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Show I Lakeside COLLEo . ,wi JS WEDNESDAY, AUG. 23, 1989 VOLUME 9 , NUMBER 34 COMMUNITY NEWS FOR ROY AND NORTH DAVIS COUNTY summary of the weeks top local news stories from the A Standard-Examine- Families harvesting for generations RUTH MALAN Lakeside Review FRUIT HEIGHTS Fruit Heights is an appropriate name for the easternmost city in northern Davis County. Its orchards still bloom each spring, with younger generations of the early settlers still tending to the fruit. William Butcher, a settler from England, recognized the potential of the fruit harvest and began his business on a farm in what was at that time known as East Kaysville, in the middle 1800s. The old farm was divided among his children and some of his grandchildren are still fruit growers today on the same fruit-growi- land. Alden Burton is a grandson of Butch- ers and still has an orchard his father had purchased from his grandfather in 1918. He raised fruit all his life, then Alden , took over the business. A book in his possession shows that his grandfather borrowed money from Barnes Bank in 892 just one year after the bank opened. The book also shows that Butcher borrowed money from an individual at a 12 percent interest rate before the bank opened. Glenn Manning and his brother Myron are also descendants of William Butcher and they also own part of the original fruit land harvested by Butch1 er. Glenn Manning is the biggest fruit grower in Davis County, said Burton. He said Manning once harvested an ' n crop of cherries. My largest crop was 50 ton, said Burton. 80-to- W. Roy getting lack of water, study says He remembers working for another Fruit Heights fruit grower, Lee Jost, in 1933 and 1934 when Josts 27 acres brought 200 ton of cherries. Fruit Heights is still a lot of orchards, said Butcher. Primary crops in the area are apricots, cherries and peaches. Some growers are also growing ap- ROY Due to a lack of water going to west Roy, firefighters might have a difficult time putting out even a small grass fire in that area. Right now, theyre basically starv- ing the west side, said Blake Wahlen, an engineer for Jones and Associates, the firm hired to study the citys water system. Wahlen said its possible the current system would not be able to supply enough water to douse a fire. This is just one of the findings in the recently concluded water system study. To keep up with the water demand, Wahlen said, the city council needs to consider a plan to purchase more water from the Weber Basin water supply organization and build a gallon reservoir and feeder lines to west Roy at possibly the locations of 6000 South and 4000 ples. You couldnt raise apples here until they got insecticides potent enough to control worms. Itjs absolutely necessary to spray apples for coddling moths, said Burton. Manning says he inherited the desire to do fruit farming and hopes to get his own son to take over his orchards. With the value of land it cant be sold and used for farming. It would have to be used as development, said Manning. He said Fruit Heights used to have double the acreage in orchards. According to Burton it is getting rough to sell his crop. I want to get out of here real bad, Burton. But he doesnt said think it will be soon. People like the wide open spaces of orchards. If we sell our orchards there will be no place for kids to play, he added. The citys population has seen a considerable jump in the past few years. When Fruit Heights became a township in 1939 there were 100 residents, by 1950 there were just five-ye- Lawmakers ask for money for U.S. 89 SALT LAKE CITY If it takes three to make a crowd then it must take seven to make a point. Six Davis County legislators and one Weber County lawmaker joined forces last Wednesday in collectively calling on the governor to hammer home their need for highway money which they to make safe U.S. 89 called Utahs No. death strip. They came away without a commitment to move the U.S. 89 expressway project up the priority list. For that matter, they found out most of the project isnt even on a Utah Department of Transportation priority list 1 Ten years later in 1960 there was a population of 175 which jumped to 800 in 1970. Fruit grower Glenn Manning of Fruit Heights is from a family that has been successfully growing produce for several generations. yet. Fruit Heights notes 50 years today RUTH MALAN Lakeside Review FRUIT HEIGHTS Happy anniFruit versary, Heights. Today, Aug. 23, Fruit Heights City celebrates its golden anniversary. It was on this date 50 years ago when the first meeting of the town of Fruit Heights was held. But the history of the city didnt begin that day, it began many years before. Among the first settlers were Samuel Driggs, Joseph Taylor, Pleasant Green Taylor, and Allen Taylor. They, along with other early pioneer families, settled along the old Mountain Road around 1850. In 1855, Grandison and Celia Raymond Sr. built a rock home. Raymond was one of the first to raise fruit trees. He was one of the first bee keepers in the area and owned his own molasses mills and grew his own cane. John Baer, another early settler, had his own saw mill, which according to Fruit Heights This is the tenth in a series of articles to be published weekly in the Lakeside Review, detailing traditions, history and character in the various communities in the Lakeside area. This week, fruit Heights is featured. , records was where the Rock Loft is now, at 200 N. Mountain Road, by Baer Creek, which along with Baer Canyon was named after him. Most of the wood used for the early homes in the area was furnished by the mill. He later sold the mill to William Roy trying to get bond issue on ballot Another early settler, Samuel Ward had his own brick yard in 1874, located above 200 North and U.S. 89. Many of the original homes were constructed of brick from this brick yard. Samuel Driggs is credited with helping to start the first school on the Mountain Road. It was located where the ward brick yard was later built Heated only by a fireplace the old school house was used as a home to the Robert L. Burton family in 1866 after it had been moved north of the Raymond rock house on Mountain Road. The first electricity along Mountain Road came in 1913 when Utah Power & Light installed it with the stipulation that every home would purchase an electric stove. Rock, sagebrush, oak, wild raspberries, currants and chokecherries greeted the early settlers, who over the years created productive farms and orchards in the area. See HISTORY, page 2 Beesley. Sign greets citys visitors RUTH MALAN Lakeside Review FRUIT HEIGHTS Drew Palmers just in time Eagle Scout project came for the 50-ye- ar anniversary of Fruit Heights City. His project, an idea of his fathers, was to see that a sigq was posted at one entrance of the city welcoming visitors to Fruit Heights. The red and green lettering on the sign greets people as they RUTH MALAN Lakeside Review FRUIT HEIGHTS Answering an ad in the city newsletter brought Belva Provost something she didnt expect. She has become the first and only female city administrator in Davis County and one of only two in the state. Of course she didnt begin as the administrator back in May of 1978 when she answered the ad; she began as the city treasurer. As her duties increased she became the city recorder, a position she still holds along with that of city 1 1 X, t let go so long that it takes a lot of effort and money to get them back in shape, she said. A storm drainage system has been initiated, requiring general obligation bonds that were approved by, the residents. The town hired its first Justice of the Peace in 1987 and has acquired Nichols Park through annexation from the county. Through the efforts of the citys youth a park strip on Mountain Road is now available to the citizens. See PROVOST, page 2 st Teachers reject contract settlement FARMINGTON Teachers in Davis County have voted by a margin to reject a tentative contract settlement offered by the district, Davis Education Association officials have announced. DEA President Kathie Bone said during a press conference at Farming-to- n Junior High Monday that 857 teachers voted against the settlement, while 426 voted for its approval. Bone said she is recommending that teachers begin the school year without a contract while a DEA team and district officials return to the negotiating table and continue to work toward a settlement. She said she hopes to help organize an effort by educators to assure that some of the states $81 2-t- 3 surplus settle- percent raise for cost-of-livi- teachers. DEA representatives said the increase is inadequate considering the fact that teachers must also bear a 16 percent increase in the amount theyre required to pay for health insurance. Dost quote cedar sign has the words Fruit Heights in red on the top with two cherries in the center and the slogan City of Good Neighbors in green on the bottom. 'In my class there were 33 kids. Now we say if we have more than 25 kids we're all going to be idiots Paid for with donations, the sign was made by the Wood Gallery jn Kaysville. Drew is the son of Jack and Elaine Palmer of Fruit Heights and a member of Troop 347. He said he is real pleased with the finished product and is still working to- ward his Eagle Scout rank. east-we- ment is a proposed bors. The Spencer Stokes, deputy Weber County clerk, confirmed the deadline v as missed, but said the bond could be added if city officials are able to publish the proposal in a newspaper at least four times before the Nov. 7 election. The citys study showed a need for corrinew north-sout- h and dors as well as an overpass or underpass leading to west Roy spanning railroad tracks. tentative Drews sister Myra came up with the idea of using cherries in the design, with the slogan, City of Good Neigh- Administrator sees city improve study. that will be allocated during a special legislative session in September will go to education. At issue m the , in Utah. Fruit Heights administrator Belva Provost is only one of two female city administrators ROY City officials are scrambling to get a transportation bond issue on the November election ballot after missing the filing deadline because of delays involving a traffic million enter the town via Mountain Road from the south end, said Drew. Coming up with the idea of making a sign was the easy part. Getting people to participate in a contest to help design the sign was another matter, said Drew. . Flyers were distributed around the town asking for suggestions on the design of the sign. administrator. She is the fourth administrator the city has had and in the two years since her appointment on July 1, 1987, she has made a difference. And about that difference Dale Jost, who leases space in the Rock Loft for city offices, .said Provost can do things men give up on. years of employment During her with Fruit Heights, Provost has seen the instigation of the citys road program which provides for overlaying on the roads that need it. The roads were ar South. 124. In 1980 there were 2,731 and the city has approximately 4,200 residents r. , first-grad- e Syracuse Mayor DeLore Thurgood after hearing update at a recent meeting and commending the Davis School District on its policies on handling student growth in the schools 4 . |