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Show Utah Press Association Arinda Guttiere2 1521 £ 3900 S Ste 100 Salt Lake City UT 84124-1550 -Merry Christmas from ail of us at the Sentinel, may your days be Merry and Bright Sports: National Finals Rodeo, A14 | Schools: Christmas Gala at SFHS, B l Guardian of Your Community News Che SERVING SPANISH FORK SALEM • MAPLETON • WOODLAND HILLS • ELK RIDGE formerly The Spanish Fork News VOL. 4 / NO. 51 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2009 Christmas tree honors fallen 'pioneer' Christy Hardman STAFF WRITER Stella Evans showed the true spirit of Christmas this year by decorating and donating a tree to the Festival of Trees on behalf of her friend, Montell Seely of Emery County, who died in August of 2008 on one of the many handcart treks he took every year. This is the third tree Evans has donated. After the last one she wasn't going to do it again, but when Seely died, she wanted to pay tribute to him. She made all the decorations on the tree to reflect his life. To conform with the festival rules, the tree had to be artificial and pre-lit. Evans started in January 2009 sewing cowboy dolls, big ones and small ones, and she made everything on the dolls, from the jeans to the leather vests, the felt cowboy hats and the yarn mustaches — she even painted the faces. She made their cowboy boots out of barn wood. The big cowboy dolls were 32 inches high, and she set them up so one of them was pushing a handcart, one was pulling a handcart, and another was laying down with his feet propped up by a fire. The tree also had lariat ropes and barbed wire stars, as well as branding irons showing the Seeiy brand. She put a photo of Seely in front on an easel, and wrote a short tribute to him and his life. Courtesy photo / Emery County Progress PIONEER SPIRIT: Kathryn Seely and her granddaughter stand next to the tree display Stella Evans created to memorialize Montell Seely. His widow, Kathryn Seely, said she felt so honored by Evans' donation. "We are privileged and pleased, and just so happy about it," Kathryn said. In August Kathryn said they held a memorial for Seely, and Evans brought one of her cowboy dolls to it. "We were so excited by that," Kathryn said. "I wouldn't even estimate how many hours she spent on it. It is really special to us that she would do that." Stella and her husband, Allan, met Seely several years ago at the Days of '47 parade. The Evans have a covered wagon, which they See EVANS • A7 Sharing the warmth Salem Lights Parade Namon Bills STAFF WRITER On Monday, Dec. 22, Foothills Elementary in Salem donated over 350 winter clothing items to the Utah Valley Christmas Box Club. Each December Foot- hills sets up a "Share the Warmth" tree in the entryway of their school. Students are encouraged to earn their own money and purchase winter clothing items, including hats, mittens, gloves and scarves to donate. As students bring the items, they get to hang them on the tree. Then, prior to Christmas, the school donates the collected clothing to a local charity. This year, they selected the Utah Valley Christmas Box Club. The club was formed in February 2009 See FOOTHILLS • A7 Kate Jar man / The Sentinel NIGHT LIGHTS: The lights on Salem Pond got some company Saturday, Dec. 19 at the Salem Lights Parade. The parade took a reverse course this year, going from Knoll Park to the downtown ballpark. In addition to the lighted entries of the parade, there were fireworks this year to light up the night sky. Early Deadline Because of the Christmas holiday, The Sentinel will have an early deadline this week. All submissions for the Dec. 30 edition need to be in by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23. . .*#*^^ >• •• '-;;,:-^v Namon Bills / The Sentinel. DONATION: Foothills students join Principal Ed Schollenberger in presenting a "warm" donation to the Utah Valley Christmas Box Club. |