My Portfolio

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Making Marmalade   At three o’clock the Bengal Tiger noticed that the wild grapes in the vacant lot next door were fully ripe and ready for harvest.  By four o’clock, or maybe 4:15, those grapes were picked, washed, cooked,...

Ask any neighbor and they will say it is a joy to have Verna Taylor for a neighbor.  She was born in Spring Lake, Utah and has lived in Payson, Springville and Salem.  She comes from a family of nine chidren--three sisters and five brothers.  She is 85 years old and...

  On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek    The Peace Corps Jocks Nobody would believe it if you told them that a rag-tag crew of a mere handful of Peace Corps Volunteers would whip the Pakistanis in both basketball and volley ball on their home court...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Santo Antão, Cape Verde   There were so many adventures packed into the memory of Santo Antão that Footloose Forester sometimes forgets that he was a paid employee on various work assignments there.  Perhaps the most haunting memory was...

Our Senior Spotlight this month is Ed Solie.  He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 1924, which makes him 90 years old.  He lived there until he was three.  His dad had a sheet metal business and they moved a couple of times, finally settling in West Dallas, Wisconsin (home...

On the road …again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Make That A Double! Jaelyn is not yet 11 years old, but she is already a skilled fisherman….make that fishergirl.  More than once this summer she has come back from fishing trips as the one who either caught...

We would like to spotlight Roen and Shirley Griffiths.  Their kids call them the "Energizer Bunny" and you can see why if you have ever trired to keep up with them.  Roen is 83 years old and is from Bend, Oregon.  Shirley is 81 years old and was born in Las...

It is an honor to spotlight Johnny and Sue Davis during this patriotic month.  Both Johnny and Sue were born in Payson.  Johnny is 67 and Sue said she is in her 60s.  Johnny's parents, Ernest and Hazel Davis, lived in Salem.  Sue grew up in Payson.  Johnny is second to...

A senior who has served others and is still serving is Marlene Manahan Olsen.  She was born in Butte, Montana on Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1935.  She has lived in the same house in Salem for 43 years.  When she was a junior in High School her parents moved to Salt...

Leaun G. Otten will be 83 on May 14th.  His family moved to Salem in 1941 when he was 10 years old.  His father, Glen Otten, was from Mt. Pleasant and his mother, Dora Otten, was from Sterling in Sanpete County.  When Leaun was born the family lived in Kenilworth, Carbon...

From France, to Canada, to America -- that is how Robert (Bob) Allen got his wife Lucette.  They were introducted while he was on an LDS Mission to France; but it was always a three-some whenever they were in the same area: Bob, his companion, and Lucette.  Bob said he didn't...

This month we would like to spotlight Reo and Janice Carson.  When Reo was born his parents lived in Salem.  He is the youngest with two older sisters, Mary Jo (Tervort) and Karen.  Reo's parents were Clifton and Ruth Carson.  At one time Clifton was the City "Cop" and Justice of...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek    Lobbying To Be Jury Foreman   An anarchist like the Footloose Forester does not like to take orders or give orders, so most times he stayed in the background and lived his life as a lone wolf who was...

Our Sweethearts for February are Lynn and Maurine Stewart.  They were married on September 27, 1950, some 63+ years ago.  Lynn wsa born in Milburn, Utah and Maruine was born in Fountain Green, Utah.  Her family moved to Moroni when she was five.  Lynn is 85 years old and Maurine is...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Overnight In Rangoon   In the mid-1960s the military-controlled government of Burma was run by a cabal of high-ranking officers who were quite unfriendly to outsiders, especially Westerners.  Thus, anybody passing through Burma on their way to Bangkok or...

We would like to introduce you to Vaud Hanks.  He was born Feb. 4, 1930 and will be turning 84.  His parents, Mel and Nelda Hanks, lived in the house just south of Mel Hanks and Sons store on Main Street in Salem.  This is wehre he was born.  At that...

Russell and Arlis Hutchinson will celebrate 69 years of marriage on December 15, 2013.  Russell was born in Springville and turned 88 years old last June.  Arlis will be 91 in January, and was born in Payson.  Russell's family moved to Payson the day Pearl Harbor was attacked [Dec 7, 1941]. ...

I think I was born whistling. I can thank James Smith Turner II (and whoever passed it to him!) for that--he always had a tune on his lips, as often expressed in a whistle as in any other way. As to whether it is ladylike to whistle . . . that's...

We are thankful for a lady like Zina Hanks.  She was born and raised in Spring Lake, Utah.  She will be 90 on July 12, 2014, and has enjoyed good health up until the end of September when she suffered a slight stroke. She and her husband Gale were married in...

We'd all love to have a neighbor like Junior Wayne Underwood.  Junior was born in Eureka, Utah November 1, 1926.  When he was three years old his family moved to Salem where he has lived ever since.  His father was a carpenter and shoemaker and built the family home.  Junior was...