CHRONICLE
April 5, 2012 I The Lovell Chronicle 113
PATti CARPENTER
Dr. Deborah Brackett (left) and Ken Ferbrache, MPAS, PA-C (right) and Dr. David Hoffman
(back left) along with other doctors from the North Big Horn Hospital District participated in
an informal reception on Friday where patients were invited to come to the hospital and meet
the doctors. Shown above Ferbrache visits with Brackett, his father Dilworth, wife Ranee, and
a hospital employee at the event.
Get Growing with Gary
Yes, it's spring, but wait to plant
GARY EMMETT
getgrowingwithgary@gmail.com
Yes it is springtime, but still be careful.
Can you believe this incredible weather that
we have been having lately? Daffodils are bloom-
ing, tulips are growing, lawns are greening and
weeds are growing. I don't know if you are like
me, but the weather is driving me crazy. I want
to plant something!
Remember, the average last frost date for
Lovell is around May 20. With this date being
just about a month and a half away, there are
plenty of things to get ready in my garden before
I plant too many things. The good thing is that I
will still be able to plant a few plants, and believe
me, my wife is counting the days when I will be
able to move my ever increasing jungle outside.
However, before I plant anything, I need to do
some work to prepare the soil first. Improving the
health of the soil is probably one of the most im-
portant things that you can do for healthy plants.
It can be as simple as adding organic matter,
whether it is compost that you have been work-
ing sinceTast year or adding manure. If you are
adding manure, be wary of how fresh the manure
is. The best manure would be from a source that
has been able to sit or age over the winter. Or-
ganic matter is very important, but too fresh or
hot manure can cause burning damage to plants
it comes in contact with. If you have been piling
up grass clippings from last year's lawn mowing,
use it in your garden.
I also add products that contain humic acid.
Humic acid aids in the increased microbial activ-
ity in your soil. I have mentioned using humic
acid on your lawn to help reduce the thatch build-
up too. It is very beneficial in what it can do for
plants in your yard.
You need to make sure that the weeds that
have started to grow are killed. You can do this
by the old fashioned way of hoeing to remove the
weeds. When the weeds are small and have just
germinated they are the easiest to control. You
can use weed killers that contain glyphosate.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Round-
Up and can also be found in generic forms such
as Kill-Zall. Remember that with such products
these are non-selective vegetation killers. If it is
green and gets sprayed the plant will die. Do not
use glyphosate products on your lawn for it will
kill the grass, too.
Most commonly, a weed and feed product is
used to control emerging dandelions aild other
weeds in your lawn. The premise of a weed and
feed is that it will control the weeds and fertilize
your lawn at the same time. Weed and feeds use
a common chemical called 2-4 D to kill broadleaf
weeds in lawns along with other chemicals. Weed
and feeds need to be applied to a wet lawn so that
the chemical will stick to the leaves of the weeds.
Once the chemical passes the weeds and settles
on the soil, it will not kill any weeds. The most ef-
fective time for weed and feeds for your lawn is in
the fall. I would recommend liquid weed killers in
the spring. Read the labels because temperatures
are important in weed killing. And whenever us-
ing weed killers in your lawn, DO NOT save your
grass clippings for composting for at least three
mowings.
Yes, there are plenty of things that you can
plant in your garden if you are ready. Peas and
onion sets can be planted now, as can radishes
and beets. Not everything has to wait until mid-
May. Certain flowers such as pansies, violas and
many perennials can also be planted. Make sure
to allow them to acclimate for a day or two from
going from the greenhouse to being planted. We
are still having cold nights and plants that have
been grown in a hot greenhouse to be placed out
in the cold without acclimating will usually be se-
verely damaged.
I have a special plant growing in one of my
flowerbeds. It is called Helleborus. There are sev-
eral varieties of Helleborus that will bloom at
various times in the early spring. It is commonly
called the Lenten Rose because of its ability to
bloom around Easter and that is exactly what it
is doing. Spring is a time of renewal and of re-
birth, and one of my favorite times of the year to
watch the world around spring back to life.
If you have any gardening questions, email
me at getgrowingwithga _ry@gznail.com and I will
answer your gardening questions with the possi-
bility of them becoming part of an article here in
the paper.
Cowley News
Spring cleanup efforts
make Main Street sparkle
DRUE TEBBS-MEEK
548-6901
When one drives on our Main
Street, it is obvious that some
spring cleaning has been happen-
ing. There are volunteer wom-
en of mature age cleaning Main
Street block by block. Sometimes
the cleaning is done quickly, but
most blocks have all sorts of de-
bris lying around, and after the
volunteers get through, they have
four-eight bags filled.
These ladies won't allow
me to name them, but most of
us know who they are and we
thank them all for making our
lovely Main Street even loveli-
er. Thanks, girls.
It seems that everyone in
town is busy cleaning their
yards, when the wind doesn't
blow, that is. There are huge gar-
bage bags lined up by the dump-
sters, leaves are burned, raking
is done and there are some peo-
ple getting their gardens plowed
in readiness. You can tell spring
is here as windows are washed,
cars are sparkling, the leaves
and garbage that collect during
winter are being gleaned, and
the lawns are beginning to turn
green. Soon, we'll be planting
flowers and bushes, and before
we know it summer will be here.
The bicycle riders are out in
force with their children and it
is a sight to see as families ride
the streets, some pulling their
babies with that wonderful con-
traption they make now. One
can hear the sounds of children
playing, laughing and enjoying
the sometimes good weather un-
til dark. Spring brings new life
and hope for a better year. Even
though our winter was reason-
able, it is good to be outside en-
joying warmth and perhaps soon,
warm breezes.
I was driving down the street
by Stevens Memorial land and
saw that there are three new
houses being built in the proj-
ect. One is for our superinten-
dent Shon Hocker's family, one is
a spec home that Rollin Stevens
is having built, and I haven't
been able to pin down the names
of the other one yet. Our town
is quickly growing and perhaps
even prospering, and those who
do not remember our dirt roads
and streets and the running ditch
water have no conception of driv-
ing through mud up to your hub
caps, even walking to school try-
ing to skirt the mud enough to get
to school without it up to your an-
kles.
Personally, I can't remember
feeling it was a hardship, because
that's all we knew, and I personal-
ly miss the open ditches running
down the streets because of the
entertainment we had with our
cucumber boats, wading through
it, building little places that were
important to us, the animals
drinking from it and the canal
water aroma. I especially liked it
when my dad would irrigate the
lawns, the horse pastures, the
neighbors roads, Mary Meeks
next door's basement, Bishop
Harston and dad arguing about
the water rights throughout the
years and the ditch rider having
to come to the neighborhood to
calm everyone down.
It was an exciting time to
grow up as we ran through the
flooded lawn and barnyards and
listened to the grownups argue
about the use of the water. We
never had to water lawns in
that time. What memories of our
small town evolving into the mod-
ern world.
Last Sunday in the business
section of "The Billings Gazette,"
Shelley Gams' picture caught my
eye. She certainly looks like her
beautiful mother as an adult. She
has again qualified for member-
ship in the 2012 Million Dol-
lar Round Table (MDRT) -- The
Premier Association of Financial
Professionals MDRT places her
among the top (less than 1 per-
cent) of life insurance and finan-
cial services professionals world-
wide.
Each year as I read about her
success in her professional and
personal life, I recall her as a ju-
nior high student, a horsewoman,
her intelligence and personality,
her beauty inside and out, and
her goals in life as she spent her
growing years with her parents,
John and Sylvia Gams, on their
ranch. She worked along side
them on the farm, being taught
with the security of her family
behind her.
The lessons taught her as
she grew and began working in
the business world, and found
her niche and earned the respect
of not only those who knew her
as a pretty dark-haired, green-
eyed young girl, but watched her
grow in the business world as she
achieved such titles as ChFC,
CASL and CFP. It is a fine thing
to go out in the world from a small
town of 500 or so, and succeed in
all aspects of her life. We're proud
as we watch her progress.
It's Easter next weekend,
and not only does it mean Eas-
ter dresses and shoes and won-
derful meals, but all Christians
commemorate the resurrection of
Jesus and the hope we all have
of life eternal, and being resur-
rected with our families in eter-
nity. Celebrate, remember and
pray for the world.
Byron News
An hour at the museum and old news is new from Cowley to Byron
E, DENNEY NEVILLE
548- 7829
nevilleart@tctwest.net
I spent an hour in the
Byron museum, letting
my eyes wander around
the room, seeing and feel-
ing more than a century of
experience, events, people
and things. The old type-
writer there, what had been
written with it, a special
thank you note, a letter to a
son or daughter or a friend
remembered, a poem, some
good news or something
sad, a practice sentence just
trying it out for the first
time? The quick brown fox
jumped over the fence, ran
away, didn't look left and
got run over.
The old army uniform
and the green high school
band uniform. They both
had their moment, prob-
ably several times, what
they evoke now is far more
than what is written on the
card attached to them and
because of personal memo-
ries, they mean volumes.
There are photographs,
hundreds of them. Some of
the people seem to be look-
ing out of the past, look-
ing into our present time.
I wonder what they were
really thinking back then.
The expression on most of
their faces reveals only a
little about them and their
concerns. Most of them look
serious, determined and
patient. One thing evident
in their expression is that
times were tough and they
were handling it the best
they could. It is interesting
that the happiest of faces
are the faces in the school
annuals. School activities
seem to be the place of the
happiest faces. A home
away from home, happy fac-
es in both places.
Quietly sitting alone
in a museum, letting your
imagination explore the
items on display is sobering
in a reverent way. It is com-
forting, rich in memories,
strange in nostalgic influ-
ence related to things, peo-
ple and places, all shaped
by the relentless passing
and grinding of time.
The old radio, probably
from the 1940s. The mu-
sic of Tommy Dorsey. The
radio shows remembered:
Sergeant Preston of the Yu-
kon, Sky King, Fibber Mc-
Gee and Molly, Bob Hope,
Red Skelton, and my favor-
ite, the Inner Sanctum. I
can still hear the haunting,
squeaky sound of the door
opening into the inner sanc-
tum. The announcement of
World War II, the voice of
President Roosevelt. The
announcement of the war
ending. The Singing Cowboy
on KPOW--'Wake the town
and tell the people" every
morning at seven a.m. Oh,
my, what a time it Was.
A copy of The Eagle
Lore. On the cover the Ea-
gle in flight, claws open,
the air beating through the
feathers of his wings, his
scream piercing the sky;
you can feel that familiar
spirit, and it still causes a
special feeling of having
been there when something
gave experience, learning
and something to remem-
ber. Museums are reposi-
tories of things we are part
of and from what we cannot
be removed. That is why we
have them, so we do not for-
get.
000
Old news becomes cur-
rent news. I have been
reading some old, micro-
film news articles from the
Cowley Progress given to
our museum by Roland
Simmons. One of the ar-
ticles of particular inter-
est reports the loss of the
Byron mercantile store.
At 10 years old, several
bike-pedaling buddies and
I were resting on the lawn
of the old LDS Church. We
heard loud bangs in the di-
rection of the store, and in
looking toward the sounds,
we noticed the flicker of
flames in a small window
high on the east wall of the
store. We went to alert some
adults nearby and learned
that they, too, had seen the
flames in the window. The
following report appeared
in the Cowley Progress a
week later:
"July 13, 1950. On this
past Sunday, Mr. And Mrs.
C. A. Clark of Byron suf-
fered a loss estimated at
more than $50,000 when
the Byron mercantile store
was completely destroyed
by fire. Of unknown origin,
the fire started in the after-
noon and had spread over
the entire area of the store
before it was noticed.
"Mr. Clark stated that
he had been in the store for
a few moments before the
fire was reported. He had
entered from his residence
in the rear and turned
on the large compressor,
which handles the locker
plant, which had been shut
off for defrosting. Going out
the front door, he had driv-
en his car to a lot where
he keeps his horses and
was preparing to go horse-
back riding with Mrs. Clark
when neighbors drove up
and informed him the store
was afire.
"Without any firefight-
ing equipment, neighbors
did a remarkable job of
preventing the residence,
which is only a few feet
away from the store, from
igniting. The heat from the
flames was so intense that
it was necessary to spray
water on the Rainbow
lunchroom across the street
covered by insurance, with
rates higher than usual in
a community without an or-
ganized fire department."
The Byron store was
one of the early landmarks
of the community, being
built by John Jensen and
operated by the family for
many years.
OQQ
Another interesting tid-
bit reported in the Cowley
Progress under the head-
line "An interesting batch
of news from our versatile,
Byron correspondent" re-
ported that a social was
held after a basketball
game between Byron and
(Correction:
lunch and grocery store, not
lunchroom, owned and op-
erated by my grandmother,
Vervean Pryde).
"The entire contents of
the general merchandise
store were a complete loss,
as was the locker plant. Mr.
Clark had recently added
considerable merchandise
in the line of appliances, fol-
lowing his progressive poli-
cies. In addition to the stock
of goods and building, they
sustained a cash loss of ap-
proximately $800, which
was in the store on Sunday.
The loss was only partially
the Rainbow Lovell. Byron won 23 to 11.
This correspondent,
"our versatile," still has de-
scendants living in Byron.
Versatile families have
been here since the begin-
ning. We also have families
of Jack Of Alltrades, the
Whodidits, Theydidits, Not-
mes and Iwilldoits and all
moved here, too. Each of the
aforementioned families
moved in from Somewhere
because they were individu-
ally and collectively tired of
Elsewhere and did not want
to go to Anywhereelse, so
we welcomed here and have
kept them in Byron.
:, .II ]I ,I I!,L,I!:II ' -' "'
