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Show American Fork: A As the people of American Fork have crossed the fields of time they have met and solved many problems of living pertaining to their land, their water and other necessities. Some of the problems solved have been world-wide in importance. Three of them have set American Fork apart as a City of Firsts. In 1867 one incident brought the community prominence when Bishop Leonard E. Harrington was a member of the Territorial Legislature and helped put over a bill authorizing the people by majority vote to tax the property to support free schools for the children. The townspeople held a meeting to talk over the plan. Men with no children objected strenously saying they were not going to educate their neighbors children. The discussion was heated and the meeting broke up with many feelings and confusion. Prominent men felt the problem was too important to drop.. .that it deserved further consideration. They called another meeting and after more discussion, had the people line up on two sides of the house for their vote. The result was a tie which took the chairman's chair-man's vote to break. The chairman chair-man was Mr. Harrington and he voted for the lax and the free public school tax was adopted. Thus it took one good vote of a wise man to bring free schools to the children of American Fork. This plan set an example for the other towns of the territory. American Fork was first in the West with free tax supported schools. Many important events have humble beginnings. The people had been in Utah for thirty years. They had begun to feel secure in their wilderness homes and longed for social contact and entertainment. en-tertainment. The older people needed recreation. It took no legislative action or struggle of the people to bring about another first event for American Fork that has swept the west and still makes older persons happy. William Paxman and his wife were the folks who did something about this condition. They decided to have an Old Folks Day on Christmas 1877. All the elderly people of the town were invited and willingly came. There was much hand shaking and friendly chatter. After dinner the people indulged in singing, speeches and lO( 6-e if wu j 1 i 4 games. Fruit and fresh homemade wine were served. The less fortunate for-tunate went home with a tasty lunch under their arm. This event filled such a need it was repeated again the following year. It had been noised around and some important men from out-of-town were in attendance. C.R. Savage was greatly impressed. He reported what had taken place to the presiding bishop's office in Salt Lake City. His account was so well received that a big outing for Sale Lake City's old folks was held the following spring on the shore of the Great Salt Lake. This was in 1879. The next first for American Fork took no legal action or even love of the people to get it going. It was an action of economic worth but in a way it was as readily adopted. Its effects influenced the people of the world without their realizing it, because it increased the food lo support life itself. It was in the autumn of 1917 when the poultry business was spreading among tne farmers and townspeople of Americn Fork. There was a poultry association organized with R. L. Ashby as president. He was leading out with 5000 laying hens...a large number for those days. He was also t 8 .7 fUgS THE PICTURE ABOVE was used in the Utah and 30's. It is the first truck to deliver 10 tM Oil it!3S!K3!?31tJ5 City of Firsts marketing eggs for many of his fellow poullrymen. The days were getting short and egg production was dropping off with the need for longer days. The subject was discussed in an association meeting. Electric lights was the solution. The president was already experimenting ex-perimenting with lights. The idea took like wildfire and each poultrym?.n planned a system to his own i sc. II was this first - the idea was to give the hens more time lo scratch and consume feed in order to produce more eggs. It was the town's system. The Utah Farmer wrote the program up. The Country Gentleman Gen-tleman and other agricultural magazines all published it. It was new, simple and yet very important. im-portant. The publishers of the supplement of the Utah Geography, devoted space for the subject and published a picture of the Ashby egg truck loaded with 40 cases of eggs ready for market. The idea was so new and important im-portant that the U.S. government conducted experiments on all phases of the subject and published their results showing that good results could be obtained. ob-tained. Geography in the 1920 Association. Shown eggs to the Utah Poultry 3 r r .it V 09 UTAH'S LOWEST PRICES ! 1050 EAST STATE ROAD AMERICAN FORK, UTAH Wee ffoTue apjku The United States hired Mr. Ashby to conduct classes in poultry raising in all the school districts of Utah County. Thus we have three American Fork firsts. The third one, although simple, is being used in all the large egg producing plants in the world. So, let us review the three firsts, 1. Free Schools, Education for all. A necessity for people in a high class community. 2. Recreation-Social Recreation-Social enjoyment. As important as the first. Without it the populace would be dullards and 3. Use of electric lights to increase food and provide life along with finances to make for better living. For All The News, Subscribe to the Citizen 756-7663 Lehi Free Press 768-9696 Pleasant Grove Review 785-3111 ".HI- '' S are R.L Ashby and the eggs from his coops FOOD S4 mm The Citizen - FROM THE FRONT Geneva Resort Continued from front page lemon meringue pies, available at all times. In 1928 Mr. Eastmond purchased Saratoga Resort, located directly across Utah Lake from Geneva Resort. He managed both resorts until 1935 when he sold Geneva Resort lo the Utah Power and Light Company, who saw the site as a potential for a sieam power plant. Plans for the power plant gaihered dusi during the next four years when the receding waters of '.he lake made such a venture impractical. Increasing taxes and the cost of building maintenance at ihe once-thriving once-thriving resort sparked the torch which razed the structures built nearly half a century earlier by Captain Dallin. Anything that could be salvaged was sold lo interested parlies: lumber, the slide, flooring etc. Finally, everything ihat was left was leveled by fire and an area that once pleased throngs of pleasure seekers was gone. For 20 years noi hing was done at ihe Geneva Resort properly site. Then in 1959 1 he Orem City Council envisioned a lakeside park and boat harbor on the site of the old Geneva Resort. Extensive 1 F?? Jea,! "Has your 1 1 1 !' 1 insurance I 1 v JZ IE i keptup I 1 & with the I 1 f ' M va,uello1 1 I fi I i your home? I 1 p . .i . t I 1 miBv-nm ) s 1 1 i tetar 4J 1 I 'HHfA J V rr , - I 1 t . STATE FARM "ff 1 m nail UIM S:o::v:v::-:::::y::o: m m CS fift md Cismii Cmpi L at -Sftk Momt Otlict S ML ' ' 1 I Inmmglon. Illiiwn '' jT" . B l "uNtit ljk9 1 good neighbor, SWw Fwm Ht Ifwrv B Mb) & r NaT rs V) CO) (J) ( 3 Thursday, April 2, 1981 - Page A-3 clearing of Ihe area revealed a large well-shaded lawn section considered ideal for parks development . Numerous problems have beset the development since 1960 when the first boa! slip was constructed in the harbor and rest rooms were built in the picnic area. In 1975, Geneva Steel found they could no longer supply the fill material for the marina, and the Utah National Guard began having problems with scheduling of vehicles, road clearances and vehicle insurance coverage. An apparent halt has come to the marina's development but a grove of trees still stands as sentinels over an area where thousands of people had Ihe best times of their lives. Many residents of Utah County can stand among Ihe trees, close l heir eyes and hear Ihe sweet strains of "Moonlight and Roses' or "When It "s Springtime In The Rockes." or they may recall many precious events in their lives when Geneva Resort w as in full swing. Editors Note: Some of the early material in this sketch was taken from "Sagebrush to Steel" by Clyde E. Weeks Jr. and some written by Jean E. Gordon. The pictures used are by courtesy of Inez T. Sutton and J.W. -'Bun" Tavlor of Provo. o : n f o mm COUP! SUPER STORE 4 I |