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Show Volume XXX Issue XI The Ogden Valley News Page 5 March 15, 2023 H.E.L. “Dunny Runners” Compete in Alaska’s Fur Rondy Festival! H . E . L . (Huntsville, Eden, Liberty) Dunny Runners descended on Alaska last week (Feb. 25) to participate in the Fur Rondy Festival, which takes place in Anchorage the week leading up to the Dunny Runners take the Iditarod Race. People’s Choice Award at the Started in 1935, Fur Rondy Festival. Fur Rendezvous (aka “Rondy”), is a celebration of the pioneering spirit of Alaskans. The Dunny Runners built a port-o-potty structure and registered in the World’s Largest Outhouse Race. Attached to a pair of crosscountry skis, the team took turns riding and sprinting it up and down a two-lane course on Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage. They squared off against a group dressed as sharks, dads in diapers, active military groups, and many other teams. Each outhouse was required to have a hole for a “toilet,” toilet paper, a toilet paper holder, a helmet, and reading material for the rider, and a clip of tendollar bills to be paid if they bumped into the pylon in the middle of the course. This money, along with the $100 registration, is part of a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. While the Dunny Runners did not win the race, they won the hearts of the crowd, coming home with something even more valuable: The People’s Choice trophy! Their team Free Community Trail Mixer Event Planned for March 16 The Trail Foundation of Downtown Ogden at Northern Utah (TFNU) will host a “trail mixer” event March 16 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at The Monarch in Ogden. This is an opportunity for you, the trail user, to support the trails you love. Regardless of how you choose to enjoy the trails, the Trail Mixer is a great way to meet fellow trail enthusiasts while getting to know TFNU better. Come learn who we are, what we do, and how you can help! Stop by The Monarch in 455 25th St. and enjoy a casual evening with us. Meet the TFNU Team and Board Members, visit the different information stations, hear more about our projects, learn more about what TFNU does in the community, and see how you can get involved. Follow us on social media and check our website (tfnu.org) often for more details on this and other upcoming events from TFNU. Peterson Family Announce 60-Year Anniversary Open House youth. Shortly after the explosion, the govern- Dunny Runners outhouse they built for the race. name was selected because one of their racers, Brendan Marshall, hails from Australia, where outhouses are called “dunnies.” Other Valley participants included Wendy and Matt Toliver, Leigh Chessler, Heather Marvell, Joely Lackey, Ashley Stoddard, and Miller Toliver, and Collin Toliver—who now resides in Anchorage. Members of Peterson family from 1963 with their three sons who were severely injured after a live bazooka shell exploded in the their home. Family and friends are invited to join the J. Orville Peterson family for an open house acknowledging the 60th anniversary of the bazooka explosion that occurred in the Peterson Huntsville home on April 20, 1963. It will be held at the Ogden Valley Library, 131 S. 7400 E., Huntsville, on Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. There will be light refreshments and some memorabilia to view. The three Peterson brothers who were critically injured will be talking and sharing their experiences of the explosion and of their lives with the disabilities that resulted from surviving the explosion. They would also be interested in hearing your stories remembering the explosion. On April 23, 1963, just three days after the explosion, Air Force demolition experts positively identified the exploding device that critically injured three of the Peterson sons— James, Donald, and Orville—as a 3.5 bazooka shell. The shell was later traced back to a National Guard or Marine Reserve unit that had been undergoing training exercises in the foothills south of Huntsville Town where the bazooka shell had been found by the Peterson ment posted a sign reading, “Authorized Target Area. Keep Out Until Further Notice.” The bazooka shell had been sawed into two pieces earlier by one of the Peterson boys. Why it did not explode at this time, or while being hauled back to the home after it was found, is what, some call, a miracle. The shell was originally left outside the home for some time before, days later, being brought into the home for further examination by the Peterson boys and their friends. Family members say that it is also a miracle that no one was killed, or that numerous others weren’t injured along with Don, Jim, and Orville. The youngest brother had just left the home and was still walking down the sidewalk with his back towards the home and escaped relatively unscathed. Another sister had also just recently left the home with some friends, and a large group of the boys’ friends had also left within minutes of the explosion occurring. An article that ran in the Standard Examiner on April 25, 1963 noted that within days, several other neighbors had turned in as many as 15 dummy shells and one live bazooka shell, smoke grenades, machine gun bullets, and TNT with blasting caps. An article states, “The latest discovery was made Wednesday morning when five one-half pound bricks of TNT were found on the farm of Charles Shupe. The elder Mr. Shupe had called the sheriff’s office when his boy produced a dummy bazooka shell. “When Deputy Halvor Bailey went by the farm to pick up the shell, Jerry Shupe and his father advised Baily to pick up the rest in the barn. The explosive charge was hidden in an old cast-iron stove. “Airmen from the HAFB Demolition Team said, if static electricity had ignited the caps, the TNT in the stove would have acted just like a bomb, leveling the barn and thrown shrapnel more than 1,000 feet.” Whether you have been formally introduced to a member of the Peterson family, or not, all are welcome to attend the open house. Dunny Runners from HEL represented Ogden Valley in the annual Outhouse Race in Anchorage, Alaska. Photos courtesy of Wendy Toliver. 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