Show Millard County Business of the Week Roper Lumber: a Fillmore institution legend here” William Newton McBride was the father and founder of the establishment As early as 1915 he owned a sawmill where lumber was prepared for sale In 1920 he expanded his operathus tions to include a lumberyard launching McBride Lumber Company The business was originally housed in home in the Marjorie McBride Fillmore moving to the present Main Street location four years later When William died in 1923 of a heart attack his sons assumed responsibility for the business Gene Chuck and Newt ran the lumberyard with the help of their brother Paul from that time until 1967 establishing a real business one that became a focal point in the community “People stopped in just to visit” commented Alan Roper Newt died in 1967 and his son Dan took over Later Dan’s brother Kelly continubought the entire operation ing the McBride tradition until 1977 That year the doors were closed and the was lumber company put up for sale Melvin J Roper living in Oak heard that the old McBride City Lumber Company was for sale and the "wheels began to turn” Why not along with his two sons Gary and Alan buy the business? A graduate of Southern Utah State College with a degree in Business AdAlan was working for ministration Valley Bank in Salt Lake City when his father approached him about purchasIt sounded ing the lumber company like a good idea the Ropers bought the his and Alan submitted business resignation to the bank Valley Bank officials believing that Alan was sticking his neck out and taking a big risk urged him to accept a transfer rather than resign Thus Alan moved to the area and went to work in the Delta Valley Bank The Ropers became the owners in March 1978 Initially Melvin Roper and Alan’s wife Lori ran the store and Alan helped out in the evenings and on After four months of this Saturdays Alan quit the bank for he routine realized that if the business was going to really go it needed his full time tention He plunged in with both feet When the Roper family took over there were shovels and tools on one wall paints on the other and a few pieces of lumber Builders’ materials and hardwares had always been the mainstay of the business Since then three additions have been made the store is larger than it originally was and inventory has been expanded to include floor coverings woodburning paneling appliances stoves a few housewares and coal Melvin Roper retired from the business leaving Gary and Alan as With Gary living in Cedar partners City Alan is basically in charge all of the time Lori serves as bookkeeper and approximately spending secretary three hours a day in the store “The success of the business” Alan “can be attributed to the contends They are tremendous” employees They are Mike Rhinehart newly elected Fillmore City Council member and a extensive experience in with person retailing and management Ross Olson a graduate of the University of Utah with a degree in Marketing and a member of the Fillmore Ambulance Team and Bob Roth a graduate of BYU who can Fix anything! Bob is also a member of the ambulance team “I’m just the owner” stated Alan For three years Roper Lumber has been affiliated with the Ace Company Although Alan buys from suppliers throughout the state many purchases are made through Ace Working with such a large nationwide concern allows more selection and better prices for the Orders are made each customers Thursday before 5 pm and the merchandise arrives at noon on Saturday from Los Angeles Running the business is a challenge for Alan Roper "It is an interesting business and I like the people and the challenges involved” he said He particularly enjoys figuring "the odds” in buying This involves guessing when prices will be low and therefore making wise purchases Roper Lumber Company sponsors a Little League ball team and such programs as Miss Teen Age According to Alan “We try to be involved especially in support of youth” The business in the Fillmore also participates Chamber of Commerce Alan acknowledges that free time is rare “There are lots of details that must be taken care of after hours” he noted “I don’t it’s just However he enjoys disorganization!” attending ball games and camping out with family and friends A real treat is an occasional evening just being at home Along with running the business Alan is involved in community activities in Fillmore He is a member of' the Volunteer Fire Department and a Councilor in the Bishopric in the LDS Church In the past he served on the town Planning and Zoning Commission and on the MEA Credit Union Board Lori and Alan Roper have four children ages 6 months 6 9 and years and all have spent their time in the store The oldest son Gregory spends a lot of time helping in the summer According to Dad the young man knows the business quite well and is a good little helper Fillmore says Alan has good people excellent schools and a good mayor The size of the town permits one to get to know many other people on a basis “I would like to see more growth" Alan commented “but it will come” According to Alan IPP brought many good people into the Fillmore area most of whom are now perma"These people have nent residents strengthened our east side community” he said Business however has not really been affected one way or another Sales are somewhat lower than they were two years ago but one the same level as last year Alan Roper takes little credit for the on going success of Roper Lumber Company “I don’t think the business would have gone without the McBride tradition It is a great family” he praised And of course he again gave credit to his employees However the tradition continues and Alan Roper is at the helm Sheep killed on highway by Dawn Carder A total of twenty sheep were killed in two separate accidents on Highways 6 and 50 just west of the West Millard Patrolman Utah Highway Randy Ingram reported that both cidents occurred on Monday night November 30 The left foot is just a little bit larger Patrolman Ingram investigated one accident which involved a pickup truck Seven sheep were killed at that location At approximately the same time another vehicle hit and killed thirteen sheep a little farther west on the same inhighway The latter accident was vestigated by Deputy Rob Lang of the Millard County Sheriff’s Department than the right foot on most people Thurs Dec 3 1987 Page 3 Life has been an adventure by Dawn Carder Some people live life to the fullest greeting each new experience as an adventure appearing unafraid and undaunted by change Mildred Baker Kesler is such a person Long before the women’s movement she dared to be an individual Born in Illinois Mildred moved to Delta with her family when she was a child Her father a law student was part of the naive group that listened to of and believed the advertisements rich land and plenty of marvelous water So he became one of Utah’s pioneers arriving during the land rush “He didn’t know sage brush from Mildred said with a greasewood” smile Neither of Mildred’s parents realized what they were getting into Her mother had been a secretary and a teacher in St Louis both were doctors’ children and both knew only rich bottom land soil along the Mississippi River The only farming Mr Baker had done was helping on his father’s farm by Dawn Carder For many years there has been a lumber company located on Main Now known as Street in Fillmore Roper Lumber Company the business was according to Alan Roper established by the McBride people who made it a mainstay and stitution in the community “When we took over” Alan said "we always heard about Newt McBride He was a LSPS occasionally “Dad knew nothing of the of farming” said Mildred “He was a real scholar” However he and his wife in true pioneer fashion weathered the hard times farmed different crops and finally settled on raisOn their own without ing alfalfa from prosperous financial support eastern families they fought survived and succeeded on their own in a new It was not the leisurely environment existence Father had anticipated! One of five children Mildred grew from Delta up in Delta graduated High School at age 16 and headed off to Westminster College After a two year course (Normal School) she was qualified to teach At the ripe old age of 18 she returned to her hometown and began teaching primary school For six years Mildred taught loving her work and the children At the end of that time it was time for growth and movement Mildred went back to college this time to the University of and earned a BA degree in Utah English in 1940 Following graduation from U of U Mildred taught two more years this time in Carbon County World War II she read about the commenced Women’s Army Corps and made a decision Teaching was put on the back burner when Mildred after passing the stiff examinations was accepted in Officers’ Candidate School The year was 1942 Ft Des Moines was the training site By December 1942 Mildred had earned her Second Lieutenant’s bars and Thank you The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation would like to thank all the local businesses from Delta and Fillmore and all individuals for their generous donations The monies raised are used for research clinical study and educating the public on the disease One of the main fundraising events of CF is the “Bowl for Breath” with several of the bowling alleys in Utah participating CF is the number genetic killer of children and young adults a disease that primarily attacks the lungs and digestive system Every day every 5 hours a baby is born with CF Every day every 8 hours a child or young adult dies was assigned to recruiting She was off to Wheeling West Virginia where she remained for the next two years From (here she traveled to Kentucky Ohio and Indiana interviewing at Ft It was when headquartered Knox in Kentucky that Mildred received orders to go to Japan Before goFranSan ing however she was sent to cisco where she had a four month crash course in the Japanese language at Stanford University Studying with her were other WACs and officers from both the Navy and the Army On the Marine Shark the officers sailed off to the cluding Mildred orient They went via the Philippines arriving in Japan in December 1945 Mildred was assigned to Gen intelligence department Her duty was to make sure that the Japanese were following orders During the fall of her second year in Japan Mildred went to a dance for Technical Intelligence There across the room she spotted a young Army officer and said to herself “There he is That’s the man I’m going to marry!” It was Harold Kesler whom according to Mildred today “didn’t have a chance after that!” Mildred and Harold had their first date on Thanksgiving and they fell in love Since they were in a foreign country procedures and a chain of command had to be adhered to in order to get married They were determined however finally optaining the necessary documents and permission for marriage Since the Kesler wedding was one of era the first in the occupation w officers "everybody” embassy personnel Japanese officials Actually there were two ceremonies The first was held in the American Embassy on February 14 with a religious ceremony on the next day They honeymooned on the top of a mountain in Japan Inevitably people end their tours of duty and are scheduled to go home Harold having become a War Department Civilian got his orders first From then on there was a “cat and mouse” game for the Keslers were determined to return together After “hiding out” on a few occasions they succeeded in getting orders for the same ship They even managed to be assigned to the State Room!! Landing in San Francisco the two were met by Mildred’s sister who brought them back to Baker Nevada and Delta to visit family From here Wyoming they traveled to Casper where they visited before reporting Harold’s family for the next assignment from OfHarold had graduated ficers’ Candidate School (Cavalry) in Ft Knox Kentucky and he had decided on a career with the military Once back stateside he and Mildred went to Tacoma Washington where he was stationed for four years During that time Mildred taught school their daughter Dorothy was born and Harold was sent to Korea for thirteen months the Keslers were After Washington sent from one place to another in the US -- California Colorado Springs Military Intelligence School in Wisconsin another school in Kentucky Then orders were received to go to Germany for three years It was there that son Fred was born From Germany it was back to Tt Knox Kentucky for one year and then on to Ft Bliss in El Paso Texas This assignment lasted for eighteen yeais and was Harold’s last both Ever active and involved Harold and Mildred had continued their educations over the years Harold took courses at the University of Maryland and later earned a BS degree in education from the University of Texas in El Paso Mildred earned an MA in English from UTEP Kesler When Harold retired from the he joined his wife in the military teaching field He taught math to hen fourth and fifth grade students under Texas’ mandator Mildred retirement law was forced to lease teaching Harold retired also In 1976 the Keslers mosed to Baker Nevada to manage the big Strawberry Fred Ranch for Mildred's brother Baker “It is a beautiful place in the “but mountains" she commented we too was it decided after five years much Those bulls got hungry everyand Thanksgiving including day Christmas!” Richard Baker Another brother had a lot in Delta for sale the Keslers bought it and moved back here in 1981 After many years Mildred had returned home How does Harold like it here? “As long as she’s (Mildred) heie it’s fine” he quickly answered Long before it was fashionable to be so Mildred Baker Kesler was an Yes “liberated woman” dependent there were as a woman difficult times especially as a WAC However she contends that "all in all it’s been an Both Mildred and Harold adventure” smiled hugged each other and stated “It’s been a wonderful life" 1988 Stock Show beef tag deadline and rule changes The dates for the 1988 Millard County Stock Show have been set for May 25 26 and 27 1988 (market animals) Tag applications are now available at the Millard County Road Barn 1000 West 1000 North in Delta and the USU Extension Office in the Courthouse in Fillmore The Beef Tag Deadline has been set for January 4 1988 at 5 pm Applications must be postmarked or turned to either office by the above date and time All exhibitors should be made aware of some rule changes made for the 1988 show All exhibitors will be required to have animals weighed and tagged on tagging date at designated areas 2 Animals will be required not to ceed a maximum weight at the time of tagging Maximum weights: Steers 800 lbs Heifers - 750 lbs Sheep - 75 lbs Swine - 130 lbs 3 exhibitors eligible are those who have turned 9 years of age on or 1988 and not yet 20 before January FA of 1989 years of age on January Exhibitors are limited to active members enrolled in a high school FFA program that have not turned 1989 20 by January If you have any questions please feel free to contact any Millard County Stock Show Board Members or Teri We look forward Taylor at to another exciting show DELTA ROTARY CLUB School enrollments to decline If present trends continue public school enrollments in Utah will level off school year and then begin by the made to decline This projection was by the private research Utah Foundation after analyzing the latest organization enrollment data released by the Utah State Office of Education Foundation analysts point out that school enrollment growth in Utah has been slowing down during the past five enrollment years The is only crease in Utah this year about half of what it was in The study shows that school enrollments in the Millard School District declined by 111 or 293 percent this year Fall 1987 enrollents totaled 3679 pupils compared with 3790 in 1986 to the State Office of According Education Utah had 423386 pupils enrolled in its public schools on October 1987 an increase of 7392 pupils from the previous When the 1987 year Legislature established the state aid proit had projected that gram for there would be an enrollment growth of 906 pupils in the Utah schools In other words the school program for as approved by the 1987 Legislature is inflated for 4514 students The Foundation study indicates that migration trends have reversed themselves and currently there is a substantial from the state This rising probably accounts for the fact that school enrollment were badly forecasts for overestimated by legislative and school authorities earlier this year With the slowdown in enrollment growth and the fact that school enrollments probably will level off and begin to decline in about six years the long range outlook for education is good Instead of according to the Foundation having to devote available resources to pay for operating and capital outlay costs of new students Utah will be able to use these resources to compete more effectively with other states Harold and Mildred Annual Christmas Lighting and Decoration Contest Recognition awarded for: Lighted Display Display Commercial Christmas Display Open to all Millard County residents and business Judging will be done on December 15 1987 Please register your display (or your neighbor’s) to assure that it is judged Any can be registered at: W W'M' display In Delta: Dove’s Happy Service Quality Thriftway Valley Bank & Trust 'MnV jn Finmore: Millard County Sheriff’s Office First Capital Title Company J V Please help us recognize those who brighten the Holiday Season (Past winners eligible for Honorable Mention only) To order custom Call Ken Mergenthal cut trees: at 864-385- 5 Have Santa Claus appear at your home or business! Rates are: J$10 Family or multiple family (approximately 1 hour) $2S ' Office party (approximately 2 hrs) $10 per hour for business or $25 per day minimum m for more information or reservations M5 !& £) 7 lJ WfS ( |