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Show I WEEKLY REFLEX DAVIS NEWS JOURNAL. FEBRUARY 21. 1980 NORTH DAVIS LEADER. FEBRUARY 21, 1980 New District Director LAV ON Terry Ripplin-ge- r, 25. a natie of Driggs, Idaho, has been appointed as the HE ALSO worked summers as an apprentice plumber and an auto mechanic to earn money for college. My previous scouting ex1 perience is limited, because grew up on a farm, and there just wasn't much time." he said. "1 have camped out with my cousins and with church groups, and I am really looking forward to more camping activities to learn the skills and new district executive for the Francis Peak District. Boy Scouts of America. He replaces Jeff Peterson, who has accepted a new assignment in the Springs ille area. A GRADUATE of Brigham Young University, Mr. majored in University Studies, with minors in Spanish, physical education and industrial education. associate with scouts and experienced was quickly overcome. Now he works the traffic nets on the Utah Code Net that handles messages in and out of Utah and the 12th Region TWN , which handles traffic in and out of five states Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. The TWN assignments come twice each Friday night, at 8:30 p.m. for half an hour to an hour and again at 10:30 p.m. The TWN has liaison with the Pacific Area Net, which in- . ..KAYSVILLE - Owen 164 North 650 East, : has friends that he never ex- - : Dinger, pects to see. But he talks to them frequently through the ; magic of amateur radio. llE BECAME a ham after - his retirement from Hill Air : Force Base about five years ago, where he had served as an instructor in the engine test : program. His wife, Marjorie, : has also worked at the base ; during World War II as an armaments specialist, and the two met there at a Christmas ; eve party. I used to fool around with ; radios when I was a kid, and : built radios back in the thirties, r but I didnt take it really se-- t. riously until after I retired, he ; said. : HE HAS converted part of his garage into a room to contain his equipment, which in- l eludes a 100 watt transmitter yand many other technical look- - i ting devices. He also erected a antenna to transmit his radio signals. We used to have a neighbor with a hi-- system that didnt have any protection against ham signals, and we had a few complaints then, Mr. Dinger said, but I havent had any complaints ab- cludes California, Oregon, Washington and with the Central and Eastern Area Nets. Three priorities of messages are handled routine, priority and emergency, he said. radio operation for the amateur is 'let's have fun. comes more interesting. He prefers to communicate in Morse code, rather than voice. Let's enjoy it.' If I have to get on the air and fight about politics or religion. I might as well be in the living room, watching the boob tube." I ASSUME there is some psychological significance in that, he smiled. I can maintain a certain distance, but still communicate. 1 find that radio amateurs are just like other groups of people, and you can hear them spouting about everything from religion to politics on the air. "Sometimes, I don't like to be involved in that. My idea of TERRY RIPPLINGER college education following his mission. IE YOU happen to be listening to short wave radio on the amateur band some evening and you hear the words, "This is AG7Q calling, you will know you have tuned in to Owen Dinger. Just don't start talking IT WAS an unusually warm day for this time of year, said Airman Sears. The ice had been three or four inches thick when we got there, but by 3 p.m. it had gotten thinner and thinner. We w ere just sitting around a hole fishing when all of a sudden I heard some guys screaming. I looked around and saw the man in the water, all the way in up to his neck, w ith his hands out. holding onto the ice. The w ater is about 15 to 20 feet deep there The w ater was really cold, and he looked like he miuht be in shock. I LOOKED down on the ice and saw' an ax. so I grabbed it and started running toward him. There were about 35 people out on the ice fishing, and some of them were yelling and telling me not to go out there. I LAYTON Disregarding his personal safety, a Hill Air Force Base senior airman, Byron D. Sears, 301 North Main, came to the rescue of an ice fisherman who had fallen through the ice Saturday afternoon at Willard Bay. Another fisherman, whose name he did not learn, assisted him. HE SAID Exceeds Pledge working with cub scouts, By WANDA LUND By W ANDA LUND Mr. Ripplinger is unmarried. and is presently living in the Layton area A brother. Mike, is a wrestler at Weber State Collette. wwl MR. RIPPLINGER will be scouts, varsity scouts and explorer groups. He will be sen! to Dallas, Texas soon to attend national execua month-lontive institute. He has taught wrestling to junior high students and looks forward to teaching Scouts and working with them, as well as with adults. Airman And Companion Rescue Icy Fisherman MESSAGES ACROSS MILES job." scoulers. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Weston Ripplinger of Driggs. he is the eldest of six children. He was awarded a wrestling scholarship to BYU after winning two state championship awards as a w restler at Teton High School. He filled a two year LDS mission in Peru after two years at BYU and returned there to complete his Owen Dinger enjoys talking not onK to someone in (lie same room or in his home, both across the miles as lie pursues his liobbv as a radio ham operator. ONE THING that Hike about scouting is that you can branch into so many different areas." he said. "1 am really enjoying the work. My field director. Ray Chase, works with me practically all the time to familiarize me with my that he and a friend. AIC Tom Marish, had been ice fishing at the north marina at Willard Bay for about an hour at the time of the mishap. Bill Romer, 58, Brigham City, and his grandson, Matthew Romer, had also been ice fishing, w hen Mr. Romer suddenly dropped through the ice. . couldn't believe that. "1 got down on my knees and crawled over closer to the hole and handed Mr. Romer the end of the ax handle. w as about five feet awav. HE WAS starting to come out and was on top of the ice. but the ice was crumbling beneath him. Then another guy, whose name 1 dont know, came up behind me and put out his fishing rod so I could hold on to that. had the head of the ax in my right hand and the pole in my left. "Somehow we were able to pull him out. Mr. Romer looked like he was in shock, and his hands were bloody because he had cut them on the ice. He told me if 1 hadnt got to him when 1 did. he would have gone under. I was laying on the ice and the water was 1 1 - Staff SOUTH WEBER members and corpsmen at the Weber Basin Job Corps pledged $50 to the Primary Children Medical Center in response to a recent kSL. Radio Telethon. BUT WHEN they delivered the money to the station Feb. 5. the amount had grow n from 450 to S 30. We really want to thank everyone who participated for their generous contributions." said Douglas Barrus. assistant center director, wwl coming to keep ice was both of up splashing. We had moving, because the starting to sink under us." ASKED HI he had risked his life to rescue someone he didn't know . the young airman said. I didn't even think ab- I out it just went out there and did it. I thought about it after I did it. Nobody else seenid to want to get near him. "Mr. Romer came up to me afterward and shook my hand and asked for my name. He was pretty shaken up. and he was worried grandson." about his AIRMAN SEARS said he and his wife. Sharon, are ex- pecting their first child in April. he "The doctor thinks it twins." he grinned. might 1 THE PRIMARY purpose of ham radio is not to create a traffic system in opposition to the telephone company but to develop a group of people who can handle traffic in case of emergencies, such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes or other types pf 'disasters ,,7 he; explained. Recently, when California experienced some earthquake tremors, he handled some Utahns messages to and from people there. He also has relayed messages to and from servicemen through the Military Armed Radio Services (MARS). , fi out interference for two or three years." HE SERVES as liaison for the Pacific Area Net each Wednesday and the 12th Region TWN on Sunday morning. as well as the Utah Code HE EXPLAINED that a ham must know Morse code and pass written tests on regula- Net Monday night. That tions, operating procedures and radio theory to get a license. License categories clude novice, general, means a busy and involved week. Messages are relayed via Oscar, a satellite, allocated to American radio use. in- adv- anced and extra, and a ham must ordinarily hold a general license for at least a year. He moved from novice to adv- I HAVE contacted several European stations, Australia, Japan, South America and he said. other countries, One of our neighbors had a son on a mission in Peru, and he had access to an amateur radio station there, so they were able to have a conversation. She was really happy about it. Whenever I see anyone else happy, it makes me happy too. Often when he is conversing or sending Morse code. Mr. Dinger will tape the sound. He can go back and check the recording if everything hasn't come out clearly, and he can also use it as a training device. anced, however, without being in the general classification. he said. A novice must be able to copy Morse code at a speed of at least five words per minute; ' general and advanced, 13 w'ords per minute, and extra, the category that he now holds, at 20 words per minute. LEARNING CODE has been hard for me, and I am just getting to the point where I would rate myself as fairly good. he said. I knew before I retired in May 1974, that i had no desire to take to the yocking chair. To make life interesting. you have to continue doing things. I had photography as a "hobby, but it has kind of fallen by the wayside. : ! Pruning Demo To Be Held : FARMINGTON - The appearance and increase fruit production. He will show the best way to trim shrubs. Others will demonstrate Utah State University Horticultural Farm north of Lagoon w ill be used as the site for a pruning demonstration March J5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ExSciperts from the USU Plant ence Department and extension horticulturists will show the proper way to prune various types of shrubs and trees. i DAVE WHITING, area horticulturist at the Farmington extension office, said many plants should be pruned in Plants are still dormant at that time, but are roses, grapes, raspberries, blackberries and peach, apple and pear trees. The public is invited, and there is no charge for the demonstration. They should meet at the experiment station pavilion. mid-Marc- past the time when they might suffer winter damage. Proper pruning will enhance their . Home Definition Willie (glancing over stock market page) - Pa. what is "short covering"? Father - Your mother's latest party dress, my son. i. . - . .v ' HYRUM RAY a : w- . . f . - -' 4 For loss sustained by recent fire South Weber Amusement Hall Tuesday, Nov. 15, 1910 THERE MAY be little peculiarities in speech or in the way a person sends code," he explained. If you are used to it. you can copy them better. I dont know what practical use there will be for all the studying I am doing, but as I keep learning and growing, life be- - t HE ADMITS that he felt some trepidation before he :went on the air" the first Time, but the scared feeling he : Benefit Dance In honor of If." , Admission $1.00 per Couple There DANCE HALL Early in the 1880's, the residents of South Weber decided to build a dance hall so they could have a permanent, en- closed, nice place to hold dances. THE HALL was located near 7386 South 1550 East, South Weber. It was designed and built by the Harbertson Brothers. Families living in South Weber bought shares of stock in the Dance Hall Co. Each family in town held at least one share of stock in the company. J. William Firth's family was among the original settlers of South Weber. He recalls attending dances at the hall. Mr. Firth remembers his family held a share of stock in the Dance Hall Co. At the time C.A. Fernilius was the secretary of the company, a share of stock paid a yearly dividend of cents. Dividends varied from year to year. 15 THE DANCE Hall was built of brick and adobe. The entrance was at the west end of the building. The east end was solid brick. Three large win- dows were evenly spaced along the south side of the hall. A stove, located of the way into the building from the entrance, heated the spacious room. A second door stood near the stove. The Dance Hall floor was made of solid white maple. This was the only public building between Salt Lake City and Ogden that had a hardwood floor. MR. FIRTH said little heat was needed once the dance got started. A grove of trees was located near the hall. This was an ideal place for summer picnics. Mrs. Joseph H. Ray recalls seeing two-thir- Leonard Bowmans father on one of these picnic tables. Step dancing e was a very popular step-danci- old-tim- dance. is no know n photograph ol the South Weber Dante Hall. Mr. Firth took his gi anildaughter, Laurel Firth over to South Vder and described the hall to her. From the existing remains ol the hall and the description furnished her by her grandfather. Laurel made this sketch. (Attached) this is a photo-cop- y of an actual dance hall lit ket to a benefit dance at the South Welter Hall. MUSIC FOR the dances w as provided by a small orchestra, a fiddler and an organist or just a fiddler. One popular orchestra that played for South We- ber dances was the Ray Brothers Orchestra. Joseph H. Ray, Sr. played the organ. Tom Ray fiddled and Sam Ray played a small accordion. Members of the Ray family still own the musical instruments used for these dances. The organ is the property of Edmund Ray who lives in Centerville. The Ray brothers all played by ear. They provided music for dances all over northern Utah as far north as Brigham City. HAZEN ADAMS, who still lives in East Layton, was a popular fiddler for South Weber dances. The musicians were usually paid $3.50 for a dance. THE PUMP organ that was used for the dance was delivered to the hall on the back of a buggy. After the entertainment was over, the organ was again returned to the owners home by buggy. According to some stories, the buggy trip was sometimes hard on the organ. In the early days of the hall, physical misunderstandings often occurred at the dance. More than once, an organ was torn apart before it reached the owners home. AFTER SOME of the more serious disputes, the organ parts were so scattered that they had to be wrapped in quilts and placed in the buggy into a to be musical instrument at the owners home before the next dance. Adult dances were held every other Friday. Cost was 50 cents per couple. People came to the hall from all over the north end of Davis County and from Weber County. THE H ALL was frequently rented out 4o groups who wanted to sponsor a dance. Masquerade dances were very popular. Dancing was a very popular activity for young children. Each Thanksgiving and again on Feb. 22, Sunday School dances were held for the children of South Weber. The Sunday School teachers were responsible for teaching square dances or folk dances to the young children. MR, FIRTH recalls learning a dance when he was young that went to the tune, "Right foot, left foot, any foot at all, Sally lost her petticoat agoing to the ball. As more recreational facili- ties became available, the South Weber Dance Hail Co. went out of business and the hall was abandoned. IN 1940 the property where the dance hall stood and the fields nearby were purchased by Joseph H. Ray. It was during the early years of World War II that Mr. Ray began building a home near the dance hall. Building materials were scarce. Mr. Ray used the floor and ceiling joists from the hall for his house. Some of the brick was used for the inside wall of the Ray home and new brick was placed on the outside of the home. The maple dance floor was turned over and laid in the new Ray home. WHAT WAS left of the dance hall was then converted into a chicken coop. It still stands today as a storage shed dmg |