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Show ! fl Time for Decision; Can We Make ;Utah Pioneer Museum a Reality? A great many history books ' have been written that tell the I story of southern Utah very well; indeed, the Cedar City library has a section devotion entirely to this subject, and it is an excellent excel-lent one. We know also that children in school are taught the story of the trials and tribulations tribula-tions of the pioneers in their early struggles to turn a barren desert into a productive land. Yet, how much more meaningful might the teachers make this story if there were available right in this community a museum mu-seum that could house and display dis-play the implements used by these early settlers. Children are imaginative, we know, but frequently fre-quently words fail to give the true picture of the pioneers' lives. The story becomes real and 1 tangible to the child when he can I see and examine the actual ob-j ob-j jects that were used by his ancestors. an-cestors. As our own civilization ; becomes more mechanized, the : view of earlier times becomes I more difficult. Last week, mention was made of Gronway Parry's generous offer of-fer to allow the residents of this area to purchase the collection for a fraction of its worth. Mr. Parry prefers to see the collection collec-tion remain in Cedar City, if possible. pos-sible. Now it is up to us, the citizens, cit-izens, to do our part. A group of citizens interested in preserving the remaining momentos of pioneer pio-neer days, has made the acquisition acquisi-tion of the Gronway Parry collection col-lection a first priority item. ; These people have been formed I as a part of the finance commit-I commit-I tee of the Iron County Development Develop-ment Corporation under the dir-I dir-I ection of R. C. Durrant, chair-j chair-j man. The committee consists of the following people in addition j to Mr. Durrant; Arthur T. Challis, Joseph C. Felix, L. Robert Gardner, Gard-ner, Milt Jolley, C. Ray Juvelin, j and George Strebel. Mr. Parry has j provided the inspiration for the ! group. Funds Necessary The first requirement now is to raise the funds necessary to purchase pur-chase the collection and to provide pro-vide a suitale building for its dis- play. A meeting will be held in the very near future to start a concentrated fund drive. The support of all citizens is going to be needed if we are to succeed. suc-ceed. The people of this county has the independent spirit necessary to determine the course of this community. The events that have taken place in other areas of the country have demonstrated that local citizens must always be ready to provide for their own, or state and federal governments will step in and take over. We feel that Cedar City is the proper home for the Gronway Parry collection. col-lection. However, unless the local residents act now to purchase the collection, an agency of state level may do so. Needless to say, the people who pay the price will determine the resting place. The challenge is before us to provide our children and succeeding succeed-ing generations with a priceless heirloom. Do not let them down. (This is the last article in the series on the Gronway Parry collection col-lection by Ray Juvelin.) |