Show k f 'WVVMWW Ifft me KT WORKS Ralph's story a college town lining at about Picture feet on the rolling green foothilli valley at the bate of the great Rocky Mountains From the crowded university stadium the 8000-foo- t mountains loom in the background creating a majestic backdrop for the pending evening of Independence Day program and fireworks As families and acquaintances chat about the events that they have enjoyed for the day children squirm others are quiet but still basking in the warmth of the day TVo small Cessna-182 planes approach at about 6000 feet above to drop their load of eight volunteer sky jumpers The arrival of these jumpers will signal the opening of the evening's events Each of the seasoned exhibition-certifisky divers is checking! Ralph Butiet the senior jumper ii 40s warns the youngest jumpers including Roger his son of the evening turbulence that occurs as the cooling air on the mountains tumbles the warmer air downward into the valley below Ralph’s wife Janet is sitting in the crowd with Roger’s girlfriend She looks upwards as the sky divers begin leaping out of the plane each sky diver has full nith in the chutes I to their backs Janet seldom goes to it's performances for fear she: will witness i accident happening to her husband As a young boy Ralph was cycling down a steep paved road near his home when the brakes gave out He hit the curb and went over the handlebars headfirst into the ground and was knocked unconscious A passing physician picked him up and drove him to die hospital He survived as a helicopter gunner in the Vietnam War As a general building contractor he has cut open his knee with a saw A cut on his head from a low overhanging ceiling required 40 stitches He crashed while paragliding behind a boat breaking the water skis when he came down He suffered only ‘ minor scratches ed biw and fly his i plane ski the black runs on surrounding ski resorts and live through being struck by a boh of lightning Janet was beginning to feel a hide more comfortable in attending these events Ralph seldom complains he has a very posi- live attitude He is bright and a hard worker: He currently has five homes under construe- tkm He is the father of two grown sons and a daughter He is a good Esther and husband He ’ is active in his community and his church The air is calm as the divers emerge from the planes each parachute opening m sequence TVo groups of four link briefly into a circle Hands release as each continues on his own Their descent is progressing at about 30 miles per hour Just above the rim of the stadium the turbulent air is spilling into the stadium stronger than anticipated The turbulence hits pulling at them like a vacuum throwing most of the sky divers off course Several land out of the stadium One diver lands in the stadium The second Roger lands in the stadium hits harder than usual and is thrown off balance Janet becomes worried wfaea she sees Roger hit then realizes that it is Ralph who is now coming into) low over the top of the bleachers He skims barely above the heads of the anxious onlookers Ralph knows he is in trou-b!-e He pulls on the front risers of his chute to get mote speed to get over the crowd He does nor want anyone to get hurt but he endangers his owi landing at this rate of descent He planned to pull on the brakes at the last minute fanning out his chute to break his landing Everything happened so fast His hands groped for the brakes but too late Ralph hit over the crowd his feet touching down hard barely on the outside edge of the track that surrounds the grass of the stadium Tbe skin on the bottoms of his feet burst like a ripe tomato The force of the hit threw him back up into the air flipping him over on an extended part of the tarmac that is cushioned on the far edge His body is lifeless His head and feet are bleeding profusely The crowd in the stadium is safe Roger runs from the end of the field and embraces his father in his arms He thought he was dead His love boiling from within seeks to hold onto his dad to somehow protect him and to keep him alive Janet is across on the other side of the stadium her heart sinks and she fears die worst as she blindly runs the fear swelling inside her dowa the bleacher stain through the yellow barrier across the grass and to her husband She is ripped apart inside With tears flowing she embraces her husband The ambulance is soon at his side Para-medics check for vitals He is alive but uncon- - ' scious They put a neck brace on Ralph cut away the chute's bands and some of his clothes Someone gently grabs Janet and leads her away from the scene and comforts her: She is panicked Neither she nor Roger were allowed to ride in the ambulance to the hospital leu than a mile away During the ambulance ride Ralph gains consciousness and pleads "Let me get up and getout of here It is not until he is told that his legs are broken that he agrees to stay The trauma center of the local hospital secures him for transport and he is flown by helicopter to a larger hospital about 30 miles away Ralph had just purchased the first health insurance plan be had had in several years effective June 1 because ofhis concern about getting cancen His mother died of bone cancer when he was a young man His father died last year also of cancer Ralph is my cousin he enjoys playing golf father He loves the outwith my doors and is full of energy When I saw him the next day he was crumpled on the seemingly too small hospital bed He had already had surgery on his lower legs that morning Large pins were inserted to push the fibula and tibu apart where the bones had been shoved together Both bones in his leftlrg have compression fractures and one in his right leg His hip is broken his ankles are shattered in several pieces and will have to be fined The total extent of the damage is not known His left eye swollen shut is sutured just below the eyebrow A fracture is found below each eye His legs and feet are bandaged and grossly swollen red green and yellow Ralph is eating JcQ-Jell-out of three different bowls His daughter is nooning it in He tells us the details his outlook is positive He still wants to jump His thumb is braced over the morphine oxygen and IV tubes ran into his body He drifts in and out of sleep but he wakes up with the answer when a question is asked — even when it is not directed to him He faces surgery on Monday July 6 to repair the fracture under his left eye perhaps a plate will need to be inserted His broken nose will also be repaired Wednesday he will undergo more suigeqr and from then on no one knows Ralph is a fighter He will make it hay for Ralph f O O — by Lynatta B FiKz Ogden Friday r ‘ s A' t- - 'MSB? July 10 1998 —Page Sv ''vU f ' V 11 (ii " Timm Stray is just on of ttw pieces featured in Om pioneer coOection Moments in time Hons brings collection to Logan celebration of its 123th Zions Bank is bringing 12 works of art by noted Utah artist VhLoy Eaton to the Bank's City Center office at 102 North Main in Logan next month The collection titksd “Moments in Time: Utah Pioneers and The Landscape” was commissioned by Zions Bank for its permanent collection The exhibit opens to the public on Thursday July 9 and win continue through Thursday July 23 Hours for the exhibit are from 8 am to 3 pm Monday through Thursday and 8 am to 6 pm on Fridays Each painting captures a moment in the life and landscape of Ia the early settlers of the state of Utah Works in the collection include Jacob Hamblin— Three Strays Jeremiah Hatch and die Vies Lute September—Emigration Canyon and First Flowing 'This pioneer series was begun with a desire to do a couple of subjects but these seemed to lead to more and this resulted in the dozen paintings which Zions Bank added to their collection" Eaton said Tam indebted to them for their friendship and support and for their interest in my work" VhLoy Eaton has been a professional artist for nearly 30 years and is recognized among the nation's finest landscape artists Ceramic workshop offered The Ceramics Guild at Utah State University is sponsoring a free workshop featuring artist and educator Tun Mather: Mather will be at USU July 17 and 18 for the workshop to be held in the ceramics studio in the department of art The workshop runs 9 ajn to 3 pjn each day and is open to anyone interested in ceramics Mather is an assistant professor of art at Indiana UniversityrHisc works have been exhibited since 1963 and have been included in more than 273 shows During the first day of the worka variety of shop Tim will slip-caobjects from machinery parts to other st forms Later ia the day he will assemble these parts into a teapot Mather will also show slides of his work and other historical ceramics examples Call 797-33- 66 or 730-016- 4 for more inform ’00 Marley Moose visits Jackson Monica M Keari of Mantua has been selected as a featured artist in the 1998 Mountain Artists Ren-dezvous this July 1011 and 12 in Jackson Wya -- She was selected for her work and creation of Marley Moose and the Jam Packed Backpacks Stories Harley Takes a HikeJOk No! Harley Sleeps In were written and illustrated by Keari The stories were inspired by a family vacation at Jenny Lake in the Grand Ifcton National Park She has also written and illustrated the Journal of Hy Journey which helps children record their adventures with the help of Marley Moose The Rendezvous features approximately 130 different artists |