Already, August 1, 2023

 Recent winds have brought in the next month.  It almost feels like a surprise. Won't be long before school starts.

The spring green of our valley is taking on the heat of this summer and anything not irrigated has a dried, tan appearance. Grasshoppers are invading every space available and they are eating vegetation with a vengeance. It brings to mind the pioneer stories of crickets wiping out crops and seagulls coming to the rescue.

Trek has become a summer-time word. Our Primary age children, along with some parents and leaders, took their own version of trekking last month. The group had one handcart to push as they went along, containing supplies needed for this outing and on occasion a child might be a passenger in the cart. With Anna Beth Olson as their guide they started at the Olson home on Station Creek, designated as “Iowa City” and stopped in “Nebraska,” the Olson Cabin. This was the perfect place to learn about pioneers building cabins. From here, they crossed into “Wyoming” and walked all the way to Bishop Paul McKay’s campground. A learning activity was making butter with some heavy cream in a well-shaken container, the shaking taking place while they walked. Once arriving at the campground they had lunch, using the butter on slices of bread, then played some pioneer games, danced and sang pioneer songs. The return trip took them to “Independence Rock” with some scratching of letters on sandstone, crossing the “Sweetwater”(small creek on Olson farm) and getting to the “Salt Lake valley” where they celebrated with ice cream and heard some stories of Brigham Young and the challenges faced by the pioneers. Around 30 people participated in this fun event.

Tammy Beardall had several days of fun while helping her son Shawn Beardall “hold down the fort” in Spanish Fork with his five children. Shawn’s wife, Callie, and her sister Kamey, had scheduled a sisters’ retreat so Tammy helped out.

The Worm Creek Opera House recently featured the original play, “Seeing People,” authored by Mink Creek resident, April Rasmussen. It was her first undertaking of this side of theatrical endeavor and it proved very successful. Others from the community involved in the production were April’s daughters, Emma, Kate and Annie and Hazen and Dallon Baird. The play was written as a project, part of Rasmussen’s college class.

Spotty storms have swept up our valley and canyons this past week. Some strong winds have dropped branches from some aged trees in our area. The poplar trees, thick with dry branches, got an unexpected thinning out.

Rodeo weekend brought a lot of folks ‘home’ for the tradition. More will be covered on that next week.