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Show Jensen 'lights up' Christmas season By DONETA GATHERUM FARMINGTON -- Desiring to maintain "the flavor of what used to be," Herb Jensen, Farmington native and head custodian at the Davis School District administration administra-tion building, spends hundreds of hours decorating his yard and the exterior and interior of the administration adminis-tration building. After working for many years as a sporting goods salesman for Skaggs stores and then for Hills Brothers and Campbell Soups, Herb returned home to Farmington after the flood of 1983 to be near his ailing ail-ing mother and to restore his childhood child-hood home that was damaged by the flood waters. This lifestyle suits Herb fine. For over 20 years he has been collecting old farm machinery and other artifacts related to life in a rural community like the Farming-ton Farming-ton of his boyhood. The larger pieces of equipment, many of which were obtained locally, local-ly, he has placed around the perimeter per-imeter of his one-acre lot. Smaller items are carefully stored inside his home or on one of the patio-style displays that face the street. His goal is to have a private museum of farm memorabilia. The nicest thing about Herb Jensen's Jen-sen's collecting hobby is his willingness will-ingness to share his treasures with every one. His yard is a show place of flowers in the summer and of Christmas characters, created out of three-quarter inch plywood in the wintertime. Lights are used in the evening and Herb confesses that if he forgets to turn them on after dusk, someone will usually knock on his door and say, "Please turn on the lights. We came by just to see your decorations." Herb's one person crusade to preserve the flavor of what used to be, carries over to his job with the school district For the past two and one-half years, since Herb started working at the administration building, build-ing, he has given many volunteer hours to create a beautiful working atmosphere. Masses of summer flowers cover the grounds outside the building. Inside, the foyer is artistically ar-tistically decorated with a seasonal diorama. Last week Herb completed com-pleted his winter scene. It is beautiful. beau-tiful. All work was done by Herb alone, late at night or on the weekends. wee-kends. Herb's philosophy is, "There is always a job that needs doing around here and you get out of it what you put into it. Sixty-hour weeks go with the territory. If you sit around watching the clock, this isn't the place to be. Herb claims he isn't giving any more than most of the school district dis-trict employees. "We have an outstanding out-standing superintendent who understands under-stands people and works well with them. My job description is what I want to make it as long as I follow the guidelines. The citizens get maximum effort from everyone-not everyone-not just me," Herb claims. Herb's positive attitude and willingness will-ingness to give maximum effort has won him appreciation from his peers. On Dec. 6, he was honored by the Davis County School Board as an outstanding employee. |