August 2010 Calendar of Events

Every Monday

Bingo!! Come join our seniors every Monday right after lunch until about 3:00 p.m. for some fun games of Bingo, at the Crossroads Senior and Community Center. 

Every Tuesday

Vernal Chamber of Commerce Meeting held at Golden Corral in Vernal at 12 PM. 

Every Wednesday

Spanish & English Story Time for kids at the Uintah County Library at 2:00pm. For more info call 789-0091. 

Every Friday

Golden Age Center Dance open to the public. Dances held at the Golden Age Center beginning at 3:00pm. 

Back Country Horsemen Meetings
Monthly meetings are on the second Tuesday of every month at the Frontier Grill in Roosevelt at 6:30 PM.

  

August 2-7, 2010
UBIC in Constitution Park in Roosevelt
Come and enjoy a week long celebration that includes free swim days, kids crafts in the park, fireworks and wraps up with Patti Loveless performing LIVE on Sat Aug 7, 2010. Check out page 17 for more details.

 
August 5, 2010
Alive After 5 at Cobble Rock Park
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM. For more info call Joe Evans at 435-790-9098. Local musical talent compete in a weekly contest for prizes. Public invited.
 
August 7, 2010

Diamond Mountain Speedway
All Classes and races start at 7:00 PM
 
August 6, 2010
Duchesne Farmer's Market held in Duchesne
The market is held from 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Set up takes place 1/2 hour before each market and the booth fee is $5. For more information interested vendors may contact Jennifer Guzel at 435-650-6868 or at utahjen@tomboytools.info.

August 7, 2010. Ashley Valley Farmers Market held at Old Dinosaur Gardens Main Street in Vernal, UT8:00 AM - 12:00 PM For more info call 435-789-2836 or email avfarmersmarket@gmail.comCome join us for a fun-filled Saturday morning. Check out the available produce and artisan work.
August 7-14, 2010. Duchense County Fair held in Duchesne at the County Fair GroundsThere will be lots to see and do so come and support our kids and come on out to the Fair. For more information please see page 15 of this magazine.
August 10 - 11, 2010
School District Registrations

August 12, 2010
Alive After 5 at Cobble Rock Park
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM. For more info call Joe Evans at 435-790-9098. Local musical talent compete in a weekly contest for prizes. Public invited.

August 13, 2010
Duchesne Farmer's Market held in Duchesne
The market is held from 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Set up takes place 1/2 hour before each market and the booth fee is $5. For more information interested vendors may contact Jennifer Guzel at 435-650-6868 or at utahjen@tomboytools.info.

August 14, 2010.
Ashley Valley Farmers Market held at Old Dinosaur Gardens Main Street in Vernal, UT
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM For more info call 435-789-2836 or email avfarmersmarket@gmail.com
Come join us for a fun-filled Saturday morning. Check out the available produce and artisan work.

August 19, 2010
Alive After 5 at Cobble Rock Park
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM. For more info call Joe Evans at 435-790-9098. Local musical talent compete in a weekly contest for prizes. Public invited.

August 20, 2010
Duchesne Farmer's Market held in Duchesne
The market is held from 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Set up takes place 1/2 hour before each market and the booth fee is $5. For more information interested vendors may contact Jennifer Guzel at 435-650-6868 or at utahjen@tomboytools.info.

August 20 - 21, 2010
Dinaland Pro Scratch Golf Tournament
Held at the Dinaland Golf Course675 S 2000 E
Vernal, UT 84078

August 21, 2010
Diamond Mountain Speedway
All Classes and races start at 7:00 PM

August 21, 2010
Ashley Valley Farmers Market held at Old Dinosaur Gardens Main Street in Vernal, UT
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM For more info call 435-789-2836 or email avfarmersmarket@gmail.com
Come join us for a fun-filled Saturday morning. Check out the available produce and artisan work.

August 25, 2010
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL


August 26, 2010
Alive After 5 at Cobble Rock Park
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM. For more info call Joe Evans at 435-790-9098. Local musical talent compete in a weekly contest for prizes. Public invited.

August 27, 2010
Duchesne Farmer's Market held in Duchesne
The market is held from 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Set up takes place 1/2 hour before each market and the booth fee is $5. For more information interested vendors may contact Jennifer Guzel at 435-650-6868 or at utahjen@tomboytools.info.

August 27, 2010
Children's Justice Center Golf Tournament
Dinaland Golf Course
675 S 2000 E
Vernal, UT 84078

August 28, 2010
Ashley Valley Farmers Market held at Old Dinosaur Gardens Main Street in Vernal, UT
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM For more info call 435-789-2836 or email avfarmersmarket@gmail.com
Come join us for a fun-filled Saturday morning. Check out the available produce and artisan work.

If you have any information that you would like to be included in the Calendar of Events then please email us at michelle@TheEdgeMagazine.org

OR

Mail it to us at

PO Box 287

Neola, UT 84053

 

Sunday Drives - August 2010

by: Russ Grant

Hey Uintah Basin!   Russ Grant here and I'm back at it again.  Last month we went over some great scenic drives that the whole family can enjoy.  This month we are going to a little higher elevation.  Back in July, we visited Uintah Canyon.  Uintah Canyon, sometimes referred to as "Gateway to the Uintah Mountains", is literally just that.  This month is already blazing hot, so in honor of everyone searching for some cooler country, lets find some ways to cool down in the mountains. 
    To reach the mouth of Uintah Canyon, just head North on the Neola Highway.  You can't miss it.  Our destination this month is a mountain pass called Elk Horn Loop.  Most vehicles with a good set of tires can drive this road, except when the snow gets too deep.  It will take you past Pole Creek Lake and also Larvae Lake, both of which will cool the whole family down with a quick dip.  Take your fishing pole for some fresh caught dinner on the way!  The elevation peaks at about 11000 ft, and has some of the most stunning views of the entire state    Once you are in Uintah Canyon, continue north until you come to the bridge heading over the Uintah River.  Follow that dirt road all the way up, and you will not be disappointed.  Really look for deer, elk, moose, and even some Rocky Mountain Goats on this road.  I have personally seen every single one of these majestic animals on this drive.  Just stay in your vehicle if you see a moose!
    Remember everybody, follow the rules of the backcountry and you will all have a great time.  If you see trash some bozo dropped on the side of the trail, do us all a favor and pack it out with you.  Stay on designated roads and trails, and don't harass the wildlife.  Check your vehicles' suspension, engine, drivetrain, tires, and the first aid kit.  Pole Creek lake is a great place for a picnic, almost halfway through the "Loop".   Make sure you take your camera to get some amazing shots, with panoramic views all around!

Uintah Canyon  Elevation 6522 ft
40 degrees 19 ' 04.05'' N   110 degrees 04'11.18'' W  
Pole Creek Lake   Elevation 10162 ft
40 degrees 40'31.17'' N  110 degrees 03'35.45'' W 
Pole Creek Cave Elevation 8170 ft
40 degrees 36'24.40'' N   110 degrees 05'12.48'' W 
Larvae Lake   Elevation 10023 ft
40 degrees 40'32.07'' N    110 degrees 02'19.05'' W 
Farm Creek Canyon    Elevation 6830 ft
40 degrees 33'04.59'' N   109 degrees 57'27.57'' W 

 

Friday Nights In A Small Town - Hangin' With The Hogs - August 2010

By: Jennifer Rook

Here's one for Jeff Foxworthy: If you find yourself hangin' out by the hog pen on a Friday night…you just might be a redneck. I've been called a redneck a time or two. And my kids do happen to have pigs for 4-H projects that they take to the county fair every year. And, yes, I have found myself hanging out by the hog pen on a Friday night before. My 12 year old son and I lean on the ol' top rail, watch the pigs root around, and we look at their butts and discuss whether or not they're big enough or show ready. Then we discuss feeding strategies, exercise regimens, and the finer points of getting up early to get things done in the mornings instead of being stuck spending Friday nights out by the hog pen.
    It's really ok though. My kids and I get quality time to spend together and some of life's greatest lessons arise from things we learn out by the hog pen, or in some cases, NOT at the hog pen. You see, I'm trying to teach my kids responsibility through these 4-H projects. The whole point is to be accountable for a living, breathing thing besides oneself. This includes feeding, watering, grooming, taming, and exercising. Kids need that sort of challenge in their lives, but sometimes that whole responsibility lesson is a comedy of errors.
    When it comes to the pigs I'm usually pretty hands off. Oh sure, I coach from the sidelines (more like barking out orders like a drill sergeant sometimes), but I just kinda let it all ride and let the kids suffer the consequences of their actions and reap the rewards. One little slip can have some pretty negative effects. For example, just last month my son learned a pretty valuable lesson on how to properly latch panels.
    Right now our pigs are in a temporary pen in my mother's barnyard, right near the prize hayfield. My mother was none too happy to host the swine in the first place, but circumstances being what they were, the pigs ended up at Oleen Acres out behind the old barn. One particular Friday, Mom had been cleaning her house like crazy all day in preparation for a meeting of the Back Country Horsemen she was hosting at her home that night. I took my kids to Vernal for a baseball game.

    My mother's guests arrived and got right down to business planning an upcoming charity horse ride out on the back deck. One of the guests soon heard an unfamiliar snort and looked across the yard only to find a 250lb hog munching on Mom's petunias. The pigs were out! They had found a weakness in the panels where my son hadn't latched it properly and had rooted those panels up and down until the wire loosened enough for them to push right out. Pigs were everywhere and the piggy rodeo was ON!

    Those horsemen sprang into action, trying to herd three wayward pigs back into their pens. One fellar, our buddy Gale, ran around the haystack, hollering to my mom, "Head him off at the top, Marsha!!! HERE HE COMES!!!" 250 pounds of solid swine ran at my mother, ready to take her out at the knees if he had to. Luckily she had a stick and was ready to fend off the attack. The pig was having the time of his life though and made three or four more circles around that haystack, dodging folks and barreling through barricades as he went before he was chased off into the pasture.

    In the meantime, another lady in a pair of brand new, bright white, Skecher tennis shoes, was mucking through six inches of mud and water (it just happened to be irrigation day at Oleen Acres) chasing piggy #2 who was streaking through the old corral, loving the mud. Skecher lady, and my sister-in-law in her flip flops waved their arms wildly to head Piggy #2 off to keep it out of the yard and away from the tender, fledgling tomaters. My two year old niece thought it was all great fun until Piggy #2 ran right through her toys and headed for her little swimming pool. No way was she going to let that pig ruin her swimming hole! She hollered at the pig to get away just as Skechers and Flip-Flops were able to get him turned and headed back out to pasture through the mud, the flood and the pig poop.

    Piggy #3 had stayed out in the pasture and after a refreshing jog to the bottom of the field and back; he soon joined the other two in the barnyard. There was much more chasing, hollering, and herding around Mom's 40 acres before they got those three pigs back in their pens. A few flowers were taken out and a couple of spots in the hayfield were rooted up in the melee, but those Skechers were ruined and Gale's new boots had stinky pig manure all over them. I'm positive there was quite a bit of creative swearing and cussing of all that pork, covering of the 2 year olds ears, and a lot of cleaning mud and muck off of new shoes and boots.

    It's a good thing she and her BCH friends all have a good sense of humor and were able to laugh at The Great Pig Chase of 2010 or else we all really would've been in for it when we got back to Oleen Acres. Everything was back to normal and cooled down when we arrived and we calmly showed my son how to properly latch the panels, top and bottom, to keep pigs out of trouble. It's just a matter of taking some extra time, checking and double checking and not being lazy.

    Laziness and attention to detail are two other concepts to overcome when teaching kids responsibility with live animals. Sometimes it feels like a battle. Just last month I was 45 miles from home at a softball practice for my 9 year old daughter when my 12 year old son, who was supposed to be home walking the hogs, texted me saying that his pig was down and wouldn't respond. I will admit I freaked out just a little.

    I immediately called our vet for advice. "Doc!" I panicked, "I've got a hog down! He's one of the 4-H hogs, I've wormed him, haven't changed his feed and given him plenty of water today, but he's still down. What can I DO?"

    Well, the doc didn't have anything positive to say, really. He pretty much told me if he was down, he was probably a goner. He did ask if I was sure he had enough water though since it was the first day of summer that had actually been pretty hot. When the weather turns that hot hyper vigilance and lots of water are required when it comes to taking care of prize swine. I assured him the pigs HAD been watered thoroughly that day and that wasn't the problem.

    But, as I sped home to save my son's dying pig I started asking my kids questions about who had fed and watered that day. Had they really watered those pigs? I had told the vet they had. I was just SURE they had listened to me when I reminded them three times earlier that day. I began to piece the story together with each interrogation.

    "I didn't do it. I told Karter to do it. I can't even hook the stupid hose up!" said my 6-year-old son, Kai.

    "I told Ally to do it!" complained Karter the 12-year-old.

    "I never heard him tell me that!" my 9 year old daughter, Ally, says defiantly.

    So, it all boiled down to a big, fun game of "Pass the Buck" and no one actually followed through. That poor pig was dehydrated! He was plumb out of energy. No wonder he wouldn't respond. I wouldn't have either.

     The pig was fine, but those kids were in some serious trouble. Angry may have been an understatement for my emotions and mood at that point. This wasn't the first time a pig duty had been shirked. I was nearly at my breaking point and almost said the words, "This is IT! No more pigs for you kids! You'll never learn!", but I stopped myself. Was I REALLY ready to give up on my kids and the opportunity to teach them to serve needs besides their own? The answer was "No". I couldn't. I had to say to myself, "You're a mom. Parents can't just give up. It's your JOB to keep plugging away, working with them." I finally decided that if I took this job away from them they'd never learn anything except that mom can get really mad when things aren't done correctly, and we can always learn that lesson when it comes to scrubbing toilets or doing dishes. Besides, what would we all do on Friday nights in this small town if we didn't have pigs to entertain us?

    So, if you're in the neighborhood next Friday night, bring your own beverage and chairs and stop on by. You'll probably get a good show and you just might learn a little something too. See you out by the hog pen!

Refresh Basin Families

By: M. Michelle Spencer

It
started out as "an easy idea", but quickly changed into and what will ultimately be described as a community in change. The plans for "The Basin Youth Center" are in place. Building plans are set and local students have a program ready to go for troubled teens, they just need the money to make it all happen. The Basin Youth Center is the brainchild of the Master's of Social work class at USU Uintah Basin and they're looking for help from soft drink giant Pepsi for a way to fund the project. The MSW class has a grant application for $250,000 in place with the Pepsi Corp in order to help make our community a better place but they need YOUR help.

    "The idea was presented last year to over 200 participants at a child welfare summit here in the Uintah Basin. There are not many resources available to troubled teens and their families. So it was suggested that a program and a physical location be created for those kids that need just a little extra help but who either slip through the cracks because of a lack of charges or they are charged with additional crimes by Juvenile Justice Services when they really don't need to be just so they can gain access to the juvenile services that we do have available out here. It is a no win situation for a lot of these kids that just need a little redirection," stated Derrik R. Tollefson, Associate Clinical Professor and MSW Program Coordinator.

    The idea of trying to create a program and provide a location that would be of benefit to teens and their families was a challenge that the MSW class was more than willing to take on but they knew their ultimate challenge would be how to fund it properly. Luckily, MSW Student, Joslin Batty, spotted a Pepsi campaign that looked like it would work perfectly. The "Pepsi Refresh" campaign awards money to "people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact." Pepsi encourages people to "look around your community and think about how you want to change it." Anyone can submit an idea and everyone can vote for their favorite idea each day. Pepsi is awarding 10 grants each month in six different categories in the amounts of $5k, $25k, $50k, and 2 awardees each month in the amount of $250k

    "I had an email sent to me when one of the first "Pepsi Refresh" votes came out asking me to vote and it gave me the idea that this could be an "easy" way for us to get the money for the youth center," explained Joslin Batty, MSW student. "I immediately emailed Professor Tollefson and said this looks easy and he told me to go ahead and try it!"

    It wasn't as easy a Batty had initially thought it would be however. The first step in the process was to actually get their application filled out and make sure that it met all of the requirements put forth by Pepsi. The class worked hard at developing their mission statement and then at mapping out how the program would actually function.

    Pepsi only accepts 1,000 applications every month and the slots for submission open up on the first of each at midnight EST, or 10:00 PM local time. For three months Batty sat at her computer and would hit the send button just as soon as it read 10:00 PM only to be told that either there was too much online traffic or that all slots had been filled for that month. So Batty began to enlist the local community to help her with the MSW class's cause. She contacted Strata Networks and asked exactly how she could get a faster upload so that she could get her application submitted in time. Strata Networks informed Batty that her best bet would be to use the computers right there on the campus at USU-UBC because they had the largest and fastest server in the area.

    "Well it worked! My fourth month of trying to submit we finally got it to go through and it worked!" Batty stated excitedly.

    During the month of August people worldwide have the opportunity to go in and vote for their favorite refresh project idea. It is here where the amazing people of the Uintah Basin are needed again because in the category of $250,000 grant applications, only the two receiving the most votes are selected. People can go online and vote once a day for all 31 days of the month of August which Batty and her fellow MSW class members encourage you to do. In fact, not only do they want you to vote, they want you to tell everyone you know to vote because the more votes this project gets, the better chance there is of the grant money being awarded to help the youth here in the Uintah Basin.

    "We have gotten it ready because we think the area needs and deserves it (the youth center), now it is up to community to say that they think they deserve it by voting. So please vote!"

 
 

To cast your vote and to read more about the

proposed project go to http://refreshbasinfamilies.com

and text 101793 to the # 73774

 
 

VOTING STARTS TODAY FOR THE REFRESH BASIN FAMILIES YOUTH CENTER GRANT!!!

VOTING STARTS TODAY FOR THE REFRESH BASIN FAMILIES GRANT VOTING!!!!

PLEASE GO AND VOTE!!!!

You can also check out the website at www.refreshbasinfamilies.com.

PLEASE HELP SUPPORT THE UINTAH BASIN BY VOTING AND TELLING OTHERS TO VOTE AS WELL!!!

YOU CAN ALSO Text* 101793 to Pepsi (73774) PLEASE VOTE EVERYDAY!!!