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October 13, 2011 I The Lovell Chronicle I 13
Forrest Roberts wins world challenge bowl
BY DAVID PECK
Forrest Roberts is a world
champion. The Frannie native and
2004 Rocky Mountain High School
graduate recently won the SEG
Challenge Bowl following the fi-
nals competition on Monday, Sept.
19, in San Antonio.
And he did it on his father's
birthday.
The son of Shane and Miriam
Roberts of Frannie, Forrest and
his partner, Matt Davis, repre-
sented Brigham Young University
at the competition, though Forrest
is now a graduate student at the
University of Texas.
According to an SEG news re-
lease written by Dean Clark, Rob-
erts and Davis "put on a domi-
nating display of geophysical
expertise" to win the Society of
Exploration Geophysicists 2011
Challenge Bowl Finals.
Roberts and Davis advanced
to the finals by winning the Rocky
Mountain Regional competition in
Denver in March, defeating the
Colorado School of Mines. The
BYU team was one of 10 teams
from around the world to advance
to the SEG Annual Meeting, where
the Challenge Bowl was held. Oth-
er regions advancing to the finals
included Nigeria, Italy, Oklahoma,
the U.S. Gulf Coast, Canada, East
Africa, Europe and Latin America.
The BYU duo won the compe-
tition going away. They scored 80
points in round one of the competi:
tion, 10 more than Nigeria and Lat-
in America, with five teams elimi-
iiiii!iiiiiii!!!i!iii!iii!ii!iii!iliii!'iili
COURTESY PHOTO
Frannie native Forrest Roberts, left, and teammate Matt Davis,
right, pose with team sponsor and BYU professor Bill Keaeh
following the SEG Challenge Bowl in San Antonio. Roberts and
Davis topped an international field to win the finals on Monday,
Sept. 19.
nated. Their total of 140 points in
the semifinal round was more than
twice the number of points of any
other team. Nigeria also advanced
to the finals by edging the Univer-
sity of Houston, representing the
Gulf Coast, 60-50.
Roberts and Davis correctly
answered six consecutive ques-
tions to build a huge 170-40 lead
in the finals before the Nigerian
team rallied to close the gap to
170-150, but four wrong answers
in the final 10-question "snapper"
segment ended the comeback. The
BYU team won 210-140, splitting
the winning prize of $1,000.
"They represented BYU ex-
tremely well, both with their
knowledge and their deportment,"
the team's sponsor, visiting asso-
ciate professor of geophysics Bill
Keach, said in an e-mail to col-
leagues. "In addition to lots of rec-
ognition, they won a nifty plaque,
a nice cash prize AND a job inter-
view with ExxonMobil."
Shane Roberts said Forrest's
win was the best birthday present
he could have received.
"Boy, it was a great birthday
gift," he said. "I smiled for the next
two days. The interesting thing
about the interview (with Exxon-
Mobil) is that it was at a career
fair only for professionals already
in the field. So the interview was a
great opportunity for him and his
teammate to make a good profes-
sional connection and possibly ac-
crue an internship with them later
on."
Shane said his son's champi-
onship reflects well on Frannie
and the regional community as a
whole.
"If Forrest's experience can
teach us something, it is that or-
dinary people can do some extraor-
dinary things if they are not afraid
to step out and step up to meet the
opportunities available to them,"
he said. "If students are willing to
take advantage of opportunity by
working hard, small schools may
provide advantages that culmi-
nate in larger possibilities."
After his graduation from
RMHS in 2004 as valedictorian,
Forrest attended BYU for one
year, served a two-year mission in
Brazil, then earned a geology de-
gree at BYU, graduating in 2011.
He is now working on his master's
degree in geology at the University
of Texas.
Senior Chatter
AARP driver
safety course
set for Oct. 17
BY
PHYLLIS BRONKEMA
The Newcomers' Club
met at the Senior Center
on Oct. 6 for card games.
The pinochle players were
down in attendance with
only two tables instead of
their usual three. Phyllis
Bronkema was heard say-
ing, "With fewer players,
I have a better chance of
taking high." Instead, she
disappointingly took low,
and Caroline Boltz got
high for the second week
in a row.
The Bridge Players ac-
tually had more players
then usual. Sheila Han-
sen won high for the af-
ternoon, due to her usual
skillful playing.
This month's birthday
party will be on Wednes-
day, Oct. 19. The meal will
feature baked ham and
cake. Make plans to at-
tend.
The biggest event
on the center's horizon
is their upcoming AARP
driver safety course to be
held on Monday, Oct. 17.
It runs from 8:30 a.m. to
4 p.m. The cost is $12 for
AARP members or $14 for
non-members. Lunch is in-
cluded in the price.
A unique benefit of
taking the course is that
many insurance compa-
nies give its members a
discount, which lasts for
two or three years. The
Center urges you to check
with your insurance car-
rier to see what your dis-
count may be. The course
is a good review for se-
niors. People 50 and older
may attend.
If you wish to take
advantage of this class,
please call the center at
548-6556 to help them
know how many to plan
for.
The senior center's
annual Halloween party
is a little over two weeks
away. Halloween bingo
will again be played. Bin-
go winners will receive a
can of food. Seniors are en-
couraged to bring canned
goods ahead of time, or on
the actual day of the party.
Each can will be in a paper
bag, so each one will be a
surprise.
Byron News
Otis, the Red Bull and the Bear
E. DENNEY NEVILLE
548- 7829
nevilleart@tctwest, net
There are individuals in the fab-
ric of our history we don't hear much
about that have survived a variety
of challenges and interesting events.
One such person is Otis Sessions.
Otis died in 1977, a bachelor that
lived most of his life in a little home
west of Byron on the north side of
highway 14A. What I remember as
his home can still be seen tucked in
under a heavy growth of trees about
a thousand yards north of the first big
curve in the highway a mile west of
town.
As a young, 19-year-old man, Otis
was an average kind of tough cowboy.
One summer he made up his mind to
ride in the rodeo held during the an-
num town celebration, declaring he
would ride the Red Bull, a wild critter
with a rowdy reputation.
An arena in the middle of town
served as the rodeo site, located where
the old water tower used to stand di-
rectly behind the three brick homes,
north across Main Street from the
school. Back in the early years of By-
ron, this same area was also used as
a holding corral for stray livestockPa
critter jail for runaways. The owners of
fugitive livestock were required to pay
a fine to regain possession of them.
The commitment to ride the Red
Bull did not end well for Otis. The Red
Bull dumped him in quick order and
roughed him up critically before he
could be removed from the arena and
taken to safety.
Otis was taken from the rodeo
grounds to the steps of a nearby build-
ing used as a jail, official town office
and supply store. There he was given
available medical attention address-
ing his critical condition. The Red
Bull had caused a serious head inju-
ry and possibly internal injuries and
broken bones. His chances for surviv-
al looked doubtful.
Regardless of how bad things
looked at the time, Otis did survive.
However, he lived out the rest of his
life somewhat handicapped by prob-
lems caused from his attempt to ride
the Red Bull.
Later in his life Otis experienced
a more humorous event that started
one afternoon in late summer when
a crew of oil field workers spotted a
black bear crossing the flats in the oil-
fields north west of Byron. For several
days after that, many in the area, my
brother and I included, tried to find
the bear and get a good look at it. The
only evidence of the bear we came up
with was the bear's footprint that my
brother Wally photographed with his
Brownie camera.
Then late one night, Otis, rest-
ing quietly in his little home west of
Byron, was awakened by the noise of
his excited chickens in the coop next
to his house. He got up, went outside
into the backyard with his hunting ri-
fle and a flashlight, and began search-
ing for the cause of all the commotion
that had his chickens in a frenzy. To
his surprise he soon spotted, in the
beam of his flashlight, the gleaming
eyes of the itinerate bear crouched on
a large limb directly above the chick-
en coop.
To find an unexpected bear on a
limb directly over his chicken coop,
though a problem to some, had a sim-
ple solution for Otis. He shot the bear.
Gravity, dead weight and loss of suf-
ficient balance to stay on the limb
above the coop, combined in the bear's
general direction of descent, and it en-
tered the coop through the roof much
to the surprise of the already, serious-
ly agitated chickens.
Now, if you have, even in the least,
a bit of knowledge about directionally
challenged chickens and their out-of-
control squawking, you should easily
see with your imagination the furi-
ous storm of feathers and the sound
of the squawking chorus with which
the chickens welcomed the entrance
of this unwanted guest into their al-
ready vociferous congregation--even
though dead on arrival.
My dad took my brother and me
out to see the bear strung up in the
tree after the incident. Feathers still
quietly drifted across on the ground
as the chickens nervously clucked and
scampered about° seeming yet quite
suspicious and staying a good dis-
tance away from the dead intruder.
Otis retains the distinct honor of
being the only Byronite to ever bag a
big, black bear in a backyard in By-
ron. Kudos to Otis!
When I hear somebody sigh that
"life is hard," I am always tempted to
ask, "Compared to what?" -- Sydney
J. Harris
Cowley News
Lights out over Cowley
DRUE TEBBS-MEEK
548-6901
Last Thursday when the lights
went out for quite some time at about
9:45 p.m., our household was totally
unprepared for the hour or so of dark-
ness we experienced. A flashlight is
kept on the kitchen cabinet by the
phone, but I was in the front room
watching a favorite television show
when everything went black.
Naturally, I began to go into the
kitchen, but found my equilibrium
was useless, so I crawled into the din-
ing room on my hands and knees try-
ing to locate the doorways. It was
quite a harrowing experience and by
the time I got into the area, I was
fortunate enough to discover some
matches on a desk, which provided
the light to get me to the counter, find
the flashlight, dig my candles out and
function once more.
I opened the kitchen door to find
the moon in the sky, but all I saw
was this tiny sliver of light. It was
totally black out there and the rain
pouring down didn't help the atmo-
sphere much. But being caught un-
aware made me realize that we should
be prepared for lights out by putting
candles, flashlights, matches, etc. in a
spot that is easy to reach for just such
emergencies. Maybe those candles
with batteries would be a good idea?
Bobi Jo Leonhardt had a memo-
rable first week of October when she
took a painting class at MSU in Bill-
ings for five days. Bobi is quite an art-
ist, she paints with oils, draws and
sews specialized quilts. She hadn't
tried watercolor painting, so she en-
joyed the class and learned tech-
niques from the instructor, Tony
Couch.
Couch is from Georgia, and dur-
ing the class, Bobi met many inter-
esting artists from California, Utah,
Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota and
Michigan. The days were a bit long,
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but Bobi enjoyed the
class, learned new techniques and
met new friends. She plans to begin
watercolor painting in the future.
The Cowley website at www,My-
Family.corn has so many interesting
facts with histories, family portraits
of the past, genealogy and people
from many states who are former
residents just keeping in touch. Gib
Fisher had a brilliant idea when he
introduced us all to the website. It has
created much laughter, has helped us
keep personal ties with one another,
reported deaths, births, family and
school and childhood memories come
alive again.
People banter, write and main-
tain friendships of former lives here in
Cowley and surrounding areas. Last
week a young man named Ed Willis
from Sandy, Utah, son ofV.C. (Vee, as
we all knew him) and Eva Lou March-
ant Willis, wrote an especially poi-
gnant essay that expresses what we
all feel in memory of family. The es-
say can be found on the website.
Staff Sgt. Peter
Birkholz retires
from Wyoming
National Guard
Staff Sgt. Peter Birk-
hoh, of Lovell, retired from
the Wyoming
Army National Guard
Sept. 18, after 32 years of
service. He most recently
served as a food service spe-
cialist with the 920th For-
ward Support Company in
Lovell.
Other duty assign-
ments have included De-
tachment 1, Headquarters,
Headquarters Support, 2nd
Battalion, 300th Field Artil-
lery; C Battery, 2-300th FA,
and Headquarters, Head-
quarters Battery 2-300th
FA.
Birkholz began his
military career as a food
service specialist with De-
tachment 1, Headquarters,
Headquarters Support,
2nd Battalion, 300th Field
Artillery, in 2007. He has
deployed in support of Op-
eration Iraqi Freedom and
Operation Desert Shield/
Desert Storm.
During the retirement
ceremony, Birkhoh was
awarded the Meritorious
Service Medal for a com-
bination of 32 years of ser-
vice, preparing more than
500,000 meals during the
unit's last deployment to
Kuwait, and greatly con-
tributing to the overall suc-
cess of the cook section of
the unit.
He has been award-
ed the following awards:
Meritorious Service Medal,
Army Achievement Medal,
Army Good Conduct Medal,
National Defense Service
Medal with Bronze Star
(3rd award), Global War
on Terrorism Expedition-
ary Medal, Global war on
Terrorism Service Medal,
Non Commissioned Officer
Professional Development
Ribbon, Army Service Rib-
bon, Overseas Service Rib-
bon (3rd award) and Armed
Forces Reserve Medal with
'wr' device.
Zachary Haskell
Haskell to
start mission
in Brazil
Elder Zachary James
Welch Haskell, son of
Tracey and Brad Haskell
of Lovell, has been called
to serve a two-year mis-
sion for the Church of Je-
sus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
Elder Haskell has been
called to the Brazil Sao
Paulo East Mission, and
he entered the Missionary
Training Center in Pro-
vo, Utah, on Oct. 5. While
there, he will spend ap-
proximately two months
learning Portuguese, the
language of Brazil. Usual-
ly the elders go directly to
the MTC in Brazil, but El-
der Haskell's visa hadn't
arrived yet, so he went to
Provo instead.
The area that he will
serve includes the center
of the city ofSao Paulo and
extends east to the ocean
and north of the city about
80 miles. Elder Haskell
spoke in the Lovell 2nd
Ward on Sunday, Sept. 25.
