The Roots of ‘Peach Days,’ ‘Tomato Days’

                         The Brigham City LDS Temple.


“PEACH Days,” the premier annual celebration by Brigham City, is set for Sept. 3-6 this year (2014).The first Peach Days event was held in 1904,to celebrate "an abundance of the best peaches in Utah."“Peach Day crowds at Brigham” was a Sept. 20, 1911 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner. By then, the event had hit its stride, when some 400 people boarded the Oregon Short Line Train at Ogden to travel to Brigham City for the festivities. In all, some 1,500 people were riding the rails from the south to Box Elder County’s largest city.Events held for the two-day event back in 1911 (Wednesday-Thursday timeline) included: a parade, balloon ascension, a baseball game, wrestling match, musical concert, moving pictures exhibition, dancing and horticultural judging.A highlight of the festivities were free peaches and other fruit – available in abundance – to visitors at the city park and various stores in town.By 1912, Peach Days had welcomed the automobile age and many Weber County visitors traveled north by car. However, there were also at least five traffic accidents reported en route to Peach Days, between Brigham City and Ogden.According to the Standard of Sept. 18, 1913, at least 10,000 people attended Peach Days.“A delegation of Commercial Club members met the first train at the station and escorted the visitors to the city park,” the Standard reported of the celebration 101 years ago. “Huge piles of luscious peaches, with a score of pretty girls to serve them, awaited the visitors.”300 barrels of free peaches were given out that year. Besides baseball games in 1913, there were also various horse races. Festivities ended with a dance.

-Switching to another historical celebration:Hooper City’s annual Farm Bureau Day/Tomato Days, dates back to 1926.About 2,000 people were reported to have attended the premiere event, 88 years ago.George Parker headed the committee to organize the first celebration, which included a lecture on feeding beef and dairy cattle, chariot races and other pulling and riding competitions.A free melon bust was also featured and “Visit Hooper on Labor Day” was the slogan organizers wanted the public to remember. Team pulling contests and horseshoe pitching competitions highlighted events at Hooper on Sept. 5, 1927, in its second annual celebrationCecil Newey, Robert Purdy and John Wilson, some of Utah’s best horseshoe pitchers, gave a demonstration of their skill at the event.Horse races, foot races, a tug-of-war, dance and various agricultural judging were other events held.(“Tomato Days” this year is Saturday, Aug. 30 and Monday, Sept. 1, with a rodeo, farmers market, 5K run/walk, parade, craft fair and more.)

-Also, earlier in 1926, the Hooper Farm Bureau had staged a very unusual “Mock Wedding Party Feature,” according to a headline in the Standard of Feb. 26 that year.A mock marriage between “Joshua Farmer” (played by Mrs. Dale Russell) and “Madelda Farm Bureau” (portrayed by Les Stoddard) was the highlight of the banquet/dance, attended by 75 couples.John Belnap impersonated a minister, with a wedding march after the “ceremony.”James K. Widdison was the toastmaster of the evening and old time dances followed the banquet.

                The center of Hooper today, looking north along 5900 West.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave on August 29, 2014 in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

Utah’s ‘Alcatraz Island’ proposal

                 From the northwest end of Antelope Island, looking back to the Wasatch Mountains.

THERE'S current talk of moving the Utah State Prison.

Ninety-two years ago, there was a proposal to move the prison the first time, from its original location (where Sugar House Park is now), to Antelope Island.

“State prison may be moved” was a Sept. 28, 1922 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

Utah Governor Charles R. Mabey appointed a commission to the study that possibility. Of course, it never happened, but even in the 1920s, the prison encircled by residential neighborhoods, was not deemed desirable.

Antelope Island, undeveloped, could have made a kind of “Alcatraz Island” in the Top of Utah.

At about the same time, the mid-1920s, Edward Fenton Colburn, of Salt Lake City, had dreams of turning Antelope Island into a full-scale resort.

                           The northern end of Antelope Island.

He had plans to build a concrete bridge to the Island, install bathing facilities there, cottages, sports grounds and even create a game preserve.

Colburn, a Salt Lake judge, was trying to secure financing for such a resort when he died on Jan. 14, 1926. His dreams apparently died with him.

But Colburn wasn’t the first to envision Antelope Island as a resort. J.E. Dooly, President of the Antelope Island Improvement Company, spoke of possible recreational facilities there in 1910. He even wanted a four-mile-long railroad spur to access to isle – and even a loop of iron rails to encircle Antelope.

Yet, some Utah Methodists, even earlier, in 1888, had dreams of a “Utah Chautauqua”(an adult education movement, featuring entertainment and culture)  on 

            Looking east from Antelope Island, to the causeway, back to civilization.

Antelope Island, also with access to the railroad. However, it was decided there wasn’t a high enough population base in the area to support that idea.

Antelope Island was originally called “Church Island,” starting in 1849, when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints started ranching operations there. The isle was also referred to as “Buffalo Island” in the early 20^th Century, with bison were placed there.

In other historical notes:

-“A wild animal” was an Oct. 28, 1884 Standard headline.

“We have been informed that a large savage pig, with an ugly and menacing tusk, is running at large in Harrisville, and doing considerable damage,” the story reported.

The beast attacked one child and an old gentleman. Area residents were ready to destroy the marauding animal.

-The legendary “Buffalo Bill Show” made several visits to Ogden in the early 20^th Century, performing on Tabernacle Square.

Appearances to Ogden were reported in the Aug. 13, 1902 and the Sept. 10, 1908 Standard.

An estimated 19,000 people were thrilled by Buffalo Bill’s 1902 visit. Almost as many turned out for the show seven years later too.

Trick horse riding and re-enactments of Indian battles were highlights of the show, on national tour, with 550 horses and 800 entertainers. It took 57 rail cars to transport the show to Ogden.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on Aug. 22, 2014.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

The Utah flashfloods of 1923 and More History ...

                           The sign inside Willard Basin.

“CLOUDBURST Death Toll Mounts, Mangled bodies found in debris; Scouts victims” was an Aug. 14, 1923 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

Ninety-one years ago this month, floods struck Willard, Farmington and Centerville, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage and eight people were killed.

There were two fatalities below Willard Canyon and six in or around Farmington Canyon.

Crops in the wide area were ruined and the main highway was blocked by up to six feet of mud in Willard and Farmington.

                      Looking downward into lower Farmington Canyon.       Photo by Taylor Arave.

                              

Flood crests in Farmington Canyon were observed to be 75-100 feet high and 200 feet across. Patrons at Lagoon had to be rescued from trees, or roofs, where they had fled from the rising waters.

Willard lost all electrical power and communications and most of Farmington too.

A.L. Glasmann, editor of the Standard rushed to Willard after hearing of the disaster and worked throughout the night helping people.

“The district is a picture of desolation,” Glasmann stated.

The Standard also set up a relief fund and helped raised thousands of dollars for flood victims.

Much of the devastation resulted from overgrazing in the Wasatch Mountains. In the 1930s, government programs created reservoirs, terraces and flood basins above Willard and from Farmington to Centerville in the mountains to help prevent future such disasters.

By the way:

-Maelstrom  in the Lake,” was an April 16, 1903 headline in the Standard. Back then as the Lucin Cutoff was being built, fanciful stories of a bottomless sinkhole and whirlpool in the Great Salt Lake abounded.

  The Great Salt Lake at the north end of Fremont Island, where the Lucin Cutoff spans the water.

J.H. White, stockman and part-owner of Antelope Island called such stories “fairy tales” and laughed at them. Some such tall tales were told by Southern Pacific officials, who bet a solid road bed could not constructed for trains over such a sink hole. However, less that 18 months later, by September of 1904, trains started using the shortcut.  

-“Is Salt Lake destined to disappear?” was a Sept. 9, 1899 headline in the Standard. Claims of crop irrigation depleting the water from the streams that used to recharge the lake was cited as the cause, that would leave the inland sea at the sun’s mercy.

                Salt Flats at the east side of Fremont Island, when the lake is low.

Proof that the lake was vanishing was the fact that its length had decreased by 10 miles, from 80 to 70 miles in the past decade.

Yet, 115 years later, the Great Salt Lake is still there.

-“Would make part of Great Salt Lake fresh reservoir” was a Jan. 11, 1925 Standard headline. A possible dam was suggested on the east side of the lake from Saltair to Promontory Point. Inflowing river water would then make the briny waters fresh over time.

Almost four decades later, Willard Bay came along to the north of that original idea of creating fresh water on the lake’s eastern edge.

-More history:  Zion National Park was headed for a record tourist season 87 years ago. An Aug. 28, 1927 headline in the Standard stated, “Zion Park and Bryce Canyon are overrun with tourists.”

Californians in particular were visiting Utah’s two National Parks in record-setting numbers.

Deer hunting the Kaibab Forest, north of the Grand Canyon was also a big controversy in that era, with locals believing they had the right to five deer a year from that area.

(-Originally published on Aug. 15, 2014 in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

When Snow fell in August and a Salt Lake Temple invasion

By Lynn Arave

SNOW in August is probably the least likely time for a taste of winter in the Top of Utah. However, “Snowstorm in middle of August” was an Aug. 19, 1912 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

Travelers going from Woodruff, Rich County, over the mountains into Huntsville on Aug. 18 that year, encountered a “heavy snowstorm.”

Temperatures were reported near freezing at Huntsville and even “Observatory Peak” (Mount Ogden) received snow from the same storm that day.

More history:

-Reports of a “mysterious invasion” of the Salt Lake Temple comprises another strange news item, also from just over a century ago.

“Invades the Mormon Temple” was the headline. According to the Standard of Sept. 16, 1911, a blackmailer was trying to extort $100,000 from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The criminal supposedly had “flashlight photographs” of the interior of the Mormon Temple and would publish them, if not paid off.

Max Florence, the former “movie king” of Salt Lake City was believed to be the alleged blackmailer and now residing in New York City.

LDS Church President Joseph F. Smith was quoted as saying, “That the Church authorities did not desire to enter into any negotiations with thieves and blackmailers.”

He also said he didn’t care if the photographs were published or not, since some 800 non-members of the Church had toured the inside of the temple before its 1893 dedication.

President Smith said furthermore that the pictures were not taken by flashlight, but likely a few months earlier when the temple was closed for cleaning. That’s because some furniture in the photos were covered by canvas.

It was later determined that an accomplice, an active Elder in the Church, who also had special access to the Temple, had taken the photographs for Florence. He was later excommunicated from the LDS Church for his actions.

Florence meanwhile, was known to be in personal financial trouble. However, he first scoffed at the alleged $100,000 ransom for the pictures, claiming if had actually done that, he would have asked for a lot more money. By January of 1912, Florence had returned to Salt Lake and said he had received some offers to buy the temple pictures, but had taken none, because the buyers wanted him to defame the LDS Church and he would not do that.

That controversy then faded away. (However, Florence was arrested twice in succeeding years for separate issues. In 1917, he was arrested on a felony for false imprisonment of a theater owner. In 1918, he pleaded guilty to breaking Utah’s “dry law,” by bringing in barrels of whiskey from Wyoming.)

 -More history: “Muzzle the bulldogs” was a May 19, 1911 editorial in the Standard. Pitbulls may be the most controversial canine breed today, but bulldogs in that era were the hot issue.

The editorial cited the death of a dog and a cat as recently happening in Ogden from bulldog attacks, plus a Salt Lake girl, 10, was attacked and injured by a loose bulldog in that city.
(-Originally published in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on August 8, 2014.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

When Kings Peak wasn’t Utah’s ‘tallest’

                               The view from the southeast side of Kings Peak.

By Lynn Arave

Kings Peak, High Uintas, hasn’t always been recognized as the highest point in Utah.

An April 15, 1911 Ogden Standard-Examiner article stated that Emmons Peak in the Uintas, at 13,694 feet above sea level, was tallest. That was the general belief of that year.

(In reality, Emmons is today’s 4^th tallest in the Utah at 13,440 feet.)

However, just two years later, the Vernal Express newspaper on Jan. 23, 1913 stated that South Kings Peak was the state’s tallest summit at 13,498 feet. North Kings was second at 13,496 feet.
It stated that a "South Baldy" and a "North Baldy" were previously thought to be Utah's tallest summits at 12,210 and 12,680 feet above sea level.
-Back in 1881, it was even more sketchy. According to the Salt Lake Tribune of Aug. 18, 1881, Gilbert's Peak was believed to be Utah's tallest at 13,687 feet above sea level. Kings Peak was not even mentioned back then.
-In 1903, it wasn't much more accurate. A Salt Lake Tribune article from Dec. 8, 1903 reported that Uintah County surveyors were claiming that Emmons Peak was tallest in the state at 14,449 feet above sea level. (They were just 1,009 feet off the mark!)
-The Richfield Reaper newspaper of April 5, 1906 reported that a Mount Hodges had supposedly been named by U.S. surveyor Clarence King in the 1800s, but that now no one seems to know where that peak actually is. The newspaper called it "the largest unlocated peak in Utah." Could that have been today's South Kings Peak? Perhaps.
-The Salt Lake Tribune of April 10, 1914 finally got its somewhat right: it had Kings Peak as tallest at 13, 498, followed by Mount Emmons, 13,428 and Gilbert Peak, 13, 422.
(Lacking satellite measurements, North Kings would not be correctly named highest in the state until 1966.)
-The Roosevelt Standard newspaper reported on Aug. 20, 1924 that members of Salt Lake’s Wasatch Mountain Club had hiked Kings Peak (today's South Kings Peak). On top, they “salted the peak,” by placing a bottle of briny water from the Great Salt Lake on its lofty summit.

The water bottle also had the signatures of Utah Governor Charles R. Mabey and others on it.

A 1940s map pegged Kings Peak as the state's tallest at 13,498 feet above sea level.

A Jan. 30, 1947 article in the Vernal Express newspaper stated that in the mid-1940s, two men climbed North Kings Peak and constructed a two-foot high monument on the highest part of the summit.

Then, one of the men proclaimed, "There, that makes them even."

Other newspapers of the era referred to the "twin Kings Peaks."

For 53 years, that was the accepted belief, that South Kings, was tallest in the Beehive State. So, anyone hiking Utah’s tallest in that time period went to the southern peak, missing or passing by the actual tallest peak – (North) Kings Peak at 13,528 feet.

In June of 1961, a helicopter crash landed on Kings Peak. The crewmen walked away unharmed, but this crash took place on today's South Kings Peak. (Good thing too, as South Kings has a lot more usable space on top. If they would have crashed on today's Kings Peak, the copter likely would have slid down hundreds of feet on one side or the other.)

It wasn’t until 1966 that new measurements by satellite proclaimed the north Kings as highest and re-measured South Kings Peak to be second-highest at 13,512 feet.

(Ironically the U.S. Forest Service had placed the first official plaque on Kings Peak one year earlier in 1965. Back then, it estimated that only 30 people a year hiked on average to the summit.)

          The view looking down from Anderson's Pass to Heny's Fork,west of Kings Peak.

Kings Peak, Duchesne County, though it is the king of Utah peaks, is actually named for Clarence King of the U.S. Geological Survey, who explored the Uinta Mountains from 1968-1871. He was later the director of the Geological Survey.

By the 1970s, the Forest Service had a metal plaque on the correct tallest Kings Peak. However, that plaque vanished in the late 1990s, presumably by vandals, who either took it, or cast it off nearby cliffs.

 There's also a legend about Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first two men to conquer Mt. Everest in 1953, that he also climbed Kings Peak.

This is actually a true story, but it happened in the summer of 1978 when Sears and Kellwood (an outdoor equipment manufacturer), was testing camping gear in the Yellowstone drainage of the High Uintas.

Hillary, age 59 then, was said to have had little trouble hiking Kings Peak and the Uintas.

(No stranger to Utah, Hillary had also floated the Green River during 1969, as part of the centennial commemoration of John Wesley Powell's 1869 original exploration of the area. He also backpacked with his family in the High Uintas in the summer of 1962.)

Dozens a day each summer are likely hiking to Kings Peak in the 21^st Century.

Most popular starting point is the Henry’s Fork trailhead, accessed by seven miles of paved road and almost 20 miles of dirt road from Mountain View, Wyo.

Roundtrip hike distance is 30 miles, with a 4,128-foot elevation gain. The last mile is a scramble over large, loose slabs of rock.

               The author atop South Kings Peak, with Kings Peak in the background.

By the 1990s, some hikers began taking a steep, rock slide "shortcut," that directly accesses Anderson's Pass, instead of taking the traditional path over Gunsight Pass.
Kings Peak can be hiking in one, long extreme day, but most do conquer it in a two, or three-day backbacking trip and camping over at places like Dollar Lake.
At least one Salt Lake group snowshoes or cross country skis to Kings Peak each winter.

Not surprisingly, though Kings Peak is remote and almost 30 air miles from the nearest town, there is pretty good cell phone reception there (though in the surrounding valleys it is almost non-existent).

Danger from lightning storms is the key danger atop Kings Peak.
-Finally, a helicopter crashed on Kings Peak on June 16, 1961. This "Kings Peak" back then was actually today's South Kings Peak, state's second tallest. The crew was able to walk away and eventually met a rescue party. The copter was repaired and all traces of it were removed. (-From the Uintah Basin Standard Newspaper of June 22, 1961.)

-In 1933, some of the streams in the High Uintas had name changes. For example, today's Yellowstone River, located west of Kings Peak, used to be called Fast Fork, before that time. 
Lake Fork, which flows through Moon Lake, used to called West Fork. (-From the Vernal Express newspaper of May 11, 1933.)

(-Some material originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on July 25, 2014.) 

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

When Bear Lake became popular

When did Bear Lake first catch on a summer destination for Ogden area residents?

It was less than two decades after the advent of the automobile in Utah.

“Distance to Bear Lake only 76 miles” was a Sept. 1, 1917 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.

Manager C.H. Wilson of the Utah-Idaho Motor Company made the drive in a six-cylinder, seven-passenger Mitchell automobile.

He drove from Ogden at 9 a.m., by way Beaver Creek and Blacksmith Fork/Hardware Ranch, considered the “Standard” route in that day.( I believe the “Beaver Creek” Canyon  mentioned is the one off today’s U-39, near the South Fork of the Ogden River.  It was 21 miles long.)

 The detailed story also mentioned “the great blue waters of the lake.” His actual destination was “Ideal Beach,” as it was called even back then, at evening time – an all-day journey.

Wilson returned by Logan Canyon, Logan and Brigham City and advocated that state roads should be made to access the lake. Almost all the driving was done on good dirt roads.

“Thrilling dugways and sharp turns” was how Wilson described going through Logan Canyon almost a century ago. In fact, it was reported that passing vehicles at many spots along the narrow canyon roadway was just not feasible.

Almost a year later, Aug. 24, 1918, the Standard published another detailed auto trip report to Bear Lake and back. This trip went through Ogden Canyon, mentioning now vanished key milestones there, like “Watson Flygare Camp,” “Bristol Camp,” “Wildwood” and “Becker Bridge.”

The route then went by way of “The Liberty Dugway” to Paradise, Logan and Logan Canyon.

Ironically, both the Beaver Creek Canyon ("Piss Ant Flat") and the Liberty Dugway routes never got fully paved, or became modern corridors.

MORE HISTORICAL ITEMS:
-When did Ogden City have its first public tennis courts?

It was the summer of 1922, when the parks of Lester, Liberty and Lorin Farr all received tennis courts, according to a May 10, 1922 Standard report. It was the tennis committee of the Ogden Kiwanis Club that was behind the construction. Ogden had one private tennis club and a few private and school courts previously.

-Lorin Farr Park wasn’t always known by that name. The Standard of July 12, 1918 stated the park was previously called Glenwood Park.

It was a recommendation by the Daughters of the Pioneers for the new name, to honor one of Ogden’s most prominent pioneers.

And, Lester Park wasn’t always identified by that title either. According to a June 14, 1881 Standard report, “Liberty Square” was the original name of that park.

-The greater Ogden area received some of its first location signs in 1927. According to a Sept. 7 Standard report that year, Weber Canyon’s Devil’s Slide, Devil’s Gate and other such touristy spots were finally identified for all travelers to locate and enjoy.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on July 11, 2014.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net  

Fourth of July festivities in 1895 Ogden

             Early 20th Century bicycle racers in Ogden on the indoor track at Lorin Farr Park.

 INDEPENDENCE Day in Ogden 119 years ago on July, 4, 1895 was a “Grand Success” and “observed in Ogden as it has never been before … “never such a day in its history.”

According to the Standard-Examiner of July 5 that year, there was a magnificent procession in the morning; a brilliant oratory in the park; an elaborate program in the afternoon; as well as a baseball game, cycle races, concert, fireworks, music and dancing.”

In short, there was much “mirth and frolic,” according to the newspaper report.

The report said people from all over Northern Utah were attracted to Ogden’s celebration – especially those from Salt Lake City.

The parade was a hit with many colorful floats, but there was a delay in getting it started due to the large crowd.

The mayor had issued a proclamation that fireworks were to be strictly controlled, but the police soon found that to be unenforceable, given the frequency of people using them throughout the day.

 Afternoon speeches and music were long and patriotic. However, the bicycle races didn’t go as planned.

“Only two gentlemen entered in the road race from the Reed Hotel to Five Points and back, therefore both of them (“Mr. Kohn” and Dan Cramer) get a prize and one of them only ran half of the way,” The Standard account stated.

The women’s bike race was even less so.

“It seemed that the girls thought it was too hot for a bicycle race and they would rather wear their prettiest summer dresses around the park than to bother bicycles,” the account stated. So, there were no female entrants in their race.

There was also a baseball game played at Union Field, between the Salt Lake University team and an Ogden team. In the end, the Ogden young men won by a lopsided score of 25-4. The disappointed Salt Lakers quit in the fifth inning and the game ended early.

A crowd of 10,000 was reported for evening open air concert and fireworks at Lester Park. The fireworks show lasted a full hour and then dancing went in the pavilion from 10 p.m.-11:30 p.m. However, it was reported to be 1 a.m. before the last party  had departed the park.

-"Cry room, where mothers with cross babies can see show one Peery feature" was a July 2, 1924 headline in the Standard. The  Egyptian Theatre in Ogden did initially feature a separate 'cry room', where babies and infants could make all the noise they wanted to, without disturbing other patrons. The theatre opened July 3 and also boasted fireproof walls and roof and more.
-Ever notice the “U” letter on the mountainside above the community of Uintah? It was originally placed there in May of 1923.

The Boy Scout Troop from Uintah constructed and whitewashed the huge block letter, according to the Standard of May 8, 1923. And they "were assisted by practically the entire male population of the town.”

A reported (but perhaps exaggerated) 200 tons of rock were used in its construction, which measures 125 feet in length and 100 feet across. A later program was being arranged to celebrate the feat.

-Think water use restrictions are a contemporary standard?

 No, they were even stricter more than a century ago. The Standard on July 17, 1900 stated that water consumers could only sprinkle their lawns been 6-8 a.m. and 6-8 p.m.

“If found sprinkling outside of these hours, our inspectors are instructed to shut off the water supply without notice. The use of water for public sidewalks and street sprinkling is prohibited,” the article said.

(-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on   July 4, 2014.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net