OCR Text |
Show 10 Vernal Express Wednesday, December 27, 1995 eirimaD womrDami celebrates HfiMMIh) bSirtlhidlaiy by Vickl Feldt Staff Writer Pearl Ann Barnes will have 100 years of smiles, adventures and hardtimcs to look back on during her birthday next week. She was born on Dec. 28, 1895, to James and Ida Barnes. Her birthplace birth-place was known as "the Cherokee strip" in Oklahoma. She did not spend much of her early life on the "strip," as the Barnes family had to flee from the reservation in the middle of the night because of the Indian uprising. Her parents loaded up everything they could, and traveled trav-eled in a covered wagon from Oklahoma to Colorado. Her parents eventually traveled to Elkhead near Hayden, Colo. She often tells the story of the time when she was four years old, when her and her older sister would walk beside the wagon, and they would sometimes see Indians standing on the hills watching them. The Barnes set up a homestead in Elkhead, and began to farm and raise livestock. Pearl had three brothers and five sisters who helped out on the family ranch. There were always fields and livestock to tend, as well as cooking and sewing for a large family. These were the happiest happi-est days of young Pearl's life. In 1910, she ventured to Utah to find work. She met a handsome young man named Thomas Earvin Mathis, who worked for Cliff McCoy. Mathis became smitten with young Pearl, and the two courted and married in 1916 in Vernal. Thomas and Pearl Mathis had six children: Maxine, Beverly, Kenneth, Colleen, and Myrna. Myrna's twin brother Marvin, and their sister Audrey, are both deceased. urn s2 e... vv? srz.m . i Volunteers from Sub for Santa and Frienas House make up food boxes to distribute at the National Guard Armory on Dec. 21 . Volunteers prepare a bountiful Christmas In the early morning hours on Dec. 20 and 21, workers from Sub for Santa and Friends House gathered gath-ered at the National Guard Armory to prepare to distribute food and clothing to more than 250 families in the Vernal area. Groups, individuals, and organizations organi-zations throughout the Basin donated donat-ed several new and slightly used items, along with boxes of food and turkeys for the holidays. Volunteers from the Friends House helped Sub for Santa workers to sort the many coats, books, toys, clothing, and bi Honor Society sponsors drive The members of the Ashley Valley Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society chose to sponsor a food drive for the Ashley Food Pantry as their Christmas service ser-vice project. The students at Vernal Junior High donated tremendous amounts of canned goods, pasta products, and dry goods totaling well over 4,400 food items. On the final day of the drive, Honor Society members gathered all donations dona-tions and "canned the principal" by filling Dr. Vincent's office with stacks of cans and boxes. On Wednesday, Dec. 20, students de- livered three pickup truck loads of food to the pantry. "It is probably , the most worthwhile service that we complete each year," stated honor society advisors, "and we hope to deliver even more next year." : ' ( men ! ft Pearl Mathis in 1943 After living in Utah for several years, the Mathis family decided to move back to Colorado. In 1940, they moved to Denver. Mrs. Mathis had gotten a job working in a laundry, laun-dry, and the family stayed in the Colorado Rocky Mountains for the next two years. In 1942, the family had moved to Salt Lake City. Mrs. Mathis worked at Hill Air Force Base making bullets bul-lets during WWII. She recalls having hav-ing to walk three miles from their home to catch the bus which took her to work. Mrs. Mathis continued to work at odd jobs after the war. In 1948, she worked as a dish washer wash-er at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Salt Lake City. It wasn't until 1954 when she found a career that called for the qualities she had to offer. Her experience expe-rience raising children and her cycles for display at the Armory. Items were sorted into sections of "new" and "used" for each recipient to fill their own list. These volunteers also worked efficiently ef-ficiently in filling the 250 food boxes box-es in time for distribution. Louise Darlington, coordinator with Sub for Santa, says" "Everyone from the Friends House is so excited about being able to give something special spe-cial back to the community. They have worked very hard to make a nice Christmas for those who are struggling to provide for their families." fami-lies." Progressive Arts The Progressive Arts Club met on Nov. 15, at the home of Helen Millecam with Carma Preece as co-hostess. co-hostess. Millecam's clam chowder was served to 18 members present. Special guest, Kenny Caldwell, then performed for the group. He demonstrated his expertise on the violin, as well as his ability as a soloist. On Dec. 6, the club met again at the borne of Helen Millecam. Her home was decorated for the Christmas season, and the members were served a full course holiday meal. The members then listened to an audio tape entitled "The Real Story of Christmas." Gifts were exchanged ex-changed and a needy family was remembered re-membered with donations from the members. - " . . r ; ft. 'ill : I f ' r ..f'ii . . .... , : I I L2Sn r '111 I wonderful sense of humor brought her to become a nurse's aide at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City. Her daughter Colleen recalls, "Mom was a very good masseuse. She would massage us kids when we were feeling poorly, and her patients pa-tients at the hospital would ask for one of Mom's massages." Mrs. Mathis also had a few years of nursing experience raising children chil-dren during the depression and war years. Her daughter, Beverly, recalls re-calls when her mother had come down with jaundice. "The doctor told Dad to take us all camping for a week. Every night we made a bonfire, and Mom would make up a concoction of charcoal, sulfur, and black strap molasses. She had to eat this every night, and she would make me and my sisters eat it, too." What Mrs. Mathis learned to keep herself healthy, she used to keep her family healthy. A good sense of humor helped Mrs. Mathis through a lot of hard times. Her family treasures her humorous hu-morous side, which has made for some fond memories with her children. chil-dren. Colleen remembers when her mother lived across the hall in the same apartment building. "Mom put on a black wig, and walked across the hall and knocked on my door. I called for her to come in, but she continued to knock on the door so that I had to answer the door. If Mom wasn't a site. I was so surprised, and the look on my face got Mom to laughing. We sure got a good laugh out of that old wig. She has always had a terrific sense of humor." Her sense of humor didn't end with practical jokes and one-liners. She made a hobby out of humor with her rock collections. "We would take Mom up on the moun- . Several Vernal area schools participated par-ticipated in a food drive for the Food Bank. Uintah High School showed competitive school spirit and can be credited with bringing in the most canned goods for the Christmas food boxes. Associated Petroleum Industries joined in the holiday spirit by donating 45 turkeys for the Food Bank. Cash donations which were received earlier, ear-lier, helped to finish out the food and gift order, and ensure the recipients recip-ients a bountiful Christmas for their families. Newborns A daughter was born to Kelly D. and Evanna J. Behrman on Dec. 18,' 1995. She weighed 5 lbs. 15 12 oz. and will be named Jazmine Kelly Behrman. A daughter was born to Srett and Collett Thacker on Dec. 21, 1995. She weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and will be named Ashlee Marie Thacker. A daugher was born to Aaron and Brooke Jolley on Dec. 22, 1995. She weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz. A daughter was born to Charles Ryan Hendricks and Margaret Smith on Dec. 22, 1995. She weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz. tain for a picnic," explains Myrna. "Our second boy would head off one way, and Mom would head off the other, and we would spend the rest of the day looking for them. Mom liked to look for all kinds of rocks. She would pick the one she could see funny faces on, or ones that looked like animals. She would take the rocks home and make them look like people or animals." Her hobbies also include playing many old-time melodies on a juice-harp juice-harp or harmonica. She began to play the harmonica when she was a small girl back on the ranch at Elkhead. She has played with the Ashley Crickers at the Adult Care Center up until 1995. The most unusual event for the family was the year when Mrs. Mathis was 43. She and her two daughters, Maxine and Audrey, were all pregnant. The three of them shared a year of good laughter and discovery about themselves that will last a lifetime. That year Mrs. Mathis gave birth to twins, Marvin and Myrna; while Maxine had a girl, Sharon; and Audrey had a boy, Billie. Mrs. Mathis took care to raise her children with a good sense of humor hu-mor and strong Christian values. In 1951, Mrs. Mathis was baptized in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Her daughter, Myrna, remembers how her mother made sure that she grew up talking in a manner suitable suit-able for a young lady. "Mom always al-ways used to correct me if I swore," recalls Myrna. "She would have a bar of soap behind her back and would ask me to 'Come here,' then she would wash my mouth out with the bar of soap." Myrna also remembers the time when she discovered there was no Santa Claus. Myrna had snuck into Science Club visits Hansen Planetarium The Uintah High School Science Club took its second annual trip to the Hansen Planetarium and the Christmas Faraday-Symposium at Utah State Universityon Thursday, Dec. 14. Fifty students and two advisors ad-visors were allowed to go and it is reported everyone enjoyed the trip. The club started out their trip at the Hansen Planetarium. They enjoyed en-joyed a couple of shows in the theatre. the-atre. One of these included the annual an-nual show of the birth of Christ and the New Star. They also had the privilege to see part of a laser show, and spent a few hours looking at displays and some of the students rode the gyro rings. The club also had a little class on light and lasers. Later that night, the club went to the University of Utah to the 19th annual Faraday-Symposium. At this symposium, two university professors profes-sors dressed in the same manner as Faraday might have, and conducted ; . ; i ? M " ri ; ' h (fc; IX c: ff'llfc null- ' ' jF , " .iVjxiv-' Santa delivers packages Santa gives his reindeer a day of rest, as he prepares to deliver over on Christmas morning. ' . ' .-''I I. ' Vv ' ;- - j .. Hi1 jfV-; 1 1 - ii ; ' II i I f Days before her 100th birthday, Sunshine' on her harmonica. the room where her mother and older sister were making teddy bears. "They told me right then, there was no more Santa Claus," recalls re-calls Myrna. "I was crushed." In the 1960s, Mrs. Mathis went to Oregon to be near her sister, Eileene Cryder, who lives in Springfield, Ore. Mrs. Mathis continued con-tinued helping the sick and elderly in a nursing home, while she was in Oregon. Mrs. Mathis came back to Vernal in 1966. She spent some time in California and then in Moab, before coming back to Vernal once again, where she has lived since 1989. As of Dec. 27, Mrs. Mathis has Josh Merkley rides the Guro rings chemistry experiments for their captivated audience. The professors took the opportunity to lecture on the history of Faraday as part of their presentation. The Science Club is an active and ' " w!r Pearl Mathis plays 'You Are My one living sister, six children, 23 grandchildren, 61 great-grandchildren, 60 great-great-grandchildren and two great-great-great-grandchildren. In 1993, at the age of 97, Mrs. Mathis received the Presidential Physical Fitness Award for riding her stationary bicycle 2,398 miles. She received a letter from the president, presi-dent, a certificate of achievement, and a patch. So what does Mrs. Mathis plan to do when she turns 100 this week? "I don't have to do anything," says Mrs. Mathis. "I'll just sit around and smile at everybody." every-body." at Hansen Planetarium. popular club at UHS. There are over 100 members in the club, so not all of the members are able to go on every trip. The club has at least one major activity a month and members are looking forward to future events. 50 packages in a U.S. Mail truck , wwnr mi I |