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Show 1987 Events Reviewed In Annual 'News' Chronology A review of the past year's happenings hap-penings reminds us how fast the months go by. Could all of this have happened in 1987? See if you can remember... JANUARY Good news to start the year was that the county's trash dump at Panguitch would be good for at least four more years before the need to seek another site. The Christmas holiday load is unusually heavy said Keith Moore who operates oper-ates the county's trash truck to service the approximately 100 dumpsters located throughout Garfield County. Four county officials were swom into office Monday, Jan. 5. Taking office were Sheriff Robert Judd, Commissioners Sherell Ott and Louise Liston and Treasurer Judy Henrie. An Orderville couple claimed the J first baby of the new year to be I born at Garfield Memorial Hospital in Panguitch. A baby daughter, Kristy, joined four brothers at the Bryan Goulding home in Orderville. A mountain lion surprised a young Tropic housewife early in the morning of Jan. 6, leading an experienced hunting dog and his hunting guide master on a merry chase before the lion was brought down with a tranquilizer dart and removed to a more remote area. County Attorney Pat Nolan officially of-ficially took over the reins as president of the Utah Association of Counties, the first elected official of Garfield County to hold the post since the organization's inception in 1923. The year's Burr Trail saga began with an announcement by county commissioners of their intent to proceed with improvements to a 27.8-mile section of the road. The three commissioners had traveled to Salt Lake City on Jan. 8 to meet with the Community Impact Board and request an additional $600,000 to add to the board's earlier commitment com-mitment of $1.4 million. Plans were to start work as soon as weather premitted. Panguitch High School homecoming home-coming royalty was named with Monica Miller chosen queen, Laurel Matthews as first attendant and Al-isha Al-isha Hatch as second attendant. Panguitch residents were excited about renovation work on the century-old Haycock residence adjacent to the post office on First West. Purchased by Downey, Calif., resident resi-dent Robert Schermcrhorn, it is being be-ing fully restored and will be a retirement re-tirement home for the Schermer-horns Schermer-horns in 1990. FEBRUARY Approximately 50 people assembled as-sembled on the Burr Trail Feb. 3 for a "show me" tour for contractors bidding on the project. The county See Page 3 Column 1 " Continued From Page 1 1987 Events Reviewed In Annual 'News' Chronology had advertised for bids on the project pro-ject which county officials said could be stopped only with a court order. Ice fishing season at Panguitch Lake was well underway, with Conversation Officer Norm McKee offering some good advice for successful suc-cessful fishing. The lake has become be-come an increasingly more popular place each season as more and more people discover the fun of fishing through the ice. Forty percent of ambulance calls during the previous year were trauma associated said Operations Officer Bob McCullough as he summarized the emergency calls for the county's ambulances, crediting the county's emergency medical technicians who man them as some of the best in the state. Forty thousand travelers visited the county's information booths during 1986, with all visitation figures for the county up substantially. County Commissioners accepted Harper Excavation's low bid of $854,233 to grade and drain a 27.8-mile 27.8-mile section of the Burr Trail. The Kearns-based company's bid was $963,603 under the engineers' estimates esti-mates for the job. The same company com-pany had previously done work in the county, an approximately seven-mile section from U-12 to Kings Creek Campground and an eight-mile section from Salt Gulch toward Hells Backbone. Construction Construc-tion on the Burr Trail was expected to begin within 10 days with the contractor having 150 days in which to complete the work. A Cedar City man was the overall winner of the annual Bryce Canyon Cross Country Ski Race at Ruby's Inn February 16. Scott Fletcher also captured first place in the 1985 event and says he'll be back in February of this year to take it again. The Panguitch High School girls basketball team won its first ever Region 12 championship February 14 in Panguitch. They edged out championship bracket wins over Enterprise 35-34 and a 39-38 victory over Valley in the final. fi-nal. The Lady Cats also knocked over Kanab in the first round of ac-; ac-; tion 62-51. Head coach was Heidi Henrie and her assistant was Ann Reynolds. Named to the all-tournament team were Misty Miller and Suzette Holman. i Harper Excavation president Rulon Harper brought some added good news to the county when he promised to hire approximately 20 local people to work on the Burr Trail construction project The Garfield County News won several major awards during the annual an-nual Utah Press Association convention con-vention in Salt Lake City, capturing captur-ing a first place in news photography, photogra-phy, a first place in the feature story category, second place in best advertising, and third places in best feature photograph and best feature column. MARCH Garfield County Commissioner Tom Hatch was named chairman of the Five County Association of Governments Steering Committee. The committee has members composed com-posed of mayor representatives, commissioner representatives, and school representatives from Garfield, Kane, Washington, Iron and Beaver counties. Garfield County Emergency Medical Technicians involved in recertifying took part in a victim extrication course conducted by Kim Soper in Tropic, with 21 stu-I stu-I dents and 15 instructors participating. participat-ing. Federal Judge Aldon Anderson I granted a preliminary injunction j March 10 halting the county's Burr I, Trail improvement project. The decision de-cision came after two weeks of hearings. A coalition of four envi- - ronmentalist organizations had filed i for the injunction, j Construction was underway on a J new bridge over the Sevier River in Johnson Canyon north of Hatch. Garfield County schools were successful in obtaining grants in the amount of $67,767, but revenues rev-enues were expected to be lower overall for the district. The Panguitch High School BjAettes captured a first-ever first pftce in state drill team competition March 21 at Spanish Fork. Choreographers Chore-ographers for the prize winning routines were Jolyn Branhurst, Lu-cinea Lu-cinea Josie, Annette Hatch, Monica Miller, Laurel Matthews, Lisa ' Henrie and Vicky Knighton. Mon-a Mon-a ica Miller was named to the all-W all-W state drill team. V APRIL I Tnfee Panguitch High School I seniors captured honors at the Ninth P Annual Southwest Utah Sterling Scholar competition held in Cedar I City April 2. Roshell Proctor ' claimed a first place in homemak-ing homemak-ing competition, and Ryan Houston (vocational and industrial arts) and Jolyn Barnhurst (business education) educa-tion) were each named runners-up. Garfield County elected officials attending the Annual Management Conference of the Utah Association of Counties in Ogden April 1-3 joined with elected officials from all over Utah in unanimous support of Garfield County's position on the Burr Trail. The state and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation aporoved puchase and assumption of the failed Bank of Iron County by Dixie State Bank, a St. George bank, in the first negative bid transaction in Utah. The Board of Directors of FDIC and the Utah Commissioner of Financial Institutions Elaine Weis finalized the transaction April 9. The takeover affected the Bank of Iron County's branch in Escalante. Dixie State Bank assumed approximately $19.9 million in deposits in 6,300 deposit accounts and purchased all of Bank of Iron County's assets at a discount of $3.5 million. FDIC provided $3.3 million in cash to DSB, representing the value of BIC's bad assets, $1.1 million of which had been declared uncollectible uncol-lectible and the balance as classified or substandard assets. The difference between the $3.5 million discount and the $3.3 million paid by FDIC to DSB was accounted for in BIC's remaining $23 1 ,000 capital. Garfield County's jail received an excellent rating in an inspection by the Utah State Board of Health. The jail is designed to accomodate nine prisoners, and has undergone substantial remodeling in recent past years. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for Escalante's new high school on April 15, with more than 100 area residents on hand for the event. Announcing retirement from the Garfield County School District were Alden Black with 37 years, Hal Shurtz with 37 years, Rula Spencer with 32 years, and Marjie Spencer with 27 years. . , MAY Panguitch City Council members mem-bers considered the results of a study contracted for with representatives of Intermountain Consumer Power Association which revealed that municipal power for Panguitch is in the realm of feasibility. Costs of the study were not to exceed $10,000, and city fathers continued to study the results. The 22nd Annual Desert Downs Race Meet was held May 1-2 in Escalante drawing horse-racing competition from throughout the intermountain west. Fifteen races were held, sponsored by the Escalante Es-calante Riding Club. Garfield County lost its oldest resident May 9 with the death of Nora Pearson, 104, of Panguitch. Business activity in Garfield County for 1986 was reported up by 7.7 percent, according to the Utah Foundation, a private tax research re-search organization. Total sales came to $25,21 1,000. Garfield County schools graduated gradu-ated a total of 76 seniors for the year, with Panguitch High graduating graduat-ing 37, Escalante 17, Bryce Valley 23, and Ticaboo 4. Rep. Wayne Owens (D-Utah) addressed the graduates grad-uates at his alma mater Panguitch High School. Federal District Judge Aldon Anderson traveled 66 miles of the Burr Trail June 8, with the caravan taking more than seven hours to make the trip. They stopped frequently fre-quently to observe road conditions, take pictures, listen to engineers' explanations, and enjoy the spectacular spec-tacular view. Six Garfield County seniors were named to Girls State by the Panguitch American Legion Auxiliary: Auxil-iary: Marci Kile and Trisha Cough-lin Cough-lin from Escalante High School and Annette Hatch, Lisa Henrie, Laurel Matthews and Terrie Baldwin from Panguitch High School. The event took place at Southern Utah State College June 14-20. Two Panguitch natives received honorary doctoral degrees from Southern Utah State College in Cedar City. Degrees were granted to J. Elliot Cameron, commissioner of the church educational system for the LDS Church and Walter D. Talbot, former Utah State Superintendent Superin-tendent of Public Instruction. Local selection committees were kept busy as a record turnover of teachers and staff took place in Garfield County schools. A total of 19 positions had to be filled in area schools as many took advantage of the state's early retirement plan. Twenty-five "horseless carriages" car-riages" stayed overnight at Pink Cliffs Bryce Village in Bryce June 22. Participants in "The Red Rock Rendezvous" were making a trip of some 1,900 miles. Their classic old cars all were older than 1915 vintage, vin-tage, and their owners came from 15 different states. The Panguitch Thoroughbred Association sponsored horse races June 19-20 in Panguitch, with 18 races in all. One of the highlights of the meet was the 14 win, place or show spots captured by jockey James Sorenson. For the 18 races, eight Friday and 10 Saturday, Sorenson took six firsts, three seconds, sec-onds, and five third place positions. JULY Residents in communities throughout the county held special July 4 celebrations, many featuring , a Constitutional Bicentennial ; theme. By July it was obvious that the county was enjoying one of its busiest tourist seasons ever. Many of the motels in the county were" booked for the year, and nearly all county businesses were running substantially over last year. At Panguitch Lake, four children, chil-dren, ages 12, 6, 3 and 18 months, narrowly escaped death when the three-year-old pulled the automatic , transmission lever into neutral in a parked motorhome, releasing the . vehicle which rolled over a 25-foot , embankment into the lake. The 12-. year-old escaped on the way down the bank, but the remaining three , were rescued by an unidentified visiting Las Vegas fireman. A miniature twister ripped through the Kaibab Sawmill yard in Panguitch July 8, literally lifting ! the mine timber building off its foundation and from around mill-" wright Daryl Veater inside. Veater was unharmed in the incident. A trail date for the Burr Trail issue is-sue was set in Salt Lake City by . Federal Judge Aldon Anderson, with a pre-trial hearing set for mid-August. The county's newest visitors center, a portable unit, opened at Panguitch Lake. The unit can be utilized at any part of the county ,sai(j'.Bjob BenCeld.iGarfieldTravel . . Council chairman. A search by some 80 volunteers resulted in the early morning resuce of a four-and-one-half year-old boy who had wandered away from a fishing camp on the south end of Piute Reservoir July 13. He was found at 6:50 the following morning morn-ing by five searchers on horseback on a rugged lava hill a mile and a half south of where he had last been seen the previous day. Jared Peterson Peter-son was happy to be reunited with his parents, David and Sandra Peterson of Panguitch. Nearly a week of excitement mingled with an uneasy fear ended for residents of Cannonville in the early morning hours July 22 when wildlife officers killed a near-300- . lb. black bear that had been harrassing several homes in the area. Just three nights earlier, the bear had pushed a hole through the screened back door of the Robert Ott residence where the Otts were preparing dinner. Nine states were represented at the Second Annual Old Time Fiddlers Fid-dlers Association contest held July 16-19 at the Panguitch High School gym. Martin C. (Marty) Ott was named superintendent at Capitol Reef National Park. Ott, 40, is a Utah native and son of a National Park Service family. He was born in Panguitch and considers Tropic his home. Ott served as chief ranger at Big Bend National Park in Texas before being named to the Capitol Reef post. "Things to Remember" was the theme for the Panguitch July 24 celebration that brought record numbers of people "back to their roots," according to Panguitch Mayor Jon Torgerson. Serving as Pioneer Day Grand Marshal in the parade was lifetime resident Kern Owens. AUGUST Terrie Baldwin, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clair Baldwin, was named Miss Garfield County at the annual pageant held at the Panguitch LDS Stake Center. Named as her first attendant was Sheila LeFevre of Tropic, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Reed LeFevre and as second attendant, atten-dant, Monica Miller, Panguitch, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Miller. Three hundred pounds of black bear, killed by wildlife officers after harassing the town, became a barbecued bar-becued dinner for townspeople. The barbecue may become an annual event in the community, but hopefully, hope-fully, dinner will be "mock" bear the next time. Damages were high after 2.25 inches of rain deluged Panguitch in an eight-hour period August 7. The flooding rains also reached into the Bryce Canyon National Park and Bryce Valley area, bringing flooding flood-ing of the Paria and creeks that flow into it. Weather officials at the Forest Service weather station in Panguitch reported a record rainfall for the first 1 1 days of August. Over 400 people took part in the 50th anniversary reunion of former Widtsoe residents who gathered at Pine Lake for their annual reunion. Former residents of the abandoned town, some now living as far away as Paris, France and Jakarta, Indonesia In-donesia and in the eastern U.S. came for the three-day event Old timers mustered at Ruby's Inn near Bryce Canyon August 15, some perhaps for the last time, for the all-day 50th anniversary reunion of Company 962, Camps NP3 and NP4 of the old Civilian Conservation Conserva-tion Corps. Their barracks had been located at nearby Bryce Canyon National Park during the depression years of the 1930's when the federal government created the CCC to provide work for unemployed men and assist their families at the same time. More than 30 members of the two camps, some who had not seen each other in 50 years, attended. SEPTEMBER Under a blue cloudless sky, the fourth annual Bryce Canyon Rim Run got underway with more than 200 entrants. Chad Bennion of Murray broke the previous record set in 1986 while Diane Beckstead, Enoch, finished first for the women. Arguments and testimony continued con-tinued in Salt Lake City where county commissioners indicated the trial could run several weeks. Plaintiffs were a coalition of environmentalist envi-ronmentalist organizations the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Wilderness Society, and National Parks and Conservation Association. Associa-tion. The Bureau of Land Management Manage-ment and Garfield County are defendants in the case. Environmentalist Clive Kincaid, whose partly constructed house lies one-half on BLM land, has yet to be heard from after the BLM state director denied his appeal and ordered or-dered that Kincaid's structures be removed within 90 days. The old LDS Panguitch North Ward chapel on East Center yielded to the ravages of time and high maintenance costs. It was left a pile of bricks and rubble, mute testimony testi-mony to its many years of service to several generations of church goers. The building was completed in 1929 and dedicated January 12, 1930. A count of buffalo in the Henry Mountains shows the herd contains 75 bulls, 150 cows, 75 calves and 70 unclassified animals. They were first introduced into the area in 1941, the nation's only free-roaming herd. Environmentalists opposed to leasing were outnumbered at the September 14 meeting in Escalante regarding the future of oil, gas and carbon dioxide leasing on Forest Service and BLM lands in the area. But then, environmentalists outnumbered out-numbered those in favor of such leasing a similar meeting in Salt Lake City a week earlier. Nearly 200 people filled the Escalante Community Center for the final hearing. Faye Barney, with her husband owners of the Purple Sage Motel, was elected president of the newly formed Panguitch Motel Owners Association. Charlotte Clark, owner of the Proctor Motel, was elected secretarytreasurer. The new organization is made-up of owners of all 1 1 motels in Panguitch. A lightning-caused fire at the BLM management building in Escalante Es-calante crippled work and destroyed many dollars worth of machinery Sept. 20. Intense heat destroyed all but records stored in fireproof files. Eight more names and pictures were added to the Garfield County School District's Hall of Fame honoring retired teachers and workers. work-ers. Included were Maloy Dodds, Hilda Gardner, Henderson Johnson, Fay Lynn, Von Daly, Sheldon Proctor, Ira LeFevre and Mary Henrie. A new cardiac monitor arrived at Garfield Memorial Hospital, puN chased partly by funds raised by the Garfield Memorial Health Care Foundation. " . ' ' Environmentalists rested their case in Salt Lake City on Sept 24 after 20 full days of trial on the Burr Trail issue. Senator Jake Garn announced the approval by the Senate Appropriations Appropria-tions Committee of funding for the acceleration of reconstruction of the detriorating Bryce Canyon National Park Road. OCTOBER Closing arguments in the Burr Trail case took place Oct. 1, with Judge Aldon Anderson expected to take several weeks to make his decision. de-cision. Garfield County received $208,272 as its share of the only a few hours of work on the $9,896,772 paid to Utah's 29 road. counties for fiscal year 1987 payment pay-ment in lieu of taxes (PILT) funds, according to Secretary of the Interior Inte-rior Don Hodel. On the second leg of a three-county three-county plane stop, Utah Governor Norman Bangerter unveiled a plan to improve southern Utah's economy. econ-omy. The plan is designed to add revenue to the state school trust fund, add to the local tax base, and is meant to help reduce friction between be-tween federal and state agencies. Eight more teachers were added to the school district's Hall of Fame: David Rose, Irene McEwen, Ella Adair, Margaret M. Mecham, Rachel Ahlstrom, Marian Shake-spear, Shake-spear, Dorothy Houston and Mayo Rich. Between May 1986 and April 1987 more than 10.9 million people peo-ple visited Utah as tourists. Of that number, only 315,000 were out-of-country visitors. Garfield Travel Council chairman Bob Benfield noted that the state's intensive advertising ad-vertising campaign appears to be paying off. Access to emergency help was enhanced by South Central Utah Telephone's installation of the emergency 911 access system in Henrieville, Cannonville, and Tropic. Boulder and Antimony were expected to have the service by late November and early December. Lost California hunter Glen Wicks, 35, Granada Hills, will long remember the 31 hours between mid-morning Oct 21 and 5:34 p.m. the next evening when he was found by a companion in the company com-pany of Sheriff Posse Commander Dave Doods a little northwest of Salt Gulch on the south side of Boulder Mountain west of town. Garfield County Commissioner Louise Liston was appointed to the public lands policy steering committee com-mittee of the National Association of Counties. NOVEMBER Voters in eight Garfield County communities went to the polls in early November to elect municipal officials with an average 55 percent turnout of registered voters. Elected in Panguitch were Jack Soper, Maloy Dodds, Ray Barnes and Jake Albrecht Bob Bradley was elected mayor in Tropic and Ferrell Brinkerhoff and Jeanene Pollock were elected to the town council. In Escalante incumbent council members Blaine Lyman and Gerald Barney were re-elected. In Antimony incumbents were also returned to office. Phil Allen was elected mayor and elected council members were Julian Fox and Jerry Savage. Boulder's two-year council seats were won by Barbara Gardner and Kim Nelson. Patty Jo Lutes and Marty Rich captured the two available avail-able four-year seats in Cannonville. In Hatch Mayall Sawyer received 36 votes and Calvin Wilson, 35 to win the town council seats. In Henrieville Ken Piatt was elected to the council and was a write-in candidate. Panguitch City received a new postmaster, Curtis Marsh. Marsh has previous experience in Delta and in Wells, Nev. He and his wife, the former Page Zetterquist, are parents to two children. Garfield County received checks totaling $16,000 from four other southern Utah counties to aid in its fight to regain control over the Bun-Trail Bun-Trail road. Emery County contributed con-tributed $5,000; Washington, $5,000; San Juan and Piute, $1,000. Six more retired teachers were added to the school district Hall of Fame: Lorenzo Griffin, Mildred Gates, Edson Alvey, Thelma Cot-tarn, Cot-tarn, Berlin Osborn, and Iona Alvey. Enrollment in the Garfield County School District increased by six students or .54 percent according ac-cording to the Utah Foundation. DECEMBER Federal Judge Aldon Anderson ruled Nov. 30 after 25 days of trial in Salt Lake City and a lengthy deliberation de-liberation period that the county has a valid right of way to the Bun-Trail. Bun-Trail. His decision allowed the county to proceed with improvements improve-ments while setting certain re- quirements that the county had to S comply with. Sixty new motel units will be 5 built in Tropic. The first 20 are ex- pec ted to be completed and ready for j the 1988 tourist season. Added to those completed and under j construction in Tropic, the com- munity should begin the season with a total 42 available motel j rooms. i A Garfield Cdunty man was arrested ar-rested and charged with felony j counts in connection with vandal- ism of equipment on the Burr Trail. i Grant Smith Johnson was also charged with drug-related charges. Four bulldozers being utilized on j the Burr Trail were vandalized after j Bryce Canyon National Park Superintendent Sandra Key announced an-nounced her transfer to Glacier National Na-tional Park where she will serve as assistant superintendent. The move is a promotion for Key since Glacier is a one-million-acre park while Bryce includes only 33,000 acres. The popular park chief will be honored at a banquet in January. During her tenure, two new lodgemotel units were completed and dedicated and restoration of the main lodge is underway, as well as the campground store near Sunrise Point. On Dec. 9 Key welcomed the one-millionth visitor for 1987 to the park. It was the first time ever that the park had reached the goal of one million visitors. Russell Tu-vey, Tu-vey, Vancouver, Wash., was feted as he entered the park and presented with numerous gifts and awards. A Colorado couple was rescued early Dec. 15 from their small plane which had gone down at the 10,000-ft. level on Griffin Top. They spent 38 hours in weather that never got above the freezing mark. Branson Rumsy, 58, and his wife Diane, 43, were transported to Garfield Memorial Hospital in Panguitch for treatment of frostbitten frostbit-ten feet but were in otherwise good condition. Garfield County officials were jubilant, ending the year on a confident note after Judge Aldon Anderson ruled against environmentalists seeking a stay on the Burr Trail work. The judge said that the plaintiffs failed to meet any of four criteria necessary to warrant granting them a stay. He did however, how-ever, grant them a 10-day period in which to apply to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver for a stay. When work commences again, the county will probably focus on the Long Canyon area of the Bun-Trail Bun-Trail where soil moisture content is expected to be adequate. Visitation at the Escalante Petrified Forest State Reserve es-calanted es-calanted substantially during 1987, to a high of 42,000 said superintendent Carl Davis. The figures fig-ures are typical of increases that occurred all over the county as tourism reached its best ever peak. County officials were given a timely Christmas surprize when on Dec. 21, the director of the Division Divi-sion of State Lands and Forestry, Patrick Spurgin, approved the exchange ex-change of state school trust land within Capitol Reef National Park for lands offered by Garfield County. The school land comprises 640 acres in the switchback section of the Burr Trail that traverses the spectacular Waterpocket Fold in the park. A substantial snowstorm and biting cold weather provided the proper setting for a Christmas Eve that welcomed Santa Claus into homes in Garfield County. He found each one, just as he does every ev-ery year, and in each he must have left a special touch of love, for that is the spirit that has prevailed throughout the county as the year came to an end. |