San Juan Bits & Pieces: June 2024

Articles Published About San Juan County

This blog initially was used to archive articles written by Janet Wilcox and published by Neil and Becky Joslin in the Blue Mountain Panorama. In 2019 it was revived and includes articles printed in the San Juan Record, as well as other venues. By republishing digitally, more photographs can be added, and comments and corrections can be quickly upgraded. A blog is a more permanent historical location and is searchable. Thank you for reading my articles in the newspaper, as well as on the Internet. If you have ideas for stories, please contact me at 42janetkw@gmail.com

Friday, June 28, 2024

San Juan High: A Tradition of History Fair Winners

By Janet Wilcox "Those who don't understand and appreciate history are bound to repeat it." Santana

Students from San Juan High School have consistently done well at the State History Fair for decades, with many qualifying for Nationals in Washington DC. The first ever to do so was Tonya Morris from White Mesa who won Utah's Grand prize expense-paid trip to Washington D.C. June 12-16, 1988.

It was an eye-opening experience for this Ute student and her advisor to travel to such a gigantic city and compete with students representing the whole USA. Tonya’s paper on the Posey War placed 1st in Utah and her teachers, principal, and friends were thrilled for her. Participation in such things as history and science fairs require "Authentic Assessment" where research and documentation are useful to others. "We had the most awesome time on that trip and only got lost 2 or 3 times! Since 1988 dozens of other Blanding and Monticello students (taught by Judy Barton and others) have competed on a national level."

Most recently Saylor Dandy, daughter of Jim and Rena Dandy, qualified for the National History Fair and competed in Washington DC this summer. Her presentation was a display showing experiences of Native American children as they sought to get an education. She interviewed her grandparents: Edward Whitethorne and Sally Johnson and read notebooks that her grandparents, Jim and Betty Dandy kept, related to boarding schools. A documentary and recorded stories of other friends and relatives who attended boarding schools in the Four Corners area were also included in her research. To qualify for National's, students are interviewed by 2-3 judges at each level of competition (local, regional, and state). They must be knowlegeable and exact in the information they share with judges and utilize a wide variety of sources. Saylor’s teacher/advisor at SJHS is Jesse Grover and he attended the National History fair as well as Saylor's parents, Jim and Rena.

SJHS WINNERS FROM THE PAST San Juan High's winners in 1987 for historical papers were: 1st Shelley Singer, 2nd Tonya Morris, 3rd Julie Martineau with Superior ratings going to Steve Black, Kaelin Perkins, LeAnn Lovell, LeeAnn Bowring, Daryl Guymon, Kacee Shumway, Gary Lyman, Katrina Shumway, Lorin Kartchner, Deniane Gutke, Annette Carroll, Kim Hurst, Tyler Palmer, Missy Knight, Jenifer Kurtz, Janell Guymon, and Thelma Tate.

Region Winners 1988 --Historical papers: 1st Shelley Singer, 2nd Tonya Morris, 3rd Julie Martineau; Superior ratings: Steve Black, Kaelin Perkins, LeAnn Lovell LeeAnn Bowring, Daryl Guymon, Kacee Shumway, Gary Lyman, Katrina Shumway Smith, Lorin Kartchner & Deniane Gutke, Annette Carroll, Kim Hurst, Tyler Palmer, Missy Knight, Jenifer Kurtz, Janell Guymon, and Thelma Tate.

STUDENTS WIN TOP PRIZE AT UTAH HISTORY FAIR 1992

2004 Navajo students Lynnette Chee, Reed Sampson and Cyndee Stash of San Juan High were the grand prize winners in the Utah History Fair. They utilized their cultural background to develop a project on Navajo rug-weaving, and won $500. They also won 1st place and $75 in the Brigham Young University's Charles Redd Center contest for the best historical project dealing with Western history. Reed was inspired to use a book format after a book fell down from a shelf and hit him in the head! They created a display with large pages that turned Each page told part of the history of Navajo weaving. Their project also won $75 for best Western Research Exhibit and they won an expense paid trip to Washington D.C. Other local winners in 2004 were Revarae Bitsinnie and Carissa Nelson.

1995:One of the biggest groups from San Juan to qualify for the National History Fair included: L-R: Christina Guymon, Jeanine Christensen, Mindy Redd, Zeb Crofts, Valena Lake and Landry Redd. Platt Nielson and Kyle Laws also qualified. They won numerous awards at each level of competition. Several parents traveled with them to Washington DC along with their advisor.

1997

: Kristina Long placed 1st in individual performance at Region with her story of the Long Walk entitled "Peaches"; 2nd place went to Tyler Jack and his performance related to the CCC Camp in Blanding. Kami Christiansen wrote her research paper on the role that her grandfather County Commissioner, Calvin Black played in the Sagebrush Rebellion. "From Sagebrush Rebellion to Environmental Hellion" was the title. She won 1st place for local research from the Charles Redd Center and a $100 cash prize. She also took 2nd in historical papers in the state. She and her mother went to Washington D.C. in June 1997 to compete. She used over 20 primary sources in her research.

2009: Winners in the Charles Redd competition were Gina Guymon, San Juan. Teachers given Merit Awards included Judy Busk, Richfield High; Janet Wilcox, San Juan High; and James Walker, Grand Middle.

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Bonnie Meyers: Quilter Extraordinare for 80 Years

Bonnie’s mother, Beth Guymon was a great example of frugality and made all of her children's clothes as they were growing up. Bonnie never had a store bought dress until she was in junior high school When she married Steve Meyer at 18, she started making all of her daughters’ clothing. This included Easter dresses, Christmas and 4th of July outfits.

Bonnie remembers her mother, grandmother, and Gladys Lyman (Albert R. Lyman’s wife) tying quilts in their home on 3rd west. In that era, quilters would cut each piece of yarn individually and tie each knot separately. She recalls sitting under the quilts and listening to the lady’s gossip!

As she grew up she helped her mother and grandmother tie quilts. But her own first quilt was a baby barn. She first embroidered all of the blocks then sewed them together in the shape of a barn. Her definition of ‘quilting’ in those days was “tied quilts”.

Her first hand-quilting experience came when her son, Steven Meyers and his fiancé Emily Riggs, were to be married. Emily’s mother and Adell Lovell, put on a tricot quilt and invited Bonnie to come over and help and Bonnie never looked back! This door opened a new passion and hobby which has never ended. She began the tradition of quilting tricot quilts for her children when they married and then expanded it to include 47 grandchildren when they married.

“Have a thimble, will quilt!” might well be Bonnie’s motto. She has often quilted with friends in town, sometimes quilting until two in the morning! Different people came to help and it was a wonderful way to socialize.

In her younger years, Helen Palmer needed help with a quilt and called Bonnie, asking for help. Helen was an excellent quilter and Bonnie felt that when Helen asked for her help, “I was finally good enough to quilt for others.” Helen’s approval made Bonnie feel like she had “really made it!”

Bonnie has made pieced quilts for her boys and three or four for each of her girls with either embroidered blocks or pieced ones. About seven years ago, Bonnie began sewing pillowcases for Christmas gifts for each of her 94 great-grandchildren and her sister Kathleen Lyman’s 18 grandchildren. Each great-grandchild receives a new pillowcase each year with their name embroidered on the case. This is a legacy that she gives to her posterity.

Her talents have rubbed off on all her posterity and one of her grandson’s has even invested in an embroidery machine! STASH! All quilters have lots of stash and Bonnie is no exception. When she goes to Spanish Fork to visit her daughters, she always goes to fabric stores to buy more fabric. She usually spends around $700. But once, she walked out with $2000 worth of "stash"! Bonnie said that she has 40 years’ worth of fabric. “If you make something for one, you have to make one for everyone,” she noted.

Often, both Bonnie and her sister Kathleen have said that they “cannot die until they have cleared out their stash.” If that’s the case, Bonnie will likely outlive us all!

“Bonnie has been a friend since I moved to Blanding years ago”, Nancy Kimmerle recalled. “She has a plethora of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Bonnie remembers each one with pictures on her refrigeration, kitchen, and flowing into other areas of her house. She makes each one a Christmas gift! “Bonnie is a professional pillowcase maker with all sorts of fun fabrics; many years adding their name with her embroidery machine. She also hand-quilts intricate tricot quilts for each marriage.” Nancy added, “Bonnie is fun to visit with and enjoys card and board games and LOVES gardening. Her yard is full of flowers of all varieties. In fact, if you go for a visit and she doesn't answer the door right away, she's probably in her garden. If you have to wait, she only asks, (via a sign) that you pull a few weeds!

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Making the Desert Bloom: Water Reservoirs in SJC

By LaVerne Tate and Janet Wilcox

Many Blanding people will remember the water crisis Blanding faced spring of 1990. That winter had no significant winter snowstorms and very little runoff came into the Starvation nor Dry Wash Reservoirs. In May, the City of Blanding hired John Black to pump water 24 hrs a day to the Water Treatment Plant. Ironically, Blanding was out of water, but owned water in Recapture Reservoir. There were big pumps which moved the water up to two other lift ponds and to Starvation Reservoir, where it could go through the city pipelines to the water treatment plant.Philip Palmer was the engineer on this project.

To solve the problem, Blanding rented 12,000 ft. of sectional pipe, each section 8"x40'long from Bowlens Inc. (Rain for Rent,Logan, Utah).They also rented four diesel high volume, high pressure pumps from them. These pumps were in continuous use and one was a standby, in case of problems. It took 12,000 ft. of pipeline for that distance!Jerry Holliday built the lift ponds and the roadway for the pipeline. Some of the road was an old sawmill gravel road that went up to the west side of Johnson Creek (called the LC Ranch).

Bowlens worked with city employees Mike Dayzie, David Homedew and John Black to install the pipeline from northwest side of Recapture up the old sawmill road ½ mile and then up the old LC Ranch dugway then northwest to Starvation Reservoir.

The Holliday crew built two storage ponds, one at the base of the hill and one on top of the hill. This was to relieve the pressure for the pumps doing the transfer of the water. It was a 500 foot, vertical lift from Recapture to Starvation. A fourth pump, owned by the city of Blanding, pumped water from the lowered level of 4th Reservoir to the pipeline going to the water treatment plant. There were 250 gallons per minute pumped into the treatment plant until the 4th Reservoir was drained.(Glen and Kline Black came up with their fishing nets and took some very prize fish out of 4th at this time.)

John Black's job was to check the pumps three times a day and make sure everything continued to run on schedule. He did this for six months. Each lift pond had to maintain the same level of water in order to keep the pumps functioning. He started at 6:00 A.M. to check the pumps and water lines and rechecked them again at 12:00 noon and 6:00 P.M. On weekends he would change the oil on the pumps. Each pump had its own fuel tank. Mike Christensen delivered fuel to each pump.A million gallons of water were pumped every 24 hours to the water treatment plant by this process.

John would go to Starvation Reservoir and look at the water coming out of the pipeline and could tell if all the pumps were functioning properly.To simplify the delivery problem, Blanding rented 12,000 feet of sectional pipe from Bowlens Inc. Rain for Rent, Logan, Utah.; each section was 8'X 40' long. They also rented four diesel high volume, high pressure pumps from them. These pumps were in continuous use and one was a standby, in case of problems. The water was pumped 500 feet from Recapture Reservoir to Starvation Reservoir. It took 12,000 feet of pipeline to cover that distance!

Jerry Holliday built the lift ponds and the roadway for the pipeline. Some of the road was the old sawmill gravel road that went up the west side of Johnson Creek (called the LC Ranch). Bowlens worked with city employees Mike Dayzie, David Homedew and John Black to install the pipeline from northwest side of Recapture up the old sawmill road ½ mile and then up to the old LC Ranch dugway. From there it turned northwest to Starvation Reservoir.

The Hollidays built two lift storage ponds next, one at the base of the hill and one on top of the hill. This was to relieve the pressure for the pumps doing the transfer of the water. It was a 500 foot, vertical lift from Recapture to Starvation.

A fourth pump, owned by the city of Blanding, pumped water from the lowered level of 4th Reservoir to the pipeline going to the water treatment plant. There were 250 gallons per minute pumped into the treatment plant until the 4th Reservoir was drained. (Glen and Kline Black came up there with their fishing nets and took some prize fish out of 4th at this time!)The 4th Reservoir was built in WestWater Canyon in the 1960's for $110,000, to increase Blanding's water storage.

Previously $100,000 had been spent trying to do patch jobs to stop the seepage that was losing water needed for the farms below Blanding. In 1964,the Blanding Water Treatment Plant was built in Blanding and in 1970a million-gallon storage tank was built at the water treatment site. In 1980 the Starvation Reservoir was built by the City of Blanding. The old original standby reservoir, called the 3rd was first drained and covered with the Bentonite Clay. Trees, reeds and brush were removed and it was thoroughly redone by Hurst Builders.

The 4th Reservoir had been patched at least three times trying to stop the loss of water that seeped constantly from the dam. It was finally decided that the 4th had to be completely lined and fixed to stop the water loss. This project began in the fall of 1990 with $350,000 allotted to complete it.Norman Nielson was a strong proponent of the project and John Black was the Construction Supervisor. Equipment owners were also involved. The 4th Reservoir was completely drained and lined with Bentonite Clay. A total of 60,000 tons of clay was hauled to the site from the Recapture area. It was then completely covered again with soil so the clay would not erode.

The permit for the good Bentonite clay from above Recapture was obtained from the BLM.

The City of Blanding got a CIB grant to put in pumps, and a 10" metal pipeline so now if they had a water emergency, they can pump water directly to the Starvation Reservoir from Recapture Reservoir.The 4th Reservoir and Starvation Reservoirs could now hold the same amount of water, 550 Acre feet of water.

This project was completed Thanksgiving weekend. It was finished with no delays or problems. Since then, the reservoir has never been dry. The equipment and fuel tanks were moved out by Nov. 30. On Dec. 10 it snowed 2' at the project—-a big boost to the final completion of the purpose. All of Blanding today reaps the benefits of this great effort which assures that the city has water.So when you're taking a long shower or filling your glass with cold water, remember what the price and effort was for good, safe water! >