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Show imes Newspaper Thursday, May 29, 2003 Page A5 UjvnER WEEKS, JR. es Correspondent There was joy under ount Timpanogos last uirsday, when ribbon-tting ribbon-tting ceremonies were !ld at the par-3 14th hole Cascade Golf Center's .w Mountain Nine-hole if course. A bevy of elec-, elec-, ic golf carts were used to ansport the large group golf enthusiasts to the autiful green, offering a eath-taking view of tah Valley. J The ribbon-cutting was I ;ulmination of over forty I; ars of planning and 7 (,rk by the owners, and e fruition of a dream at began in the early "60s. . From a historical per-ective, per-ective, it was three "-others: Herbert B., Vern lbb)4 and Franklin K. ivlijratton, who were the 'incipals, actually sponsible for the devel-ment devel-ment of Cascade n drways. Tit in the mid 1960s Herb !ral iratton, along with Cliff rss:rne, Earl Farnworth, "--ixter Wilberg, Rex amil? )fford and Richard mer met with the Orem 6 ii't PM-1-nr.il n nrnnncci ... -at Orem City develop a ike rs anicipal golf course. committee was ;:med to research the itter, and Orem City red a golf professional to rform a study, which ncluded that Orem City dd support a nine-hole If course. ii Orem City, however, was V3king toward building a OD aila: .ate . 5 ye-LYDE E. WEEKS, JR. 7 at lines Correspondent pens . No In 1947 the State of ecto&h was celebrating the 3 pi Oth anniversary of the cs .try of the Mormon pio-oU;ers pio-oU;ers into Salt Lake ifhetJley. Each community ore the state was asked to rtennn a local Utah dfrjntennial Committee to f the ad up the municipal cel-:e cel-:e c ration. to tin the Town of Orem blei icar H. Anderson, Orem lall -ialtor who had served as ;ito.e first president of the em Chamber of blefcimmerce, was asked to inifcrve as chairman of the s of -'em Centennial immittee, along with yde E. Weeks, Jr. as sectary. sec-tary. The Town of Orem, in ticert -an and other communi- 1 - s throughout the State, ly portrayed the Pioneer ic, through parades, eworks, musical events id many other family- ie 1 & 2 Bedroom iajs ' WlTH Full Kitchen ! CC- & Balcony itaCtt washer & Dryer in K91 0 ' ECH UNIT Educational com- and Cultural Activities Chaufeeured Transportation Storage Space Onsitp Rpaiitv a Barbershop Computer Lab & Library Maid Service 4 new city center at that time, and declined to build the proposed golf course. Although the golf course committee had been disbanded, dis-banded, Herb Stratton approached his brothers and other family members about building a course on their property. When Orem City Council member Harley Gillman heard that the Strattons were considering building a golf course on their own land, he suggested suggest-ed that city-owned land near the mouth of Provo Canyon be made available for the project. Although the Strattons wanted to buy the land, Orem City decided to retain the land and to grant a 100-year lease to the Strattons. "We felt building a golf course would help the City of Orem grow," Herb Stratton recalled. It was our desire to provide the residents of Orem with a nice golf course." Financing of the golf course project turned out to be more difficult than the Strattons had expected. expect-ed. Ultimately, the financing financ-ing could be arranged, only by having the three brothers broth-ers put up their homes and farms as collateral on the loan. Construction began on Cascade Fairways in the Spring of 1967, and the course opened in May of 1968. Green fees were $1 for adults, $0.75 for seniors sen-iors and $0.50 for juniors. The first clubhouse and Iroadway musicals, asphalt streets highlight celebrations after centered activities. For several years, the Orem Chamber of Commerce headed up Orem's community celebration, cele-bration, calling it the AOrem-SCERA Fruit Festival. In 1949 the City of Orem really had something some-thing to celebrate! The increased use of Orem's State Street, also designated desig-nated as U.S. Highway 91, found Orem City and the Utah State Road Commission cooperating in an extensive street-widening street-widening project. The street, which was widened from curb to curb, between 900 South and 900 North, was the focal point of the "Velvet Strip" Community Celebration, held during the summer of 1949. Walter C. Orem, for whom the City of Orem was named, along with his wife, were guests of the city at the celebration, and rode in an open automobile automo-bile in the Velvet Strip Summeriield Tletiraneni Community . - v m . " "V i Now Open Call 434-9581 io Schedule a vbiii to our lie 'Retirement Community equipment shed consisted of a World War II POW barracks. The Strattons received no profits from the Cascade Golf Course, during dur-ing its first 10 years of operation. Rather, the Strattons subsidized the course, in order to keep it in operation, during that period. Over the years, the Strattons have struggled to upgrade the course and plan for its expansion to an 18-hole facility. Nearly 30 years ago, at Orem City's request, Cascade's 18-hole expansion plans were aborted, so that the city could obtain the land south of 800 North to build the Osmond Studios. Again, in 1983, plans for an 18-hole course in the mouth of Provo Canyon were explored, but efforts to secure the land were unsuccessful. From 1983 to 1989, on three different occasions, private developers explored options with the City of Orem to create a commercial development on the golf course land, but the Strattons declined to sell the golf course on all three occasions. In 1995 the Strattons rejected a 3.3 million dollar dol-lar offer from a developer to purchase the golf course. The developers' intent was to place a hotel complex and business park on the golf course land. Finally, in October of 1995 the Strattons finalized final-ized the purchase of additional addi-tional land to build a nine-hole nine-hole mountain course Parade. It was through the valuation valu-ation of Orem's railroad, during the early years of Orem that the city was able to bond the city and construct a $110,000 water system which was essential to the existence of the city. On December 6, 1950, the Orem City Council called a meeting of civic leaders and organized the Orem Boosters, Inc. This group was formed to take responsibility each year for staging Orem's community com-munity celebration. Officers included: Ephraim T. Twitchell, president; Henry Campbell, vice president; Lenora Johnson, secretary-treasurer; and Lavoir Merrill, M. Dover Hunt, Clifton M. Pyne, Victor C. Anderson, Elwood Baxter and Parlell Peterson, members of the board of directors. For the next 20 years the Orem Boosters, Inc. operated, effectively plan- "V njiilto . ... ' v. ' - . , tf& jiM-.' r,-jS. " ' " ' r'"' Participating in ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the Mountain Nine holes at the Cascade Golf Center were an enthusiastic crowd of local residents, who were transported to the mountain green by electric golf carts. The opening of the new nine-hole course makes Cascade Golf Center Orem's first 18-hole golf course. north of the existing golf course. Neff Alliance Golf, Inc. was hired to begin designing a nine-hole course on the newly-acquired newly-acquired land. In 1998 final designs for the nine-hole mountain course were completed, and the name of the golf course was changed to Cascade Golf Center. Shortly after that, Cascade learned of the City of Orem's plan to build a road through the middle of the golf facility and expansion plans were placed on hold. By Spring of 1999, Cascade proprietor Keven Stratton had finalized negotiations with the City of Orem for a "T" road and roundabout to be constructed con-structed through part of the existing golf course. ning and staging the ; Orem community celebra-' tions.. During the 1950's Orem's community celebration cele-bration was called the "Orem Flora-Festival of Youth," featuring flower shows and all kinds of activities for young people. peo-ple. Culture was added to the "Orem Summer Festival" during the 1960's, when the Orem Boosters, Inc. teamed up with the Utah Valley Opera Association in presenting pre-senting a series of Broadway musical productions produc-tions on the stage of Orem LAN Hamlet Development is actively searching for suitable properties for future residential development. Hamlet Development creates well-designed, value-priced residential communities along the Wasatch Front. Hamlet has designed and improved approximately 2,000 homes sites in 23 residential communities, valued at $294 million. Established in 1994 in Salt Lake City, Utah, it is part of the Hamlet group of companies that includes Hamlet Homes, Stirling Mortgage and Diversified Habitats. WW Plans were made for the golf course to be changed to accommodate the new road. The next four years saw remarkable changes in the Cascade Golf Center, with the redesign of holes, construction con-struction of a new driving range, clubhouse, maintenance mainte-nance facility and parking lot, as well as a 36-hole miniature gold facility and 18-hole natural grass putting put-ting course. At last the way was cleared for construction to begin on the Mountain Nine course, and by Spring ! of 2003, final preparations i were made to open the ! Mountain Nine. Some 600 trees, including more than 400 pine trees, were planted. plant-ed. Greens were top dressed four times and High School. Such lavish productions as Kismet, South Pacific, Pajama Game, Finian's Rainbow and The Sound of Music showcased local talent in a variety of popular popu-lar attractions, during city celebrations. For many years, a State Street parade was a focal point of Orem's community communi-ty celebrations. The casts of the celebrations' musical musi-cal productions were seen in full costume, riding beautiful floats. However, in recent years, the increasing traffic on State Street has required the relocating the celebration NTIAL D WANTED ' 1 "I Hi sand bunkers were completed. com-pleted. On May 14, 2003, the Mountain Course was played for the first time as part of a soft opening. Men's association and senior sen-ior league were given that first opportunity. The official opening of the Mountain Course took place with the ribbon-cutting ceremony being staged on the par-3 14th hole overlooking Utah Valley. As the last electric golf cart arrived at the 14th hole, an enthusiastic crowd of Orem City officials, offi-cials, golfers, families of golfers and well-wishers applauded the cutting of the OremProvo Chamber of Commerce blue ribbon and the opening of play for the public. Centennial parade to adjoining streets where it does not cause a traffic problem. For several years, the Orem celebration parade featured a procession of Miss Utah candidates, riding rid-ing in open cars at dusk, with lights illuminating the floats and participants. partici-pants. With the management manage-ment time of the Orem Boosters, Inc. having run its course, the operation of Orem's community celebration cele-bration was taken over by the City of Orem, itself, with an executive committee commit-tee of City personnel and volunteers now managing the operation. J |