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Show Cyan Magenta Yellow Black A7 Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition Wednesday, December 5, 2007 Students given Bulldog Pride Award SARA HANSEN / MESSENGER PHOTO A small tribute to Howard K. Potts, a survivor of the USS Arizona, which was sunk in Pearl Harbor, is only a small piece to the World War II memorial that was assembled by Gunnison Middle School’s eighth grade class of 2002. School project shows pride in vets By Sara Hansen Staff writer GUNNISON—Gunnison Valley Middle School is still proud of a project that was put together back in 2002, but that still stands as a reminder to current and future students of the sacrifices many people made to maintain American freedom and way of life. About five years ago, eighth grade students at the school put together a collection of oral histories and memories from grandparents and elderly citizens who lived during World War II. The histories are a colorful collection of experiences of those who served and survived during the war. Some of the histories are transcripts of interviews. Others are novelistic in their narrative, detail and length. Each one gives a sense of the person and experience that person went through during those trying years. In the history of MaxAllred written by Rebecca Sorensen, Allred tells of how his unit was taken as prisoners of war by the German soldiers they had initially taken as prisoners during The Battle of the Bulge. Marie Bendall’s account, transcribed by her great-grandson Stuart Watson, tells of her concerns of having family members sent to war, and how those worries were put to rest when none were sent into the actual war zone because they were farmers. Histories were gathered, usually by a relative of the veteran, and tape-recorded. The taped stories were transcribed and edited in the students’ English classes. Pictures were borrowed and scanned. Those accounts of veterans, as taken by the students, have been collected and compiled for people to read on a website, www.ssanpete.k12. ut.us/GVMS/WWII/GVMS-WWII. htm#Participants. The website has been viewed many times by people all over the world. Last summer, the school received a letter from a man in Germany who looked a the website and ran across a story that included a German surname the same as his own, while trying to locate relatives for a reunion. In addition to the website, a display case was created with World War II memorabilia in the middle school’s library. Gunnison Middle School Principal Alan Peterson wrote of the sacrifice and contribution of people who lived through the war, sacrifices and contributions that helped define the nation. “It is with that in mind that the Gunnison Valley Middle School World War II Memorial was created. It serves to record and preserve many of the personal struggles that families and individuals endured, in service to this nation, both home and abroad,” Peterson wrote. Wind-powered winter fun Mt. Pleasant will host national snowkite festival this weekend By Kirsten Reimschiissel Staff writer MT. PLEASANT—Enthusiasts of a new winter sport that combines snow with the power of the wind will converge this weekend in Mt. Pleasant for the Skyline Snowkite Summit, Dec. 7-9. Snowkiting is much like windsurfing, but takes place in the snow rather than in the water, using “kites” that are “a modern version of a windsurfing wing,” says Brian Schenck, co-owner of Windzup, the biggest distributor of snowkites in the U.S., located in Mt. Pleasant. “We were in Draper, but we found ourselves coming down here so much anyway that we just moved down here. We’re the first snowkiters to move to Sanpete County,” said Heather Schenck, Windzup’s other co-owner. This weekend’s event is the first of its kind, but the Schenck’s hope it will become an annual event, and that it will get larger each year as the sport’s popularity and the summit’s reputation grow. The snowkite summit will include an information exchange and industry party. There will be a seminars and clinics teaching avalanche safety, kite design, avalanche awareness, the latest technology and more. The summit is being held in conjunction with the seasonal kickoff event that Windzup hosts each year on Skyline Drive, one of the most popular locations in the world for Snowkiting. Snowkiters and snowkiting retailers from Texas, Florida, New York, Canada, and other various places across the U.S. are expected to attend. In fact, the kiter guests who have already reserved their place at the summit have filled the Windwalker Guest Ranch and many hotels in Sanpete for the event. Several guests even received free lodging, rewarding those already involved in selling, teaching, and more within the growing shops and industries. One may ask what makes places like Fairview Canyon and Skyline Drive such a great spot for the skiers and snowboarders seeking adventure. “It’s a prime destination,” said Brian Schenck. “On the wasatch plateau you are guaranteed wind as often as possible.” He said the area has the wind, snow wind and good terrain—the perfect conditions for snowkiting. It is no wonder that people, such as the Schenck’s, want to make it the annual destination for industries to meet in and kick off the season. One thing snowkiting has over skiing or snowboarding, says Schenck, is that there are no long, boring, freezing ski-lifts to ride or pay for. Schenek put it this way, “It’s like a ski-lift in a backpack…you can ride all day long and never stop.” Ski-lifts aren’t needed because the kite carries the rider up as well as down. The kite kit itself includes the kite, 80 feet of kite line, and a hand bar similar to a mountainbike handle bar. Kits start off at about $50 for children’s kites. For the serious kiter, the kit will start out at about $300 and can go up to the thousands for those who want power- or traction-kites, meant for serious snowkiting, which Schenck said are more like parachutes than paragliders. For more information about the Skyline Snowkite Summit this weekend, call (435) 462-5303, or visit www.windzup.com. The summit is open to the public. GUNNISON—Two Gunnison Valley High School students, Jaclyn Simonsen and Cutler Frandsen, are the latest recipients of the Bulldog Pride Award. Jaclyn Simonsen is the daughter of Tracy and Melanie Simonsen. Jaclyn, a sophomore, is involved in a number of clubs and organizations. She is a member of the band, where she plays the flute and piccolo. As a member of the Future Business Leaders of America, Jaclyn has attended several leadership and training conferences this year. Last summer she completed a semester at Snow College through the Upward Bound program and received the Miss Congeniality award at the summer graduation program. Jaclyn is active in the community and in her church. She has worked on humanitarian projects, including making quilts, baby kits and putting together a DVD program for the Young Women’s Excellence Program. Tying quilts, scrap booking, and making and altering her own clothing are a few things that Jaclyn enjoys. She also enjoys taking photos, and altering and enhancing them on the computer. Jaclyn Jaclyn Simonsen Cutler Frandsen compiled and completed a digital history of her great-grandfather, who recently passed away. Jaclyn has set high academic goals for herself and enjoys working with the teachers and staff at the high school. Culter Frandsen, a sophomore, is the son of Kelly and Kathy Frandsen. He plays basketball, baseball and football at the high school. Sports are very time consuming, but Culter has still been able to maintain at 4.0 GPA. His favorite is intermediate algebra from Mr. Otten. Culter is a member of the Centerfield 1st Ward and is the first counselor in the Teachers Quorum. He enjoys playing the piano for many church and community events. He is finishing up his paperwork for his Eagle Scout award. For his project, he painted fire hydrants. Snow boarding and wake boarding are some of the activities that Culter likes to do with his family and friends. He also likes cooking and hunting. During the summer and on weekends during the school year, he works at Hermansen’s Mill with his Grandpa Redge. Students seeking donations for CAPT Angel Tree project Trees of Angels have been set up at Ephraim Middle School, Manti High School and Jensen’s Department Store. The trees have are sponsored by the Child Abuse Prevention Team (CAPT), which is made up of students from Ephraim Middle School, Manti High School and Snow College. The students are currently looking for old bikes to fix, furniture to refurbish and other items in good condition. They plan to refurbish them and give them to needy families. For more information contact Kay Watson at 835-8171 or Cherrie Green at 436-8556. Students from Manti High School and members of the Child Abuse Prevention Team (CAPT) stand in front of their Tree of Angels. First Row (L-R): Christa Johnson, Kayla Colby and Kylee Mickelsen. Second Row (L-R): Jerimiah Seely, Tausha McFarlane and Sarah Chandler. Sounds School Briefs ... Gunnison Elementary Parents need to send in payments for school lunch and breakfast. Full-price lunches are $22.50 while full-price breakfasts are $11.25 for the month of December. Reduced lunches are $6 and reduced breakfasts are $4.50. Some boxes of candy still need to be sold. Any students who could sell more are encouraged to pick up the boxes. If students are missing coats or other items, they are reminded to check the school’s lost and found. Gunnison Middle School The annual Yule Program will be Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. and will feature performances by the school’s choral, string and band programs The Pillar Award will be presented as part of the program. Holidays force Messenger publication changes Publication dates moved to accommodate Christmas, New Year Because the Christmas and New Year’s holidays both fall on Tuesdays, normally the day the newspaper would be printed for Wednesday publication, the Messenger is moving its production schedule ahead several days for the last two weeks in December. The move will affect the deadlines for submission of advertisements and news items. The issue that would otherwise be published on Wednesday, Dec. 26, will be published on Saturday, Dec. 22. Advertising deadline will be 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 19, and the deadline for news submissions will be Thursday, Dec. 20 at noon. Likewise, the issue that would otherwise be published on Wednesday, Jan 2, will be published on Saturday, Dec. 29. Advertising deadline will be 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 26, and the deadline for news-item submissions will be Thursday, Dec. 27 at noon. Sunday 23 Monday 17 December 2007 Tuesday 18 Wednesday Thursday 19 20 Advertising deadline, 6 p.m. 30 24 25 26 Advertising deadline, 6 p.m. Friday 21 News deadline, noon 27 News deadline, noon 28 Saturday 22 Newspaper published (normal publication would be Dec. 26) 29 Newspaper published (normal publication would be Jan. 2, 2008) (Continued from A1) renditions of “Christmas in Three Minutes” and “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” Fourth grade students played Christmas Carols on their recorders. They also did a delightful job singing “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” The culminating number performed by fifth grade students was “When Christmas Comes to our Town.” Narcotics Anonymous Meetings in Sanpete Fri: 7:30 p.m. Ephraim 390 W. 100 N. Sat: 7:30 p.m. Campfire Meeting Summit Lodge Recovery Center Fairview Canyon 1 mile from US89 intersection Closed meeting, for addicts only. For more information on N.A., call 283-6694. |