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Show . y- - ... . ..i A- . -'$ 'A u v-o-i i 1 XT . ; ! sr rr '.x? "KEEP BUSY" Emmett Hall, 72 advises senior citizens. Emmett takes his own advice and shows the fruits of his labor. He is holding a large potato grown by him this summer along with many other vegetable varieties. Senior citizens urged to 'hang in there' by peer It is easy for older citizens to get depressed, feel as though their productive years are at an end and also feel that their ill health will curtail most of their activities. Not so for Emmett Hall, 72 of Vernal. Mr. Hall, who returned from the Heber Valley hospital approximately six weeks ago, was busy reaping his vegetables harvest last week, and planning next years garden. He also had in mind to pickle the beautiful red peppers growing on a bush near his back door. "I enjoy raising a garden," said Mr. Hall, who has been partially paralized on his left side since suffering a stroke in May of 1978. "I wouldn't want anyone to think I was bragging about what I get done, but am telling you this so maybe it will help other older people to 'get busy' instead of feeling sorry for themselves. Older persons need to take care of themselves, 'cause no one else is going to do it for them." Mr. Hall added. When he said, "get busy" that is just what Mr. Hall meant. He has raised a large garden using a cane, wheelchair, and four wheeled cart which he made from a shopping cart to help his get around gardening. The cart is hooked behind his garden tiller and the tiller pulls it. "It took a few tries before I came up with the shopping cart idea, the other tries tipped over," Mr. Hall said. Some of the potatoes which were dug from Hall's garden weighed over four pounds each, measured 233,4 inches around one way and 13 inches around the middle. Mr. Hall explained his success with raising large potatoes. "I plant the potatoes about six inches deep. When they first come through the ground I mulch them with hay, water it down good and the mulch fertalized them all summer. This acts like a commercial fertilizer but is much better," he added. When the potatoes are harvested in the fall, I spade the hay mulch into the ground and it is ready for next season. Mr. Hall's yards are brilliant with flowers from spring to fall, and his lawn well trimmed and mowed. He has fashioned a two-wheeled cart that is pulled by his lawn mower on which he can sit. This enables him to do his own yard work,"There isn't any weeds in the corners either," stated Mr. Hall as he discussed his flower boardered yards. A yard or garden doesn't look the best, or grow the best without work. Mr. Hall is out during the summer months just as soon as daylight comes working in his yards. He said, "I work a while then rest a couple of hours." Most of his gardening and yard work is done while using a cane or nis wheelchair. 1 have plenty of kids who would like to do my work for me, but I don't want to be pampered, " stated Mr. Hall with emphasis. He does his own housekeeping, laundry, cooking, canning fruits and vegetables, too. "I have spent 25 years fixing up my place," stated Mr. Hall. "When I bought it. it was the worst looking place in the valley, now it is one of the best." Mr. Hall has several planters around his house which serve dual purposes. One in the backyard has tulips planted in it which bloom in the early spring. After they die down he then plants marigolds, Christmas peppers or whatever strikes his fancy. A large planter at the Southside of his house is also a dual purpose enjoyment. In the summer he raises large tomatoes in it and in the winter the foliage is replaced by a glass planter top which catches the sunshine and converts it into solar heat . The heat is pulled into the house by a fan through a duct in the dining room. "My heater never comes on during the day when the sun is shining," said Mr. Hall. "Keeping busy" is not new for Mr. . Hall. He was retired as a state employee em-ployee . several 20 years ago, after suffering two heart attacks. He helped with the surveying of Flaming Gorge area roads. He received a plaque from the governor of Utah for "excellence "ex-cellence of service." He was employed by the state for approximately 14 years. He also worked as a carpenter and many years ago owned a coal mine on Red Mountain. Emmet's talents are not confined to raising a garden, yard work and solar heating either, as one can see when they enter his home. His carpentry experience and ingenuity shines in many of the decorative items from mounted deer horns to night lights. One night light started as an old television set, but was transformed by Mr. Hall's talents into a comfortable "grandma and grandpa at home" scene, complete with fire in the old kitchen stove and 'old shep.' Another item is a creative fireplace. Mrs. Hall, who also suffered a stroke recently, "always wanted a fireplace," according to Mr. Hall. "We didn't have room to make a regular fireplace so I improvised." His improvision consisted con-sisted . of taking an old upright television, removing the speaker panel, and interior parts, placing an electric fireplace log in the bottom portion, and creating a pioneer scene in the tdp, where the television screen once was. The pioneer scene is scaled to size with a pioneer family, covered wagon, sagebrush, camp fire and an Indian brave riding into camp near the covered wagon. The rotating light behind the "logs" gives the illusion of a fire burning in a fireplace, and also causes the campfire above to flicker adding realism to the pioneer scene. Mr. Hall, who cared for his wife, Dorothy, until his illness, stressed several times that older people need to keep busy. Thev shouldn't just sit and, feel sorry for themselves, bince his attack in 1978, Mrs. Hall has lived at the home of a daughter, Jennie Edrington in Bennett. The Halls raised a family of seven children, Jennie, Wayne, Duaine, Gratton, Francis, Katherin, Dennis, and Weldon. |
