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Show - Cl UT M-- -- 81 PIKS01T a"? F C PRESS UTAH 307 SLC, W UT 200 84101 Baseball goes undefeated In region See Page B8 usu ASSOCIATION S 5005 Sevan day forecast See graduation See page A3 i jj .E9L- 3 Single Copy 50 4 Wednesday, May 7, 2003 I V Vernal, Utah 84078 111th Year No. 19 SUPPORT OUR TROOPS Express online: www.vernal.com 22 Pages Face Doft foegiims all Weinman dhuiroioir By Maureen IMlaeplhi Spencer Express Writer Miss Uintah Lorie Chivers, Miss Dinosaur Roundup Tiffney Lance and Miss Vernal Tracina Casper. Lance roamed Miss Dinosaur (Roundup Rodeo queen By Mandl Oaks Express Writer r- - Tiffney Lance, daughter of Joe and Marion Lance of Vemal, was crowned - 2003 , Miss Dinosaur Roundup at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo Committee Social oh May 3. Tracina Casper, daughter of Leon and Ginger Casper of Tabiona, was named Miss Vemal and Lorie Chivers, daughter of Dave and Jenny Chivers of Vemal, was named Miss Uintah. The queen was given a saddle made by Lee Mecham and all three girls each received a $325 scholarship. The contestant with the top score in each category was named and given a prize. Leslie Bristol was named Miss Congeniality, a title voted upon by the contestants. Lorie Chivers received the top score in the photogenic category, Tara Duncan scored the highest in the impromptu and questions Tiffney Lance received the highest scores in both horsemanship skills categories. The personal interview category was won by Tracina Casper, Lorie Chivers took the top score in the speech category and Megan Scott received the highest test scores. All seven contestants received gifts from local businesses for participating in die pageant. Sherry Gines, chairman of the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo Queens said three judges Committee, judged all eight phases of the contest and an outside person from the executive board was present during all sewing. All contestants received a packet containing all their score sheets and Gines encouraged them to review each score sheet since they provide guidelines of improvement for next ,' i ? f . . p 7. I . A . - O S3L Miss Dinosaur Roundup 2002, Kristin Torres, introduces queen contestants rodeo. He added that C & H has also brought Distributing Budweiser on board as a sponsor. The rodeo committee had also asked for extra financial help from Uintah County, Vemal City and Naples City. Evans said each entity gave their fair share and because of that, the rodeo has added $10,000 in purse money to each event, placing the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo in the top 30 rodeos when ranked monetarily. Without the added purse money, the rodeo would have been ranked at number 75. Evans said the new sponsors and increased purse money helped the event remain a stand-alon- e rodeo. Evans said the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo is one of the largest in the state of Utah and even ranks above the Days of 47 Rodeo. We will bring national recognition to Vemal, Evans said. The 2003 rodeo will include the talents of Leisel Harris, a rodeo clown and entertainer, and Wayne Brooks, who is one of the top five rodeo attiYOuncers in the nation. Mike Gervi will be the stock contractor and will bring PRC A quality stock to the rodeo. There will also be festivities every night prior to the rodeo at Cobblerock Park. You havent seen a rodeo until youve seen the one were putting on this year," Evans said. The grand marshal and legendary cowboy for 2003 were also announced at the social. This years grand marshal is Garth Horrocks, husband of Joy Horrocks. Lyle Taylor, husband of Annave Taylor, was named this years legendary cowboy. Roy and Lael Phillips were recognized for the time they have donated to the rodeo through concession stands over the last 1 5 years and LaDee Christensen was also recognized for her involvement with the rodeo through ticket sales for at least 15 years. Scott Snyder, president of the Dinosaur Rodeo Roundup Committee, was roasted by Dave Chivers. He was given several gag gifts, including a pewter belt buckle from the 1997 National Finals Rodeo. All joking aside, Chivers said the committee really appreciates Snyder and he was given another, nicer belt buckle as a token of appreciation. Snyder expressed his appreciation of the residents of Vemal and the surrounding areas. We couldnt do it without everyone," Snyder said. I couldnt find a better place to live. Renovation of the Vemal Junior High School has begun with a near removal of the front office area in this $8.2 million project. Other heavy equipment has been at work at the school in the southern exterior basketball courts, and the addition of safety fencing around much of the school. Students are dealing with no class bells and intercom announcements as of this week. This will remain the case until much later in the project when all wiring in the front office is completed. Care has been taken to keep fire alarms functional during construction. Some students are having to deal with noise and inconvenience in areas closest to construction, and this will not change until the work is completed. Principal Kent Bunderson sees the construction as the beginning of a much needed expansion of teaching facilities at the school. The changes and additions are part of a three-ste- p program which began in mid April. Bunderson sees the completion of most work in classroom remodeling to be completed by the beginning of school next fall. Randy Upton, Uintah School District business administrator, projects phase three completion of the cafeteria and administrative area of the school to be before the school The new cafeteria year 2004-0will be reassigned to the general area of the present commons area. Many things will be accomplished 5. Uimttalhi continues in other areas. by the renovation of the existing facility. Visitors will first notice that about half of the front lawn will become parking area. A much more prominent front entrance will be visible with a new bump out of the office area and architectural elements. This summer, all classrooms will receive a facelift with updated lighting, ceilings, heating and air will conditioning. Hallways receiveew tile. New classrooms will be added to the present Panther Pond area between the existing lunchroom and blue buildings. The lunchroom location will also be relocated. This new classroom area will incorporate the art department, high technology courses and family consumer science and two other classrooms. The only classes still taught in the blue metal buildings to the west, will be the woods program. When the metals teacher retires, the program will not be continued. Empty blue metal buildings will probably become storage areas for surplus items being readied for sale. I Visitors and students are to observe safety measures around the construction equipment and areas, and to avoid entering areas protected and marked as cau-tiortf- Bason real esttatte sales exceed 2002 mark We're an excellent buy in the Uintah Basin, Bob West, 2003 president of the Board of Realtors advised the Vemal Chamber of Commerce at Tuesday's meeting. West compared Basin building lots and development costs to Wasatch Front equivalents and showed that it won't be long until disgruntled Wasatch residents will tire of the California influx, and start seriously looking at the Uintah Basin for relocation. We're one of the best kept secrets in Utah, West said, pointing out that it's an observable phenomenon when the average Basin high school graduate can't wait to leave their native area, and 40 years later can't wait to get back home. We have significant things out here, and things to be proud of in the Uintah Basin. When you take people away from just what they see along highway 40, they discover the true beauty of the area and are seriously interested in relocat- - years contest She said each girl put forth a lot of effort and they should all be appreciated for that. 2002 Miss Dinosaur Roundup Kristin Torres encouraged contestants who were waiting for the queen and her attendants to be announced by telling them the title of queen only lasts for a year but the memories and friendships made here tonight can last forever. Torres plans to run for Miss Rodeo Utah in a couple years. Joe Evans, production manager of the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo Committee, gave an update on what is new for the rodeo this year. Although Coots has pulled out as a has sponsor, Evans said Pepsi-Col- a become a new major sponsor in addition to all the local businesses who have always supported the Demolition of the office area of Vernal Junior High signals the beginning of the $8.2 million renovation. Classrooms will all be updated and ready for the beginning of school next fall, while construction ing here, are many and more. West explained that one of the reasons the average selling cost of homes in the Basin is so high is that the lower end homes have been sold, thus realtors are having to sell higher-price- d Still a homes. $108,000 home in the Basin compared to the much higher costs on the Wasatch, makes our homes one of Utahs best buys. He said that homes selling for $75, (XX) to $125,000 are rare in our market now. Sharing figures from 1982 West said the average home sold for $64,000 and selling prices then slid steadily downward until 1989 when the average home sold for $30,700. West then charted the upswing beginning in 1990 to 1995, when the average selling price once again was $64,000. From 1996 the sales number was $72,000 until 2002 and the average home sold was then $99,000. In 2002, there were 333 realtorgenerated sales in the Basin. to the Utah According Association of Realtors, there was a 17 per cent home sales increase in the Uintah Basin, with the average home price rising 15 per cent to $108,232 during the first quarter of 2003 as compared to the first quarter of 2002. In closing. West urged Basin citizens to unite in protecting local Realtor Bob West is optimistic about sales. water resources before passing control to larger populated areas outside of the state. Vemal realtor Arlene Thomson was introduced as the incoming Board of Realtors president. In other business, the Vernal Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting will be held Thursday, May 8, at the Western Park where a highlight will be the auctioning off of a trip to Hawaii. Fred Ball of Zions Bank will be the keynote speaker for the 6 p.m. annual meeting. Saturday, May 17, volunteers are wanted to help prepare planters for downtown's Cobblerock Park, and May 22 volunteers are needed to help fill Mainstreet planters. Troops continue to honor Ryan Simper Vemal area National Guard troops visit the home of a fallen comrades grandmother in Washington. POOR COPY Though Specialist Ryan Simper of the National Guard was killed in a car accident Sept. 22, 2001, his comrades in arms still honor him by carrying a pair of Simpers boots w herever they go. They hang the boots at their camp, in the office or truck or wherever their duties take them in remembrance of their fallen com rade. Some of the men had the opportunity to visit Simpers grandmother who lives near Ft. Lewis, Wash., where many of the Guardsmen have spent the last two months. Sgt. Skcet Richardson asked the Vemal Express to share a photo of the men standing in front of her home . |