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Show Ceremonies Launch Bullfrog Ferry Along Colorado River BULLFROG MARINA The John Atlantic Burr Ferry, weighing 250 tons, measuring 100 feet in length and costing more than $1.5 million, made its maiden three-mile voyage from Bullfrog to the shores of San Juan County amid horns, cheering and hoopla. The Burr whose deck might be called State Highway 276 since it links Bullfrog and San Juan County, carried over 100 officials and invited guests, and a tour bus. It crossed the three-mile expanse of Lake Powell without incident, but was required to return to Bulfrog because the landing dock at Hall's Crossing will not be completed for three weeks. The launching of the Burr and the possibilities of shorter and more scenic travel routes that subsequently become available is the result of a greater cooperation,! among federal, state, local and' private agencies said Samuel Taylor, Utah Transportation Commission Chairman. The culmination of the two-year dream and monumental work brings an expectation of increased tourist travel said Taylor. Utah's governor Norman Bangerter accompanied by Garfield County officials led an entourage of sheriff's' deputies and others from the 69-mile Boulder-to-Bullfrog Road. The group left Boudler at 7 a.m., making two view stops at the top ol Long Canyon and the famous Burr Trail switchbacks before arriving at Bullfrog. Bangerter said "paving the Burr Trail can do the same thing that Lake Powell has done; it can open up this beautiful country to the people." Because it took 17 government and private entities to bring the project together, Lorraine Mintzmyer, Regional Director of the National Park Service said "a ferry may sound like a simple project, but this was a monumental task involving hundreds of people." The white and blue ferry owned by the Utah Department of Transportation and operated by Del E. Webb Recreational Properties, was christened by Utah's first lady Coleen Bangerter who launched the' 1 nautical career of the S.S. Burr, UDOT's first water-going project. The additional seven hundred who held ride tickets were subsequently given rides after the maiden voyage. Later, 200 ticket-holders crowded the Burr in the evening, and with the use of an old wooden paddle wheeler to haul the extra people, sailed up the river several miles for a barbecue dinner. Sailors for a day on the S.S. John Atlantic Burr from Garfield County were Mr, and Mrs. James Yardley. Panguitch; Clem Church, Panguitch; Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hatch, Panguitch; Mr. and Mrs. Dell LeFevre, Boulder; Mr. and Mrs. George Middleton, Panguitch; ' Mr. and Mrs. Guy Thompson and three children, Henrieville; and Mr and Mrs. Arnold Adair, Tropic. |