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Show The Ogden September 1, 2007 Valley news Your Community Newspaper PRSRT STD STD PRSRT POSTAGE PAID PAID POSTAGE PERMIT NO. NO. 11 11 PERMIT EDEN UT UT EDEN POSTAL PATRON PATRON POSTAL EDEN-LIBERTY-84310 EDEN-LIBERTY-84310 HUNTSVILLE-84317 HUNTSVILLE-84317 OGDEN CANYONCANYON- 84401 84401 OGDEN HCR 843AO 843AO HCR Howard Family Fundraiser— Evening in the park proceeds will benefit Howard family For many Valley residents, the tragic events of June 28 still remain fresh in their minds. On this day, Janine, Matthew, and Esther Howard of Huntsville lost their lives in a head-on automobile accident on Highway 89. Caleb Howard, also a victim of the accident, is still in the hospital and suffers from ongoing accident related injuries. Thanks to a wonderful outpouring from the community, many of the horrific expenses associated with this tragedy have been lightened. However, bills continue to mount. Several Valley residents and members of the Howard’s ward have planned a special evening at the Huntsville Park on September 7. Activities will begin at 6:00 p.m. and last until 10:00 p.m. All of the proceeds from the event will go to the Howard Family Relief Fund that has been established through Washington Mutual Bank. The variety show and entertainment planned have been designed to create a fun evening where Valley residents can come relax and “enjoy the show.” Following is a sample of what is in store for those who attend: Sunday congregation. Photo courtesy of Kevin Mikkelsen. Ogden Valley Balloon Festival Boosts End of Summer Business After 90 days of collective prayers for rain, the residents of Ogden Valley got their wish on the weekend of August 17 – 19, which just happened to coincide with the Ogden Valley Balloon Festival. Although the timing of the winds and the heavy rains that accompanied them didn’t work too well with the scheduled balloon launches, the Festival was by no means a “wash out.” In addition to all the locals who partook of all the events, visitors from all over the country and region descended on the Ogden Valley to enjoy all the festivities, which included live concerts at both the Festival Field in Eden and the Huntsville Park, a wonderful antique car show, food and vendor booths in Huntsville—including the hugely popular “John-Deere-tractor-blended-ice cream,” and the best pricing on season ski passes at both Powder and Wolf Mountains. The Xterra triathlon, which happened to be scheduled on Saturday August 18, took place at Pineview Reservoir, Wheeler Creek, and Snowbasin and also brought visitors from around the globe to our valley who enjoyed the multitude of festival activities. Lodging business was brisk, with Eden businesses reporting occupancies in excess of 80%. Art Hopson, General Manager of Moose Hollow Condominiums, noted that, in addition to housing all 31 balloon pilots and their crew, they were busy with event attendees. The condominiums are privately owned, with a large percentage being offered for nightly rental. “Our occupancy was in excess of 80%, which was terrific— it’s a number we might hit on a good winter powder weekend. Many of our owners and guests were delighted to discover that since their last winter visit, Harley and Bucks had moved into the Eden General Store. We heard nothing but good feedback on their experiences there.” Lakeside Village in Huntsville also reported strong lodging figures between Xterra guests and Balloon Festival visitors. Taylee Lundin, Director of Hospitality for Valley Lodging, reported that occupancy was at almost 100% given that many owners chose this weekend as their time for a summer visit. “The owners who came out to enjoy the festival weren’t disappointed, even with the stormy weather. They used this time to take advantage of other recreational offerings through Wolf Creek Adventures, such as horseback riding, kayaking, fly-fishing, and geocaching. A great time was had by everyone I spoke with—so many of them only come visit during ski season and they were just blown away with all the summer recreational activities available.” Kris Wilkerson of Wilkerson Fine Art was thrilled with the number of participants Compiled by Kera Erickson Mountain biking is a challenging, grueling, and sometimes even dangerous sport, but this summer a few Valley youth were up to the challenge. Several boys from the Winners of the Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Race Series. Valley made a name for themselves by racing on the Autoliv Mountain Biking team and competing in the Intermountain Cup Mountain Bike Race Series. The Intermountain Cup is a series of competitive mountain bike races that are held weekly throughout the summer. There Valley Student Life Flighted Out of Huntsville Park did their job very professionally—everyone By Shanna Francis who was involved, from the medical team to our playground supervisors. The whole On Tuesday, August 21, there was a lot of emergency response procedure went very excitement and commotion going on at Valley smoothly. We want to thank everyone. We just hope our Elementary, and it wasn’t student will be o.k. just because it was the and back at school first day of school. soon.” Shortly after noon Lee continued, during lunch recess, a “In spite of the accithird grade student fell dent, the students’ on the playground while first day back at playing tag football. school went well; it Because of prior health was a wonderful day. conditions, precautionary steps were taken; A third grade Valley Elementary student was The students just thus, paramedics were life flighted from Huntsville Park after a fall sparkled, and seemed called in and, eventually, on the play ground. The student spent three excited to be here. I a life flight helicopter, hours in surgery after suffering an internal have the best job.” So far this year, which took the student laceration, and is now recovering. Photo there are 655 stuto a Utah hospital. courtesy of Lane Hoyt of Huntsville. dents enrolled at Principal Lee stated, “We are so grateful for our paramedics. Valley. For the past five years, the average They responded very quickly. Everyone enrollment has hovered around 650. Ogden Valley News Representative Froerer Seeks Property Tax Solution in Meeting with Weber County Commissioners—Weber School District Representative Gage Froerer of Ogden Valley’s District 8 met with the Weber County Commission and the Weber County School District in mid August to discuss a possible property tax rebate in Weber County similar to that given in Davis County. Froerer is asking for a rebate of taxes to all owners whose property BALLOON FESTIVAL cont. on page 17 values increased over 25%. Local Youth Up For a Challenge FUNDRAISER cont. on page 9 Froerer stated that a rebate this year would help those hit hard by the increasing valuations, and would provide time to correct the problem on a permanent basis at the state level. Commissioner Zogmaister stated that a similar rebate wouldn’t be possible in Weber County. “Davis County was able to give a TAX SOLUTIONS cont. on page 17 Vietnam Veterans Gather for Reunion in Ogden Valley are twelve race events held throughout Utah and Wyoming. These races are held in various places as far away as St. George, Utah; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; and Evanston, Wyoming. The series attracts not only beginning riders, but also very seasoned and professional racers. Most of the races are staged at ski resorts and take place at elevations around 8,000 feet or higher. In one race, the elevation climbed from 2000 to 4000 thousand feet. The race terrain includes off road, mostly single-track courses, with technical and often treacherous descents. Besides traveling for races, the youth involved in the Autoliv Mountain Bike team also trained twice a week by participating in vigorous, 12 to 17 mile mountain bike rides. All that hard work paid off for the dedicated youth. Parker Gray, the son of Dennis and Judy Gray of Huntsville, entered in three races in the 13 - 15 year old beginner men’s class, placing a 2nd, 3rd, and a 4th place. Russell Davis, son of Terry and Clair Davis of Liberty, entered two races in the same day. Davis raced in the 12 and under beginners’ class, and then jumped up in class to race in the 13 -15 year men’s begin- David Brown of Liberty held a reunion for Vietnam veterams at his home on August 9. ner class. He placed 3rd in each race. It was quite an accomplishment to race first Pictured are, back row: David Brown, Ray Luttner, Gary Hearne, Bill Messer, Mike in his own class, and then, in the same day, Vickers, Dave Beights, Dean Wilson, Richard Young, Dan Bartow. Front row: Denis LeClair, Al Brick, Jim Anders, Brad Bogart, Dave Lehman, Rey Blazon, Greg Manning, LOCAL YOUTH cont. on page 14 John Murray. See page 10 for article and more photos. |