My Portfolio

In rummaging through my bookshelf recently selecting books I could donate to our church’s garage sale I came across a collection of stories my next oldest brother, Gene, had written as a columnist for the weekly newspaper in the town in which he grew up  He grew up living in and...

We'd like to introduce you to Beverly Faretta.  She was born December 12, 1931.  She was born and raised in the family home at 555 East 200 South, Provo [Utah]. Her parents were Ervin and Minnie Bell Brailsford.  They lived in this this home until she was 12; then they moved...

Marion Robert Morrison aka John Wayne (1907-1979) John Wayne was a larger-than-life movie hero, but his ancestors were the same type and could have fit right into his film roles, according to a Utah genealogical research company. Research International was in the midst of work on a book about Wayne's ancestors...

Preface:  This is the first "chapter" of what will be a "quadrilogy" chronicling a part of my teen years that had a profound effect on my later life.  I do not offer these in any kind of "I'm proud of this" boasting way.  If I have any motive other than simply...

On the road… again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek  Cracking the Lilly Fuchsia Case   Youthful CSI investigator Jaelyn (Mushroom) Hunt(er) lived the CSI credo of following the evidence. Those essentials are: observe the evidence; gather it up; display it during an initial examination; secure it in a...

NaDean Sheen 1 July 2015, Salem Utah NaDean Sheen is a spry 92-year old.  She was born June 16, 1923 in Springville at her grandmother's home. Her parents, Reed and Cathrine Hansen, lived in Palmyra.  She grew up there on the family farm.  She learned to work helping her dad on...

Back From the Edge   When someone has lived at the edge where safety and danger intermix, where adrenalin pumps, and senses stay on high alert they can become addicted to the feeling. Some cannot stop and return again and again back into the lion’s den to fly higher, dive deeper,...

  Although I no longer fly airplanes my passion for it still runs hot in my blood.  I spent a little over 2,000 hours of my life piloting small airplanes and they are among the most precious hours of my life.  During those hours I had many occasions to learn the...

By Lloyd R. Adams This is a true story that might inspire you by helping others and at the same time fulfill your own dream to enjoy financial freedom for the rest of your life. In 1986, shortly after securing a 100% financed small business loan with the local community bank...

 July 4th, or more properly “Independence Day.”  Outside my window dads with little kids close beside them are lighting fuses, sending rockets aloft to burst high in the air raining varicolored bits of incendiary material down onto the streets, roofs and lawns.  Most I suspect are giving little if any thought...

Max and Mava Walters are our Senior Spotlight for July.  Mava was born in Salt Lake City on July 15, 1942, but her family moved to Salem when she was six months old, so she is an original "Salem" girl.  Her parents were Wilford and Virgie Hunt.  Max was born in...

    The demographic tsunami of baby-boomers is breaking on our shores and will soon swamp the elder care industry. The flotsam left in the wake of this phenomenon is an exponential increase in cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s.     While there is no cure as yet, Reminiscence Therapy (RT) can...

This remarkable story about a defining moment in my personal history was written by Christine Bonham. daughter of my very good friend and visionary, Dave Fankhauser.    Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.                ...

I should warn you from the start that this story is more about thoughts and feelings about the sudden changes I face in 2015.  The first week in January was like most any other week in the middle of a Northwest winter.  It was dreary, cold, and rainy.  I had been...

When Family History Missionaries were called and sent out to the world, they were sent to serve in local Family History Centers.  The missionaries were trained by a selected staff at the Brigham Young University (BYU) Family History Center.  It was a huge task and it impacted the library operation considerably....

In the fall of 1956 a young woman with four small children moved to Oskaloosa, Iowa, where my family lived. I don’t remember her name and wouldn’t divulge it if I did, so I’ll call her Carol. She came from another State, where she and her children had been battered by...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   An Indelicate Subject   Sometimes it takes the stimulus of an ignorant post or meme on the Internet to finally push the Footloose Forester over the edge.  As repugnant and as repulsive as the subject matter is, he thinks...

My father, James K (Jim) Long, never met a stranger. To him strangers were just friends he hadn't met. I always admired his ability to strike up a conversation with a person he had just met and talk as if he had always known him or her. The only thing he...

Diane and I met the latter part of June 1972, although we had noticed each other while attending a Brigham Young University summer ward, when I visited her in the capacity of her Home Teacher.  We began dating on July 4, 1972.  We were engaged to be married on August 24,...

Whether you are a professional caregiver or have finally gotten around to asking an aging relative to share their life stories, be prepared for the unexpected. As enthused as you might be to hear some amazing life experiences, the elder may not be so much.   Young people today are living...