August 30, 2022

 

With monsoon season this year it continued to be very hot in the daylight hours and we are always grateful that it cools down at night. We have had several crashing storms with thunder and lightning putting on a show and sudden great cloudbursts yielding large amounts of water. Rain gauges throughout our village indicate a huge variety in the amount that has been received.

The grasshoppers come with the hot days and our gardens are feeling the effects of their ravenous appetites. A hopper full of harvested grain is bound to collect a goodly share of grasshoppers caught up as the headers sweep up the kernels of grain.

Kurt and Margret Iverson and their sons, Andrew and Conner, have recently returned from a trip to some of their ancestral lands in Norway. The summer months are the perfect time for this visit, both in scenery and temperature. They did get rained out of a couple of intended hikes, but were able to find other venues. On one of their hikes they met someone who knew Margret’s niece when she had visited Norway in 2013. How likely is that? The scenery was report as “fantastic” and the family reported saying, “Hey, look, there is another postcard” repeatedly, to collect for memories now back in Mink Creek. The Iverson tried some new sausages, these made from reindeer, whale and moose. It is nice to have them back home.

Max Haws and his family have been at the Haws residence in Mink Creek. This Haws family live in southern California and quite often will bring with them a large box of avocados harvested from their home to share with the Mink Creek community. They did so this year and it was much appreciated.

The young men of the village gave some assistance to the family of Robbie and Taniesha Greene in the building of a shed on their property. Extra hands make the task more possible and those young helpers learn as they are doing. The basic frame went up in just one evening’s efforts. Leader Bret Rasmussen has considerable building experience to direct this project.

Just as we were thinking that the Fall season was close we are enduring another week of blistering days.  It makes our gardens grateful for any drink we can provide, providing the plants have survived the onslaught of grasshoppers that have descended upon us this year.  There are still some chokecherries reported as being available for those wanting that jelly or syrup.  Chokecherries were high on the list of fall preservation in the early days of Mink Creek.  The settlers even dried them for winter use--true fact.

August 23, 2022

 

The River Run on the Snake River in the Jackson Hole country is a summer highlight of the youth of Mink Creek and their leaders. This year a dozen kids were able to participate. Their leaders were Jody Rasmussen, Amy Baldwin, Lacey Christensen and ReNae Egley for the girls. Bishop Paul McKay, Lin McKay, Jared Keller, Jacob Cheney, LaRon Baird and Jesse Wilcox kept track of the guys. There was lots of excitement, lots of fun, and lots of water, and a minimum of injuries from fun activities. It was a great couple of days all the way around.

David and Judy Wilde have had some summer visits from two of their sons. Spencer and Paige Wilde were able to spend twelve days here. It was a first visit for their baby daughter, Aria Loralei Wilde, and playing with her was a treat for the whole family. Spencer and Paige live in Boonsboro, MD. The family group took a tour of the aquarium in Draper, UT. Christopher and Heidi Wilde came up from Utah for the rodeo weekend and they made it a family affair.

Nicole and Nathan Denney and their little girl came down from Rexburg for a few days with her parents, Kent and Tammy Beardall.

Maria and Devin Flake of Orem, UT, brought their son Jude for some play-time with grandparents, Lana and Ivan McCracken. Mink Creek is Jude’s favorite place, all that outdoors holds great appeal.

Celina Groesbeck and her daughter Oakley are enjoying some time with her parents, Phee and Robert Crosland. Celina’s siblings are having fun being Aunts and Uncles to cute, nearly 1 year-old Oakley. Celina and her husband Jesse have been in Seattle where Jesse has been employed for the summer.

It is chokecherry and huckleberry season around here. So far it seems to be a plentiful season, but of course there is always the effort of picking the morsels in order to enjoy the flavors later.

It also is zucchini season and it seems to be a plentiful crop this year. I am glad to have neighbors who share, because my container garden doesn’t work well for them. The grasshoppers may enjoy the greenery but the product survives.

August 16, 2022

 

Residents report several sightings of rattlesnakes on their property. One was close to a pet’s feeding station, where the reptile was likely hunting a drink for himself. This is an indication of the hot, dry weather we are experiencing. It is also a reminder to stay alert to the wildlife around us.

The heavy rains of a few nights ago found us with mixed feelings. The need for moisture is constant, but the timing might present problems. Some had freshly mowed hay lying in windrows in the fields, others had barely gotten their bales into the barn. Still others were in the middle of grain harvest and the rain put a quick stop to that. It is all part of the risks of farming, and recognized as such. The lightning and thunder got everyone’s attention.

Katharine (Keller) and Leon Noorda are soaking up some time at the Keller Apartments. Their daughter Katrina has been with them, along with some grandchildren. Keller family summers in Mink Creek have been a tradition for many years.

During the August Testimony Meeting, Madelaine Erickson, age 8, daughter of Jasmine and Miles Erickson, was welcomed as the newest member of the Mink Creek Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She had been baptized and confirmed the day before at the Preston North Stake Center.

Elder Wynn Costley and Sister Cecelie Costley spoke in the Mink Creek Ward, reporting on their experiences while serving in the Salt lake City Temple Square Mission. Those serving in that particular mission are young ladies from around the world, adept at foreign languages, to speak with visitors to Temple Square. The Costley’s children and grandchildren were all able to gather for this homecoming. The timing was perfect for their daughter Hannah Singleton and her two sons who are visiting in Mink Creek for their annual summer month in Idaho. The Singletons live in Arkansas.

There is a new headstone in the Mink Creek Cemetery, recognizing a death long past. During this summer reunion of the Mink Creek Originals, the project of a headstone for Engeborg Glysing was presented. Bruce Crane, unofficial Mink Creek history authority, told the story of the Glysing family.

In the early days of the settlement Sister Glysing came from Denmark—a widow with six children. Their name was anglicized to be Gleason. In the cemetery records Crane had discovered the burial of two Gleason sons, George and Gideon, who had drowned. Their primary classmates had raised money for a headstone for the boys. In the records Crane found another sister buried beside the boys, but with no marker. The Originals donated money for a stone for the sister. The effort came to completion recently in a small ceremony on a beautiful day. Engeborg Mary Dores Gleason is not forgotten.

I just read a writeup done by someone seeking to sell their place in Mink Creek. It describes us as nearly heaven. I think they are correct. And on that point, why would you want to sell? Outside influences makes for difficult decisions.

August 10, 2022

 

Mink Creek Ward members fulfilled a service assignment to the Ogden Cannery of the Church Welfare system. Two groups drove down, the early morning crew to be there at 6 a.m. On this shift were Mike and Mary Ann Jepsen, David Wilde, Terry Westerberg, Drew Ford and his grandson Patrick, and Bishop Paul McKay. A smaller group took over at 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m: Clare and Linda Christensen, Richard and Vickie Free, Clifford and LaDawn Jensen and Jonia Jackson. Both crews prepared green beans for canning.

Ken and Lauren Nash have been up from Solvang, CA. Lauren is a granddaughter of Louis and Eleanor Engels and has always considered Mink Creek as her second home when the Engels purchased a spot in Mink Creek years ago. Our community as a whole got a visit this time when Ken and Lauren spoke in the LDS Ward meeting.

The Ross family, Ken and Jean were happy to have a visit from Jean’s brother and family. They are David and Melinda Durfee of Orem, UT, and their daughter Samantha.

Elder Charles Iverson has completed his At-Home MTC here and has begun the next step in training at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT, before he departs for the Philippines, Bacolod, Mission.

Recently, with storm clouds approaching and a hay crop in the open, friends and neighbors gathered to help Jamie and Natalie Forbush get those precious hay bales in the barn before the rain was unleashed. Around here, when there is an emergency many hands reach out to help, it has been that way for nearly 150 years.

Alex and Donna Huxford spent a few days with his uncle Richard and Vickie Free. Alex spent several summers on the Free Ranch in his teen years. Now the Huxfords live in Stansbury Park, UT. Alex is a defensive coach for the Stansbury Park high school football team. He is also the Varsity Basketball coach for the girls’ team when that season begins.

We got some serious rain a few days ago and it caught some of us with hay out in the field. Monsoon season makes it might hard to judge farming activities. This hot and dry business has increased the likelihood of rattlesnakes coming near for some water source and several have been reported lately.

August 3, 2022

 

There have been many loads of logs being trucked up our canyon on Highway 36. Our assumption is that they are headed to the Jensen’s Lumber Company’s sawmill in Ovid, ID, over on the other side of the canyon.

Loaded dump trucks have also made their way in our direction, and having dumped they head back south to the valley for a repeat performance. We are not certain of their destination or of the project that may be going forth. There are a number of buildings in the making in the area so it might be multiple projects.

The Worm Creek Theater is one of the favorite places during any production times because several of our residents participate in this endeavor. For the Wizard of Oz, recently onstage, there has been Ty Jepsen in two roles: as a crow and also as one of those flying monkeys, Madelaine Erickson as a beautiful Munchkin. This year the Wizard was played by Paul Swainston, ex-Mink Creek, with his deep bass voice to grab attention.

Connie Westenskow brought her Young Women’s group to her family’s campground this year. They had plenty of space, plenty of water play, plenty of fun.

Bret and Jody Rasmussen have been entertaining grandchildren much of this summer. Grand children seem to grow up faster than their parents did and the time spent goes quickly.

Larry and Lillian Hansen are here for the summer months. Their grown children and families are in and out during these warm days for a change of pace in “the country.”

This is a big month for our horse riding young ladies being involved in parades as rodeo royalty around the valley. This includes three Christensen girls, Jyllian, Greenlee and Kassidy and Jancy Henderson. It is an exciting time, but keeps them and their families busy.

Elder Eldon and Sister Danita Wilcox are serving a mission in Pennsylvania at Church Historic Sites. Very recently they welcomed a young lady missionary who had just been transferred there. It was Sister Brexli Ware, daughter of Jeff and Bobbi Ware of Preston’s 4^th Ward. Sister Ware had been serving at New York sites and this was a surprise to both parties to find someone from home.

Semi’s loaded with hay are part of this time of year, moving bales from field to buyers’ barns. Gardens are producing, but grasshoppers are threatening. They like the green stuff. All part of the environmental scene and with a hot dry year it seems the bug population increases.