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Show fV- ' -"'- nil If P.L.Merrell Receives Mark Tuttle Award Mr. Merrell, who has served 30 years as a official of this county, brought distinction to himself and the county last week as he was presented the Mark Tuttle award as the outstanding county officer of the State of Utah for 1965, during the 43rd annual convention of the Utah State Association of Counties, The convention was held at the New-house New-house Hotel in Salt Lake City. Mr, Merrell, said he was taken "completely by surprise" as the award was announced by Sharp M. Larsen, the state auditor, who made the presentation presenta-tion "as a token of recognition and appreciation of his services!' Mr. Larsen was acting on behalf of the family of Mark Tuttle, the first president of the county officers association, who has set up the award to be presented each year to the outstanding county officer in Utah, at the annual convention of the Utah State Association of Counties, which was organized in 1924, The scroll certificate, signed by C.A. Grant, association secretary, and Gordon A. Hall ' president, honors Mr. Merrell, with this printed statement: "Porter L, Merrell, as a county clerk of Duchesne County, Utah has distinguished himself and the public office to which he was elected by rendering outstanding out-standing energetic and efficient public service to the citizenry of the State of Utah, and by reason of the services so rendered he has been chosen the outstanding outstand-ing county officer of the State of Utah for the year of 1965. " Mr. Merrell served as president pres-ident of the USA CO in 2961, and prior to that he had served as secretary and vice president of the same. He came to Duchesne in 1934, right after he was elect ed for a four-year term as the county treasurer, the term to start in Jan. 1935. He was the treasurer until Jan. 1947, when he took the oath of office as county clerk and ex-officio, a position he has held since. He was elected on the Democrat Ticket. , Continued on Page 4: MARK TUTTLE AWARD continued from page 1 Through the years, he has served in many capacities in his county office, his church, the community, the state and the nation, as a good neighbor. At present, he is first counsel or to Duchesne Stake President Elmer R. Moon, and formerly he served as bishop of the Duchesne Duch-esne Ward, Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints. While he was president of the Utah State Association of Counties Count-ies in 1961, he went to Washington, Washing-ton, D. C. , to the White House Conference on Aging, as a delegate del-egate appointed by the then Utah govenor, George Dewey Clyde. Also, this same year, Mr. Merrel served as a member of the govern or's Emergency Conservation Committee. In the early 1950's, during the Korean War period, he was the chairman of the Selective Service Board, Local No. 7, Duchesne County. Also, he has served as a member of the Duchesne City Council, chairman of the Utah Centennial Committee for the County, and during World War II, was county chairman for the U. S. War Bonds program. Mr. and Mrs. Merrell have two sons and three daughters. Mrs. Jack (Arlene) Gilbert, of Othello, Washington; Glade, a teacher at Ricks College, Rex-burg Rex-burg Idaho; Reid, a seminary teacher at American Fork, Utah; Chryl, fourth grade teacher at a school in Mesa, Arizona; and Sondra, senior student at the Brigham Young University, who is majoring in elementary education. ed-ucation. Mrs. Merrell was honored along with her husband at this convention conven-tion by the Mark Tuttle family,. Both were presented orchid leis flown in from Hawaii at the request of a Tuttle family member mem-ber who lives there; and Mr. Merrell was given a wrist watch engraved with his name and the award identification; and Mrs. Merrell received a leather-bound bible, engraved with her name Fern L. Merrell, and the name of the Mark Tuttle family. The award was made during the luncheon meeting of the association held in the Bonneville Bonne-ville -Florentine banquet rooms at the Newhouse Hotel. |