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Show C Y M C K Y A3 Sanpete Messenger-Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition M K Wednesday, July 15, 2009 Sheep lose but town will win in Lamb Day celebration By Christian Probasco Staff writer FOUNTAIN GREEN—The 50,000 or so sheep of Sanpete County may have reservations about lamb days, but everybody else is looking forward to having a great time. “We’re going to barbecue 47 lambs this year,” says Eddie Hansen of the Lamb Days Committee, “and we’re going to fry 13. That’s up a couple from last year.” The lamb barbecue will begin on Friday night, July 17. Wood dumped into two large pits will be covered over for about eight hours and charcoalized. The coals will be shoveled into open fireplaces. The lambs, wrapped in chicken wire, will be roasted over the coals and then, sometime between 10 p.m. and midnight, they will be buried in the still-hot pits to simmer for 10 to 12 hours, at which point they’ll be ready for delicious lamb sandwiches. Thirteen of the 60 lucky lambs harvested for the festival this year, however, will be fried up in pans and served with sourdough scones. Hansen says the lamb fry and scones have become increasingly popular over the last several seasons. The festivities will actually begin at the city park at 2 p.m. on Friday, July 17, with a youth lamb show. The mutton and sourdough will be available between 5 and 8 p.m. that evening. At 8 there will be a youth talent show. A co-ed softball tournament will also begin on Friday. All games will be played at the city park and the school ballfield. On Saturday, the men’s leagues will compete to determine who will win the coveted Fountain Green softball championship. Saturday morning, participants in the 3K fun run will meet at the park at 6 a.m. The run itself will begin at 6:30. There will also be a “lamb scram” for children 12 and under and a fast walk for those who prefer a more leisurely pace. Tickets are $10 for those who preregister and $12 on the day of the event. Runners, walkers and toddlers will all receive t-shirts. Contact Denise Aagard at 445-3376 for more information. A chuck-wagon breakfast will be served from 7-9 a.m. A flag-raising ceremony will be held at 7:30, and the craft fair will open at 9. A parade down State Street will commence at 10. At noon, the country band “Rough Stock” of Malad, Idaho, will begin performing at the park’s big bowery. Rough Stock was the firstplace winner of the national Country Showdown Competition in Nashville, Tenn., in 2001. Raffles, rides and children’s games will be held all day. The lamb sandwiches will be served begin- ning at 1:30 p.m. A sheep-shearing demonstration at 2, followed by a lamb sale at 3, leave little or no time to nap or lounge about smacking lips and licking fingers. Hansen says most sheep shearing is done these days by specialists from Australia and New Zealand who return “down under” when the spring shearing is completed. But there are a few locals, mostly from the smaller operations, who are still very conversant in the art. The mutton bustin’ will start at 4 p.m. At 5, children will dive into a sawdust pile and squirm for cash and prizes. At 7, the committee will show an animated children’s film at the theater (“Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron”). Youth dances will begin at 9, and around 10 p.m. the fire department will start launching fireworks. “Every year the fireworks seem to get better and better,” says Hansen. Expect to be wowed. Little Misses of Lamb Days chosen Photo courtesy Abby Ivory FOUNTAIN GREEN—In Fountain Green, there’s not one—but three—Little Misses of Lamb Days. On July 2, Kaylee Taylor, Jordan Ivory and Kamree Taylor were selected as Little Misses in their respective age categories: Kaylee in the 10-12 division, Jordan in the 6-9 sector and Kamree in the 3-5 category. Along with their elder counterparts in the Miss Lamb Day competition, Kaylee, Jordan and Kamree will reign over Lamb Day festivities this week. Kaylee and Kamree are the daughters of Dave and Kathy Taylor, and Jordan is the daughter of Jeremy and Abby Ivory. What is a ‘10K@10K’? By Lyle Fletcher Staff writer photo courtesy dave taylor This car will be raffled off to be driven in the Fairview Pioneer Days demolition derby. Funds raised by the raffle will benefit the Utah Scorpions wheelchair rugby team. Car will be raffled and driven in demolition derby to benefit wheelchair-bound atheletes By John Hales Managing Editor FAIRVIEW—One might think that a demolition derby would be the last thing that Anthony Tucker would want to encourage. For him, the sounds of gears grinding and metal crunching could bring back devastating memories, if he chose to let them. After all, it was a car crash that irrevocably changed his life—ruined it, some would say. At the young, vibrant age of 19, Tucker was in a car accident. He was ejected from his vehicle and landed on his head. The impact broke his neck, leaving him a quadriplegic. “Early on, the doctors predicted that Anthony would require assistance to do something as simple as brushing his teeth,” his mother, Robin Cowley says. But Tucker was unwilling to accept that. “Not allowing misfortune to hinder his success,” his mother says, “he … battled intense physical therapy, emotional and physical pain, fear of acceptance and many other obstacles to get where he is today,” And where is that? It’s in the captain’s uniform of the Utah Scorpions, a wheelchair rugby team for people who, like Tucker, wouldn’t let severe physical handicaps get in the way of living as full a life as possible. Like Tucker, each team member could have been just another spinal-cord-injury statistic. They were all between 16-25 years of age who became quadriplegic because of severe injuries from such things as automobile accidents, football or diving. “They were all given a grim diagnosis and told … that their lives were over,” Cowley says. But they instead persisted, like Tucker, proving the naysayers wrong by being better athletes than a lot of fully capable people. Also called “murderball,” wheelchair rugby is “the fastest growing, most actionpacked wheelchair sport in the world,” Cowley says. Except for the wheelchairs, murderball sounds like most other sports: players try to score while at the same time colliding with one another, getting knocked over, reaching for and keeping possession of the ball and squeezing past opponents. And even more than the wheelchairs, what separates murderball from other sports is how it changes so many lives, Tucker’s mother says. “Murderball is more than just a sport. For some it’s a way of life,” she says. “Most of these athletes, while highly educated, are not able to hold a normal job because of the demands of daily life as a quadriplegic.” And Tucker himself says, “Because of murderball and the Utah Scorpions, I now live independently on my own, go to school and have nine teammates that have my back.” So, with as much taken away from Tucker by one car wreck, and as much as murderball has given back, he’s hoping other car wrecks—namely those at the Fairview Pioneer Days demolition derby—can help benefit the athletic team that has contributed so much to his changed life. Tucker has relatives who live in Fairview: cousin Dave Taylor and Dave’s wife, Mindy, and an aunt, Lolly Holden (who, Mindy says, is Tucker’s “biggest supporter”). They decided to try to help the team by building and raffling the derby car. “It was Dave’s idea,” said Mindy. “We went to one of their tournaments, and it’s just overwhelming how much they go through. They obviously have limited mobility, and you just watch them and how much their hearts are into this game. And that’s what gets them through the whole day—just knowing they can play rugby.” CAN’T ARGUE Anthony Tucker’sYOU life changed when a WITH car accident relegated him to a wheelchair as a quadriplegic. He is now captain of the Utah Scorpions wheelchair rugby team. Y M K QUALITY. YOU CAN’T ARGUE WITH QUALITY. REBATE UP TO AND RIGHT NOW, IT’S OFFERING A The experience affected both Dave and Mindy. “They really need the help,” Mindy says. “Once you go to one of their games, you can’t get it out of your blood. We decided we needed to take a role and help these guys.” So Dave built the car, which is being raffled off with tickets costing only $2 each, or three for $5. The winner will get not only the car but the opportunity to drive it in the derby on July 24. The team itself will be at Fairview’s July 24th celebration, participating in the 5K Fun Run and being featured in the parade. Funds raised by the raffle will go toward purchasing equipment (the specialized wheelchairs can cost up to $4,000 each), supplies like gloves and sports tape, gym fees and travel costs. “This is a great change to help an amazing organization and … help these athletes be successful in their sport,” says Tucker’s mother. “With your support, together they will climb life’s biggest mountain, living on the edge, smashing stereotypes one hit at a time.” People interested in purchasing raffle tickets or otherwise helping the team can call Dave Taylor at 469-0593 or Lolly Holden at 427-9424, or they can stop at the Mt. Pleasant Radio Shack store at 85 W. Main Street where Mindy Taylor is the manager. The Utah Scorpions are Anthony Tucker, Josh Wheeler, Tim Daynes (with his wife More information about the team can and dog), Matt Lund, Levi Bohon and Shaun Nelson be found at www.utahscorpions.org. C MT. PLEASANT—Billed as a “10K at 10K” (10,000 meters at 10,000 feet), the sixth annual Skyline 10K race sponsored by the Sanpete Valley Health Care Foundation will take place Aug. 1 at 9 a.m. (The 9 a.m. starting time is one hour later than in previous years.) Proceeds from the race go toward the purchase of healthcare equipment for the Sanpete Valley Hospital (a nonprofit Intermountain Health Care hospital). Mark Beck, on the Foundation board, said the race “keeps growing each year,” and he’s hopeful the event will generate needed funds for the hospital. The race starts about one mile north of the Fairview Lakes lookout at the top of Fairview Canyon on S.R. 31, between mile markers 11 and 12. In this high-altitude challenge race, runners will pound their soles on paved roads three kilometers uphill from 9,300 feet to approximately 10,000 feet in elevation, then race downhill for the next seven kilometers to complete the 10,000meter race at the finish line at the parking lot of Huntington Reservoir Dam (about 9,100 feet in elevation) where fruit and drinks will be available. Those more interested in the scenery than in the competition can walk from the summit for the final 7K, almost entirely all downhill. Parking is available at both starting lines, and transportation will be provided back to the starting line parking lots at the conclusion of the race. Early registration through July 25 is $20, registration from July 26 to July 31 is $25, and registration on the day of the race is $30. The mountain walk is $15. All registered racers and walkers will receive a Skyline 10K@10K t-shirt. Visit www.skyline10k.com, or contact Debbie at 4624123, Heather at 462-4133 or Mark at 462-2698 for more information. REBATE UP TO $1100. 1100 $ AND RIGHT NOW, IT’S OFFERING A In our eyes, nothing is more valuable than feeling comfortable. Especially when it comes to making a Bryant purchase. So when you choose a qualifying Bryant high-efficiency heating and cooling system, we’ll give you a rebate up to $1,100. It’s just another one of our ways of making sure your comfort comes first. Whatever it takes. your comfort specialists Visit us at our new showroom! 50 East Hwy 89 • Gunnison • 528-3988 Rebates paid only on qualifying units and systems and range from $0 to $1100, depending on the product(s). See dealer for details. C Y M K |