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Show By Jack Wallis ,iVWV I Briant H. 'Bry' Stringham Last week the Vernal area lost one of its great leaders. Maintaining great enthusiasum for the local area until the last week of his unusually long life was Briant H. Stringham. Known by everyone as just "Bry," B.H. Stringham was a one-man chamber of commerce for the area. He could entertain visitors and even natives for hours telling stories of the area and bragging on the wealth of natural resources found in the local area. Bry made friends for the area. We considered him one of our best friends. He was almost like a second father. In fact he could get people to do things that they would not ever do for their own close family members. Bry always had a word of praise for those he came in contact with. Because of Bry's activities the Express probably pro-bably wrote more stories about Bry Stringham than any other person who has ever lived in Vernal. Shortly after his 90th birthday the following comments were made in the April 12, 1979 "Jack-Straws" column: "When it comes to expressing ones . enthusiasm and pride of living in the - Vernal area, one person has been an outstanding booster. After 90 years . B.H. "Bry" Stringham is still bubbling bubbl-ing over with enthusiasm for the developments and great potential in store for the local area. Bry is a natural leader. He is not . afraid to step out and let other people . know what he thinks and how he feels. ' He let the people know who he is, where he is from, what he has done . and how proud he is of his town. After . talking to Bry one comes away ready to tell others what a great place the ' Uintah Basin really is. Bry has had lots of experience in ser- ving his fellow citizens. He served as Vernal's mayor for four terms. He has been a state representative and senator. He was Governor Clyde's compaign manager and advisor for the Upper Colorado River Basin Com- . mission. He has been president of the Utah Municipal league, trustee of USU and regent of the U of U. Having been in the sheep business most of his life, Bry is an authority on the problems of the sheep industry. ' Bry has always been interested in the developments of the local natural resources and water development was one of his first loves. Some people know him only as "Mr. Water", because of his active role in promoting the Central Utah Project, "Utah's Last Waterhole". Bry worked hard in getting get-ting the Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge dam projects completed. He worked even harder on the Vernal and Jensen units of the CUP. And Bry worked some more in the Vernal Chamber of Commerce and Lions Club to get good roads into remote areas and on many major developments that have lead to the area's growth. Bry has been a great Uintah Basin ambassador. Many people who have never been to Vernal, Utah know of Vernal, Utah because they know B.H. Stringham. Even long-time and native residents have had their eyes opened to the advantages of the local area after listening to or going on a tour of the area with Bry Stringham. Many come away saying, "I didn't know we had all that." On his birthday April 2, 1966, Bry was honored by his community with "Bry Stringham Day" and many of his friends thought the state came to Vernal Ver-nal to honor this great public leader. Now at 90 years, believe it or not, Bry is still active and says after traveling travel-ing the world over and spending his winters in warmer climates, he still loves the Vernal area best. Bry, we salute you for your untiring efforts to make Vernal a revered and respected spot on the map. You have made this a better place to live and we thank you. Ninety years is a long time, but if we know Bry Stringham, he will keep on promoting and supporting the local area for many more years to come." On August 22, 1979 Bry wrote us the following letter: Dear Jack: May I compliment you on the excellent ex-cellent weekly newspaper published by you and your staff. I have been a continuous subscriber during the now third generation of the Wallis Family in the management of this unusual publication and have experienced ex-perienced its increased influence in the development of a most vigorous community. The Vernal Express, under the management of the W.B. Wallis family has been the guiding star in the continuous sound growth of the Uintah Basin with its vast resources. It has been interesting to note how your publication has enlarged as the community moved forward and what an excellent job you did in handing the recent problems within the valley. Your Jack Straw feature is unique and is widely read. Thanks for the compliments you paid me under that feature. They were very generous indeed. Jack, you're doing a great job for your community and your fellowman. With your continuous sound judgment and progressive attitude the Vernal Express will continue to be a most influential in-fluential factor of all the people in our community. Your job is a serious one but you are capable of it. Respectfully, BRY B.H. Stringham This is the way Bry was. He would always make you feel good with his enthusiasm en-thusiasm for his home town and with his genuine compliments. We are a better person for have known Bry Stringham. He was a ray of light in our community when sometimes things would get all mixed up. He knew what would help the community com-munity and he always kept giving out helpful words of encouragement. After 94 years of a good life one would think that a person would have earned the right to coast for a while and not work so hard saying so many uplifting thinp about his community. But not Bry. Just about two weeks before his sudden death we were talking talk-ing to Bry and his charming wife and his last words were, "You're doing a great job, keep it up". With this kind of encouragement the everyday problems seem to melt away and a good feeling comes with doing ones work. Once again we salute Bry Stringham and give our condolences to his wife and the Stringham family. Bry was really a great guy. Hopefully we can catch some of his vim, vigor and enthusiasm en-thusiasm and continue to pass it on to future generations. |