Winterfest Social - Friday, Jan 26

Bear Lake Monster Winterfest Jan 27th

This Saturday, January 27 is the 9th annual Bear Lake Monster Winterfest. Come join us for some family fun. The state parks entrance fee at the Marina is waived - donate to the event charity instead.

Dawn: Monster Cisco Disco at Cisco Beach on the east side of Bear Lake - Dip net for cisco fish during the natural cisco run. Some dip nets available for kids & first-timers. State park entry fee and fishing license needed.

10am-3pm: Monster Expo at the Marina - Breakfast, Lunch, crafts, and more!

9am-Noon: Monster Chili Cook-off at the Marina - Spots still available for those that want to take their shot at some great prizes! Public sample tasting is at 12:30pm

11am-Noon: Monster Cisco Fishing Tournament at the Marina- Bring in your biggest little Cisco for measuring and potentially win some fantastic prizes. Winners announces at 12:30pm.

2pm: Monster Plunge at the Marina - Come jump in the lake and help us fundraise for Common Ground Outdoor Adventure charity. Pre-registration is $30. Same day registration (11am-1:45pm) is $35. Includes an event hoodie!

12:30, 1:30, 2:30pm: Monster Raffle - Win some great door prizes. Everyone attending the events will get a raffle ticket and be automatically entered. You can received one ticket per person for attending 1) The Friday social at the Reserve Clubhouse 2) Cisco Disco at Cisco Beach 3) Main Events at the Marina.

More information or registration here: https://bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com

The Bull is Back...

Last week it was reported that the Garden City Town Council took a vote against putting up a very large anatomically correct bull on the roof of Merlin's Restaurant.  It was not a vote, but just a discussion.  A few days later the bull was lifted back on the roof.  It, however, is no longer sporting the offending appendage.

It may be said that it is now a steer.  Sort of.

The Pickleville Philosopher

By Jim Stone, The Pickleville Philosopher

I was going through some old boxes of great memories, most of them Involve family friends, the outdoors hunting and fishing, but the ones that stand the most clear In my mind are dogs.  I love all dogs whether they are mine or someone else’s dogs.  Dogs aim to please more than a hundred percent of the time even when their precious life is at stake.

With that said, It was a bad winter, kinda like this one  I was heading off the mountain to the grocery store to get stocked up and ready for a heavy snow bound long winter.

I was coming down the backside of the summit and there was this huge snow white dog running down the road barking like he might have been in some kind of trouble.  I turned around as the big dog ran up just to the side of some cliffs covered in snow.  Most lost dogs I’ve found will come to me then I could get them in my truck and find their owner.

I got out and yelled, “here boy, here boy”.  Well, he charged down that mountain like a very upset bear which I had seen many times while guiding fishermen in Alaska. When a top of the food chain animal drops Its ears and comes at you, you’re in a heap of trouble in a very short time.  And this dog was big.

I jumped back in my truck as he headed back up the mountain.   I went on my way to get my supplies thinking of this monster dog I had just encountered In the middle of nowhere I had that feeling that we all get.

I just knew the dog was in soon to be big trouble with winter just arriving.  All I could think about with a whole truck load of food was that big dog being stranded and starving to death.  I just can’t take anyone or anything starving.  I get so upset, it just wipes me out emotionally.

I was driving by where I had seen the dog.  I pulled off again and looked around, yelling, “here boy, I got treats for you, come on Big Boy.”  He never barked or came to look. 

Well I had three dogs at the time and had their dog food In my truck I grabbed a shovel and a couple pounds of food and walked about twenty yards of the road.  I dug down through the snow till I hit ground and left a nice pile of food there in hope that the dog, which I had already named Big Boy, would find it then went on my way.

A couple days had gone by.  I decided to go see if the food was gone and try to determined if the birds had gotten it or Big Boy had gotten it.   I got to where I had left the food, it was gone.  There was a small trail coming from the pine trees right to the food. 

It was Big Boy. I yelled for him.  Here he came.  He didn’t sound so mean this time.   I think he knew I left him food last time.  His bark was so loud It would echo off the cliffs like there was a whole gang of dogs.  I left more food and backed away.  When I was a good distance from the food he started eating.  So off I went.

The snow was coming hard. I got told of one of my best friends and told him all about this dog.  He knew exactly what It was and had a good idea why it wouldn’t come to me. It was a Great Pyrenees.  Their job is to protect the sheep from predators.  That dog must have stranded sheep that can’t get through the deep snow and he’s not going to leave them.  He will protect the sheep until there is nothing to protect. If doing so doesn’t take his life first.

 By this time heavy winters was here.   I had called all the ranchers that I could find and none were missing a dog. I had never seen the sheep.  I thought maybe If I put a bale of alfalfa on a sled and try to get it off the road maybe the sheep would come for it.

The deer moose and elk were gone to their winter range.  I left the hay and came back the next day.  About half of It was gone.  I was astounded; I just could not believe my eyes.   Big Boy was about a hundred yards away from me, there were droppings of alfalfa all the way up a trail through the deep snow leading to Big Boy who had broken of a slab of It and was taking It to the starving sheep.

I would have never believed it if I didn’t witness it.  This went on for a couple weeks until I just couldn’t get even off the road to bring more food to the sheep. The snow was so deep and I couldn’t get up the cliffs any more.   It was too dangerous.   I started buying corn dogs from the gas station and throwing them like a football to try to get some food to Big Boy. I got to where I could throw a corn dog a pretty long ways but soon even Big Boy as big and strong as he was he was stranded and soon he was not there waiting. I was sad and also mad that the owner would do this to this fIne, beautiful animal.

 I did have a good Idea who Big Boy belonged to.  I couldn’t help any more. It was very expensive to drive up there and bring food every day It was money I really didn’t have. I was just heart broken.

My great friend Bryce stopped by.  I told hind the story.  He Is smarter than I.  He said go public with it. I think you will be overwhelmed with the response you will get. So I did and.....allllll  helllll broke loose .

About five miles down the road there was a big parking lot that was cleared of snow. Soon the parking lot was full the search and rescue volunteers from every walk of life.  I showed them where I thought Big Boy was.  Search and Rescue came In from the back side of the mountain and came out with three sheep and Big Boy.  Big Boy wouldn’t let any one touch hIm but he followed the very weak skinny sheep into a horse trailer.

My suspicion was right. I knew the horse trailer and the ranch where it was from. It was a huge effort that so many fine people had come together on.   I became a big believer In humanity.

I bought two corn dogs. I didn’t even get out of my truck.  This time Big Boy was happy.  He knew it was me. He still wouldn’t come to me.  I talked to him for a few minutes than left his corn dogs. As I drove of he chased me down the road barking and letting me know he was home now and ok.  

For five more years I would occasionally drive by and take him a treat he would always great me with that deep bark.

Fog Bow

Photo by Tammy Calder, Calderberry Photography, Garden City

New Conference Center Under Construction

The new Harbor Village Conference Center is under construction.  Windows are in. Electrical and HVAC will be complete this week. This is being designed for Corporate getaways.

Let us come give you a face to face presentation on our capabilities and help you design the perfect company retreat. #bearlake Call Cassidy to line up 435-799-4645. They are taking bookings now for fall 2018 and winter 2019.

National Junior Honor Society

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. January 16, 2018.  Kip Motta, Rich Middle School principal, said that they created the National Junior Honors Society which has national ties and is the junior version of the National Honors Society which is sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.   To be selected to the Honors Society a student must have a 3.7 grade point average,
leadership, an H citizenship grade. and good character.

Texi Johnson, Middle School teacher, created the 5 member faculty council, which cannot include the principal.  The council wrote the bylaws.

 Of the 7^th and 8^th  grade students thirty met the requirements.  They filled out the national forms about their leadership and service activities.  Twenty-nine returned the forms and were accepted.  They were inducted in a lovely ceremony.

Motta wanted to thank Johnson for her work on  creating this as a first class organization.  In addition to the honors at the school, participants can compete for the advocacy council .  There are also scholarships available to Society members.  Some members may have opportunities to go to regional and national meetings. Being a member is also good on resumes as the Society is a nationally recognized organization.

Virtual Historical Reality

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah. January 16, 2018.  Virtual history field trips to sites of the American Revolution have been enjoyed by the students of Texie Johnson, Rich Middle School history teacher.   She attended The  Rural Schools Conference where she saw the technology.  She used tech money to buy 24 IPods and  cardboard Google virtual reality boxes.  The publisher, Houghten Mifflen, has apps that show the actual sites in 3D.   For example, a student can see the path of Paul Revere’s ride much as you would experience it in person.  One can see how wide or small the trail or see how little distance there was between the Rebels and the British at the Old North Bridge where the first shot was fired.  The world history app shows Roman ruins and aqueducts.  

The board enjoyed working with the technology and complimented Johnson on her efforts to bring history to life.