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Show Emery County Progress Castle Dale, Utah Tuesday August 14, 2001 1JB Emery County Lifestyle Reta Robison Jensen One of Emerys memorable se- nior citizens is Reta Robison Jensen. She was born in Loa, Wayne County, on Oct. 1, 1915, to Irwin Garfield and Clara Elizabeth Morrell Robison. Her parents were very industrious people who rose early and worked hard to make a good life for their family, as ranchers and farmers. In 1928, her father sold his place in Loa and bought a in ranch Paradise on Valley, Highway 72, halfway between the town of Fremont and Fremont Junction on Highway 10. Reta loved the ranch life because there was always somethingto do to keep busy and she was always at home on a horse. In the winter, she and her sisters, Lucretia and Etta, stayed in the Loa vicinity to go to school. She had to ride a horse three miles to get there. She remembers very well that many people in the area died one winter from a deadly spinal meningitis outbreak. In summers, they were at the ranch, helping to milk the cows, make the cheese which her father would bringto town and selL She remembers the good butter that they churned. It was so much better than what you buy in a store." One fond memory she has, is taking milk high to the mountain pasture sheep herd, to feed the bummer lambs that the ewes had either died and left, or didnt claim. Often they would take the lambs down to the ranch and put HumanAnimal them in little pens and cover them at night so they wouldnt freeze. In the fall of 1929, Reta, her sister Etta, and brother Kemp, came in to Emery to go to school Bond Reta was and little brother Kemp, was just starting school They lived by themselves in rented rooms or little houses where they fixed their own meals and helped each other. They had choice friends, whose parents probably kept an eye on them. Sarah Wickman was very good to them. Emery Animal Health recently held a photography contest celebrating the human and animal bond. Contestant photographs were on display during the Emery County Fair. Winners of the contest are pictured clockwise from top: Dawna Cooks photograph of child and calf took grand prize. The photo of Aspen Bloomer and her baby kittens was voted the People's Choice Award during the fair and Challise Shirley and her dog Jeb took Grand Prize for the photographs submitted by those 1 2 and under. Their parents were often snowed in at the ranch so it was sometimes months between the times that the children saw them. Their father had to ride a horse to the Salina Canyon road where he kept his car in a road camp so he could come to see them. Reta went to eighth and ninth grades in Emery. Fbr her 10th grade, the three children went to Park City and stayed with her sister, Stella. The next two years, the three children came back to school in Emery. They still took care of themselves and rode to Ferron schools on the bus. During these years, Reta began going with her future husband, Lloyd Jensen, from Emery. She and Lloyd enjoyed the movies held twice a week in the old church house and the frequent dances held in the schoolhouse. The upper floor was a large gymnasium with a stage at the west end where plays, school operet- tas and programs were given. Everyone in town participated in the dances. There was a hump in the middle of the gym floor on the south side and Reta remembers dancing with Mervyn Peacock and it was a little slick and they fell on the hump and his leg caught on the bottom ruffle of her dress and it tore apart. She and Lloyd always took Kemp with them to the activities because he was still livingwith his sisters in Emery. Reta graduated In 1934 from the High School in Ffcrron. In the Continued on PAGE 3B. Garth Johnson takes helm of San Rafael Junior High By PATSY STODDARD Staff, Emery County Progress San Rafael Junior High will begin the new school year with a new principal, Garth Johnson. Johnson is not a stranger to the school however, he has spent the last six years there as a math and science teacher. Johnson said, I was born in Price and raised in Huntington. My parents are Tedd (Buck) and Betty Johnson who now live in Idaho. I attended elementary school in Huntington. I attended North Emery Junior High, and graduated from Emery High School. I served a mission In New York. We served in New York state and also Massachusetts and New Jersey. When I .came home from my mission I married my high school sweetheart, Peg&r Jorgensen, who is the daughter of Bill and May Jorgensen. We have five children Eric, Melissa, Sarah, Natalie and Melanie. attended Utah Tech in Salt Lake City, that school is now Salt Lake Community College. I worked with the mines for a while, for Emery Mining; I was a warehouseman. I was layed off after the Wllberg fire and decided to go back to school I have been teachingthe last eleven years I as a math and science teacher. I was able to take most of the classes in Price. Utah State started bringing down programs. Peggy also went back to school at the same time I did. I taught for two years in Preston, Idaho and for two years in Twin Falls, Idaho. We took the whole family and sold our house in Huntington and moved to Idaho. It was a good experience. We learned that there are good peoplp everywhere. Kids are more adaptable than adults. Peggy and I struggled, but the kids made friends and got along just fine. We watched for something to turn up down here and I took the job as SRJH and we moved back to Castle Dale. It was good to get home. We like to go camping as a family when we have time. My son Eric is on a mission in the Montreal area. He isnt far from where I served my mission, we hope some day to take a trip back to that area and tour where we served our missions. "I completed my administrative certificate hist year. 1 knew I wanted to be an administrator from the time I went back to school. I hope to influence teachers to Influence students. I enjoyed teaching. We have a good faculty here at SRJH, and I look forward to work- - Photo by Patsy Stoddard Garth Johnson moves into the principals office at San Rafael Junior High School. ingwith them. I would like to just watch for a while, I wont be making any big changes. There are a lot of positve things about our school. I would like to work to maintain a good schoolcoin-munit- y relationship. Students can earn merit points and they are entered into Continued on PAGE 3B. |