Amanda Blazzard 14 posts 0 comments

Michael and Fern Spanos took a little drive from their home in Bountiful to Heber and fell in love with a home on 5th East, as Fern describes, “We looked at it and said, hey let’s move!” Michael grew up in Park City, so Heber wasn’t far from home. But Heber is where he chose to put some roots down and pour out his heart and soul. Over the years, they raised eight children, six from Fern’s first marriage and two more together, and welcomed eight foster children into their home. As Michael and Fern speak of their past, love…

I love to go out and up. Outside and up in elevation, that is! Our mountains are an invaluable treasure that people, from near and far, flock every season of the year to enjoy. Do you remember Disney’s Humphrey Bear and his ‘boss’, Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore? How about Yogi and Boo Boo, the troublesome bears who constantly went the rounds with Ranger Smith? In my wanderings, much to my children’s dismay, I often sing songs I acquired from the shows of my childhood! My favorite tune to sing when we’re outdoors is the chorus…

Forced to think out of the box, a new kind of classroom has arrived in our progressive community. Innovative, Discovery based, Educational, and Agricultural Leadership or I.D.E.A.L. Farms is Wasatch High School’s hands-on, outdoor classroom. Wasatch is taking students outside and getting their hands dirty in the real world; teaching them the skills they need to thrive in our competitive industries and markets. Not only do they do the physical work, they’re learning the business and marketing skills to drive it all forward.…

When the cold weather snaps, you can bet your woolly socks that Jan Olpin is hard at work cooking up pure deliciousness. I remember as a child, perching on a bench, with a burger and fries, in Dairy Keen’s little brick building, watching the train go round and round. This was a novelty that just never got old. It still hasn’t. This year marks the family’s 75th Anniversary of Heber’s Dairy Keen — Home of the Train. A good burger is always a hit, but don’t overlook the ‘soup-erb’ menu additions that roll in the first of…

Jump back in time to the Roaring Twenties in Heber Valley. World War I and the Spanish Flu Pandemic were finally over, and the valley faced an extraordinary time of prosperity and growth. Electrical appliances, automobiles, film, telephones, and radio all revolutionized residents’ lives. Let’s interject running water and improved sewer systems amidst these advances. It may not sound exciting and forward-thinking in today’s day and age, but in the 1920s, mainlines of water and sewer were impressive steps into the future.…

A chuckwagon is a time-honored piece of history in the story of the American West. All the cowboys’ nourishment on the trail came as grub hauled and served from that iconic wagon following the cattle. The chuckwagon was the heart and soul of any proper cattle drive. The Bar J Chuckwagon in Wilson, Wyoming, has been the heart and soul of the community and visitors for 44 years. Carrying on the cowboy tradition of music, song, and storytelling over beans and biscuits, Babe Humphrey and his family have created their legacy.…

Recall Aesop’s fable The Ant and the Grasshopper. In all his Greek wisdom, Aesop told of wise ants and their preparations against leaner times in comparison to foolish Grasshopper, who found great pleasure in his life, until winter winds began to blow. He mourned taunting remarks to his busy little friends in earlier days and found himself at their mercy when times were tough. The moral of the story: Be Prepared. Fortunately, we don’t need to spend our entire summers hauling necessary sustenance into a hole in the ground.…

Covid restrictions may change the way we gather and participate in events, but that shouldn’t stop us from living our best lives in 2021. When in doubt, get outside!

Avalanche, it’s a sleeping giant in the snow, waiting below the surface like a troll under the bridge. Be on top of your game this winter. Avoid avalanche danger at all costs, and be prepared.

The scene before me is reminiscent of the old Western song lyrics, “empty saddles in the old corral.” Saddles, tack, and spurs now sit quiet and gather dust, guitars lie where memories of Western melodies waft, but Bob’s eyes still twinkle. Bob McPhie is one of the few great American Cowboys left in the Heber Valley, not to mention, one of my childhood idols. I fondly recall sitting in the grandstands of the old local rodeo arena beside my grandpa. I would balance my popcorn on my lap and clap for Bob as he rode in the…

What stands 11,749’ high, has a heart, a saddle, an emerald, a shack, and some goats? If you’ve been in Heber for even a short time, you’ll know the valley’s pride lies in the great mountain that sprawls to the west where the sun settles each night. Mount Timpanogos creates a portion of the eastern wall of the Wasatch Front. Often folks claim we, here in Heber, reside on the backside of the great Timpanogos. We’d like to beg their pardon. They happen to be discombobulated, not realizing that we have the front seat to…

Not For The Faint Of Heart

By Amanda Blazzard With the words, “Send the kids’ iPads and chargers home with them today. Just in case.” spoken calmly by my principle, I knew something was wrong — very wrong — we don’t just send iPads home with our Kindergarten students. Little did I know how current events were about to rock everyone’s world. A WORLD CHANGED FOREVER The week of March 9, 2020 was one for the records. We began with the time change messing with our sleep cycles, by mid-week the population was wolfishly hoarding toilet paper under a…

The giants of Heber Valley Railroad were sleeping the day I visited them. Standing in majesty, quietly waiting for another day when the crowds would throng to join them on the platform. Grand engines and breathtaking cars rested silently in the yard as soft snow settled around them. Mount Timpanogos stood like a sentinel on the west, smiling down gently on the railroad yard, a friend of many years. In the calm, I imagine the distant echoing of times past and future; excited crowds awaiting their turn to present their ticket…