| Show r r II g A r IL 1 1 4 I I III DIDN'T THINK Id I'd ever wind up in the library with this much dirt quips Erma Taylor Its It's a dirty library this month At the Uintah County Library this week can be found the dirt soil if it pleases you collection of oC Mrs Edgar Erma Taylor local limerick wit and collector ire In 1968 Erma made the pages of the Express with her unusual hobby I completed in four and one-half one months a collection of soil from every state Inthe in inthe inthe the Union and many foreign coun coun- tries Erma also related that after the article appeared in the Vernal Express she received samples from all over It was the most exciting thing Ive I've ever done and th though ugh I dont don't work at it very much any more I recall the neighbor neighbors neigh neigh- hors bors and friends yes and total strangers who helped me with a strange hobby NEIGHBORS OItS like Clara Price would go on a trip and the first thing I knew they'd show up on my porch with witha a sample of oC soil from where they'd been even missionaries would tote samples with them when they came home The whole thing started when the Taylors were headed for Texas to see their son Lanny and HR Block Liz married That was in December of oC 1964 On the way down says Erma I thought Im I'm going to get some dirt from all the states at that time I didn't even have any from Utah Then I started sending letters to chambers of commerce etc asking for samples and enclosing postage Most of oC the recipients would return the postage and Id I'd receive letters like Dear Mrs Taylor Im I'm proud to send you a sample of dirt from the great state of Virginia A mayor of Wilmington Delaware retired but told his kids Be sure and send that lady some dirt The wife of a traveling salesman heard about it and the first thing Erma knew a box weighing 10 or 15 pounds arrived filled with samples of oC beautiful colored dirt reds and whites and black sand from places like Georgia and the Florida Keys I DURING THE TIIE Bicentennial she received a Freedom Trail booklet with soil from Paul Reveres Revere's grave Washington DC D.C. the Hill Cumorah and the grave crave of oC Joseph Joseoh Smith Id like some f from om the Sacred Grove Grove and and President Kennedys Kennedy's grave she said Doug Jacobson a buddy of their son Gary wrote Im in the Air Force You write to me and wherever I go Ill I'll send you some dirt What began in little labeled bottles is isnow isnow isnow now done in a more creative fashion Cashion by spreading glue in a scenery pattern and then sprinkling the va d d shades of dirt over it it Erma mad 8 bowls like this as centerpieces for the State Lions Lion's Convention in Vernal in June of oC 1970 But its it's really heavy warns Erma and you ou Ju cant can't reach out and lift even a small glass container with thumb and fingers The pot stays put and you end up with a popped-out popped piece of glass Carol Feltch had been gone for years but in Tonga she read the Express and brought back a sample Through happy coincidence a card came bearing a little packet of oC dirt and an olive leaf leaC from the Holy Land Ermas Erma's soil from Denmark came from the very city where her grandmother Jenny Lind Und Freestone and her dads dad's father Peter Beck were born Paul Jensen served a mission there and brought it to her Henry and Kate brought some from their Scottish mission ONE ON OF ERMAS ERMA'S most prized soil samples came from Crom Shih Tsui Ching a little girl in Taiwan whom the Taylors have been sponsoring Its impossible to mention all the friends neighbors and total strangers young and old who have helped me with my collecting-and collecting Im I'm just so its it's been such a beautiful thing in my life to know so many people wanted to help someone Out of the whole deal only two or three ever turned me its' its a great world I knew I had a dirty mind and rocks in my head quipped Erma with her inimitable sense of humor but I never dreamed Id I'd end up in the library with that much dirt Mrs Taylor has also written rhymes Im I'm no poet she says for 50 years Twenty one years ears ago she composed a tribute honoring Mr and Mrs James Chivers on their soth Golden Wedding celebration and was requested to read re-read it at Arlenes Arlene's open house Sunday last The things Ive I've written have been for people concludes concludes' this gracious lady written in the language I understand understand understand un un- un- un and the language they understand un un- |
