July 13 2022

 

The annual July 4^th celebration went off in great style. Not too hot, got tables, chairs, picnic blankets in a shady spot early on. The community had purchased a new, HUGE flag for the occasion. It was beautiful to behold—, strung between two light poles on the eastern side of the park. Any person driving through our village could not miss it, the sun shone its spotlight as it billowed in passing winds. The park was full of people. Phil and Jenny Christensen, selling the meal tickets counted about 330, and that didn’t include children age 5 and under. The morning started with a Candy Corral in the field of the ballpark, a replacement of our usual airplane candy drop, of course the most important thing in the eyes of the kids was the candy, not from whence it came. There were various games, kickball, bottle rockets, a bounce house. Singer John Dalley and his wife Penny provided music for much of the day, patriotic and otherwise. Five men presented short talks on a patriotic theme. They were Mike Jepsen, Drew Ford, Glen Jepsen, Jimmie Olson and Bishop Paul McKay.

Food prep and serving had many helpers. Owen Ovens were hired to do the potatoes, Clare Christensen’s kitchen crew were Sam Stanger, Jim Harrison, Pedro Gonzales, LD Larkin, Shade and Brittani Watts, and Jody Rasmussen, The main course was pork loin roasted chicken and hot dogs for the kids. The Primary officers decorated the pavilion with table runners of red and blue on white covers, with quart jars of red roses, the white blooms of wild yarrow and quaking aspen leaves. The Relief Society was responsible for the rolls, the tossed salad, rounding up volunteer servers and potluck desserts. Leah Costley Gilbert made an enormous cake, decorated to be a license plate of Franklin County. All of this was very yum. The afternoon was relaxing for some, enjoying our local water slide hill for others. We so enjoy our ballpark, the space and shade it provides for many of the village activities.

Mink Creek has started a once a month Evening of Family Fun. During warm months it will be at our beautiful Ballpark with games like Frisbee, football, races, etc. There will be board games, card games and the opportunity to sit around and swap stories. There will also be a fire, for anyone who might want to bring marshmallows and a stick. The first one was a success, with a variety of ages showing up. One group of adults played board games, several just enjoyed the time catching up on the neighborhood, sharing table space under the pavilion. The playground equipment attracted the kids and Jody Rasmussen, YW President, furnished a large exercise ball for playing Dodge ball. Any who wanted were treated to a wedge of watermelon for the evening treat.

I wish we could close the door on the COVID virus and its mutations, but it seems not to be. At least 4 cases have been reported in our village, and endured over the last 2-3 months. None hospitalized due to the virus, all quarantined. One hospitalized for a separate reason and COVID tagged along.