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Show THE SAN JUAN RECORD Wednesday December 30, 1987 Page 9 ed land trades, law enforce- 1987 headline news (Continued from page 5) Mountain was trimmed September 19, removing extraneous growth and giving the landmark new character. Over 442 man hours went into the project. The Buckaroos subdued the Broncos 14 to 12 in the Monti-cell- o homecoming game on Friday night. Mike Halliday became the assistant chief of police of the Blanding Police Department on September 1. October 7 County commissioners approved a 15 percent rollback on residential land and home taxes in San Juan County. Utahs Governor Norman Bangerter has proposed to exchange land inholdings for lands on the shores of Lake Powell. evil spirits. Then a noisy ceremony of singing and banging bamboo sticks together takes place. Father leads and the family dances around the house, throwing dry beans in the clean comers to guard against evil spirits and finally chasing all the evil spirits out of the house. The delicacy of the season is mochi, heavy, white, dumplinglike cakes made of rice pounded into flour. When you try mochi you realize why J apanese are so taken with symbols for long life. Life had better be long, or youll never get your mochi swallowed. It sticks to the roof of your mouth, and to your tongue and your teeth. I tried mochi once and I cant tell you much about how it tasted, sweet, I think. I didnt pay attention, I was so busy trying to work out a way to get it unstuck and swallowed. Mikans, small sweet mandarin oranges with peelings loose enough for a to pull off on his own, are the aspect of Japanese Christmas that we have missed most since we came home. Available cheaply and widely, we bought them by the boxful starting about Thanksgiving and on through February. r In Japan, New Years Day was everybodys birthday. Lately that tradition has lessened, but there is still the element of the birthday celebration in the day. Japanese spend the day visiting, receiving visitors, giving gifts, flying kites, and playing games. Our favorite game, which we brought home, is played with a decorated wooden paddle and a small birdy made of a heavy ball attached to painted feathers. The game is played by striking the birdy with the paddle and keeping it in the air. One person or several can play. Some paddles are elaborately padded on one side. Most are merely painted with a bright flower or a dancers face. Even people who ordinarily dress in western clothes wear a kimono on New Years Day. The stores are closed and shopping areas are deserted, but the trains are full of kimono-cla- d Japanese families from the oldest grandmother in her sedate blue and black print, to the tiniest baby in bright orange and pink, all on their way to make their holiday visits. Once the strangeness and disappointment wore off, we began to enjoy our Japanese Christmases. We invited Japanese friends to join us for our traditional Christmas Eve celebration. And we visited them on New Years Day, sitting on the floor and pushing our feet and knees under the low, heavily blanketed table to take advantage of the little heater under there. We still share Christmas with Japan. We fold colored paper decorations and we exchange holiday greetings with Japanese friends. Every year as the cards come, adorned with the familiar ornate postage stamps, I cant help thinking of my maids saying, Shinto is for happy. The Navajo Tribe purchased 120 acres of land at Westwater. Two years in the making, a newly laid sidewalk along Abajo Drive is the cooperative effort of residents of the area, the city, the county and a private foundation. Neldon Holt ends 26 years of service with the U.S. Postal Service in Blanding. October 14 Phil Acton, Blanding CPA, told the Monti-cell- o Council that while the general fund is in great shape, the Enterprise Service Fund water, sewer, garbage and airport services - is in financial trouble. The outlook for this years deer hunt in San Juan County appears to be good. A 51 pound Watson watermelon was grown in Blanding this summer by Dale Slade. While commissioners of the four counties involved approve land exof the federal-statchange proposed by Governor Bangerter, National Park Sere vice officials balk at the proposal, saying it is absolutely not feasible. October 21 A congressional hearing held in Cortez related to the problems of vandalism of Indian artifacts. The main objectives were to determine the three-year-ol- d the problem, to evaluate the effectiveness of the scope of Archaeological Resources Protection Act and to come up solutions. Bill Dunow Jr. won the big prize a Remington 7mm Mag rifle at the drawing held at the Deer Hunters Ball. The San Juan Broncos beat the Moab Red Devils 16-- last Thursday in Moab. pre-wa- 0 A Bluff deer hunter, Dan Yazzie, died instantly when a Christmas card from Japan. rifle he was placing in his truck discharged and hit him in the face. October 28 County, state, federal and private agencies met on October 21 and examin ment, roads and health care. The interagency meeting, organized by Commissioner Mark Maryboy, provided orientation to existing problems. Revisions in salary schedules will benefit 20 clerical category county employees. Seven confiscated deer were sold in an auction by the DWR at the courthouse in Monticello. The Buckaroos of MHS finished this year with region championships in all four fall sports volleyball, football, and boys and girls crosscountry. In state 2A playoffs, the SJH Broncos defeated the Morgan Trojans 24-2- 1. November 4 The Lady Buckaroos of Monticello High School are the 1 A State Champions in volleyball. They took the championship by winning 8 straight games and losing none. Jesse Holiday of Monument Valley was appointed to serve on the San Juan County School Board filling a vacancy left by Virgil Bedoni. College of Eastern Utah in Blanding wants to be a campus instead of a center. A new daily schedule at all county high school makes the hours students attend classes 27 jr minutes shorter. November 11 Blanding voters elected two new council-me- n and retained one, while all three council seats in Monticello were taken by first time candidates. Monticellos new mayor is Ernest J. Sonderegger, who ran unopposed. Western Gas Processor Ltd. of Denver announced plans to build an $8 million processing plant 14 miles southeast of -- Blanding. Creamer and Noble, a St. George firm, will represent San Juan County in mineral lease allocation programs. The Monticello High School team won girls 1A-2the State championship for the sixth time in as many years. The boys team took second at state. cross-countr- y A cross-countr- y A pre-triNovember 18 District Seventh ruling by Court Judge Boyd Bunnell in a al lawsuit that challenges the right of the county and the state to tax oil companies operating on the Utah portion of the Navajo reservation, could save the county and state $100 million in tax refunds to the oil companies. The Blanding City Council is studying options for supplying cheaper power to the city. San Juan County has a 36 percent poverty rate, the highest of all Utah counties. Preferential allowance for local vendors may be incorporated into the county purchase policy. The Montezuma Creek turn to page 10) Amb-(Pleas- e |