CHRONICLE
- DAVID PECK
Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce President Janet Koritnik presents a
certificate of congratulations
to Good 2 Go manager Carolyn Cox during the expanded store’s grand
re-opening event on Wednesday,
July 22.
Miracle explained by former Cokeville sheriff
BY PATTI CARPENTER
Hyart Theatre mov-
iegoers were afforded the
rare opportunity to hear
first hand from Ron Hart-
ley, a deputy sheriff who
responded to and partici-
pated in the subsequent in-
vestigation of the 1986 hos-
tage situation featured in
the movie “The Cokeville
Miracle.”
The incident made na-
ti’Onal headlines when Da-
vid and Doris Young, a
deranged couple from Ari-
zona, entered the Cokeville
Elementary School build-
ing in May of 1986, taking
136 students hostage, in-
cluding four of Hartley’s
own children. The couple
threatened the children,
their teachers and other
staff with guns and a home-
made bomb that eventual-
ly went off, injuring many
of the hostages but killing
none.
Many survivors say the
fact that there were no fa-
talities among those taken
hostage was nothing short
of a miracle and attribute
that miracle to prayer and
to angel-like apparitions
that aided them during the
explosion. Some later rec-
ognized the apparitions as
ancestors pictured in fami-
ly albums. The two perpe-
trators were the only peo-
ple who died during the
Cowley News
“RON HARTLEY
incident.
Hartley, who is a close
friend of Lovell residents
Tom and Suzie Newman,
made a special appearance
after the Thursday and
ly happened, because if it
would have been made like
a documentary showing
every single fact, it would
have put people to sleep in
about five minutes.”
He said a series of mir-
acles happened during that
fateful day. The first mir-
' acle was that none of four
officers who lived in the
town were actually in the
town when the incident
happened. He Said he was
visiting a friend in south-
ern Utah when the inci-
dent first began to unfold
and, in retrospect, feels his
police training would actu-
ally have been a detriment
in this particular situation.
He said the fact that law
enforcement was slow to
respond probably prevent-
ed the couple from setting
off the bomb sooner, which
may have cost lives.
He said when he
Friday night showings of first returned to town he
the movie, giving his own
gripping firsthand account
of the incident and how it
changed him spiritually.
He said Friday that the
movie was fairly true to the
facts, but the film’s direc-
tor TC Christensen toned
down the violence in order
to keep its PG rating.
“What you saw tonight
is actual facts,” said Hart-
ley. “It is portrayed differ-
ent than the way it actual-
saw the ambulances and
thought it must be some
kind of emergency training
drill. In what he referred
to as yet another miracle,
the first person he ran into
when he entered the town
was the emergency man-
agement coordinator for
the area. He said the EMC
just happened to be in town
on other business when the
incident occurred. He said
the fact that she was there
and able to coordinate the
emergency response imme-
diately really helped get
immediate medical ser-
vices to those who were in-
jured in the blast.
Since Hartley was as—
signed to investigate the
incident, he was able to
speak in great detail about
facts he learned during his
investigation. One fact he
learned was that many of
the survivors reported see-
ing angel-like apparitions
that they said protected
them during the incident
and guided them to safety.
Hartley, who was not
much of a spiritual man at.
the time, was skeptical at
first but became a believer
after hearing so many eye-
witness accounts, includ-
ing accounts by his own
children. He said learning
about these facts in connec—
tion with the incident af-
fected him deeply on a spir—
itual level and changed his
life forever.
In a touching moment,
a young boy from the au-
dience asked Hartley if he
was really afraid to pray
as portrayed in the mov-
ie. He brought the young
boy forward, hugged him
and assured him that,
though he was afraid to
pray at that time, he is not
afraid anymore and does so
frequently.
Cowley’s newest citizen is welcomed with open arms
BY DRUE TEBBS-MEEK
307-548- 6901
Cowley has a new citi-,
zen. Nicholas and Brittani .
Sponsel have a new baby
boy named Nathan Jon
Sponsel. Nathan was born
Wednesday, July 29, and
weighed in at 7 pounds, 7
ounces. His grandparents
are Jon and Cheryl Hunsak-
er, of Oregon, and Nick and
Koleen Sponsel, of Cowley.
This is the young couple’s
first child and he has been
welcomed to the world by
all his family and cousins
and community members.
I learned something
new about Nick Sponsel
last evening when I talk-
ed to Koleen about her
new grandson. Nick’s given
name is Nathan. Since I’ve
known him since he was a
young boy, it was a surprise
to discover that his given
name is Nathan. Koleen
said when he was young-
er, his aunt didn’t like his
name so she began call—
ing him Nick and soon ev-
eryone called him by that
name. Interesting what you
learn even at an older age.
Congratulations to the
Sponsel and Hunsaker
families. Koleen also men-
tioned that they now have
seven grandchildren and
they are fortunate to have
their three kids and grand-
kids living in Cowley. We
all should be lucky. Wel-
come to the world, young
and beautiful baby boy.
For a few days in the
end of July it was cool, so
I assumed that fall was on
the way. But the. days have
been hot, the Wind blew last
week and it was so strong
I began to worry that my
old trees were going to land
on my roof. The Big Horn
Mountains had a micro-
burst and the campers were
thrown around like they
were sticks. Luckily, no one
was hurt, only the emp-
ty campers. The tempera-
tures have been in the 90s
and I’m wondering if that’s
why this month is some-
times called “The Dog Days
of August.” I’ll have to look
that up.
It’s a good thing most
of us have air conditioning.
This makes me remember
the days before air condi-
tioning; when we grew up
we didn’t even know that
word. I remember in the
summer all five of us kids
would sleep outside on the
porch, where the dogs slept,
on the couch and in sleep-
ing bags. We didn’t care be-
cause it was so hot in the
upstairs rooms where we
normally slept.
My home is very old,
built in the 1900s, and it is
really cool in the daytime,
but begins to heat up at
four or five in the afternoon.
As children, we went to
the canal and swam to cool
off. We had open ditches
then where we waded and
played, but at night it was
smothering heat. I don’t re-
member if we had fans back
then. But, when you’re a kid
you just don’t think about it
and we enjoyed the days of
childhood.
("U‘U‘
Luke Leonhardt, son
of Charlie Leonhardt and
Sandy Harrison, is now liv-
ing in the late DeVere and
Madge Marchant Hinck-
ley home. He is engaged to
Sarah Oard of Dubois. Her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Dar-
ren Oard, hosted a fami-
ly engagement celebration
for the two in Dubois at the
KOA campground. There
were more than 20 Leon-
hardt family members in
attendance and around 13
of the Card relatives at-
tended the weekend party.
They got to know one
another and went hiking,
four- wheeling and motor-
cycling among other ac-
tivities. The group played
hard and had a great time
together. Luke’s grand-
mother Bobi Jo Leonhardt
enjoyed herself, as did the
parents of the couple, sib-
lings and cousins. Sar-
ah was so thrilled because
her sister, Bobbi, and her
grandmother Roberta of Sa-
lem, Ore., traveled to Du-
bois to be with the family. I
enjoyed caring for Bobi Jo’s
dog Ginger for the week-
end, even though my cats
were walking through the
house and yard growling
and sulking. What a grand
weekend for all involved.
August 6, 2015 The Lovell Chronicle 15
Grant returns from mission
Mark Grant, son of Mar-
ianne and Michael Grant of
Lovell, recently returned
from serving a two-year mis-
sion for the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He got back from complet-
ing his mission to Washing-
ton state on Jan. 19, 2015.
Mark, now 21 years old,
started out his service in the
downtown Seattle area, and
then he was transferred to
the new Washington-Fed-
eral Way Mission when his
area expanded and split,
only three months after he’d
started.
A few highlights from
his mission, said Grant,
were visiting Washing-
ton’s Mt. Rainier; he also
really enjoyed the diversi-
ty of living and serving in
a very multi-cultural area,
and was able to experience
a handful of different Asian
cultures while he was there.
He also said that he got
MARK GRANT
used to “lots of rain,” but
that it was “usually more
like a misting type of rain”
that wasn’t too bad.
Currently he is attend-
ing the University of Wy-
oming as a full-time engi-
neering student. Grant was
recently at home over spring
break and mentioned that
his future plans include con-
tinuing to “study a lot and
graduating.”
Simmons becomes Eagle
Scout and leaves for mission
Cannon Simmons,
18, son of Rachel and Mi-
chael Simmons of Cowley,
leaves for his mission for
the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints this
week. He has been called
to serve for two years in the
Texas San Antonio Mission.
Simmons said he feels more
excited than nervous, and
mentioned that he’s look-
ing forward to serving every
day and having the time to
dedicate to it.
“This is that first step
from high school and living
at home, where you go out
and start doing things for
yourself,” said Simmons.
Proud mom Rachel
Simmons said she is look-
ing forWard to his letters
and to hearing about his
experiences.
“I’ve seen his testimony
grow so much,” she said.
She also said she is
grateful for the preparation
that Cannon has put into
the calling.
His experiences will
be hot, someone told him,
as the area he’ll be living
in gets about three months
of loo-degree weather. He
found out that they also
cook a lot of barbecue, so
he’s looking forward to the
food, as well. He will spend
a very short 12 days in the
Missionary Training Center
before diving right in to his
area of service.
No stranger to hard
work, Cannon had a Court
of Honor in June for his Ea-
gle Scout Award, which he
actually earned when he
Byron News
CANNN SIMMONS
was 16. According to Rachel,
he was glad to have earned
the award, but wasn’t wor-
ried about the ceremoni-
al side of things. One of his
scout leaders encouraged
him to have the Court of
Honor so that some of the
boys who look up to Cannon
could participate and also
be inspired to get their own
Eagle Scout Award by his
example.
Cannon said the hard-
est badge for him to earn
was the Environmental Sci-
ence badge, and that his
favorite was Aviation. He
follows in the footsteps of fa-
ther, Michael, who is also an
Eagle Scout.
“While some people say
that it’s the moms who get
the kids their Eagles, I real-
ly feel like Cannon did it on
his own,” said Rachel about
the process.
Cannon was quick to
point out that his family
was always there for him
with lots of support whenev-
er he needed it.
Movie night in Byron
BY PAMELA COZZENS
HOPKINSON
307-272-8979
pamhopkinson@gmail.com
The upcoming week
promises to be a busy one.
The first annual Princess
Bride festival will be held
at an outdoor showing of the
classic movie on Monday,
Aug. 10. The family mov—
ie night is free and will be
held on the football field at
9:20 pm. Come dressed as
a princess or pirate and re-
ceive free popcorn.
Glow swords and wands
will be sold along with con-
cessions. If we have weath-
er issues, the movie will be
moved to the indoor audi-
torium. Come join us and
watch the Princess Butter-
cup and her true love Wes-
ley conquer the Fire Swamp.
Come witness “The Great-
est Swordfight in Modern
times” and many more trials
and finally discover “True
Wuv.”
On Thursday, Aug. 13,
the Town of Byron Recre-
ation Dept. is hosting an
open house at the recreation
and event center. Barbecue
will be served and there will
be drawings for a free year-
ly membership, blender bot-
tles and T-shirts. Come see
the newly designed weight
room and sign up for spe-
cial offers on memberships,
which include free classes.
The open house will be fol-
lowed by the public meeting.
On Thursday the town
council will hold a pub-
lic meeting regarding the
Highway/Main Street proj-
ect. This is the first meet-
ing for community members
to give input regarding the
Main Street look.
The project is scheduled
for 2019. That seems far in
the future, but there are
many layers to this endeav-
or, including decisions about
water and sewer. There will
be discussion of the median
strip, sidewalks, beautifica-
tion, planting trees, flowers,
parking, street lights and
more. The council has ap-
pointed an ad-hoc commit-
tee headed by Sherry Rag-
ath to help see the project
through from beginning to
end.
This meeting will be
your chance to give voice to
ideas you may have or ask
questions about the project.
It will be held in the Recre-
ation Center auditorium at
7 pm. Come and be a part
of the future look of Byron.
a
