of England (the title Prince of Wales eventually went to Edward’ son, Edward II). King Edward ordered the baby princess abducted and she was sent to a convent.

Seeing and working on the home was like living history, Mendenhall says. “Kathryn took us up to the house’s tower, and you could see all the way across the land and to the sea,” he says. “It must have been a very strategic spot for watching out for the enemy, you would be able to see them coming quite a ways away by ship and be prepared for battle.” Next to the home there are several other smaller stone structures, including a building that use to be a chapel. “Rumour is that Llewelyn could be buried under the floor,” he says.

Mendenhall will be taking another TBSI group back next spring. “We had an incredible time and there is still a lot of work to be done.”

For more information, contact Mendenhall at (435) 283-7575.

# # #

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

World’s “Best Talkers” Came to Sanpete as Competitors, Left as Friends – Press Release 3/29/2004

DATE 03/29/2004 7:27 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

World’s “Best Talkers” Came to Sanpete as Competitors, Left as Friends

They came, they saw and they talked and talked and talked. More than 50 of the world’s fastest and most persuasive speakers gathered in Mt. Pleasant this past weekend for the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships at Wasatch Academy. They represented some seven countries around the globe and competed in debate, impromptu speaking, interpretive reading and persuasive or after-dinner speaking.“It was just incredible, these teenagers are amazing, amazing public speakers,” said LeAnn Packard-Bird, event manager.

In the end, it was the Canadians who walked away with top honors, nabbing six of the top-10 placements, including the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, won by Sarah Mortazavi and Sarah Sahagian. “The girls ruled,” Packard-Bird said.

South Africa and the United States also had students among the top finishers. Wasatch Academy’s own Josh Nowitz placed 28th out of 52 contenders after the “grand finals” at the State Capitol Sunday. His classmate Jason Mischel was 39th.

But when all was said and done, the competitors didn’t really care that much about the final marks, Packard-Bird says. What ended up being more important was doing their best, learning a lot about themselves and making friends with people who live half way around the world. “There was a lot of camaraderie. The students were here competing against one another, and ended up being great friends.”

The four-day event started with competitions held at Wasatch Academy last Thursday and Friday. It was the first time a U.S. school has been awarded the prestigious honor of hosting the competition, which is sponsored by the Independent public Speaking Association. In order to take part, invited participants must have already won qualifying tournaments in their own countries or regions. One country could send a maximum of five students. Previously, the competition has been held in the United Kingdom, Argentina and Cyprus.

Joe Loftin, director of Wasatch Academy, and debate coach Tass Bey said the 129-year-old private school was a good choice to host the annual event. The academy has about 150 students from 21 states and 14 countries. The competition was also a perfect opportunity to share a bit of Sanpete County’s history and traditions with the world, says Monte Bona, a member of the Mt. Pleasant City Council and Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council.

Competitors stayed in Wasatch’s dormitories and ate in the school’s cafeteria. “They loved it and basically took over the campus,” Packard-Bird said with a laugh. “The coolest thing was that all of the kids got to experience every bit of Utah weather while they were here: there was warm sun, wind, rain and snow. We had kids leaving the cafeteria on Friday because it was snowing, and they had never seen snow before,” she says.

There were also a lot of activities in addition to debate and speaking, including a trip to Arches National Park and Moab, a Native American dance performance by Wasatch Academy student Ali Denny, and a turkey barbecue and performance by a Western entertainment group sponsored by Mt. Pleasant. “The city put on an incredible event, the performers were amazing,” Packard-Bird says.

On Saturday, the students went to Salt Lake City to attend a Jazz game and stay over at Little America, with the hotel helping sponsor the trip. Following the final competition rounds Sunday, there was a dinner at the Hard Rock Cafi. “The kids were dancing and singing in the aisles at the top of their lungs,” Packard-Bird says. “They were entertaining the entire restaurant. We had to drag them back on to the bus to go up to the Capitol to pick up their awards.”

Michael D. Zimmerman, former justice on the Utah Supreme Court, handed out the awards. Trophies were awarded to the top four finishers in debate and the top two competitors in the other events, as well as to the top over-all competitors, which took into account scores from all events.

Winners are:

Overall: Sarah Mortazavi, Canada, and Sarah Sahagian, CanadaDebate: Adam Zelmer, Canada; Michael Shapiro, United States; Chris Ryall, South Africa; Sarah Mortazavi, Canada

Interpretive Reading: Natasha Mavronicola, Cyprus; Sarah Sahagian, Canada

Persuasive Speaking Chris Ryall, South Africa; Sean Burnstein, Canada

After-dinner speaking Zahid Sunderani, Canada; Christina Meng, Canada

Impromptu speaking Sarah Mortazavi,Canada; Sarah Sahagian, Canada

“When it was all over, it was so cool to watch all of the kids hugging and kissing farewell and exchanging email address,” Packard-Bird says. “The students kept lingering, they just didn’t want to leave.”

# # #

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Manti Open House will Honor Memory of “Big Daddy” Roth – Press Release 3/19/2004

DATE 03/19/2004 6:55 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Manti Open House will Honor Memory of “Big Daddy” Roth

Manti will be transformed the weekend of April 2 and 3 as hundreds of fans of “Big Daddy” Roth flock to the small Utah town to celebrate the life of the renowned artist/car designer Ed Roth.Roth, who was famous for designing and building hotrod cars and for creating the cartoon character “Rat Fink” in the 1960s, died in Manti April 4, 2001. Two years ago, his wife, Ilene Roth, the Sanpete County auditor, decided she needed to find a way for people who loved and respected her husband and his work to honor his memory.

“When Ed passed away, he had all these memorabilia in boxes, so I decided that I needed to show it.” So Ilene Roth built an addition on to her Manti home that serves as a museum of sorts for Ed Roth’s creations. “We have his art work framed and hanging on the walls, and other memorabilia on display.” The museum is open to the public year-round by appointment.

Ilene Roth also decided to hold an open house so that people could visit the museum and honor her late husband’s memory. “Last year was the first time that we had the open house, and we had about 250 people there, including visitors from Japan,” she says.

After that experience, Ilene Roth decided to make it an annual event, holding the open house each year around the date her husband passed away. “Trixie’s Second Annual Open House” will run Friday, April 2, from 4 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, April 3, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at her home in Manti, 404 East 300 North.

“I am expecting about 700 to 800 people this year,” Ilene Roth says.

The event will include musical performances by the band Ridge Runner and displays of show cars. There will also be pin striping by “stripers.” “They will work on anything people bring in: tool boxes, cell phones, cameras, toilet seats, boats and cars,” Ilene Roth says.

Ilene Roth met her husband after he moved to Manti from California in 1987. An avid hotrod enthusiast from the age of 12, Ed Roth started out by fixing up old cars in his garage. He then moved on to building cars from scratch and quickly became known as an artist rather than a mechanic, with his creations earning the title “sculptures on wheels.”

He financed his passion by making cartoons and T-shirts, including drawings of cars and monsters driving cars. His most famous cartoon character was a rodent named Rat Fink, which became very popular in the 1960s and was featured on posters, T-shirts and more.

“The purpose of the open house is for people who admired Ed’s work to get together, remember him, and enjoy doing what he loved,” Ilene Roth says.

# # #

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

New Legislation Strengthens State’s Push for National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area – Press Release 3/7/2004

DATE 03/07/2004 4:29 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

New Legislation Strengthens State’s Push
for National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area.

The sense of anticipation about the National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area continues to grow in the cities and town along U.S. Highway 89, the Heritage Highway.

The state Legislature approved two bills during this year’s session that complement U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett’s effort to move the national designation forward.

The first bill, sponsored by Sen. Leonard Blackham of Moroni, establishes a Mormon Pioneer Heritage Center in connection with Utah State University. The center will coordinate research and extension efforts in recreation, heritage tourism and agriculture.

“It’s intended to work in conjunction with the Bennett bill,” said Monte Bona, a member of the Utah Highway 89 Alliance, which has been actively supporting the national designation. Bennett’s bill aims to help preserve cultural and architectural treasures of Utah’s pioneer heritage and strengthen opportunities for local heritage-related businesses and products in the state.

“The center will help carry out the responsibilities of the National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area and empower communities to preserve and enhance their heritage.”

This includes having extension agents work with local communities to enhance the production of heritage and craft products and develop business tourism plans. The center will also enter into cooperative contracts with the U.S. departments of agriculture and interior, and with state, county, city, public and private agencies. “It’s extremely important to have a center located at a college with the stature of Utah State University, in terms of its involvement in recreation studies, agriculture and agricultural extension,” Bona says. “It will add prestige and faculty expertise to the goals and objectives of the Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area.”

The second bill, sponsored by Rep. Michael Styler of Delta, establishes the boundaries of the Utah Pioneer Heritage Area, and specifies that the area be labeled as such on all officials maps, signage and other identifying materials.

The area includes U.S. Highway 89 from Fairview to Kanab, the Boulder Loop (state highways 12 and 24), the All-American Road (highway 12) and the six counties through which the route passes: Sanpete, Sevier, Piute, Wayne, Garfield and Kane.

Bona says that the cities and towns in the six-county area are the best remaining example of how Mormon pioneers colonized the west. “The heritage area includes countless examples of rich cultural and architectural history shaped by the early settlers.”

 “Both of the approved measures are companion pieces at the state level to the Bennett bill,” Bona says. “We are all pulling for this national designation.”

Traditionally, areas that attain national heritage designation receive millions of dollars in federal funds for marketing, historic preservation and related projects.

# # #

For more information Contact:

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Utah’s Best Drinking Water Found in Mt. Pleasant – Press Release 2/29/2004

DATE 02/29/2004 12:45 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Utah’s Best Drinking Water Found in Mt. Pleasant

Mt. Pleasant City has another feather to add to its cap of accomplishments: it’s home to the best drinking water in the state.The city captured top honors for its quality of drinking water during the Rural Water Association of Utah’s annual meeting in St. George Feb. 24-27 that attracted some 1,400 participants.

The city beat out 40 other entries in a statewide “taste test” of rural Utah’s drinking water. Water was judged for taste, clarity and smell by a panel. Mt. Pleasant will now compete for the title of best drinking water in the country at the National Rural Water Association’s annual meeting in the spring.

The first-place finish was both an unexpected and expected outcome for Richard Brotherson, Mt. Pleasant City’s Public Works Supervisor. “I was surprised to hear that we had won, but not surprised that they thought our water was the best. We have great water,” he says.

Just what makes the city’s water so incredible tasting? “It’s all spring water, all well water,” Brotherson explains. “We don’t chlorinate it. We don’t touch it. It never sees the light of day until it comes out of your tap.”

Mt. Pleasant City Councilor Monte Bona, who attended the annual conference with Brotherson, doesn’t have to be told how good the city’s water is he has been boasting about it for years.

A frequent traveler throughout the Western United States, Bona and his wife, Jackie, make sure they never leave home without their beloved water. “We take gallon jugs of it everywhere we go to California, New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon. We even take water with us when we go to Salt Lake,” he says.

Bona, who moved to Mt. Pleasant in 1994, says he became hooked on the local water the first time he tasted it. “Now we’re spoiled, we can’t stand to drink any other city’s water.”

Bona is also extensively involved in the state and national Main Street Program and the U.S. Highway 89 Alliance. He says that Mt. Pleasant’s water is another draw for people who come to Sanpete County and travel along U.S. Highway 89 in search of heritage experiences.

“What could be more authentic than pure, delicious well water? The only difference between the water now and the water that was here 100 years ago is now it comes out of the tap in your home.”

Bona says he plans to help the city look into the feasibility of bottling its water under a “Mt. Pleasant Main Street” label. The city is part the National Main Street Center of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which works with cities to revitalize their historic or traditional commercial areas and to save historic commercial architecture and the fabric of American communities.

Bona plans to take samples of Mt. Pleasant’s water to the annual Main Street meeting in New Mexico in May to see what others think of the award-winning water.

By then, Mt. Pleasant just may have earned another accolade. Brotherson will be attending the National Rural Water Association’s annual conference in Washington, D.C., in April. The city’s water will go up against the “best of the best,” competing against other state winners in a national taste test.

Brotherson, a 26-year veteran of Mt. Pleasant’s Public Works department, isn’t daunted by the thought of a national competition. “I will be hard to beat us. I don’t think there is better tasting water anywhere.”

# # #

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Where the Buffalo Roamed…. Discovery of Skull Opens New Chapter in Utah History – Press Release 2/23/2004

DATE 02/23/2004 8:43 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Where the Buffalo Roamed….
Discovery of Skull Opens New Chapter in Utah History

Utah was once a land where the buffalo roamed, according to new evidence “uncovered” by two Salina men. It has long been believed that buffalo were never native to Utah, but a skull found in Salina Canyon by local resident Maurice Rasmussen was recently documented to be the remains of a buffalo dating back to the 14th Century.The skull, which has been under the care of the Office of Public Archeology at Brigham Young University for the past several years, was recently sent to New Mexico where a series of tests determined its age. “It turns out that the skull is from about 1350 A.D.,” Rasmussen says.

“It’s quite a thing when you think about it, something was living right here that many years ago and I just happened to find out about it.”

Rasmussen came across the skull in 1978 when he was building a road for the Red Creek Mine up Salina Canyon. “We had dug down about five feet in one area when we spotted something that looked like the brain cavity of skull. I got down into the hole and scrapped it out, and it turned out to be a skull. It was a miracle that we found it, if we would have dug about an inch lower or an inch higher, we never would have seen it.”

After showing it to few friends and trying to guess what kind of animal it was (he thought it might be a bull), Rasmussen simply added the skull to his personal “collection.” “I’ve found and kept a lot of things as I’ve gone through life “rocks and such,” he says. “I just thought that this was something else to keep.”

The skull might have remained part of Rasmussen’s collection forever had it not been for Bob Leonard, an archeologist for Fishlake National Forest. About sevenyears after Rasmussen found the skull, the two men, who are both from Salina, were discussing the interesting things that have been uncovered in Salina Canyon and Rasmussen mentioned his find.

“Bob came out and looked at it and got very excited,” Rasmussen says. “He said it was a buffalo skull and that it might be the only proof in 400 years that buffalo were in this part of Utah.”

Leonard says it was obvious at first sight that the skull from a buffalo. “You didn’t have to be forensic scientist to figure it out the skull was complete, it had horns and everything.”

The skull ended up being donated to BYU, where it has been in storage for several years. “We simply never had the money to send it away to be analyzed.” Leonard says. “But just recently, the office at BYU came up with the funding to get it dated and got the entire process moving.”

Leonard says the test results are “amazing.” “It’s very exciting news. On a scale of 1 to 10, I put it at a 10. It opens up a whole new mystery.”

Most interesting, he says, is the fact that buffalo remains have never been found in the “trash piles” left behind by the Fremont people, who lived in Salina Canyon hundreds of years ago. Their villages and artifacts have been uncovered and documented. The remains of other animals, including rabbits, deer, antelope and sheep, have been found among the Fremont ruins. But no buffalo. “If the buffalo were here, why didn’t the Fremont people utilize this resource?” Leonard asks.

“That is why this is so intriguing. We thought that we knew everything there is to know about the Fremont people, obviously, we didn’t know everything.”

Rasmussen, a life-long resident of Salina (his grandfather, Neils C. Rasmussen, founded the town), adds that he is elated that he uncovered a interesting part of Utah’s history. “But the skull is just one part of it. There are a lot more stories to be told in that area.”

Indeed, the buffalo skull just one of the many interesting items that have been found in Salina Canyon. It’s also home to, among other things, Fremont villages, shelters built by the earlier “hunter and gatherer” native people, and pictographs. “It’s a fascinating area,” says Leonard, who hopes to lead a volunteer excavation in the canyon this summer.

In addition to the Freemont sites, the canyon is rich in history, Leonard says. It was the site of the violent incident between two settlers and a band of Ute Indians that started the Black Hawk War; had a railroad and a prosperous coal mine built in it; and was used by Walkara, a man known as the “greatest horse thief in the West.” “He would drive horses and stolen stock through the canyon,” Leonard says.

The canyon also includes several valleys that were probably once lush with grass, he says. Leonard speculates that this is where the buffalo lived. “They probably didn’t roam the land freely in huge herds,” he says.

More than likely, they lived in the valleys in small herds. But the important fact is that they were here.”

# # #

For more information Contact:Bob Leonard, (435) 896-9233 or Maurice Rasmussen, (435) 529-7762
Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Not a Carnegie, But…. Gunnison Proud of Civic Library – Press Release 1/26/2004

DATE 01/26/2004 7:15 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Not a Carnegie, But…. Gunnison Proud of Civic Library

It may not be a Carnegie Library, but residents of the city of Gunnison, located along U.S. Highway 89, the Heritage Highway, are still as proud as they can be of their local library.“We want people to know that we have a library, and that it is an important part of the community and our history,” says Jerolyn Young, a member of the Gunnison City Council and Gunnison Civic Library board.

Last year, the Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council wrote articles publicizing the fact that the county is home to three of Utah’s remaining 17 Carnegie Libraries in Mt. Pleasant, Ephraim and Manti. All of the libraries were constructed early in the 20th Century as part of a nationwide and even worldwide effort by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to establish public libraries.

After the articles were published, Young and other members of the Gunnison City Council decided they wanted to draw attention to their library ” Carnegie or not ” that was established in 1943 thanks to a grass-roots community effort. “The citizens of the area got together and said “we need a library” and made it happen,” Young says. In 1979, the library was moved to its present home at 38 W. Center Street, one of the city’s oldest buildings that also houses the city courts, police station and senior citizens center.

The 2,445-square-foot library serves the city of Gunnison, along with the communities of Fayette, Mayfield and Centerville. “We have meetings there, weekly story hours for children and many other activities, along with computers and reading areas,” says Young. “A lot of the high school students come to the library to work, it’s always quite busy.” The library also has a book-sharing program that allows patrons to borrow materials from other libraries in Utah and the United States.

The Gunnison Civic Library has one full-time librarian, Stephanie Prisbrey, along with a nine-member library board. During the winter months, it s hour of operation are Monday-Thursday, 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. During the summer months, it’s open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursdays and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. The Library may be reached at (435) 528-3104 or online at gunnlibrary@gunnisoncity.org.

# # #

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

World’s “Best Talkers” to Gather in Sanpete County; Competing in debate championships at Wasatch Academy – Press Release 1/18/2004

DATE 01/18/2004 7:15 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

World’s “Best Talkers” to Gather in Sanpete County;
 Competing in debate championships at Wasatch Academy

Some of the fastest and most persuasive talkers in the world will converge on Mt. Pleasant City March 24-28 for the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships at Wasatch Academy.This is the first time a U.S. school has been awarded the prestigious honor of hosting the event. And Joe Loftin, director of the 129-year-old private school in Mt. Pleasant, says Wasatch Academy was a “very appropriate choice.””We have an extremely diverse campus and this will be an extremely diverse competition,” he says. The academy has about 150 students from 21 states and 14 countries.

The debating championships will attract close to 100 award-winning student debaters from more than 20 countries around the globe. Previously, the annual event has been held in the United Kingdom, Argentina and Cyprus.

The competition is a perfect opportunity to share a bit of Sanpete County’s history and traditions with the world, says Monte Bona, a member of the Mt. Pleasant City Council and Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council.

“We are working closely with Joe and with debate coach Tass Bey in welcoming people from all over the world to our town,” Bona says. “We will be introducing them to our rich heritage and emphasizing the wonderful educational opportunities that are available here, as well as the cultural diversity that exists in the proposed Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area.”

For his part, Loftin says he hopes the event will help put the respected boarding school “on the map.”

Competitors all will take part in four events: debate, impromptu speaking, interpretive speaking and persuasive or after-dinner speaking. The championships are sponsored by the Independent public Speaking Association, a group of private schools located primarily in the Eastern United States and in England.

In order to take part in the competition, invited participants must have already won qualifying tournaments in their own countries or regions. One country may send a maximum of five students.

Last year, Wasatch Academy student Eli King qualified to take part in the world championships that were held in London, England. This year, Joshua Nowitz qualified to participate in the tournament. Born in South Africa and raised in Houston, Texas, Nowitz received accolades from the city of Houston for his accomplishment, along with a “Shining Star of Texas” award from Governor Rick Perry.

In addition to the debate competition, Bey has arranged for participants to learn about “play theory” from some of the nation’s foremost experts. The theory holds that learning is most effective when melded with play activities. Competitors will also take part in recreational activities, including a field trip to Arches National Park.

Wasatch Academy has only had a debate program for about two years. Bey, who moved to Mt. Pleasant from Canada in 2001, launched the forensics program when he arrived.

# # #

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Elk Are Back At Wind Walker Guest Ranch – Press Release 1/12/2004

DATE 1/12/2004 7:15 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Elk Are Back At Wind Walker Guest Ranch

Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 7:13 AMThe elk are back! The elk are back! Loretta Johnson wanted to shout it from the tops of the mountains that tower over her Wind Walker Guest Ranch in Spring City.

Elk watching is one of the ranch owners’ favorite wintertime activities, and one she loves to share with guests who visit Wind Walker, located on 994 acres of land at the 6000 foot level of Manti-Lasal National Forest s hills. But after a deprivation hunt that lasted from mid-November through December, Johnson was worried that there may not be as many elk, especially males, around this year.

“During the hunt, I would go outside and tell the elk to stay among the juniper trees,” she says with a laugh. “I was afraid they weren’t listening. But last night, as I was coming home, there was a six-point buck standing right at the end of the driveway. I was so happy.”

Johnson loves to take her guests out elk watching at night, when the animals come down from the mountains to eat hay in the fields and sharpen their horns on the trees. For many people, creeping out on a moonlit winter night and crouching down among the trees to watch elk make their way down from the mountains is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, she says. “It’s dark outside, the snow is bright and fresh, it’s just beautiful.”

During the winter months, people often come to the ranch to escape the inversions and just “get out of the city,” Johnson says. For other winter guests, just being around snow is something new. “We had two families her over the weekend from Jacksonville, Florida. They just came up to play in the snow and see winter in Utah. They all had a great time. They just sent me an email that said “we’re back home now, and it’s 74 degrees.”

In addition to elk watching, Johnson keeps her wintertime guests entertained with activities such as ice skating on outdoor ponds, cross-country skiing, sledding, snowmobiling, wagon rides and other snow-related games and activities. “It really is a winter wonderland,” Johnson says. “Sometimes we will take guests out snowmobiling and build a fire right in a snow mound and roast marshmallows and hot dogs.”

She also plans special events, such as an upcoming Murder Mystery weekend, where guests use role-playing and clues to figure out “who shot the sheriff.” “Everybody plays a part and people seem to have a great time,” Johnson says. She also hosts singles weekends, which attract people from all around the state, along with “Pack and Pamper” specials that include a day of roughing it camping in the mountains, followed by a day of being pampered with massages, facials and yoga.

During the summer, Wind Walkers’ horse back riding program is a big attraction, along with fishing and hiking. The ranch is also the home of a special children’s camp, which Johnson founded after her then nine-year-old daughter was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. It includes a number of special programs for children that incorporate play and activities with learning and therapy.

For additional information about elk watching and the Wind Walker Guest Ranch, contact Loretta Johnson at (435)462-0282.

# # #

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Snowmobilers Gearing Up for New Season – Press Release 12/22/2003

DATE 12/22/2003 1:45 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Snowmobilers Gearing Up for New Season

When the weather outside is frightful, snowmobilers know that one thing will soon be delightful: the trails in Sanpete County. The region boasts some of the best trails for snowmobiling in the entire country. In fact, the routes, friendly people and sporting opportunities resulted in Doug Miller, KUTV news’ outdoor specialist, proclaiming Sanpete County as the best outdoor recreation experience in the state earlier this year. Indeed, the combination of fresh snow and access to fabulous routes keep people coming back year after year. “I think the secret has gotten out,” said Judy Zumwalt, who, along with husband Glen, co-owns Big Pine Sports The two are known throughout Utah as the “unofficial source” for snowmobiling conditions in Utah. People call the store just about daily during the season for updates and conditions. Avid snowmobiler themselves, Glen is the past president of the Utah Snowmobile Association, while Judy handles the group’s public relations.Snowmobiling enthusiasts should be sure to visit the county this season and check out the redesign of the Arapeen trail system. The routes, found primarily in the Manti LaSal National Forest, have been carefully marked and mapped to ensure that riders find their way around the 370 miles that make up the trail system. The redesign was several years in the making and includes bridges, culverts and water bars.Another draw is Fairview Canyon. The paved canyon road leads to a trail head that provides access to more than 60 miles of trails to the north at Skyline Drive and some 30 miles to the south to Joe’s Valley. In fact, several clubs that are members of the Utah Snowmobile Association plant to visit Fairview in the new year. The Timp Ridge Runners Club has scheduled a visit for Jan. 10, and the Salt Lake Valley Club and the Snowflake Snowmobiler’s group both have booked Feb. 7 as a day to come to Fairview. There will also be a snowmobiler’s rally held in Fairview in April.

Economic development officials say snowmobiling is a huge benefit for the county. Visitors eat in local restaurants, stay in local hotels and bed and breakfasts, and visit stores and shops. “We have a tremendous opportunity down here for snowmobilers, cross-country skiers, snowboarders, snow-shoers, all kind of winter sports,” Sally East, the county’s economic development director has said. “Our goal is to get the word out to people all across the state.”

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

“Mermaids in the Desert” Promote Arts, Healing – Press Release 12/10/2003

DATE 12/10/2003 9:37 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

“Mermaids in the Desert” Promote Arts, Healing

Take a trip down U.S. Highway 89, the Heritage Highway, and you will find something you don’t see every day: mermaids.Along the Heritage Highway in the towns of Elsinore, Salina and Monroe a group of women artists have come together and formed a unique coalition to promote their work, Mermaids in the Desert.

They are writers, poets, jewelry makers, painters and crafts makers who share a fondness for small Utah towns, their Danish heritage, the arts AND large bodies of water. “We are all so taken with the ocean, it means so much to us, and here we all are, so far inland,” laughs Doreen Christensen, one of the group’s founding members.

The women have been working together to promote their artistic creations for a few years, but they reinvented themselves after Christensen developed a book and game with a mermaid theme. “All of us really are mermaids out here in the desert, trying to swim our way out of poverty and away from medical challenges and other personal situations,” Christensen says. “We all are trying to find ways to be able to spend more time on our art, and ways to use our art to help other people.”

Christensen’s created her book and game, Mermaid Meditations, out of a need to find relief in her own life. Once paralyzed from the waist down, she is now able to walk, but still undergoes therapy. A certified clinical hypnotherapist, Christensen spends much of her time working with people with disabilities.

“I noticed that I started to have this heaviness about me, this feeling of anxiety that I needed to do more to help them,” she says. “So I came up with this game, which is centered around the idea that even though your body may not be capable of taking you places, the spirit can go wherever it wants to.”

The game, which is centered around a mystery story Christensen wrote about mermaids, includes 25 sea shells, sand and 25 separate meditations. It can be played individually or in small or large groups. “Each person reads a meditation and write what it means to them and later shares that with the group,” Christensen says.

Once Christensen showed the book and game to the other women in her artists group, they began creating accessories to accompany Mermaid Meditations. “It just sort of evolved into a collection of all kind of things that we have made that have a mermaid theme “and we became Mermaids in the Desert,” she says. For example, one artist made a special pouch to hold the sea shells, another has created jewelry and another came up with Native American meditations.

The group has published a small number of the books available for sale and a web site is under development to promote the book, game, and jewelry and other accessories.

Mermaids in the Desert has also been holding private sessions for groups around the state who have heard about the game. “We have done sessions for groups of women, and for groups of men and women,” Christensen says. “The most surprising thing is how receptive men are when they play the game.”

For more information about Mermaids in the Desert or Mermaid Meditations, contact Christensen at (435)527-4039 or by email: mermaidmeditations@yahoo.com.

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Gingerbread Houses Built by Elementary School Children on Display – Press Release 12/06/2003

DATE 12/06/2003 11:59 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Gingerbread Houses Built by Elementary School Children on Display

Downtown Mt. Pleasant has once again been transformed into a gingerbread land.Gingerbread houses made by children from five local elementary schools are being showcased at Beck’s Home Furnishings, 15 West Main Street. They will remain in the large display windows throughout the holiday season. Prizes will be awarded for the best houses in two categories later this month.

The annual gingerbread house competition has become one of the most beloved “newer” Christmas traditions in the area. “There is just something about a gingerbread house and Christmas,” says Christy Johansen, of Mt. Pleasant’s Main Street Program, who is coordinating this year’s event. “People are excited to come by and see what the children made. The houses are always amazing. It s fun to get the children involved this way, and to see what themes the children pick every year,” she said.

In past years, entries have included castles built out of graham crackers, houses built from homemade gingerbread, horses made from gum drops and pretzels, people skiing down candy mountains and even Harry Potter themes, Johansen said. “We’ve had brothers and sisters work together on houses and entries built by two and three children, and they are all very creative.”

The gingerbread houses were made by children from elementary schools in Fountain Green, Mt. Pleasant, Fairview and Spring City. Those on display were chosen as the best houses from each school in two categories: kindergarten through grade 3, and grades 4-6. “We try to have about four houses from each school. Sometimes the judges have a hard time making up their minds so we have a few more,” Johansen said. “Every year, support for the program increases. The schools have been incredible, and we’ve had so many children interested in taking part.”

The houses on display will be judged by a committee of five people on Dec. 16, and prizes awarded Dec. 20. There will be a first, second and third-place awards in each division, with $70 awarded for first place, $35 for second place and $20 for third place. In addition, the elementary schools that produced the first-place winners each receive $50 for use in the school.

“The judges are looking for creativity, originality, and most importantly, for houses that were worked on entirely by children, without any help from mom or dad,” Johansen said. “That is always part of the criteria: did the child do this on his or her own?”

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Film Festival To Highlight Mormon Film Making – Press Release 11/24/2003

DATE 11/24/2003 9:55 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Film Festival To Highlight Mormon Film Making

Fountain Green will host the First Annual Mormon Heritage Film Festival Aug. 26-28 2004.

The three-day festival will be held in the newly-restored Fountain Green Theater and Dance Hall. A complete schedule of juried awards, scholarships and itinerary of film events will be available Dec. 20.

The community has raised more than $600,000 in grants and in-kind contributions for the restoration project, including grants from the Utah Historical Society, a Rural Development Matching Block Grants, U.S. Forest Service, Community Impact Board and The Eccles Foundation. Numerous community fund-raising events were also held.

The project has been underway for two years.

Devon Mikkelsen, 84, of Fountain Green, remembers hooking up his dog to his hickory sleigh for a break neck ride into town to see silent film star Hoot Gibson. The first film shown at the theater was hand-cranked. Almost 100 citizens crowded around a potbelly stove in the center of the seats. Small children brought blankets and feel asleep at the front of the theater. Denise Blackham, 94, was the pianist, playing along to the black-and-white films after practicing all afternoon, following the action

with appropriate crescendo and pianissimo. “It was pure magic,” Mikkelsen says. The magic still lives. The cities and towns along U.S. Highway 89, the Heritage Highway Fountain Green, Moroni, Mt. Pleasant, Fairview, Spring City, Ephriam and Manti — all boast beautifully-restored opera houses, theaters and meeting houses.

The highway is a 250-mile corridor attracting national and international tourists. Hollywood discovered the area in the 1940s when Darryl Zanuck presented the epic film Brigham Young, starring Tyrone Power, Dean Jagger and Linda Darnell. It cost $2,000 and was heralded the epic tale of the West.

Fast forward to the new millennia and the time is ripe for a Mormon Heritage Film Festival. The festival will be formally juried by film professionals. All seven Sanpete County municipalities will participate.

“The initial festival is just the beginning of a planned year of audience-targeted events and ongoing educational curriculum, created for young school children,” said Fred Burns, event chairman. Events for children will include ongoing educational curriculum composed of script writing, music composition and community theater events.

The Mormon Heritage Film Institute will also host quarterly bus tours of Sanpete County highlighting its rich heritage. “A “future film makers” program is also in the planning stages,” says Monte Bona, a festival board member. “We are awaiting input from the local communities and interested educators and students.”

For more information Contact:

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas – Press Release 11/23/2003

DATE 11/23/2003 4:55 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It will begin to look a lot like Christmas in Sanpete County at the end of the month, with numerous holiday activities planned from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve.

“We want people traveling down the Heritage Highway U.S. 89 to stop off in the cities and towns along the highway for an old-fashioned Christmas,” says Monte Bona, a member of the Mt. Pleasant city council.

Festivities get underway bright and early the morning of Nov. 28 in Manti. At 6:30 a.m., local merchants will open their doors for early bird Christmas shoppers. There will be a visit from Santa at

11 a.m., a free family movie at City Hall at 2 p.m., and the annual Christmas lights parade at 6 p.m. down Main Street. After the parade, the community is invited to the high school for entertainment and refreshments. On Nov. 28 & 29, Fairview will hold an Ultimate Garage Sale and Gift Boutique Extravaganza from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Fairview Dance Hall. Admission for the swap-meet style event is free. There will be a food court, handmade items and garage-sale items. Santa will visit from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Contact Kenda at 427-3915 for more information.

Also on Nov. 28 & 29 and Dec. 6, Horseshoe Mountain Pottery will hold its annual Holiday Pottery Sale in Spring City. The event, which features the work of Joe Bennion, runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. In addition, Peel Furniture Works, 565 W. Main Street in Mt. Pleasant, will hold an open house and sale, Nov. 28 & 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. featuring handcrafted furniture and other items.

Dec. 5&6 is the annual Piñata Festival in Ephraim. The event gets underway at 5 p.m. Friday through 8 p.m. and runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in the Snow College Student Activity Center. The sub-for-Santa event features Piñatas decorated by local families and groups and Mexican food booths.

Dec. 6 is also the date of the annual Sanpete County Bed and Breakfast tour sponsored by local B & B innkeepers, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The free event will also include give a ways for weekend visits and plays at Snow College. Contact Teri Morris 282-8286.

There will also be a Beautiful Home Tour that same day sponsored by the Sanpete Valley Hospital from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $5 advance and $7 at the door. Towns to be featured are Fountain Green and Moroni, including the newly-restored Moroni Opera House. Contact Heidi for information at 462-2441.

The Ephraim City Festival and Light Parade will also be Dec. 6 from 2 to 8 p.m. Admission is free. The festival starts at 2 p.m., with the parade commencing at 6 p.m. Contact Penny Cartwright for details, 283-4631.

The Annual Messiah Concert will also be held Dec. 6 & 7 in Ephraim at the Ephraim Stake Center, 400 East Center Street. Admission is free. Contact Judy Morgan for information, 283-7469.

Mt. Pleasant will host its annual Best Hot Chocolate Contest, Dec. 8. Merchants along Main will have gingerbread houses on display made by elementary school children and merchants will compete for the for best hot chocolate. Shoppers get to sample hot chocolate in each store, collecting stamps on special cards along the way. A drawing will be held from all submitted entries.

Dec. 10-13 there will be a performance of See How They Run play by Phillip King at the Snow College Campus at the Eccles Performing Arts Center. Dec. 13 is also the date for the Christmas Fiesta at the Moroni Activity Center, 255 N. Center Street. There will be a pot luck dinner, a play, music and a visit from Santa.

Dec. 11 in Manti there will be a Holiday Home Show from 4 to 9 p.m. at Manti City Hall. The event is a fund raiser for the Manti city swimming pool. Admission is $5 in advance and $6 at the door.

The Mt. Pleasant Bell Choir will hold its annual performance Dec. 14 at the First Presbyterian Church, 91 S. 100 West. Also Dec. 14 is the North Sanpete Community concert at the LDS North Stake Center at 7 p.m.

Dec. 20 is the date for the shopping spree drawing in Mt. Pleasant City at the recreation center at the corner of State and Main streets. The 2 p.m. event will feature door prizes, drawings, and Santa will arrive by fire truck.

Dec. 24, the annual Christmas Service will be at the First Presbyterian Church.

Be sure to also mark you calendars for New Year s Eve! Plan to attend a community event at the Manti Stake Center. The 18 and older event is a fund raiser for the community swimming pool. The $5 entrance fee includes food, big band music and a floor show. For more information, contact John or Diane Keeler 835-9421.

For more information Contact:

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Girls in Ephraim “Tying On” Holiday Cheer – Press Release 11/06/2003

DATE 11/16/2003 5:55 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Girls in Ephraim “Tying On” Holiday Cheer

Teenage girls living at the Young Women’s Empowerment Center (YWEC) in Ephraim have always found community service to be a personal growing experience.The girls have spent the summer months planting trees for the U.S. Forest Service, working outdoors in city cemeteries and parks, and cleaning up areas around local roads and highways.

So when the 10 girls currently living at YWEC were presented with a holiday project that gave them a chance to help children and youth in need, they embraced the opportunity. But this time, they were doing something most of them had never done in their young lives: quilting.

“They definitely didn’t know anything about quilting,” says Marilyn Jensen, one of six partners who operate the center. It provides a temporary home for girls who are underprivileged or have faced difficult challenges.

Jensen laughs as she recalls the first few times the girls worked on the project. There was a lot to learn, she says. “We’ve always done a lot of community service, but this is the first time we’ve ever done something as “domestic” as this.”

The girls hope to tie 70 quilts, which range in size from twin to queen, by Dec. 5. They will be distributed by the Shriner’s Hospital and the Masonic order to children and youth in need. Some of the quilts will also be provided to police agencies to hand out to the homeless.

“The girls are so motivated to meet that goal,” Jensen says. “They have it all figured out, how many they have to tie in one day to make it to 70. They work on the quilts in their free time and on weekends.”

Part of their motivation lies in the fact that they can relate to the people who will be receiving the quilts, Jensen adds. “Many of these girls grew up knowing what it’s like to go to bed without a quilt, they know what it feels like not to have anything. It also gives them a sense of accomplishment and responsibility, they like knowing that they can do things.”

That is the exact purpose of the project, says Ken Bona, who helped organize the effort as part of his role as chairman of three organizations with Christmas charities: the Paternal Order of the Eagles, the Masonic Orders and the Oddfellows. Members of those groups supplied the materials, including fabric, batting and yarn for the project.

“It’s a win-win situation,” he says. “It’s a wonderful program for the girls. It lets them give back to the community, and I understand that they are loving it. It also provides a much-needed service to people in need.”

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

HISTORICAL SEMINARS, RELATED TOURS AIM TO SPARK INTEREST IN HERITAGE HIGHWAY – Press Release 11/07/2003

DATE 11/07/2003 12:35 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

HISTORICAL SEMINARS, RELATED TOURS AIM TO SPARK INTEREST IN HERITAGE HIGHWAY

The organizers of the first tours of U.S. Highway 89, the Heritage Highway, are introducing a new component to get people interested in touring the region: historical seminars.“We hope that the seminars will stimulate people s interest in the region,” says Mary Ellen Elggren from Clawson-Sheilds Travel, who has conducted several tours of the 620 miles of Utah’s Heritage Highway. The seminars are designed to educate people about a chapter of Utah history, and interest people in finding out more by taking a related tour, she says.

The first series of seminars will be held Nov. 15 at Gardner Village, “Gathering Place,” 7800 S. 1100 West in Salt Lake City. Three different seminars will be held at 10 a.m., noon, and 1 p.m. People may sign up for any of the three seminars in advance for a cost of $2 each, or attend all three for $5. Tickets will also be sold at the door at a cost of $4 per seminar. The theme of the seminars is “North American Setting for the Book of Mormon.”

The 10 a.m. seminar is on Ancient American archaeology and will feature Wayne May of Ancient American Magazine talking about evidence of civilizations in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan that pre-date Christ. He will discuss how the findings are a good case for Book of Mormon archaeology in North America.

At noon, Brigham Young University professor emeritus James Harris, who retired from the school s Department of Ancient Scriptures, will share his findings of hundreds of rock art panels in Utah and the southwest United States that appear similar and identical to inscriptions located in and near Jerusalem that date to 600 B.C.

At 1 p.m., Duane Erickson, from the Book of Mormon Students Foundation, will discuss Ancient American geography. He will identify a North American setting for “The Promised Land” in a substantial hypothesis developed through significant geographical evidence.

Seats are still available for the seminars, although they may be limited. “We’ve already had more than 200 people pre-register,” Clawson says, adding they are only charging enough to cover the cost of the room rental and equipment.

“We want as many people as possible to come and hear the seminars. We hope that they give people a whole new reason to take a tour down the highway, and while they are there, take part in all there is to see and do.” For more information, contact Clawson Shields Tours at (801) 583-4038 or 1-800-6334-4928. Information is also available online at: www.clawsonshields.com.

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Travel & Heritage Council Collecting Piano Histories – Press Release 11/03/2003

DATE 11/03/2003 4:55 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Travel & Heritage Council Collecting Piano Histories

It’s fitting that the community is helping North Sanpete High School raise money to buy a new piano for use in school and community functions. Piano playing in one form or another has deep roots in the community and county, says Monte Bona, a member of the Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council.

“In the days before radio, television and computers, the piano was the main form of entertainment in just about every family,” Bona says. “Many people may remember gathering around the piano in the parlor with friends and family on just about every occasion. Given that there is a community fund raising project going on to purchase a new piano for the high school, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to draw attention to the history of the piano in our city and county.”

The Sanpete Travel and Heritage Council is looking for stories, old photographs and memorabilia about the piano. Some of the county’s earliest settlers actually brought the unwieldy instruments across the plains with them. “Getting a piano here must have been an extremely difficult task,” Bona says.

The difficulty may be one of the reasons that the piano has continued to be a much-loved instrument over the years. Other reasons may be that the piano tended to be connected to the family. “Brass bands, which were also very popular in yesteryear, were the very common in small towns as a way for the community to pull together. Choir was also very popular, especially among church groups,” Bona says. “But the piano was in the home and it was a family gathering place.”

The Travel and Heritage Council would like to hear from people who have histories to tell like the stories Deneice Blackham and her son, Donnell Blackham of Moroni have to share. . Deneice Blackham taught piano for 72 years, retiring just two years ago at the age of 90. Not only did she teach piano out of her home, but at one time she played piano at the Fountain Green Theater, providing sound effects for the silent movies that played there. Her grandmother, Eliza Anderson, also played and taught the piano. “My mother never remembers a time in her life when there wasn’t a piano in the home,” Donnell Blackham says.

For more information Contact:

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Sanpete County Libraries Double as ‘History Classrooms’ – Press Release 10/17/2003

DATE 10/17/2003 2:55 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Sanpete County Libraries Double as ‘History Classrooms’

Visiting a local Sanpete County library can be an educational experience in many ways, starting by simply taking a good look at the building itself.Sanpete County is home to three of Utah’s remaining 17 Carnegie Libraries, in Mt. Pleasant, Ephraim and Manti. All of the libraries were constructed early in the 20th Century as part of a nationwide and even worldwide effort by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to establish public libraries.

Each of Sanpete County’s Carnegie libraries provides a unique lesson in history. “The libraries all have an important historical role to play in their respective communities, as the town s only library in many cases and for their ties to the Carnegie program and to the architectural style of the period,” says Roger Roper, an architect with the Utah Division of State History.

Carnegie gave away tens of millions of dollars for the construction of libraries across the country, with the only condition being that the community would provide books and operational support. There were more than 1,650 Carnegie libraries built in the Untied States, including 23 in Utah constructed over a 17-year period, as well as some 650 in Great Britain and Ireland, 156 in Canada, and a handful in places like New Zealand, the West Indies and Fiji. The first library was built in Scotland in 1881.

In many small towns, the Carnegie Library was the most important piece of great architecture and often established standards of operation and building design that were used for many years in the construction of libraries in other communities. Most were inspired by the popular style of the period, with some including stained or leaded glass windows, high ceilings, and graceful woodwork. Others reflected regional style, such as the clean and lean Prairie School. The Prairie School style was made famous by Frank Lloyd Wright, Roper says. “Mt. Pleasant’s library is a classic Prairie School design, one of three such libraries in the state, with Mt. Pleasant’s being at the top of the list.” Mt. Pleasant’s library was built in 1917 and designed by the Salt Lake City architecture firm of Ware & Treganza. “It was one of the most well-known architecture firms of the 20th century,” Roper says.

Likewise, the Manti Library was designed by Watkins and Birch, a Provo-based architectural firm that also designed several other library buildings. The Ephraim library was built in 1914 and 1915. “The Ephraim and Manti libraries both represent the classic architectural style that was popular among Carnegie libraries back then,” Roper says. “They are rectangular in shape with symmetrical doors and windows. Most of the libraries were set up a half storey and would have stairs leading up to the door from the street.”

About 20 years ago, there was a statewide effort to place all of Utah’s Carnegie Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places. Since that time, no Carnegie libraries have been torn down. “They are still being used as libraries,” Roper says, adding some have been expanded and modified over the years to include access ramps for the disabled. “They were all very well-built structures and have served their purpose well.”

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

 

Scholar Hopes to Share Rare Artifact Collection to Sanpete County – Press Release 10/13/2003

DATE 10/13/2003 5:55 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Scholar Hopes to Share Rare Artifact Collection to Sanpete County

A Brigham Young University professor emeritus is hoping to bring his extensive collection of petroglyph’s inscribed with an ancient Islamic alphabet to Sanpete County.James Harris, an ancient scriptures scholar, is engaged in talks to have the rare artifacts exhibited in a museum in Manti. The Manti Destiny Committee is planning to build a museum that would focus on the pioneers and American Indians and include a display of Harris’ collection.What Harris hopes to share with Sanpete County residents as well as the rest of the state and its visitors is a collection of petroglyph’s from the Western United States, including Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado and California, that are inscribed with symbols and signs of an Islamic alphabet.The petroglyph’s have been Harris’ passion for more than a decade. The retired professor has made numerous research trips to Israel both during and following his tenure at BYU. During the early 1990s, he was working in Negeve. “It was during this trip that we found some inscriptions of an alphabet that had 22-signs and symbols,” he says. It was later discovered that the same alphabet was inscribed on rocks found in the Western United States. “It was a very marvelous discovery, and the only discovery of this alphabet writing in the Americas,” he says.

Harris began searching for and collecting petroglyph’s inscribed with the alphabet. “I now have more than 500 inscriptions, mostly from Utah, Arizona and Nevada,” he says. Harris has also been in correspondence with people living in Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Hawaii who have found similar petroglyph’s. “The inscriptions are 99 per cent of the same alphabet,” Harris says. “It’s the same script and the words are spelled the same way,” he says, explaining that the signs and symbols are identical to those discovered in Negeve, including the menorah, the Star of David, a sun shield, and the same icons and abbreviations for the God of Israel.

There are many theories about how American Indians came to know and use an alphabet of Islamic origins, Harris says. They range from the Bering Strait theory (since Alaska and Siberia were once connected in the distant past, some people believe ancestors of Native Americans crossed the land bridge to North America) to trans-ocean migrations. “But how the alphabet got here isn’t important,” Harris says. “What’s important is the fact that the petroglyph’s are here.”

Harris spends much of his time doing presentations on his research and presenting papers at professional gatherings. His goal with the exhibit in Manti is to make people aware of the petroglyph’s and explain the interest Utah pioneers had in them when they arrived. “The unique situation with the pioneers is they considered the American Indians they encountered as remnants of Israel,” he says.

Officials hope to open the museum, which is still in the early stages of development, in the next two years.

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

 

Native Wines Honors The ‘Honest Apple’ – Press Release 10/7/2003

DATE 10/07/2003 12:55 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Native Wines Honors The ‘Honest Apple’

Native Wines, the Mt. Pleasant company that is renowned for making unfiltered wine from local wild fruits, is holding a celebration to honor one its favorite ingredients: the apple.

On Saturday, October 18 from noon to 6 p.m. Native Wines owners Bob Sorenson and Winnie Wood are hosting Honest Apple Day. More than 50 kinds of heirloom apples will be available for sampling, along with as many as 30 different homemade apple pies, apple cider, apple butter and apple wine.

There will also be an Ugliest Witch in the West contest, with cash prizes being awarded for both children and adults, and a non-motorized parade at 4 p.m. Saturday (sign up at 2 p.m. at Wasatch Studio, 67 W. Main Street) featuring the witches and scooters, horse or dog-drawn carriages, skateboards and more. Other activities include musical performances and wine and cheese tasting.

The World s Best Apple Pie contest will be held at 3 p.m, with judging by a distinguished panel to determine the best pie.All activities will be held at Native Wines, 72 S. 500 West in Mt. Pleasant.

The fall event has become another annual tradition of Native Wines, which is also involved in the Sanpitch Rhubarb Festival that is held in May and celebrates the plant and its many uses. Local vendors come up with interesting things to eat and drink featuring rhubarb, including ice cream, salsa, syrup and baked goods.

Native Wines, located in a historic building near downtown Mt. Pleasant, uses fruit that is picked from wild trees and shrubs in the mountains and valleys of central Utah. Sorenson and Wood return many of the seeds the fruit used in the winery (chokecherry, rosehip, elderberry, currant, gooseberry) to their native habitats in a toast to the future.

For more information on Native Wines or Honest Apple Day, phone (435) 462-9261.

For more information Contact:

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Oral Histories, “Lost Treasures” of Beloved Fountain Green Theater Being Preserved, Restored – Press Release 9/26/2003

DATE 9/26/2003 5:55 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Oral Histories,
“Lost Treasures” of Beloved Fountain Green Theater Being Preserved, Restored

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council about the people, places and preservation efforts along U.S. Highway 89, the Heritage Highway. When Rachel Syme and Devon Mikkelson were young, the theater and dance hall in downtown Fountain Green were the life of the town.Mikkelson, now in his 80’s, fondly recalls going to the theater to see his favorite actor, Hoot Gibson, on the big screen. Mikkelson went to the movies a lot because his mother was a widow and the LDS Church, which owned the theater back then, let the children of widows attend shows for free. The movies didn t have sound back then. The young Mikkelson often got a ride into town on a sled that was pulled by his dog, who would wait outside faithfully until his master s return.

Syme, also in her 80s, recalls working as an usherette in the movie theater to earn her ticket to the show. Tickets cost 10 cents for children back then and 15 cents for adults. It was her job to show people to their seats, or sell boxes of candy that sometimes contained prizes like a necklace or a watch. Syme even remembers the names of almost everyone she worked for and with at the theater, including the piano player who would sit below the stage near the screen and provide sound effects for the silent films. “It was so much fun, it was truly a social hall back then,” she says.

If Fred Burns has his way, when the children of Fountain Green are the same age Mikkelson and Syme are now, they too will have wonderful memories of the theater and social hall to share. Burns, along with a crew of dedicated volunteers, is working tirelessly to restore the 100-year-old theater and dance hall to its former glory. Along the way, he is preserving the memories of people like Syme and Mikkelson in an oral history book, as well as finding and restoring keepsakes from the original theatre and displaying them for the audiences of today to enjoy.

“A lot of people who grew up in this town and still live here remember going to the movies at the theater and what a special thing it was,” Burns said. “We want it to be that way again.” Burns is head of the Fountain Green chapter for the Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area, which is part of the Utah Heritage Highway Alliance’s preparation for obtaining national designation for U.S. Highway 89, the Heritage Highway. He and his team have raised more than $600,000 for the restoration project, including grants from the Eccles Foundation. Assistance has also been provided by volunteers, including former resident Russ Evans and Lewis and Lynn Rasmussen (who owned the dance hall and theater) and Dean and Gene Peckham, twins who own a Salt Lake City asphalt company and have donated countless hours and substantial amounts of money to the restoration.

The structure is really two buildings in one, Burns says. One side was used as a theater that showed movies and hosted plays and vaudeville acts, and the other side was a dance hall and later a cultural hall. Burns and the volunteers have restored many of the original elements of the theater, including the old ticket booth, woodwork and stencils. They’ve also found some of the theater’s original treasures, such as the roll-down screen that covered and protected the movie screen. The screen has a mural-type image that is surrounded by advertisements from local businesses at the time.

“We found in the basement during the renovation, just rolled up and sitting there. It’s in great shape,” Burns says. “The screen is signed on the back by actors who were in plays that were performed here.” The screen is being restored by Brigham Young University and will be on display at the theater. “We’re told that the screen alone is worth as much as the entire building. I’ve never seen anything like it in my entire life, it’s a great find,” he says.

When it comes to finding out information about the theater, Burns doesn’t have to look too hard or too far. “We have a complete history right here in town,” he says referring to people like Syme and Mikkelson. “I’m sitting these people down and talking to them about what they remember about the theater,” he says. The memories will be put into a booklet and many of them will be shared at the theater’s grand opening celebration early next year. There are also plans for a Mormon Heritage Film Festival next fall, as well as plays, musical performances and other activities once the theater is up and running. “We hope to show one to two shows a week.,” Burns says.

Burns was drawn to the theater restoration project out of his love and respect for old buildings. A former painter and business owner from West Jordan, he fell in love with Fountain Green more than three decades ago while working on painting the Manti Temple. He bought a home in the town some 36 years ago, using it in the summer and on weekends. He and his family permanently moved to Fountain Green year and a half ago after he retired.

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Escalante Gallery Features Local Artists, Heritage Theme – Press Release 9/15/2003

DATE 9/15/2003 5:55 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Escalante Gallery Features Local Artists, Heritage Theme

Artists living and working in Garfield County, including some who are descendants of pioneers who settled the area, have found a venue to display and sell their wares in Desert Wolf Gallery.

The gallery, located in Escalante and owned by Sharol Bernardo, features the works of painters, rug makers, potters, welders, photographers and writers. It also displays and sells Western cowboy collectibles and Native American jewelry, rugs, baskets and pottery.

Painters who are featured at the gallery include Lynn Griffin, Sheila Woolley Faulkner, Randsom Owens, Sharon Graf, J. Nelson, Susan Bellew and Scotty Mitchell. Their work focuses on Western art, wildlife and landscapes, and their media varies from oil and acrylic to pastel and watercolor.

Heritage rugs woven by Lillian Lyman are displayed and demonstrate pioneer craft and thrift, and the applique work of Ruthanne Oliver is also prominently featured at the gallery. Other fiber artists include Sharol Bernardo who crochets and Sue Mosier, who does cross stitch art that is framed by barnwood frames constructed by her husband, Don Mosier.

Also presented in the gallery are wood objects created by Bradley Spencer, Desert Rose Wood Creations, the Christensen-Blauser-Litterall family, Larry Davis, Nature Sounds Drum Factory, Keven Petersen and Jennifer Brewer, and Richard Costigan. Their projects range from sculpted boxes and red cedar furniture to lamp bases, carvings, drums, and picture boxes. There is also mission-style furniture created by Dennis Bertucci and a wishing well constructed of old wood from a torn-down barn by Evan Reeves.

Welders-turned-artists Bill Kuhns and Dan Cottam also have works at the gallery, and there are photographs by Chris Zakin and Sharol Bernardo. Hand-made greeting cards are also for sale, including pen-and-ink drawings by Howard Hutchison, dried wild flower cards by Lillian Lyman, and photo-cards of her appliqué designs by Ruthanne Oliver. There is also jewelry work by Gwendolyn Zeta.

There are also books by several local writers, including Jerry Roundy, Helen Bailey Schow and Jens Munthe.

For more information Contact:

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

 

Anasazi State Park Museum Open Year-Round to Educate, Enlighten – Press Release 9/7/2003

DATE 9/07/2003 2:33 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89. The Heritage Highway.

Anasazi State Park Museum Open Year-Round to Educate, Enlighten

Mike Nelson never tires of telling visitors to the Anasazi State Park Museum about the Ancestral Pueblo people who once occupied the surrounding land.Good thing. With more than 35,000 people stopping by the park and museum each year, Nelson does quite a bit of talking about the Ancestral Pueblo people and their history. “The majority of those who come by are first-time visitors,” Nelson says.

The museum is located in Anasazi State Park in Boulder, Utah, just off of U.S. Highway 89 and State Roads 12 and 24. State Road 12 was recently deemed an All-American Road, one of only about 18 such roads in the country, and U.S. Highway 89 has been proposed for historical designation. The designation will allow for continued preservation and increased tourism in regions along the highway from Kanab in the south and Fairview in the north and include the counties of Sanpete, Sevier, Wayne, Garfield, Piute and Kane, as well as the Boulder Loop. It will also likely bring more visitors to the museum Nelson has managed for three years.

But he welcomes the opportunity to educate and enlighten even more people about the Ancestral Pueblo people and their way of life. “There are things here for people to see that are 900 years old, such as artifacts and posts and parts of walls from the original villages that once stood here,” Nelson says.

What is now Anasazi State Park was once one of the largest Anasazi communities west of the Colorado River. The site is believed to have been occupied from A.D. 1050 to 1200. The village remains largely unexcavated, but many artifacts have been uncovered and are on display in the museum. The museum includes hands-on exhibits, microscopes visitors can use to examine artifacts, an auditorium with rotating exhibits, and artifacts and replicas of Anasazi life and villages. The site of the park and museum was first excavated in the 1950s, and the museum built in 1970 and remodeled in 1995.

Nelson and his staff work year-round, keeping the museum open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the summer months and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the winter.

Among the interesting stories and history lessons that Nelson can tell visitors is why the state park and the name of the tribe of people who once lived on the land differ. Anasazi is a Navajo word interpreted to mean ancient enemies, enemy ancestors or ancient ones. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Navajo arrived in what is now the southwestern United States. Ancestors of their foe, the modern Pueblo Indians, inhabited the area prior to the Navajo.

“There are 19 Pueblo tribes today who are all recognized as descendants of the Anasazi people,” Nelson said. For that reason, and the fact that the Pueblo Indians are known for being very peaceful people, the name Ancestral Pueblo is a much more accurate term, he says.

The Anasazi State Park Museum
Open seven days a week 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during summer months 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during winter months (435) 335-7308

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

Community Working Together to Restore Veterans Memorial – Press Release 9/2/2003

DATE 9/02/2003 12:54 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Community Working Together to Restore Veterans Memorial

An effort is underway to restore the Veterans Memorial in Mt. Pleasant City, headed by a citizens committee and involving the Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council, the Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance and local members of Veterans of Foreign Wars.The goal is to restore the memorial, a monument located on Main Street in Mt. Pleasant that honors local veterans who served in the Black Hawk War, Spanish American War, World War I and II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. Plans call for adding the names of those who also served in recent wars and conflicts in the Middle East.

“The monument is in a state of disrepair,” says Sally East, Sanpete County’s Economic Development Director. “The Travel and Heritage Council has gotten involved in this restoration effort as a way to acknowledge the important role veterans played in the development of Sanpete County.”

The project is being overseen by a committee of more than 20 local residents, along with representatives of the aforementioned organizations. “The monument sits right on the corner of U.S. Highway 89 and Main Street in Mt. Pleasant, making it an important historical site along the northern end of U.S. Highway 89,” says Monte Bona, a member of the highway alliance.

The preservation and restoration effort will include restoring the names of veterans currently listed, adding more names, and searching for names that were lost due to deterioration or were removed from the monument over the years, Bona says. Mt. Pleasant Mayor Chesley Christensen and Edith Sparks will head the effort to research the names of local veterans. The Mt. Pleasant newspaper, The Pyramid, is also providing assistance by running enlarged photographs of names on the monument in hopes of tracking down family members.

“We are hoping that relatives of those who served will see the names of their family members and contact us. We’re also relying on the community to let us know of the names of people who served that may be missing from the memorial,” Bona says.

Part of the restoration effort includes fund raising. The committee will be applying for grants to assist in the $50,000 project and is hoping to collect small contributions from family members of veterans. “This is truly a community project, one that honors the past and helps unite us for the future,” Bona says.

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

 

Paper-Making Artist Lives “A Life Less Ordinary,” Runs Junction Art Connection – Press Release 8/26/2003

DATE 8/26/2003 10:04 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Paper-Making Artist Lives “A Life Less Ordinary,” Runs Junction Art Connection

Joan Gould Winderman is used to living a far-from-ordinary life.
In the late 1960s, she ran an art gallery outside of Philadelphia before working as a teacher and reading specialist. After her children were grown, she and her husband, Earle, moved to an Indian Reservation in Arizona. Six years later, they headed even further South, settling in the former silver mining town of Alamos, Sonora, Mexico, where Joan embraced the art of primitive Japanese paper making and began collecting Mexico art and crafts.
So, somehow, opening an art and crafts gallery in the tiny Utah town of Junction (population 130) when she was entering her 70s didn’t seem like an outrageous idea. Never mind that Winderman’s passion is for an art few people recognize, or that the gallery is only open six months of the year.

“I’m used to an uphill battle,” she says with a laugh. Winderman opened The Junction Art Connection, 95 N. Main, four years ago. Housed in an 1895 brick home, the gallery is open “by appointment or by chance” from May through October. “I have to leave occasionally to go to the grocery store, which is 50 miles away. Other than that, we’re open whenever I’m here.”

The art and crafts gallery is home to Winderman’s own art of collage paper and jewelry-making, and she also displays Mexico and Utah arts and crafts made by other artists, including ceramics, prints, oils, jewelry, dolls and sculptures.

“Some people who stop by look around and say “whoa, this is a labor of love,” Winderman says. “My husband has a different term: he calls it “an ego trip.”

Winderman’s love of art, particularly Mexico art and paper-making, started in the late 1960s when she ran a gallery with her sister-in-law. After a few years, it became increasingly difficult to keep it open, raise a family, and make a living. So she turned to teaching. “But I always said I would do it again some day.”

“Some day” ended up being more than three decades later. The Winderman’s stumbled across the town of Junction when they were looking to escape the hot, humid summers of Alamos. “We just headed north, looking for any place above 5,000 feet.” They went through New Mexico first, eventually making their way into Utah and finding a historic home for sale on U.S. Highway 89. “It was gorgeous, but too big for just the two of us, so I thought it would make a great gallery.”

It’s inside this magical-looking house where Winderman indulges in her paper-making art. She follows the “Japanese primitive method,” which involves pulling plants from her yard and boiling and cooking them over and over to make paper. It can take up to 30 hours.

“You never know what you are going to get. I like to take plants, cook them down, and see what color they make. You can never guess by looking at a plant what color the paper will be.” She has made paper from carrots, banana leaves, straw and holly hocks. It’s a lot like cooking stew, you have to watch it all the time. But I love the process, playing with it. It’s always exciting, beautiful and always a surprise.”

Visitors to the gallery are often puzzled by Winderman s paper creations. “They don’t usually recognize it as paper, it’s not what they are used to seeing.” She also makes cards and earrings from her paper, which, she adds, “is actually a very sturdy.”

Winderman loves to talk about paper-making with people who stop by the gallery and about the other artists whose works are displayed. “I like to share the beautiful things I see in Mexico and want people to know about the people and the tribes who made the art that they are seeing.”

Junction Art Connection
Open May through October “by appointment or by chance”
95 N. Main Street,
Junction (U.S. Highway 89)
(435) 577-2999

http://www.junctionartconnection.com

For more information Contact:Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502
Skip to content

On this website we use first or third-party tools that store small files (cookie) on your device. Cookies are normally used to allow the site to run properly (technical cookies), to generate navigation usage reports (statistics cookies) and to suitable advertise our services/products (profiling cookies). We can directly use technical cookies, but you have the right to choose whether or not to enable statistical and profiling cookies. Enabling these cookies, you help us to offer you a better experience.