CHRONICLE
October 18, 2012 I The Lovell Chronicle I 17
Kaitlin Stevens gives Cadence Workman a pumpkin picking
lesson during a visit by Early Head Start preschoolers last week
to Katie's Pumpkin Patch, a business set up by 13-year-old Stevens
three years ago at her family's farm located west of Lovell.
Right, 18-month-old Emerick Siebert picks out
a special pumpkin for his family during an Early
Head Start Preschool visit to Katie's Pumpkin
Patch on Thursday, Oct. 11.
PATH CARPENTER PHOTOS
Byron ilews
BY PAMELA COZZENS
HOPKINSON
548-2471
pamhopkinson@gmail.com
I have been trying to note the
upgrades happening around our
town. The most current offering
is a renovation of the old Havig
place. Those who grew up around
here, remember that "Ed was the
photographer for all of our "Ping
Pong school pictures. He and Ida
were a good team and she was al-
ways standing by with a comb for
a last minute look over to make
sure we wouldn't embarrass our
parents with some goofy pic-
ture. Most of the time she was
successful. I always thought Mr.
Havig had a neat accent.
He came to this country from
Norway when he was a young
man of 19. When he first came
to Byron he performed music for
dances a lot. Ed was a violinist in
the orchestra, as well as being ac-
complished on the accordion. De-
verl Willey played piano, Loraine
Wolz sax, Dot Nelsen banjo and
Lou Cozzens on the drums. In his
life history, Ed talked about go-
ing to Cowley, Lovell and Byron
for all of the dances. He didn't
mention the Starlight Garden
on the east end of Town, but I do
remember Morn telling how she,
along with my dad, my grand-
parents and so many people from
Byron, Cowley and Lovell would
go to the dances at that pavil-
ion. Sometimes I think it would
be neat to recreate some of that
camaraderie among the commu-
nities that was common in those
days. Why not?
The original Havig home
was an oil field house cut in
half, moved and pieced back to-
gether on its present founda-
tion. There was a small place
out in back where Dell Alexan-
der (Ida's brother) lived. Dell
was the town crossing guard and
the only speed cop we had. He
worked every day as a volunteer,
to keep our streets safe for the
school children. He made himself
a sash with many reflectors on
it. His eyesight was not good at
all, and he wore thick glasses, but
he could get you across the street
safely, and with his reflective uni-
form, he could be seen for a mile.
He had a reputation like
our former Chief of Police
Frankie. People would hit the
outskirts of town and see ,if Dell
was there. If he were, they would
slow way down. When Mr. Sim-
mons came to town as the new
superintendent, he was amazed
that Dell was doing this job out
of the kindness of his heart and
for the concern of the citizens as
an unpaid volunteer. Simmons
made sure that Dell was put on
the school payroll. Uncle Dell (as
the kids called him) was an im-
portant fixture in this community
for many years.
If you drive by the corner of
Main and Cloud Peak, the house
there has been a work in prog-
ress over the past several months
and I see the entire Curtis Abra-
ham family out working on the
finishing touches these last few
weeks. It is a neat and tidy addi-
tion to our Main Street. It is new
from the floors to the doors and is
definitely worth a look.
Carl Watts looked particu-
larly happy a few days ago at the
post office. He had been over the
mountain to watch his grandson
Daniel Sessions (a junior) score
six touchdowns for the Sheri-
dan Broncs against Laramie. He
is one proud grandpa, and I can
imagine a few local coaches are
wishing this young man would
move closer to his grandpa.
Don't forget to join us for
free supper at the Chili Cook Off,
Thursday Oct. 18. I understand
that Bob and Barb Acton from
Hawg Heaven have joined in on
the action. Should be fun. Cook-
ing starts at 3 p.m. Food will be
served at 6 p.m. There will be an
opportunity afterward to ask any
questions you may have of your
three candidates for town coun-
cil. Cinnamon rolls will be served
for dessert. Yum!
Also, the Byron School ghost
is roaming again.' The Haunt
is waiting for any souls brave
enough to darken the doors. The
Haunt will take place Oct.19, 20,
26, 27 from 8 p.m. to midnight,
plus Halloween night. What a
fright!
Speaking of fright, a Byron
snake expert was sharing a local
area find with me. It is a big rock
formation nearby that, from cer-
tain angles, actually looks like
a large snakehead. The amaz-
ing thing is that just below that
large natural creation is an ac-
tual den of rattlesnakes. I'm
not really curious enough (big
chicken, actually) to venture out
there. I waited for confirmation,
while Glen and an anonymous
(by request) snake expert viewed
this phenomenon and yep, it is re-
ally there. Yikes!
Supt. Hill to
host town
hall meeting
Saturday in Cody
This coming Saturday eve-
ning, Oct. 20, at 6:30 p.m Wy-
oming Superintendent of Pub-
lic Instruction Cindy Hill will
be holding a town hall meet and
greet meeting for the public to
give an update on education in
Wyoming at the Cody Cattle
Company, 1910 Demaris Dr on
the Yellowstone Highway.
According to organizers, Hill
welcomes the public, especially
teachers, parents, grandparents
and students, to attend. After
her update the floor will be open
for questions and answers.
Refreshments will be served.
Elna Petersen
80th birthday
party Saturday
for Elna Petersen
Elna Despain Petersen of El-
wood, Utah, will be celebrating
her 80th birthday. The event will
be commemorated at an open
house to be held at the Elwood
Second Ward building (4865 W
9600 N Elwood, Utah) on Sat-
urday, Oct. 20, between 2 and 4
p.m.
Elna was born the fourth of
11 children in Lovell on Oct. 31,
1932, to William and Mary De-
spain. She graduated from Lovell
High School and attended BYU.
She married Paul Petersen
(deceased) on July 17, 1951, in
the Idaho Falls Temple. They
are the parents of 10 children,
49 grandchildren and 37 great-
grandchildren.
On March 15, 2002, she mar-
ried Willis Petersen of Elwood,
Utah, father of five children
and seven grandchildren.
Elna has served three mis-
sions for the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
People are welcome to come
and celebrate her birthday with
family and friends or send her a
message at elna2001@hotmail.
com.
Cowley news
BY DRUE TEBBS-MEEK
548-6901
The month of October is half
over and the fall weather has been
beautiful. The leaves are every-
where, falling on lawns, porches
and pets. My cats come from out-
side and sticky leaves are in their
fur, on their backsides, and when
I get through grooming them, all
over the floor. Luckily, I have two
slick-haired feral cats that have
been tamed. Their coats are not
too bad, but my two longhaired
cats are getting angry with me.
The smell of the sugar facto-
ry is working its magic in Lovell.
The smell isn't too strong in
Cowley, but in Lovell, even the
outskirts are redolent. The smell
is imprinted on many of us and
the fragrance is just part of our
lives. Yesterday, while passing
through Worland, the odor was
so strong we were all coughing in-
side the car.
The aromas of fall are pleas-
ant to some of us. Some of the
farmers have gotten their beets in
and the sugar beets are huge and
healthy and it is an exciting time,
as we see men work night and day
to harvest their crops. It's beauti-
ful weather so far as the farmers
clear the lands.
Fall is the best, as long as the
weather cooperates. It's a blessing
to have been raised in Cowley and
ai r retLrement, come home to live
in this dear, familiar, quiet small
town.
My sister Sidney Whalen
sent a message last week from
St. George, Utah stating that she
hosted an 80th birthday party for
her husband, Pat Whalen on Sept.
29. Many of their friends and fam-
ily were present. Among those for-
merly from our area were: Bob and
Fay Olson; Jack and Marge Wil-
cock; Clara and Jim McDermott;
Terry and Jo Tebbs and Merrill
and Mary Alice Tebbs-Moncur. A
great time was had by all, as they
celebrated Pat's 80th birthday. My
only question about the whole cel-
ebration is, "How did this happen?
where have the years gone?" It is
so unbelievable to be in the "old-
er" generation. How quickly those
years have passed and here we are.
Sunday, Oct. 14, Ray and
Cresta Peterson, LeRose Peter-
son and myself traveled to River-
ton to witness the blessing of Re-
ese and Stephanie Peterson's son,
Connor Reese Peterson. He turned
one month old the day he was
blessed. What a beautiful day for a
drive.
The colors are changing and
Thermopolis canyon is so gor-
geous. We saw antelope, deer
and many kinds of wild creatures
in the fields. I've never been in-
side the small city of Riverton ex-
cept for the highway as we passed
through to get to Utah and other
places. Riverton is a very pretty
city and it was interesting to see
the schools, homes and to witness
the activities of the townspeople.
It was a warm day and we
went to church with family and
friends who had traveled from far
places to be with Reese and Steph-
anie and Connor. Stephanie's
mother and father have six chil-
dren and everyone was there. Her
brother James is leaving for a mis-
sion in Georgia and he spoke in
church, making the celebration of
new life more significant. Jordan
and Brittany Peterson drove from
Laramie with their three-week-
old son, Colton Reed, so LeRose
and I met our great-grandsons
for the first time. The cycle of life
goes on as this new generation of
young adults and their children
travel through their lives, what a
blessing to see the generations of
people who attended this impor-
tant service.
After church, Reese and
Stephanie and the grandmoth-
ers fed us all in their small apart-
ment, which was filled to capac-
ity. It was an odd feeling to be
the great-grandmother. I remem-
ber when my mother was living in
Lovell and I carted her around to
grocery stores, to Billings to shop,
to Utah and other places. Now,
I'm being treated like I treated
my mother and I am astounded. It
was nice to just sit back and let
Ray drive and not worry about
anything, but very odd, because
I don't feel that old. Life goes on
with or without us and it is im-
portant to enjoy each day, each
occurrence, to feel joy, pleasure,
hope, great love and emotion as
we watch our children, grand-
children and great-grandchildren
grow and prosper. What an ad-
venture life is.
I live near the log gym. I
watch every day as the construc-
tion company sand blasts the
old building, repairs the outside,
caulks between the logs and re-
stores the place to its former beau-
ty. Renovation inside the building
is amazing. All of us who are na-
tive to Cowley want pieces of the
beautiful hardwood floor that has
been used in our growing years
and still shines in its beauty. But,
alas, it is rumored that the floor
has been sold. Our memories of
those basketball games, dances,
community and school gather-
ings are strong in our minds as
the gym comes to its last peak of
beauty.
How wonderful to have these
historical buildings intact and
revived for future generations.
Physically, the floor and the
benches, etc. have become just
memories, but those reminders of
our grade school and high school
activities and the town's use of it
for important events are etched in
our minds forever, and the gym
will stand as we enter this new
phase of our lives.
