Tag Archives: Press Releases – 2004

Scandinavian Festival a Celebration of History, Heritage – Press Release 4/22/2004

DATE 04/22/2004 2:21 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.

Scandinavian Festival a Celebration of History, Heritage

History, heritage, fun and food will be the main attractions at the annual Scandinavian Heritage Festival and Conference May 27-29 in Ephraim. The popular event attracts thousands of people to Sanpete County every year, many of whom travel along U.S. Highway 89, the Heritage Highway.The festival is an opportunity for people to learn about the influence of Scandinavians in Utah, says June Crane, an Ephraim resident and descendant of a Danish pioneer. Sanpete County s culture has been greatly influenced by settlers who arrived first in the Salt Lake Valley from the Scandinavian countries and then were assigned to colonize central Utah. Many were farmers, carpenters, stone masons, cabinetmakers and furniture builders. The architecture of their farm buildings, cabins and houses were influenced by construction techniques and building forms from back home, a uniqueness that is still present today.

The festival is also an opportunity to experience art and culture and authentic cuisine, Crane says. Highlights include a Scandinavian history conference at Snow College (see related story), booths, displays, food vendors, a 5K run, softball tournament, and activities such as rock climbing and pony rides.

Display booths will line College Avenue (100 North) between 100 and 300 East starting at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 28 through 6 p.m. Saturday. There will be “Old World Craft Booths,” which are educational exhibits of crafts dating back to Ephraim’s Scandinavian ancestors. This includes blacksmithing, woodcarving, pottery making, rug weaving, bobbin lace making and more. There will be demonstrations of Old World crafts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

There will also be contemporary craft booths featuring items such as rustic birdhouses, crocheted items, quilts, fabric bags, artwork, jewelry, T-shirts, yo-yo balloons, aromatherapy products, candles and wood yard art. “Many of the Old World Craft and craft booth people tell me that this is their favorite festival,” says Crane, who has helped line up the booths for years. “They love coming to Ephraim, and they enjoy the friendly atmosphere of this community.”

Other highlights include a bread baking contest, with entries accepted from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Ephraim Senior Citizen’s Center. Participants can enter in one or all of the four categories: white, wheat, sourdough/French or variety/specialty. There will also be a children’s troll parade, clown shows and a Scandinavian Storytelling Festival, which will feature talks on stories of Hans Christian Andersen and other storytellers. The storytelling begins Saturday at noon.

There will also be numerous opportunities to sample heritage cooking, including the “Little Denmark Supper” on Friday night, the traditional smorgasbord buffet on Saturday and the Food Fair in front of the Science Building on Snow Campus on Friday and Saturday that will feature traditional Western foods with a Scandinavian flair.

Scandinavian Festival and Conference – Schedule of Events

Thursday, May 27

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Scandinavian Heritage Conference Founders Hall, Snow College

Friday, May 28

Entertainment Throughout the Day, Snow College Lawn

9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Scandinavian Heritage Conference Founders Hall, Snow College

12 p.m. Craft Booths and Food Booths, Snow College

2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Bread Baking Contest Senior Citizens Center

5 p.m. Little Denmark Supper Greenwood Center – Snow College

Saturday, May 29

Entertainment all day, Main Street, Snow College Lawn

7 a.m. 5-K Registration, Ephraim Co-op

8 a.m. 5-K Run, Ephraim Co-op Lions Club Scandinavian Breakfast, Snow College

9 a.m. Old World, Craft and Food Booths Open, Snow College Art Displays, Central Utah Art Center

10 a.m. Quilt Expo, Ephraim Co-op Upper Floor

11 a.m. Scandinavian Parade Ephraim City Library fundraiser, City Library

11:30 a.m. Dedication of new Ephraim City Building

12 p.m. Noyes Building Tours, Steps of Noyes Building – Snow College Ugly Troll Contest, Snow College Family History Center, open 12- 4 p.m. Smorgasbord Lunch, Greenwood Center Storytelling Festival, Greenwood Center Willie the Clown, Snow College Lawn

1 p.m. Historical Bus Tours, 1st North and 1st East (every hour until 3 p.m.) Horseshoe Tournament, Snow College Sports Complex (300 North)

5 p.m. Sage Brush Square Dancers

Monday, May 31

Memorial Day Service, Ephraim City Cemetery

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

Soap Box Derby Returns to Mt. Pleasant – Press Release 4/19/2004

DATE 04/19/2004 3:12 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.

Soap Box Derby Returns to Mt. Pleasant

Mt. Pleasant’s Main Street will take on the look of yesteryear come May, when the city hosts the Third Annual “Soap Box Derby” races. The event was designed to bring the once-popular races back to the streets of Mt. Pleasant. It has grown in popularity in the last couple of years, with some 20 cars expected to compete in this year’s races, which will be held May 22. They are sponsored by the Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council and local resident John McClelland.

“Anything goes,” says McClelland, who also oversaw last year’s festivities. “And we get anything and everything too, from a two-by-10-foot board with wheel barrel wheels, to streamlined, competitive cars. We leave it open so that the kid who just has a set of lawnmower wheels can come and have fun too. There is something for everyone.”

The races get underway following an Ugly Truck Parade at noon down Main Street that will include soap box derby cars. Both the parade and races are part of the city’s annual Rhubarb Festival.

A 16-foot ramp will be built at one end of the street for the Soap Box derby, with a finish line at the opposite end. A police radar will display times and speeds. McClelland plans to run qualifying heats to determine which cars will compete against each other. Winners of each heat will move to the next round, with the final winner receiving a grand prize. “We want to have the “fast cars” racing the fast cars so that it is fair and enjoyable,” he says.

But, he adds, the fastest, slickest-looking cars don’t always win. “Last year, the winner brought a car that his friend had raced in 1964. He ended up beating all of the new, streamlined cars.”

Soap Box Derby races used to be a popular event in Sanpete County, with a lot of local residents taking part as children. The races first became popular in the 1930s.

It is believed they officially started when a Dayton, Ohio, Daily News Photographer encountered three boys racing homemade, engine-less cars down an inclined brick street. He reportedly came up with the idea to hold a coasting race and award a prize to the winner. The first official race was held in 1933, with more than 300 kids showing up with homemade cars built of orange crates, sheet tin, wagon and baby-buggy wheels and almost everything of “junk value.”

As to be expected, Soap Box derby races have grown in popularity and sophistication over the years, with contests now full of regulations and restrictions. But Sanpete County’s races remain true to the original “anything goes” soap box derby philosophy. Cars can be made of any material, including plastic, wood, metal. They should be about six to seven feet long and about three feet wide. Drivers should range in age from about eight to 16 years.

For additional information, contact McClelland at (435) 462-3808.

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For more information Contact:

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

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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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