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Show Volume XXIII Issue XVIII The Ogden Valley news Page 9 March 1, 2016 The Autobiography of Robert L. “Bob” Wangsgard – Part V Note: The following is composed of excerpts from the autobiography of Robert L. “Bob” Wangsgard who turned 100 years December 22, 2015. This autobiography was written a little more than 15 years ago when Bob was preparing to celebrate his 85th birthday. Part I ran in the December 15, 2015 issue of The Ogden Valley News, Part II in the January 1, 2016 issue, Part III in the February 1 issue, and Part 1V in February 15 issue. If the ground was soft, it took two teams to pull [a] loaded [beet] wagon onto the road. The beet “dump” was built alongside the railway a mile north of town. After weighing, the loaded wagon was driven alongside the dump. A cable was attached to one side of the beet box and that side was raised to dump the beets into a large bin. A conveyor rolled the beets as it elevated them into the railway beet cars. The rolling knocked off dirt and roots and a few leaves and these were dumped into the empty beet box. The wagon and box were then weighed and a receipt issued for the pounds of beets delivered. The recovered dirt was returned to the field. Raising of beets in Ogden Valley ceased by the time I started high school in the early 1930’s. White flies and nematodes invaded the fields and the sugar company moved their factories to Idaho and Oregon where fields were larger and bigger factories could process sugar cheaper. All I have as a carryover from working sugar beets in a fairly strong back. To the extent my strong back is the result of thinning and topping beets, I am satisfied with having had the experience. We raised oats and wheat and barley. These crops matured after the haying season and served to keep us busy the latter part of the summer. This was before the time of combines, grain trucks, and power-driven elevators. Our grain was cut and bundled by use of a grain binder pulled by three of our strongest horses. I was selected to operate the binder for a number of years, probably from about age 15 to 21. The binder was a marvelous piece of machinery when it worked as designed. The CAUCUS cont. from page 1 James Evans commented, “We are very excited about conducting the first-ever online and in-person Presidential Preference Caucus in conjunction with our traditional caucus night. Really, I think of this process as a “virtual caucus” where a Utahn who is a registered Republican that is out of town, working, or has a pressing obligation is able to vote for their presidential candidate from the convenience of their computer or smart phone. Utah is spearheading this new process, which has never been done before in the nation. If a registered Republican cannot attend in person or vote online, they also have the option of casting an absentee ballot. We still encourage everyone to attend their neighborhood caucus in person to meet their neighbors and to learn more about the candidates and issues of the day.” Voters need to be Registered Republicans in order to participate in Caucus Night and the Presidential Preference Caucus. Those who horses moved forward and a large cleated drive wheel set all the moving parts in motion. A grain knife about 7 feet long shuttled back and forth between the knife guards and neatly cut off each stalk of grain. As the grain was cut off, a large reel with slats rotated above the knife and neatly laid the stalks of grain on the platform behind the knife. All the grain heads laid lay neatly toward the rear. The platform was covered with a large canvas carrier that rotated and carried the cut grain toward the main part of the binder. As the grain stalks reached the inside edge of the platform, they came in contact with two sets of rotating canvas that received the grain from the platform canvas and elevated it to the higher part of the binder. At the top of the binder, two packer arms compressed the stalks of grain into a fairly neat, tight bundle. When the bundle compartment reached the preset size and density, the pressure tripped the tying mechanism. A lever threaded with binder twine rotated around the compressed bundle and a “mechanical man” tied the knot in twine around the bundle and then cut the twine. Two more arms rotated and pushed the bundle onto the ground. All this was done as the three horses continued at a good walking pace around the grain field. The binder was a complex piece of machinery. We carried a tool box with tools and spare parts. If we didn’t have the needed part, we often knew the location of an old abandoned binder that could be stripped of parts to get ours going. Operating that piece of machinery has proved to be a valuable experience all my life. I learned that each mechanical failure is usually caused by a loose or worn or broken part. Most of these can be fixed by a person willing to find and repair the problem. There is no need to dial 911 or a repair service every time a bolt works loose or someone inadvertently trips a switch. After the grain was neatly cut and was lying in the field in bundles, the real work began. It was usually about 60 days after harvesting before we could expect the threshing machine. To keep grain from spoiling or are not registered Republicans can register at https://secure.utah.gov/voterreg/ or can affiliate as Republican at their caucus meeting on March 22. To pre-register, the voter will need to do two things: • Go to http://utah.gop/ and click “Pre-Register Now” and complete the registration form • Upon registration, if the voter chooses the option to vote for their Presidential Preference online, the voter will be issued a unique PIN number that they need to place in a secure place and which will be used on March 22, 2016 to go online and vote for their presidential candidate. If you choose not to vote online, then just show up at your precinct caucus on March 22, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. and vote in person or cast an absentee ballot. For additional information about the Presidential Preference Caucus, please contact Bryan Smith, Executive Director, at 801-5339777 or at <bsmith@utah.gop> March 26 & 27, 2016 30th Annual For more info, call 801-399-8491 www.co.weber.ut.us/parks/fortb During Lent, Friday night Mass at 6:30 p.m. followed by Stations of the Cross Saturday Night 5:00 p.m. Sunday Morning 9:30 a.m. Tuesday Night 5:00 p.m. followed by The Rosary and Adoration Fr. Ken Vialpando 801-399-5627 Tuesday 5:30-6:30 p.m. or by appointment. Saint Joseph Catholic Elementary, Middle School, and High School Providing a challenging, college-focused education in the proven tradition of Catholic schools, for the families of the Ogden Valley. We want to teach your children! For information on our program, financial assistance, tours, or application, please call 801-393-6051 or 801-394-1515. sprouting in the fall rains, we had to pick up the bundles two at a time and stand them in “shocks.” Shocks consisted of a group of 6, 8, or 10 bundles leaning against each other with the butt end of the bundle on the ground and the grain heads upright leaning against each other so they shed the rain, and the grain heads could dry. If we needed the fields for fall feed for cattle, we then loaded the bundles onto our hayracks and hauled and stacked them into a tall grain stack to await the thresher. Threshing grain was a big “to do” operation. If the grain was already stacked, it required at least three to six pitchers to toss the bundles into the thresher. One person had to handle the bagger, one the straw stacks, and about three more were required to haul the grain to the granary. Add the thresher owner and his assistant and there was a minimum of ten on a threshing crew. If the grain was not pre-stacked, but was being hauled from the field directly to the thresher, at least six more men were required. This size of crew had to be assembled from all over town, and the custom had developed for the farmer’s wife to feed the threshing crew. Ten to sixteen large, hungry men all trying to “out-eat” each other is an event to be remembered. I remember several years of thresher’s meals and then my father broke up the tradition by telling the men they would have to bring their lunch or drive their cars home for lunch. About the time I left the farm, combines came into being and the binders, threshing machines, farm granaries and thresher’s meals disappeared from the farm procedures. Hauling the grain from the thresher to the granary was a heavy labor job. Each sack was filled with 90 pounds of grain. The sacks were usually left untied so the handler had to grip the tops of the bags to keep the grain from spilling as it was handled. At the granary, the wagon was backed up to the outside door and the hauler gripped each 90-pound bag, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and walked up a cleated plank to dump the grain into the bins. At the end of the day of hauling grain, no one felt like going “out on the town.” When it came time to sell the grain, it had to be re-sacked and hauled to the mills in Ogden. Re-sacking was often a one-man, one-boy job. The boy held the sack open while the man scooped the grain out of the bin into the sack. My father built a sacking chute on the side of the granary to avoid some of the shoveling. The sack was attached to the chute and a sliding door raised to let the grain out of the top 80 percent of the bin to run into the sack. It was a real manpower-saver. It would even allow someone to get a small bucket of grain for the horse. One of our smarter horses observed where his grain came from, walked over to the grain chute, put its nose against the sliding door, and pushed it up and out of its slot. The grain from the top part of the granary ran out of the slot until the stack on the ground was up to the slot. We had the fun of re-sacking and carrying about a ton of grain back to the top of the granary bin. From The Past . . . Valley Elementary First Grade 1961-62 If you can identify any of these students, please call Shanna at 801-745-2688 or Jeannie at 801-745-2879. |