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Show Heavy rainfall this past season caused extensive damage to road and runoff water channel at Red Canyon campgrounds. Forest service crew members work to Panguitch Native to Get 'Hall of Fame' Induction Nov. 1 1 It may be almost half a century late, but the honor that should have come to Levi Myers in 1932 will come in a slightly different way when the 74-year-old ex-athlete is inducted into Utah's Sports Hall of Fame on November 11. Myers formerly of Panguitch qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in the early 1930's but less than $25 kept him from participating in the Games held in Los Angeles in 1932. That things were different in those depresison days is apparent when Myers tells of his struggle to compete and qualify for every athletes dream the chance to compete in the Olympic games. Myers was selected as a member of the U.S. track team after competition at Soldiers' Field in Chicago in 1931. The 23-year-old athlete, who began his running career in the late 1920's, was clocked at 47.8 in the 440 in 1931 while he was a student at Utah State Agricultural College now Utah State University. Only two-fifths of a second off the world mark, his record stood unbroken tor 32 years as tne riocKy Mountain Collegiate record. At one point in his career after competing in National AAU competition in Pittsburg, Myers was asked to join the U.S. Team for a trip to South Africa but had to decline because he "didn't have $12.50 for a passport." Those were depression days and the effect was critical for Myers. After exciting victories at Soldiers Field in Chicago in 1931, Myers was named to the U.S. C.ympics track team. When he arrived back in his native Panguitch an attempt was made to raise the $25 he needed to travel to Palo Alto, after which all expenses would be paid by the Olympic Committee. When the fund-raiser turned up only $2.50, Myers was forced to give up his dream and stopped running shortly after. Myers remembers his principal at the old high school on the hill, Rudolph (Dolf) Church and his coach, Gilbert Marchant. Both dipped into their own pockets to help him get to Salt Lake for state competition. He married his childhood sweetheart, Ora Excell, in 1929. She had waited for him to complete college. Acknowleding that they fell in love when they were about eight years old, the happy pair celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1979, counting 21 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. Myers remembers working for 25-cents an hour at the locker room at college to try to help pay his way through. With his running career over and the hope of competing in the Olympic Games only a memory, Myers settled down to teach school for a year remove debris and will use this to build up read base level for future asphalt paving of roadway in the campground. Levi Myers in Cannonville, also teaching briefly in Panguitch and Koosharem before leaving for the Salt Lake area where he and his wife have lived since, currently in West Valley City. Myers was notified in a letter from the Old-Time Athlete's Association of the honor to come his way where he was among four selected from approximately 20 nominees for this year's laurels. Myer's portrait and a plaque will hang in the Salt Palace among those of other Utah outstanding sports figures. In the letter he received from the Old-Time Athletes' Association which sponsors the annual awards, Myers was told by secretary-treasurer Dick Ball that he would be awarded the "highest honor bestowable on a Utah Athlete" and that he would be "joining an elite group of Utah greats." In its 14th year, the Utah Sports Hall of Fame awards are coveted and respected among athletes and fans not only in Utah but all over the U.S. Myer acknowleges that back in 1931 he had a "tingling" in his legs and his "heart" in his mouth along with a few "sugar plums" in his head. Chances are that some of those same feelings may return when he steps up to recieve the recognition he should have received almost 50 years ago. Time should make the praises just a little sweeter. Tickets at $15 each are available for the awards banquet to be held at the Salt Lake Hilton November 11. They can be obtained from Stevens-Brown Sporting Goods Company, 3176 East 2100 South in Salt Lake City. Reservations for the event must be n'ade by November 9. |