Presorted Standard U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 11 Gunnison, UT ECRWSS Volume 4 • Number 48 Thursday, November 27, 2008 Copy Price • 75 cents Festivities set for New Years Eve by ANNETTE DYRENG As phrased in the old Christmas song, “What are you doing New Year’s Eve,” that is the question everyone will all be asking come December 31, 2008. The place to be is the Sesquicentennial Kick-off Party. The large committee plans a wonderful evening with something for everyone of all ages. There will be a Kid’s Corner, youth activities under the direction of GVHS Student Council and Gunnison Stake youth and leaders. Dinner, concerts, displays, fashion shows and local entertainment will all be capped off by a fireworks display and lighting of the “G”. The committee is currently in search of clothing for the Fashion Show for both men and women, dating from 1859 to the present. These fashions will be “shown off” interspersed with local talent from the same time periods, which should prove to be enlightening and entertaining. If you have apparel you would be willing to borrow or model for the show, please contact Annette Dyreng, daytime 528-7256 or evenings 528-3798. We are sure those items are out there somewhere just waiting to be resurrected and enjoyed by all. Mark your calendars now and plan to kick off the sesquicentennial celebration and new year right here at home with friends and neighbors. The event will begin at 6:00 p.m. and run through midnight. All events will be held at Gunnison Valley High School. Gunnison City Offices moves Mark Henline/Gunnison Valley Gazette What a difference six months makes! The national economy is in a total mess right now but the one bright spot is fuel prices. The first photo was taken on June 12, 2008 when fuel was over $4 per gallon. The second photo was taken on November 25, 2008, not quite six months since the first, and the price has fallen to under $2 per gallon. Who could have seen this coming? by MITCH PETERSON Sometimes an old box is just a place to put stuff, and sometimes an old letter is just a bunch of words. But sometimes you find an old box, look inside, and find an old letter that gives you an emotional or spiritual connection to the past. A few months ago my aunt, Peggy Young, who lives just up the road in Chester, found a little old box in an old home there in Chester where some of our relatives used to live. The house was about to be torn down and she went through it to make sure there was nothing of value left inside. “I found this cool looking box but I didn’t even open it. I didn’t think there was anything in it,” Peggy said. She took it home, put it in a closet, and forgot about it until one day her granddaughter, ten year old Kenadee Young, saw it and asked if she could look inside. “I told her to go ahead. Kenadee’s the snoop at our house,” Peggy said. Inside the box were empty envelopes and a few old cards someone had saved for some long-forgotten reason. But the real prize was a letter, written in Danish, dated 1947, and addressed to my great-great grandfather in Chester, from someone in Denmark It had gone unnoticed for over 60 years. “I was flabbergasted,” Peggy said. “I thought it was just an empty box.” She wanted to have the letter translated into English but didn’t know anyone locally who spoke fluent Danish. She mentioned the letter to a co-worker, Gunnison resident Cindy Willden, who told her that Kirsten Olsen, also from right here in Gunnison, could translate it. Cindy graciously brought the letter to Kirsten, and Kirsten brought the letter to life. And we’re all grateful for their efforts. “I really enjoyed this letter. It was fun to do,” Kirsten said. “Some letters don’t say much, but this one did.” “It was such an interesting little letter, and it told a lot,” Peggy said. “So, I thought it was neat. Cindy said she cried when she read it, and I did too, just thinking how hard that woman had to struggle.” I spent a few minutes with Kirsten and her husband Jorgen last week at their home in Gunnison, talking about the letter and all things Danish, and what a pleasant experience that was for me. (Jorgen and I nearly got carried away talking about soccer.) Translating letters and documents between Danish and English is a service Kirsten has provided many times. She’s even translated letters for the family of famed artist C.C.A. Christensen. Jorgen and Kirsten emigrated to the United States with their family from Denmark in 1980, first living in Salt Lake City for 18 years, then making their way here after some encouragement from Gunnison’s own Ardean Anderson, who, as a young missionary in Denmark, converted the couple and their two children to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They’ve been in Gunnison for about 10 years now. “We love it here,” Kirsten said. Kirsten is famous locally for knitting hats for each baby born at the Gunnison hospital. The number just reached eleven-hundred. In Salt Lake, Kirsten worked at the LDS Church offices, and Jorgen was a skilled engraver. I also learned that, in their younger years in Denmark, Jorgen was a talented gymnast, and Kirsten was one of the country’s finest swimmers. Thanks to Kirsten’s translation, we discovered that the author of the letter is named Emma, and she was the niece of my great-great grandfather, Christian Larsen. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Denmark in the year 1897. The son of a Protestant Preacher, Christian was basically expelled from his own family after his conversion, and eventually moved to Utah with his wife and children, including his son (and my great-grandfather) Charly Larsen. The family settled in Chester, Sanpete County, Utah, my hometown. My mother, Renee Larsen Peterson, has done a lot of research on the Christian Larsen family, but little is known of his brothers and sisters. None of our family here in Utah knew of Emma until this letter turned up. It was dated March 31, 1947, just two years after World War II ended. But all of Europe, including Denmark, continued to struggle after those five years of occupation and terror. While the struggles and joys of folks in Denmark in 1947 were much different than ours today, they were also quite similar. People then relied on the same divine be- Gunnison City offices, police department, court and library are moving to 34 East 100 North, Dr. Jan Christensen’s building. The offices, court, and police departments will be located at this address beginning, Monday, November 24, 2008. There will no longer be a utility payment drop box. The Library is now closed and will reopen at this new address on Monday, December 1, 2008. You may continue to use the drop box at the old library until December 1st. Kirsten and Jorgan Olsen. Below: The letter from Emma to her Uncle Christian. ing for comfort and guidance as many of us do here, today. I hope you don’t mind if I share Emma’s letter with you folks. A big “Thank You” to Cindy Willden, and Kirsten and Jorgen Olsen, for all your help. Dear Uncle ChristianOne-thousand thanks for your letter. You do not know how happy I was for that. It was kind of you to answer that fast. Why didn’t we start corresponding a long time ago? It would have been a joy for both of us. Thanks for your invitation, and believe me, if I didn’t have my dear old mother, I would have come. I have always had a great wish to go abroad. Only 18 years old I got married, same year we had a little girl, Tove, born Nov. 16, 1918. Again a little girl, Ida, born Nov. 6, 1920, another little girl, Ellis, born March 11, 1922. She died the same year August 30. A little boy, Feb. 12, 1925. He died the next year March 7. Then came my last child, Musse, June 5, Mark Henline/Gunnison Valley Gazette Mitch Peterson/Gunnison Valley Gazette 1929. The years went by. God had called and taken from me what He wanted. After that I had no peace, always frictions and at last I could not take it See LETTER, Page 7