June 16, 2015

        The highlight of the week was the celebration for Naomi Wilde's 100^th birthday. Her sons, Ross, Van, and Dean and families made it a gala affair at the Mink Creek Ballpark. Weather cooperated and the turnout was wonderful. The parking lot overflowed into the adjoining roads, the pavilion was jumping with people remembering special moments from associations with this good lady. Refreshments were plentiful and two huge birthday cakes needed no candles.

         The Relief Society started the summer monthly meeting with one of genealogical flavor. Tammy Coleman directed the evening, giving possible internet sites to use in the ongoing search. Each woman who attended brought an ancestral story to share . All sorts of things were revealed and left some motivation for the writing of their own life stories. A tasting table of the ladies' heritage recipes helped to illustrate how even food is passed on from ancestors.

         Two young ladies received their Young Women Medallion in the LDS Ward recently. Wendy Westerberg reported that her major project was helping her mother, Arda Smith of Riverdale, to compile a book about their family history, complete with pictures. Claire Jepsen, daughter of Kerry and Melinda Jepsen, met the challenge of completing the reading of the Book of Mormon.

         A beautiful baby girl, daughter of Vern and Tiesha Britton, was given a name and a blessing in the LDS Ward. She was named Adriana June Britton.

         Local farmers are in the middle of harvesting first crop of hay. Fields are full of stripes laid down by the swathers, now waiting to dry before baling begins. Farmers are keeping a constant watch on forecasts from weathermen. Weevil has infiltrated the crops and cotton flying through the air is thick enough this year to plug up machine action , prompting frequently cleaning.

         Paul and Terrie McKay and family have been down in southern Utah, again. One of their favorite family activities is hiking those sandstone trails and rappelling down the canyon walls. No matter how often they vacation in that area there are always challenges to be met, and conquered. Sore muscles and sunburn is often part of the price.

         It is that time of year. I hear the county mosquito abatement equipment making the rounds on a nice still night. I wonder if there could be some abatement program for our local skunk population.

         If you don't get the Citizen you may not have access to the obituary of Reed Jensen who died this past week. His whole life of 92 years was connected with Mink Creek one way or another. His last years were spent in Preston, but working with nature. More recently he has been in the Heritage Homes care facility. Now he is resting in the beautiful spot on our cemetery hill with his wife Gloria.