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Show 18 Vernal Express Wednesday, August 16, 2000 Ferrets to be placed The experimental black-footed ferret rcintroduction effort in Coyote Basin will continue this fall with the planned release of 13 kits and some of their mothers. Biologists from the Colorado-Utah Black-footed Rcintroduction Working Group recently completed work on the animals to prepare them for the release. "These kits were brought up from Arizona." said Charlene Beskin. biologist for the Bureau of Land Management in Colorado. "These kits are to be placed in our outdoor conditioning pens, which are built over an abandoned prairie dog colony." Beskin explained that the animals will use the facility to become accustomed to living underground under-ground and will also be conditioned to eating live prairie dogs once or twice a week. Prairie dogs comprise com-prise the major portion of the ferret's fer-ret's diet. Prior to being placed in the pens, a team of biologists placed personal identification tags under the skin of each ferret and administered adminis-tered antibiotics and distemper vaccines. vac-cines. This group of ferrets is the first in a series that are expected to undergo conditioning at the site prior to release into Coyote Basin. "We released 72 ferrets last year and hope to release about the same number this year." said Boyde Blackwell. biologist for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR). "Production of ferret kits was down a bit this year, so we don't know exact numbers y et. Our working group could get as many as 90. We will be getting more kits and adults for preconditioning at the pens in Colorado and then some from other breeding sites around the West," Blackwell concluded. See Ferret on page 19 55 strut The first annual Strut Your Mutt Dog Show at the Uintah County Fair was a huge success with 55 dogs entered. The show got underway under-way on Saturday. August 12 with all dogs and owners participating in the Resemble Owner class. Placing first was Kaytlyn Warren and her dog Grizz, a ten year old chocolate Labrador. In second place was Bob Barker with his owner, Joe Hobbs. The best Frisbee contest was judged on the dogs' catching and fetching ability. Placing first was Skolai, a Border Collie owned by Kathy Paulin. In second place was Berri, a Border Terrier mix with owner Jacque Hobbs. Best Trick dog was won by a Whippet named Cocco and his owner Virginia Harrington. Cocco sang along with the music Cattle Call. Second place went to a talented Golden Retriever named Boogie and her owner Cy ndi Polya. Poly a and her dog also won the Biscuit Toss w ith a distance of thirty feet. - 3 - ft . . Ernie Neupert stops in Vernal during his bike across the U.S. for can-r. Two-a-day practice sessions have ers. Talented, onexipeiriieiniced describes Utte ffootifoalll With mountain camp now history and a stream of two-a-day practices dominating the life and energy of Uintah Ute football players. Coach Curg Belcher is impressed with the potential. "We have some returning varsity players, but boy we're young." was Coach Belcher's first comment when asked about how his team was beginning to look. "We have a lot of inexperience but we've got some great athletic talent." he added. Belcher and his coaching staff are in the process of trying to mesh their young talent with a new offense. "We've completely their mutts in 1st Sabre, a five year old male German Shepherd, owned by Hollie Barney, placed first in most obedient. obedi-ent. Second place went to LaTasha. a six year old female Schnauzer owned by Meghan Simper. The Kissingest dog was Badger, an Australian Shepherd mix, owned by Jacque Hobbs. Second place was Shanis Sassy Pudge, a Boston Terrier, owned by Rachan Brow n. In the classes that were judged by physical characteristics of the breed, Gertie, a Chihuahua, owned by Kaylee Roloff, placed first in the smallest dog catagory with Gus, a Chihuahua mix. taking second place. Gus is owned by Valerie Gines. Shortest legs was won by Weasel, a Dachshund mix, owned by Sherrie Gines. Myrna Phillip's dog Max, a Terrier mix winning second place. The largest category was won by Worf. a Great Dane, owned by Clifta Johnson with Blaze, also a Great Dane finishing k '" - 0J I I V become a central part in the lives of changed our offense this year and w ill be basing off of a veer option," Belcher said. The Utes will be looking to Jessie Merkley, Darrin Nyberg, Clay Barker, Ben Batty, Elgin McCurdy and Cole Horrocks for running back support Coach Belcher is enthusiastic about the steady string of talent and the new offensive program. "If we can get our new offensive changes off and running this year, I think we've got a shot at it," Belcher said referring to a query regarding Region 10 strength. The Utes will get their first chance to test the water in their initial preseason presea-son game on August 25 in Price. They will meet the Carbon Dinos. second. Blaze is owned by Haley Foos. In the longest legs contest. Blaze finished first and Worf finished fin-ished second. Seagram, a Miniature Pincher, ow ned by Celeste Eaton placed first in the best Short Hair class and Copper, a Basset Hound, owned by Greg and Vici Harward winning second. Curliest hair was won by Allistar, with Gage taking second place, both Standard Poodles and both owned by Wendy Owens. The best Long Hair was won by a Maltese named Angel, owned by Jessica Johns. Second place was won by Australian Shepherd named Mestiza, owned by Erin Bibles. Worf, the Great Dane showed his stuff again in the Longest Tail competition com-petition with Joe Hobbs' Australian Shepherd, Bob Barker finishing second. Shortest Tail was won by Ranee's Slim Chance, a Boston Terrier and owned by Ranee Brown. In second place was Roxie, Cancer bike-a-thon pedals across By Carol Jewart Express Feature Writer Ernie Neupert, a native of central New York, now residing in Baldwinsville, pedaled his bicycle through Vernal on Tuesday, August 8 winding down his trek across America to raise money for cancer research. Neupert, who lost his wife to breast cancer in January of 1998, has vowed to fight this disease by raising money for cancer research. Neupert has a seven-year-old niece, who only knows him as Uncle Sonny, has scoliosis, together they came up with the name "Uncle Sonny's Bike-a-thon across . America." Last year he took an 850 mile round-trip from his home town to a town in Virginia near Washington, DC, as a warm-up for this year's trip, his niece who couldn't even ride a bicycle, told her parents, "If Uncle Sonny, who has cancer can pedal his bicycle clear to Washington, D.C., I can learn how to ride a bicycle." When Neupert returned three ' , -TO VJ r d Uintah High School football play According to Belcher, there have been some changes in coaching assignments from last year. Mike Petersen will move to defensive coordinator and Frank Barker will assume the offensive coordinator position. Kevin Dickson will coach the defensive line while Brent Labrum will work with the offensive offen-sive linemen. "We've got a new coach in Piliki Tauteoli doing a great job w ith kids in the linebacker positions," Belcher said. Tony Cloward and Scott Mansfield will ' coach the JV and sophomore teams. The freshman program will be handled han-dled by Kenny Mohar and Shannon Johnson. show a Heeler, owned by Rikki Smith. The dog with the most spots was Sadie, a German Shorthair, owned by Jodi Polya. Second place went to Orca, a Greyhound, owned by Virginia Harrington. At the end of the day all the first place winners from each class were called back for the judges to decide the best dog in the show. The honor went to Seagram, a Miniature Pincher and his owner Celeste Eaton. The dog show was hosted by Uintah Animal Care. "I felt the show was fun and successful with a great representation of many breeds of dogs and of course the mutts were well represented too" stated Jacque Hobbs, chairperson of the show. Hobbs added, "We can't wait to do it again next year, we have plans for several new categories. weeks later, she was riding a bicycle bicy-cle without training wheels. "I inspired her to do something she never thought she could do until she was much older and after having the surgery needed to correct cor-rect the scoliosis," said Neupert. "So she helped me to come up with the name,' Uncle Sonny' instead of using my real name. I didn't want anything to deter my earning money for cancer research." His bicycle trek began on April 4, 2000 as a present to himself for his 60th birthday. ' He began in Baldwinsville, New York, pedaled to Baltimore, Maryland, into Washington, D.C. and Virginia. He cut through the lower states where he made his pacific entry. He traveled trav-eled north to the San Waukeen Valley all the way to San Francisco, into Napa Valley to about 50 miles further north. He wanted to see his sister whom he hadn't seen in over eight years. After spending five days with them as a recoup, he headed back through Nevada and is currently headed to the state of Pennsylvania to a town just outside of Erie. "Pennsylvania is the home state Lady Ute soccer hits Dixie bump The young Lady Ute soccer team hit a bump in their first preseason game against Dixie last Friday. Played on the Vernal Junior High School field, the Dixie Flyers kicked up the second half action to defeat Uintah 5 - J. "We knew this first game would be a challenge," Coach Anita Calder said. In spite of the difference differ-ence showing on the final scoreboard, score-board, Calder said her team worked together well and began playing as a team. According to Calder, the first half of play was evenly matched. Dixie scored the first goal and the Lady Utes were good for one to tie. In the Green) Rlvev Q yema the Guard way "Not ever in my whole life did I think I would do something like this," quipped Kada Stoddard of Green River, Wyo. "This is quite an accomplishment for me," she added. She accompanied her brother broth-er Gary Killpack and six members of his family on a 109-mile, three-day three-day bike ride to Vernal. They left Green River together on August 8 and arrived in Vernal on August 10. Stoddard was not shy about revealing the fact that she is now 48 years old. When she and her 51 -year-old brother Gary began planning the ride, it became apparent appar-ent to Stoddard that they would be the older members of the bike-riding group. "I told Gary right off that I was making this ride for pleasure and fun and that I had no intention of trying to keep up with those kids," Stoddard said. The "kids" she was referring to included Killpack's daughter Kim Wilson and her husband Jeff, and his two sons Aaron and Jared. The Wilsons and Aaron are in their 20s while Jared is 16 years of age. "Of course, the kids left us in the dust," Stoddard said. But she also pointed out that the wisdom of age paid off because some of the "kids" over did it and the slower but steadier pace she set for herself let her complete the ride without getting off her bike. She good-naturedly good-naturedly boasted that "some of the kids can't say that." The three-day trek was not a straight shot along the highway. The group traveled 57 miles through Manila to Sheep Creek Canyon the first day and spent the night there. They diverted their route along the Sheep Creek Canyon loop road the following day and stopped at Red Canyon for the second night after a "beautiful" ride of 23 miles. The last day was the toughest part of the trip; which of my late wife," said Neupert "Because of her father being a minister min-ister there for over 30 years, her classmates have set up a surprise for me when I get there. I have no idea what it is but I hope it's for cancer research." Neupert said he has gone through three sets of tires, putting on new tires in California. The heat, he said, hasn't bothered him as much as some of the altitude. The quick ups and the quick downs and not being used to the thinner air. "Due to my health problems, it's taking a toll on my blood circulation circula-tion which weakens my legs. Because I also have osteoarthritis, I will have an upcoming battle with some of the steeper hills." Neupert says with some of the steeper grades he rides as far as he can then gets off and walks. Neupert who has cancer himself and has been a cancer survivor since 1994, said he is currently is battling sclerosis of the liver caused by various medications and also has colostomy. He is dedicating the bike-a-thon to his late wife Helcne, friend David Kroft (who died 28 final moments of play, Dixie booted one more goal to enter halftime up by one. "Dixie poured it on in the second," Calder said to run the score up by three more goals. Sarah Ryan got the distinction of scoring the first Lady Ute goal of the year. Her success came off an assist by Melanie Wright. "Andrea Walker did a great job on the goal." Calder said. "She faced a lot of shots on the goal but her great effort kept Dixie from scoring more," Calder said. The home games this week against St Joseph and Pine View will begin at 3:30 p.m. on the Vernal Jr. High School field. came somewhat as a surprise to the group. They left Red Canyon and headed south until they reached the Red Cloud Loop Road. "It was a steady climb for 19 miles to the Red Cloud Loop road," Stoddard said. "When we come to Vernal in a vehicle, we get the impression that this is pretty much a down hill road," she said. They followed the Red Cloud Loop until they hit the road junction that took them down Taylor Mountain and into Vernal. "We took the scenic route because we wanted to enjoy the view," Stoddard said. "And, it was beautiful." Stoddard's husband Mark followed the bikers in a vehicle. vehi-cle. He would connect with diem about every three hours to provide water and food or "fuel as Stoddard referred to it The excursion was a result of Stoddard and Gary visiting one day and learning that they both enjoyed bike riding for exercise. "Gary always rode on the dirt back roads and I rode on the pavement," Stoddard said. "When we got talking, we decided decid-ed to start riding together." The decision has created a new bond between the brother and sister. "It's been fun getting to know each other again in a different way," Stoddard said. "We have different lifestyles, but riding has created a new and special bond with my brother." "I don't know, I guess I would consider doing it again," Stoddard said when asked what her future long distance riding plans may be. The group returned to their homes in Green River after a short visit with family members in Vemal. America days after his wife) and his niece, Amanda Pierce, with scoliosis. "After losing my wife and friend in one month, I asked the Lord why he didn't take me with them," said Neupert "Then I figured it out Since I was nine or ten years old I have always wanted to cross the United States on a bicycle. But I was never allowed to have a childhood child-hood because I had to start making a living at seven-years-old. The good Lord gave me my childhood back at age 59 so I could do what I have always wanted to do. Now that I have the adult mentality to put it to good use, I am having a most enjoyable, immensely good time. Some nights I feel like 1 have died and gone to heaven. If this is what heaven's like I can't wait to get there and there were so many good nights like that even out in the middle of nowhere." Neupert carries all his medical supplies, tires, tubes, camping gear, food and water on his bike. He said as long as he maintains a positive attitude he will be able to experience experi-ence this euphoria for a long time to come. |