Fourth Ward 38 Year Reunion

This picture doesn't quite show everyone who came, or the logistics of getting the picture taken -- which will be a great memory, in and of itself.  At about 7 PM while we were still eating, the top row of sprinklers went on along the hill where we planned to take the picture.  I wasn't worried, as I knew they'd be finished before the picture was taken.  Then Brother Balch reminded me there would be a second row of lower sprinklers that would be going on soon!  So we interrupted dinner and to take the picture before the lower sprinklers went on.  We moved two rows of chairs along the parking lot front for the older folks to use.    
About the time we got everyone positioned on the hill behind them, sure enough the sprinklers went on!  Brother Gardner quickly stepped on top of the sprinkler head by him, and other men followed suite, so we got the picture taken without too much dampness.  However, the water spilled quickly into the parking lot where the littler kids were posed, so they got wet in the process.  Kara and Jamie Laws orchestrated the photo shoot, plus took candids throughout the evening.


It was a beautiful summer evening and lots of time for visiting.

Wilcox guys who attended the reunion

The first out-of-towner to show up that night was Russ Stevenson.  It was so good to see him, as he had helped our boys in scouts, and also with a musical I helped orchestrate.  Unfortunately, he and Connie are divorced..  He came clear from Ogden. He was in quite a few of the slides: plays and scout activities.  Lurlene and Dennis Gutke were there and visited up a storm.  Lurlene had a really fun game recognizing people and gave out five prizes for each category--which made it really fun.  Ethan won one of the prizes for having traveled the furtherest -- Monticello!!  Lurlene is such a good friend and has been for dozens of years.  She also got a gift for me, which was unexpected and a nice surprise. 



Reed and Becky Gardner and Lily also came down.  She came over the night before and we had a good visit. Diane McNeave traveled over from Canon City and stayed with us for 4 nights, and we had lots of wonderful visits

It was a wonderful surprise having Rob, Ethan, and Ryan
come over even though Kathryn was still recooperating.

She also had plenty of time to visit others and also the college folks.  Some of the Webb and Carroll children came and many who had been scattered into other wards in Blanding also joined us for the evening.  It was wonderful visiting with so many people and Brother Ogle kept things moving.  Once everyone had been served (which was tricky -- since we ran out of the main dishes) he invited people to come up
and share memories of the 4th ward.  That went especially well, and was our main entertainment besides the tour de force -- the slide show.

Larena Nakai Eldridge and family.  LaPriel and her
family lived for a short while in our ward.

How it all began

I had wanted to do a slide show for several years and show it at a New Years Eve party for our ward.  We had been in 4th ward since its inception and I had literally hundreds and hundreds of pictures of ward events. However,  last year on Aug. 14 when the Blanding 4th ward was dissolved, I determined that we'd need to orchestrate a reunion instead.  My walking partners helped me brainstorm ways to do it.  Our preferred date conflicted with Women's Gen. Conference, so we moved it up a week to Sept. 22. 

 

All eight bishops of the ward, along with their wives are still living in Blanding which was significant in and of itself.  They were always ones to know a good thing when they saw it so none had moved away!!  I enlisted their help from the first, and asked each bishop to write a brief history of their tenure, for a history I wanted to include in a written history.  About a month later, President Mike Bradford found some quarterly reports and 4th ward conference information which he gave to me.  This was a wonderful addition to the history. Sister Pincock also had a copy of a script Helen Shumway wrote for the 20th anniversary.  I was able to use some of that information also, but ended up not publishing it in the book.  It is, however, included in the files on the DVD.  The published history ended up being 28 pages long.  The school district media did a wonderful job of printing it thanks to Karen Bronson's help.

The slide show consisted of nearly 800 slides.  I probably had that many in my own collection to start with, but not all were high quality.  There were over 20 people who brought pictures for me to scan. Glenna Webb and Jon Hunt brought over a large amount which especially was helpful.  As more pictures came in, I was more selective and started removing some of the earlier pictures.  Thus the editing went on and on!  Even after the final showing, I discovered 10 wonderful pictures in an album I had overlooked, and I added those.  So the last ones to get the DVD copy, also got a few more pictures.

Because of the expansive time frame-- 38 years of history, activity and hundreds of people-- the show grew exponentially, finally ending up 1 hr. and 20 min. long, which averaged 10 min. per bishopric.  As a result the show wouldn't fit on a regular single layer DVD, and Matt Rogers gave me a quick lesson on using double layers and best choices and how they worked.  Verbatim brand worked lots better than the Ridata which I also tried.  Everytime I made a copy I got the message that the show hadn't been mastered correctly for burning onto a double layer, but the Verbatim discs still played great on a DVD, (unlike the Ridatas)  which was a huge blessing.  I really felt I was guided and watched over through this whole process by angels who made it happen.  I was so thankful by the end of the program, that everything ran well, and that the audience seemed to enjoy it.  I spent a lot of time the next week pressing more DVDs and getting them distributed.



Janet with Robert and Lurlene

Steve helped with set up and clean up, and also gave editing suggestions on the slide show.  Others who helped with special assignments included:

MC: Robert Ogle; Food, set up: Eileen Fahey & family; Decorations: Hurst family; Prizes: Lurlene Gutke; Games:  Silvia Stubbs; Flyer Delivery:  Cec Tibbitts, Kelly  Pugh Family, Joel Tate, Brian Kirby, Steve Wilcox; Name tags: Diane Balch; Table Toppers: Cherie Shumway; Orders: Calvin Balch; Production: San Juan School District Media Center: Rebecca Stoneman and Karen Bronson.

Blanding 4th ward Dissolved after 38 years

We returned home from Idaho on Sun. the 14th in time to attend the 1 PM combined 4,5,6,7 ward special meeting where 4th ward was dissolved and the other three wards absorbed our membership.  It was quite a shock, and I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I love change, and the challenges it brings, so I think we're both up for it.  I was the first Relief Society president of 4th ward, 38 years ago.   We had 3 little boys, who were really just toddlers, and then Chris was born 6 months after I was called.  It was quite a juggling act to pull off, and I only lasted 15 months I think.

We will be in 5th ward, along with about 50 other 4th ward families.  The 4th ward attendance today at church really helped fill the chapel.  We were also called today to continue with our assignment as Young Adult Advisors in 5th ward.  Attended the last two meetings at the YS branch and then hosted a YSA dinner today to honor Tyler Saganey who is leaving in September to serve a mission to the Dominican Republic.  He drove up from Kayenta today to see his Blanding friends one last time. There were nine who came to dinner, and we had lots of Steve's delicious produce: corn, new potatoes, cucumbers, melons. Tyler was one of our favorite students last year; he came often to our home and always expressed appreciation for everything we did, and usually offered to help.  Once he even made the fry bread for one of our dinners.  We know he'll be a great missionary.

After the wards were divided, I remembered I had taken a photo of past bishops.  So I submitted the photo to the Panorama  and they ran it on the front page this past week. It was taken 5/15/2007.  All of these couples are very special friends to us, and we've gone through so much of our life here in Blanding with them and their families.  We dearly love each of them.

Sob, Sigh, and Sulk Intervention Party

Because of all of the saddness expressed by some of my friends related to the ward change, I felt prompted to try and remedy at least some of their sorrow, and send this invitation out Aug. 16.  It was very impromptu, but I felt inspired to do it, and it turned out swell.

Hey sisters, I think we need one more "Relief" party to counteract all the emotional stress we've been going through since Sunday. So...here's the plan:


A potluck lunch on Thursday---Aug. 18 at noon....

Bring anything you think will make someone feel better--even if it's YOU.

I'll furnish the drinks and some fajita snacks, so bring your best "feel good" dish and come join us. I want to take a photo of as many people as we can round up We'll do that about 12:45.... We may not all be together again for awhile...so please try and come.
Please pass the invite around, as I don't have e-mails for everyone. Especially invite your visiting teaching sisters...this will be your Aug. Visit!!

Twenty-four sisters came and here they are:

About 3 hours before the party I remembered I had this box of Hawaiian decorations, so it was our Aloha party, which can be Hello and Good-bye.  Everyone had a chance to share their feelings and express appreciation to one another, and take photos.  It was a fun activity I think for everyone. So glad I felt inspired to do it.  Steve was a huge help, setting up the shades, since in the middle of the day it is super hot on the patio.