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Show 10 Vemal Express Wednesday, August 16, 1995 Jacksomis awairded Faoroeir IF Yeair Vickl Feldt Staff Writer This year Marvin, and Brent Jackson were chosen Farmers of the Year by a five-member board of supervisors su-pervisors of the Uintah County Soil Conservation District (UCSCD). The award was presented by Loren Richcns, chairman of the UCSCD board, at Western Park, Friday at 7 p.m. The Jacksons not only have earned the Farmer of the Year title, but their farm was chosen Centennial Farm of 1995. ; The Farmer of the Year Award is a public recognition of individuals who are outstanding stewards of the land. The guidelines for deciding this award are improvements made throughout the year and good management man-agement practices. Marvin and Brent have been farming farm-ing the same ground that Marvin's grandfather started farming in Julv of 1889 shortly after he had filed claim on the land. The claim was filed on 160 acres, and in 1900 a nephew was given 80 acres to farm which he later sold. Marvin was born in the old house which is still standing at the farm. The house had two rooms, a kitchen and a front room, and by 1918, they had added on two bedrooms. Welle drill team perform halftime Members of the Uintah High School U'ettes Drill Team will soon be realizing their goals. On Saturday, Aug. 19, nine of the girls on the drill team will represent Uintah High during the halftime show at the San Francisco 49er's football game. These talented young ladies are Adrienne Peisley, Tammi Brady, Chassie Hatch, Heather Trujillo, Jackie Anthon, Desiree Horrocks, Lisa Monson, Nicole Mascara, and Chelsea McBride. In addition to performing at the halftime show, the drill team girls, along with their advisor, Elaine Limb, and assistant advisor, Kris Sorensen, will be attending a dance clinic at Tremaine Dance Studios. They will also see "Phantom of the Opera" and visit ' the Great American Theme Park. Other members of the U'Ettes are Rachel Larsen, Tonya Burdick, Eritian Jolley, Lynn Marie Judd, Kay Dee Allen, Michelle Corbin, Amy Cook, Melissa Haley, Katrina Dart, Chelsey Aycock, Gill Collins, Ashley Davis,. Tiffany Richardson, Vanessa Tripp, and Brynn Lemon. The U'ettes have been raising money during the past six weeks for uniforms, competition fees, and trips. The annual Morts' Carwash was Aug. 5, and "every girl worked hard," noted Limb. The U'ettes also marched in the Uintah County Fair parade and sold tickets for a 7mm .08 Weatherby rifle from the Dez Murray Sporting Goods store. 'This was a major fund raiser for the U'ettes with most of the ticket sales coming from the supporters at the Demolition, Derby," says Limb. "The community support and contributions con-tributions were outstanding." The winner of the 7mm Weatherby rifle was Morgan J;ff Ainge, son of Morgan and Vickie Ainge of Vernal. Komputer Kamp polishes technique Utah State University sponsored a week long "Summer Horizons Komputer Kamp" Aug. 7-11. Twenty-four youths ranging from ages 8 to 15 signed up for the class. The class schedules were from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon and instructed by Anita Enloe. The classes enabled the kids to improve in keyboarding, graphics, and word processing. A few of the kids were able to get on and surf the Internet. The week ended with a field trip to KSL Broadcast in Salt Lake City. The kids were shown how computers comput-ers were used to produce news and weather broadcasts. They learned the basic procedures and then were able to watch a live broadcast. In 1920, Marvin's parents moved to town. His father share cropped and his mother worked at Ashley Brothers store. Marvin's grandfather died of stomach cancer in 1923, and in 1929 the family moved back to the farm. Marvin married in 1934. The farm went through a seven year drought. "You can't imagine how dry it was. We couldn't even grow a garden because by June the canal was plum dry. We couldn't get any water on this end at all," says Marvin. "There was not one green thing growing in the valley. We had to pump water out of the river to grow enough corm to feed our livestock." live-stock." In 1935, he went to Brush Creek and found everything green compared com-pared to the valley, and he decided then that he wanted to buy a place there. He worked at various jobs including in-cluding building air craft in Salt Lake City, to working at the gilt plant mines and, in 1946, he had saved enough money to make a down payment on his Brush Creek ranch. Marvin raised his family on the Brush Creek farm until 1965, when he moved back to the old farm to take care of his mother who had a stroke and to be with his ailing father fa-ther who passed away in '65. Marvin's son, Brent, and wife, Back row I. to r., Lisa Monson, Heather Trujillo, and Chelsea Horrocks, Jackie Anthon, Adrienne I itHMtfif Jaw , $ . f Elain Limb presents 7 mm. rifle won by Morgan Jeff Ainge with his father Morgan Ainge at the Demolition Derby, Saturday night. . Komputer Kamp kids learn computer Kathie, stayed at Brush Creek, and between them they took care of both farms from '65 to 76. In 1976 a big pond was made and it became Red Fleet Reservoir, and the Jacksons were all farming the old farm once again. In 1988, Brent bought back the original 80 acres that was sold from the claim of his great-grandfather. The Russian Olive trees had taken over the acreage by then. 'The trees were so thick that we had to crawl to get in there," says Kathie. The Jacksons dug up thousands of Russian Olives and today this part of the old homestead is once again productive farm ground. As a marker, mark-er, one big old Cottonwood tree was left standing. Says Brent, with a grin, "I may want to sit in the shade some day." Both Jackson men have been active ac-tive in the community through the years with Brent having been director direc-tor and president of Highline Irrigation for eight years, and Marvin being president of the Upper Canal - Ashley Irrigation Company for 15 years. The Chamber of Commerce awarded Marvin a "golden" shovel for soil conservation conserva-tion practices, the Department of Agriculture gave him a plaque for ten years of service, and the Uintah to show Tammi Brady Chassie Hatch, McBride. Front row, Desiree Peisley, and Nicole Mascara. ' techniques at KSL Broadcast. Basin Water programs awarded him for outstanding community service in water consergation practices. When asked how they felt about receiving the Farmer of the Year Award, Marvin and Brent each felt that the other had "earned it, for sure." Says Marvin, "We've accomplished accom-plished a lot over the years." Marvin admits a passion for leveling level-ing ground. He started with a team and a frcsno and has progressed to a tractor pulled scraper since the 1960s. The places that were difficult to work are now productive, especially espe-cially since all of the irrigation is now in pipe or sprinkler. The Jacksons have also built corrals, a scale house, and this year they have added a hay shed with plans of putting up a couple more. "I have a long list of improvements, but they have to meet Brent's approval," Marvin said. Very little custom work has ever been done on the farm, with most of the work being done by Marvin, Brent and his family. They raise corn and hay to feed their livestock through the winter. On the afternoon of the award, Marvin, 81, was out baling hay, leaving himself just enough time to eat dinner and clean up before heading into town for the presentation. Attending the ribbon cutting ceremony of new private school are, back row I. to r., Randy Merrell, Chuck Preece, and Brent DeGraff and Rick Rush of SLC. Front row, are Pam Whitmire and Sharen Shaefer. Private school IBeni) FiraDDDom) Academy classes stiairti Sept. 5 As school bells ring this fall, Vernal will have students attending a newly organized private school, Benjamin Franklin Academy. The new school is located at the old Ashley Valley High School building, 650 North Vemal Avenue. The school administrator, Pam Whitmire, is thrilled with the building, build-ing, saying "Not only does this building give us plenty of room to grow, but it also gives us wonderful flexibility that most private schools just don't have when they first start up. We are very pleased with our new facilities and its central location loca-tion within the valley." Benjamin Franklin Academy, BFA, is an international organization organiza-tion founded by Dr. Glen Kimber and his wife, Juliana, with school facilities located throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. The head office just recently re-cently moved from Salt Lake City to Cedar City. Vernal is one of the 20 new schools that BFA will be opening this year. The academy takes its name from Benjamin Franklin because of his unique approach to education. His concept of a useful and happy life encompassed not only learning curriculum, cur-riculum, but actively using it in the service of others. In 1749, Dr. Franklin was asked the question, "When do you consider a person to be really educated?" Dr. Franklin, one of America's greatest educators, replied, "A man is not truly educated educat-ed until he knows how to serve his God, how to serve his family, and how to serve his country." This is the philosophy that has been adopted adopt-ed by BFA, and has guided the development de-velopment of their curriculum. I I " u ( m i I 1 r r t. I I .V ' " V i if ti 1995 Farmers of the Year are brothers, Marvin and Brent Jackson, who have farmed for many years in Ashley Valley. The award was given by Loren Richens, chairman of the UCSCD board at the Western Park, Friday evening. "We've accomplished a lot over the years." said Marvin. organized BFA has taken several unique approaches ap-proaches to educating children. BFA is a multi-denominational school that seeks to provide the students with a positive moral atmosphere. The school takes a "Little Red Schoolhouse" approach to teaching and has only three class groupings for students aged five through adult. "The reason for this is the students are not graded against one another, but compete only with themselves," said Mrs. Whitmire. Students are given a GED diagnostic exam three times a year to measure their progress. It is their progress, not their age, that determines which class a student is in. Parents are also highly involved with their children at BFA. Parent committees handle everything from assisting teachers, to fund-raising, to recommending new teachers for hire, to consulting with students. "Parents are a very important factor in a child's education," educa-tion," remarked teacher, Sharen Shaefer. "Teachers will meet with parents at least once a month to discuss dis-cuss their child's educational progress. Parents are always welcome wel-come within the school at any time." The school is organized into three classes to facilitate learning phases that children go through based upon Dr. Kimber 's educational research. The elementary class generally consists con-sists of children ages five to nine. This class focuses on developing creativity and confidence within the' child, and on making education a fun and enjoyable experience. Ronald Whale, a social anthropologist anthropolo-gist who assisted in organizing the Vernal school, says "So many children chil-dren learn to dislike school before they realize their personal potential -j ' r to achieve. A child who does not enjoy school will learn very little because the child will not apply himself to the work, but if a child learns .to enjoy the school experience, experi-ence, then the child will continue to learn throughout his or her lifetime." life-time." The teacher for the elementary elemen-tary class will be Mclinda Goodwin. The teacher for the junior and senior se-nior class is Mrs. Shaefer, who holds a degree in statistics from the University of Wyoming. The junior class, consisting of children ages 10 through 12, focuses on mastering the mechanics of the curriculum. "Children with a little more age maturity ma-turity will generally have little trouble trou-ble understanding concepts that often of-ten confuse and frustrate them when taught at a younger age. The senior class focuses on polishing pol-ishing what students have learned in the junior class, applying their knowledge to the world around them, and preparing themselves for the entrance into college. The students stu-dents will also take ACT exams. Mrs. Shaefer explains, "In order to graduate from BFA, each graduating student will write a final composition composi-tion containing at least 3,000 meaningful mean-ingful facts, all from memory." BFA also provides some special opportunities for the students such as Youth Leadership Training conferences, con-ferences, hosted up to four times a year in Salt Lake City, and archeo-logical archeo-logical trips to South America and Israel in connection with Hebrew University. The school plans to begin classes on Sept. 5. Further information can be obtained by calling Pam Whitmire at 789-6846 or Sharen Shaefer at 789-5712. I If i n J. z 4 |