March 22, 2022

 The members of the Mink Creek Relief Society celebrated the 180^th anniversary of the Relief Society organization with a display of quilts and a night of food and companionship. The menu for the evening was a broccoli and chicken with stuffing casserole, veggies and dip, fruit and dip followed by a choice of a chocolate turtle cake or a strawberry crème cake. Around 30 ladies were seated at tables festooned with colorful spring coverings and a balloon bouquet centerpiece. The evening began with a “Get Acquainted Bingo” sheet, where they learned quite a bit about each other, and a Relief Society history quiz. Lisa Auger told highlights of the organization over the 180 years gleaned from the book, Daughter of the Kingdom. Quilts were hanging all around the perimeter of the room and those on display were described by their owners: Anna Beth Olson, Cindy Hanson, Jeannine Iverson, Kim Christensen, Twlonie Bullock, Lisa Auger, Lorraine Christensen, Danita Wilcox, and Laurel Wilde. One hanging was a large crocheted bedspread that had been made by Naomi Wilde, Mink Creek’s oldest citizen, done when she was alone while her husband, Merlin, was in World War II.

Bob and Claudia Erickson drove to Rexburg for a weekend to be part of a family gathering. Two sons of Laural and Jody Janke were being ordained to priesthood callings: Keenan as an Elder, and Cooper as a Teacher.

The Syringa Camp of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers met one afternoon at the home of Linda K. Christensen in Preston. Linda presented some stories from the life of her mother, Venice Nelson Keller, who grew up in the Glencoe/ Mink Creek area. Mary Jean Rasmussen displayed an artifact from her collection: this was a solid copper water bucket that her great grandmother, Albertina Unsworth, brought with her when she came from Sweden to work as a domestic in a home in Hyrum. The group enjoyed a light lunch and sharing their heritage.

Sam and Kim Daines and their daughter Molly came up from Draper, UT, for time with Kim’s mother, Judy Clark. They shared the happy news that Molly has been called to serve a mission in the Chile, Santiago, Mission. She will be leaving in June. We hope to hear more about this as time goes by, since the Daines are past members of our community.

The tips of spring crocuses have broken through the winter leftovers near the back door of the local meetinghouse. And there is evidence of a couple of tulips making a starting effort. This I saw on the first day of spring according to the calendar. The snow is inching backwards, leaving spongy turf or muddy trickles in its wake. It is still plenty chilly for outdoor activities and reports are that the snow machines are still roaring in the upper reaches, but this evidence of rebirth always brings a smile and the testimony of continuation.

March 15, 2022

 Happy ungreen St. Patrick's Week.   Snow/rain storms still sailing through this place, and we are all in favor.  Patches of dirty snow,  mud, --the precursors of spring, but no feeling of urgency.

 Sister Tara Jepsen has finished her 18 months of serving in the Colorado, Ft. Collins, Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She returned home on March 4, the last place where she served being Casper, WY. She is the daughter of Dr. Kerry and Melinda Jepsen.

Voting for the school district levy took place at the normal polling place in our community. The only public building in our community is the LDS Church meetinghouse. Polls opened at 8 am, as do all elections.

A name and a blessing was bestowed on the small son of Jamie and Natalie Forbush this past week. He was named Canyon Michael Forbush. Robbins and Forbush relatives and friends gathered in Mink Creek for this special occasion.

A televised Face to Face session was offered to the youth of the community, gathering at the home of leaders, Bret and Jody Rasmussen. The topic was the 2022 Youth theme, “Trust in the Lord,” featuring the Young Men General President Steven J. Lund and Young Women General President Bonnie H. Cordon. It was a fun event on a cold winter evening.

Lana McCracken has spent some time recently with two daughters and families. Lana and Tamara Taylor, plus two of Tamara’s daughters and a dog, drove down to Placitas, N.M. Placitas is in the mountains near Albuquerque, and is the home of Annette and Russ Batchelor. The Batchelors have lived there for about a dozen years. It was an entire week of fun, doing science kits and whatever project Annette had in mind. Family time together is priceless, even on long drives.

In spite of the scanty snow depths at the time, the family of Johnny and Jeannine Iverson gathered in Mink Creek at their Glencoe home for their annual “Snowfest.” Around 30 participated this year, the second smallest number since they began this tradition. Still they had representatives from every branch of their family tree except two, coming from Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Virginia, California and Texas. The Iverson’s have a sound proof, smash proof, play room that is a favorite place for the young set. The group was able to find a neighboring slope with enough snow to provide tubing and sledding. Mink Creek Iversons, Kurt and his son Charles, took on the task of hauling those on the hill back to the top with their snowmobilies.

Mink Creek proper, the waterway, has been flowing with gusto. This week much of the water has been diverted into the Twin Lakes Canal to carry the water over to the Twin Lakes near Dayton. It was delayed due to the need of repairs in the maintenance of the ditch.

The First Robin of the season has been bouncing around  in my yard. He does seem to have a bit of confusion, but he has arrived. It is encouraging to me and to him, providing he can locate some housing that will protect him in our in-an-out storms.

 

March 8, 2022

 

Mary Norris celebrated her 80^th birthday recently. All of the Norris children were able to gather at the Norris home for a good visit with Mary and Ron. It looked like an official parking lot with their barnyard and driveway filled with vehicles.

Candy Longhurst is excited to have another baby girl added to her batch of grandchildren. This little girl arrived on February 23, and is welcomed by a not-very-big sister, Ellie. Their parents are Justin and Cynthia Longhurst who now live in Logan.

We have had two sports events for our community this winter. One has been the young men playing basketball with the schedule of games in the Preston North Stake. The second one is the invitation to all ages to play pickleball Wednesday evenings at the LDS Recreation hall. All levels of ability are welcome, beginners to advanced, including those souls who don’t come to play, just to watch and kibitz. It is the getting together that counts.

Bryce Egley, son of Jared and Juli, and a senior at Preston High, is part of a local band, led by his cousin Nick Nielsen. Bryce plays bass guitar in the group, known as Amber’s Approval. Along with the other band members they are having a great time in a variety of performances and locations.

Warming temperatures heat up the ideas of spring planting and summer gardens. Seed catalogs still exist and make for some colorful dreaming materials during the chilly months. Residents who possess green thumbs are looking forward to a green year. We are all hoping for moisture that can bring this about.

So far all these predictions of inches of snow coming our way have measured into several sessions of snow dusting.  Even an old broom could handle clearing it.  Today has been an improvement, a steady snowfall, but mostly the fluff variety. Hopefully it is storing up in our surrounding mountains. Grateful for the storm’s arrival.

March 1, 2022

 

It is a good thing that Jeff and Julie Workman made some local phone calls before they came up to spend a few days at their Mink Creek home. The driveway to their house was filled with a five foot drift of snow. The Workmans brought up some grandchildren to have winter fun in their Idaho retreat.

Courtney Carr, currently a student at Utah State University, enjoyed a few days with her grandmother, Mary Jean Rasmussen. Courtney looks so much like her mother and here in Mink Creek where her mom grew up, she may be mistaken for the same. Courtney’s parents, Hays and Terrie Carr live in Centerville, UT.

There has been a shake-up for some of the assignments of the Relief Society women in the Mink Creek ward who volunteer for ministerial callings. Changes are like a shot in the arm, but totally unlike a vaccination. These put a little more energy in the step and get creative thinking underway. Both partners and responsibilities may have taken a new direction.

The Syringa Camp of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers met at Julie Westerberg’s home in Preston this past month. Julie and Linda Carlson were co-hostesses for the meeting. Lorraine Christensen presented a lesson on the topic of Pioneer Romances and that spiked a lot of interest. Women are just grownup girls and romances have a forever appeal. Julie gave a personal history of her great-great grandmother.

The bitter cold we are experiencing lately contributes some beauty to winter days. The Jack Frost display on our windows is always beautiful and full of interesting designs. Nature’s artwork.

I thought the swans that have been wintering on the backwaters of the Oneida Reservoir had departed.  That was wrong,  they were just gathering in a spot closer to the dam.  March came in like a lamb this year, which gives us hope that we may yet have some storms that will bring us more moisture.  The waterpack in our mountains lessens with each warm, dry day.