Looking Back at Pages from the Past
The following stories are summarized from past issues of the Caribou County Sun over the last fifty plus years. The Enterprise thanks Mark Steele for permission to use the contents, and the Grace Public Library for access to the archives.
2019
In the early morning hours of Oct. 3, a devastating chimney fire destroyed the home and property of Sherry and Glen Burton in Grays Lake. The home, over 100 years old, was an icon in the community. It was the childhood home of Sherry, and a place where generations of family gathered together. The Burtons had spent the last few years restoring and remodeling the home. Before retiring, the lived in Layton, UT, and also spent nine and a half years in Okinawa, Japan where Glen worked as a civilian employee from Hill Field, and Sherry as a school nurse. Sherry heard a strange noise in the kitchen around 1:30 a.m. and soon found flames and a hole in the wall near the chimney. She was able to get the car out of the garage, and retrieve their dog Charley, as well as her purse, the couples cell phones, and a few items of clothing while Glen called 911 and tried to put out the fire. Officers Caribou County EMTs and the Caribou County Volunteer Fire Department responded with two pump trucks and two tenders, but were battling mechanical issues with their equipment which is set up to connect to a fire hydrant, not a stream. One pump developed too much pressure from having to both pull the water in and pump it out, and the pump blew up. Thayne Fire Department sent first responders to help at 2:30 a.m. Sherry and Glen thanked the firemen, EMTS, police, as well as Bishop Jim Stoor, Relief Society President Jill Stoor, and Mike Houseman.
2014
The Idaho State Police Department has continued to take new reports from various parts of Idaho of people receiving telephone calls from someone claiming to be from the Idaho State Police. The number appearing on the caller ID will show up as an actual number from the Idaho State Police, however, the number has been spooked, meaning the calling party is deliberately falsifying the telephone number of name relayed as the Caller ID information to disguise their identity. This scam appears to be targeting students and professors, as well as foreign nationals, and is telling the person that they call that they have an arrest warrant and the person needs to pay money to clear the warrant or face arrest and deportation. The Idaho State Police reminds the public that they will never call anyone on the telephone to tell them that a warrant has been issued for them. The also do not collect money or any financial information over the phone for any reason.
2009
The theme for Grace high’s Homecoming is “Forever Strong”. The football game will be against West Side. A special halftime show will feature former coaches, to 2009 royalty, candy bombs, and fireworks. The coaches being honored include Don Schiess, Busby Smith, Lew Lamb, Roger Bruce, Jim Patterson, Keith Bitton, Thayne Keele, Lynn Smith, Richard Condie, and Todd Kap. The student members of the parade committee chose Linda Mickelson, Beverly Gibson, Carol Lewis, and Ida Mansfield to be the grand marshals for the homecoming parade. They have been cleaning the high school for a combined 65 years. These ladies are at the school early and late and in between to make sure the school shines. They have become an integral part of the school community and the students want to acknowledge their years of work care for the buildings and the students of Grace High.
2004
A 70-year-old lost hunter from Florida was found in pretty good shape 18 hours after reported missing near Ephraim Valley in the east part of Caribou County near Elk Valley, the Caribou County Sheriff’s Office reported last week. The Sheriff’s Office had received a report of a lost deer hunter at 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 5. The hunter, Harry Dailey from Florida, had high blood pressure, was diabetic, and was only wearing light clothing at the time he separated from his hunting partners and was not prepared for the 20-degree night that he would face. Search and Rescue members from Caribou, Bear Lake, and Franklin counties responded, including a bloodhound, as well as Idaho Fish and Game officers and horses and hunters in the area. The search was near the Caribou-Bear Lake County border. Dailey was found some 18 hours after he was reported missing in an adjacent drainage in Robertson Creek by a hunter on horseback who had been alerted to watch for him. Jerry Bavaro of CC Search and Rescue said the hunter first spotted a rifle next to a tree and a coffee cup and realized hi may have found something significant.
Efforts by Ed Duren, a retired Extension Livestock specialist, along with the City of Soda Springs and Dar Weaver, who builds and restores wagons and buggies, has brought the Yellowstone Coach that Pres. Teddy Roosevelt rode in through Yellowstone Park back into shape, with hopes to further display it in the city park. Dr. Evan Kackley donated the coach to the city a number of years ago. It has been in a few parades and stored since then but time took its toll and was in need of repairs. That’s when Duren suggested the city officials have it worked over before it was too late. According to the best research available, the coach is somewhat over 100 years old. It is reported to have carried Theodore Roosevelt through America’s most famous national park in 1903. Duren said that the historic coach should be displayed and some place in the city park would be appropriate.
Senator Mike Crapo, the only candidate for U.S. Senator in Idaho history to go uncontested on the general election ballot, will be stopping in Soda Springs on Tuesday, Oct. 19 for a luncheon hosted in his honor. According to Trent Clark, organizer of the luncheon, “This is not a fund-raiser, it is a chance to meet the candidates. Anyone who’d like to meet Sen. Crapo or ask questions about this year’s election is invited to attend—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Everyone is invited.”
1999
Tigert Middle School honor students recently spent a day at the Agrium/Conda phosphate mine and plant facilities. The students were divided into three groups and were rotated through sessions addressing careers, mining operations, geology, engineering and reclamation. The day’s activities were culminated by the students viewing a blast from dynamite, which was strategically placed for opening up new mining areas. Agrium/Conda staff members devoted a great deal of time and effort into making into the field trip for the honor students one of the most valuable educational opportunities experienced on this type of activity. The company continues to make the business/school relationship a rewarding experience for all involved.
Youth from Caribou County participated this summer in a 4-H babysitting club. In. addition to learning how to feed and care for children of various ages, they learned home safety, basic first aid and child CPR. Each child that finished the course made a babysitter’s “magic bag” which was entered in the local fair. As a service project, they decided to make small teddy bears to be donated to the local ambulances. These will be carried on board and given to children who are transported by ambulance to help ease their fears. Each future babysitter put her own personality into the bears resulting in some very interesting and unique bears.
1994
The public is being asked to recycle coats that may be outgrown by donating them to the local Beta Sigma Phi of Soda Springs, who will take the clean, gently worn coats or overcoats for re-use in the community. After the items are collected they will be made available at a coat sale in the first part of November. The coat sale is designed as a service project for Caribou County, not a fund-raising activity. The items will be nominally priced at about a dollar or less. BSP hopes that everyone who is in need of something warm to wear for winter will be able to find something that they need at the sale. Elaine Simmons and Sue LaRue are heading up the donation collection.
A Listening Post on the Portneuf River will be held at Mick’s Market in Bancroft next week. Listening Posts are being held at Downey, Marsh Valley, Bancroft, Lava, Inkom, and Pocatello. The purpose of these Posts is for members of the Portneuf River Watershed Management Team to visit with and hear concerns of the people on the Portneuf River.
Premier Cable II, Ltd., a cable TV company located in Soda Springs, built a dedicated service line into the new Tigert Middle School free of charge. Premier Cable supplies all schools located within their service areas with free cable service. The programming available with cable service provides teachers with another source of educational information which can be used to present lessons and new information. Television is a powerful tool that teachers can use to reinforce lessons and bring information to students which has been unavailable in the past, according to Superintendent Lawrence Rigby.
1984
According to Grant Simons, North Gem beat Clark County 60 to 0, and “it was a boring night for the spectators, but fun for the younger football players.”
Early hunting for ducks and geese was predicted to be on par with the previous year, as the result of abundant water. Nest flooding was not a problem because most streams and wetlands were high during early spring and the birds were forced to nest on high ground. Another poor flight of ducks was predicted for the Pacific Flyway, however. The duck populations in Saskatchewan and Alberta, where many of the ducks bound for Idaho come from, have declined over the previous ten years as a result of drought conditions, few ponds, and poor nesting success.
1969
Wild Merriam Turkeys on the Salmon River were fair game for a 5-day general hunt. Rifle, shotgun or longbow were permissible to bag the game. Turkeys were planted in this area several years ago by the Idaho Fish and Game Dept. They have thrived well. It was reported that hunters registered 50 percent success during the hunt.
Due to the resignation of Gerald Tolman from the Bancroft City Council, three councilmen will be elected in that city Nov. 4. Burt Barfuss has filed for the remaining two years of Tolman’s term. Six other candidates are bidding for the other two councilmen’s four year terms. They are Ferrebee Butterfield, Hyrum McLain, Alton Hatch, Grant Hulse, George Jenkins, and Frank Barker. Menu for Soda Schools:
Monday—Beef pizza with cheese, buttered corn, Jello with bananas, half pint of milk.
Tuesday—Steamed wieners, scalloped potatoes, cheese wedges, buttered peas and carrots, fresh apple, bread, butter, and milk.
Wednesday—Hamburger on a buttered bun, buttered green beans, tossed green salad with tomatoes, fruit cup, and peanut butter cookie, and milk.
Thursday—Chili with crackers, celery and carrot sticks, cinnamon rolls, peaches and milk.
Friday—Swedish meatballs, whipped potatoes with butter and cheese, creamed corn, half a pear, bread, butter, and milk.
Fowler’s Market weekly specials:
Pot Roast—53 cents/pound
Tide King Size detergent--$1.19
Wonder Bread—4 for $1
Apples—12.5 cents/pound
Lean Ground Chuck—74 cents/pound
Mayonnaise qt—49 cents
Mandarin Oranges—5 for $1
Regional Forester Floyd Iverson announced the “shovel, axe, and bucket” restriction of Aug. 9, and the “campfire/smoking” restriction, which will be rescinded this month. Donald Shultz, supervisor of the Caribou National Forest, cautions forest use0rs to continue to be careful with fire, especially during the hunting season. Many of the man-caused fires occur during the hunting season because of the neglect of some hunters to fully extinguish their camp and warming fires prior to leaving the area.
1966
Like all consumers, we are always interested in new products. But there’s one due on the market next month that’s got us puzzled. It’s a low calorie drink that is said to look like beer, tastes like beer, and smells like beer. It will even develop, when poured, a foamy head. Yet, it contains no alcohol. Call us cantankerous if you will, but we take gloomy view of this beverage. Perhaps that’s because of unhappy memories of the near-beer of prohibition days, which was about as near-to-nothing as our American brewers ever got. For the world has enough things in it already that aren’t what they seem—disarmament talks that aren’t disarmament talks, debt limits, blondes and redheads. With all that, and more, do we really need a beer that isn’t beer?
1951
The Harry Sorensen home is rapidly taking shape at its location on Highway 34 north of town. Neils Andersen and Company, builders of Central, are the contractors.
Stockman’s Supply building is getting its face lifted in front. Looks as if it will be a mighty modern looking building when it’s finished. This is more evidence of the progress in our city.
The Pocatello Chamber of Commerce members surveyed the phosphate deposits in the Montpelier vicinity on the “Good Will Tour” through this part of the country a few weeks ago.
If you are a Breakfast Club listener, you know it’s easier to rise with the lark than after one.
The Caribou County Posse took first prize at the Preston Rodeo Friday evening. They were competing with three other posses. On Thursday evening Richmond and Caribou County tied for first place. The 48 Caribou riders were outstanding in their white shirts and maroon ties. The prize was $100 and will be put to good use in the club.
1906
The night operator at this station, who has for some time imagined that he owned the railroad and could insult people at any time he took a notion, has been “canned” and the company is hard at work to fill his place. The wages are, it would seem, sufficient to get a good many for the place as $65 per month is not picked up at every turn of the road.
The Short Line has seen fit to recognize the business done at this station by putting another man at the depot. Allan Strachan is now working inside as clerk and Leland Williams is looking after the freight.
A rumor has been circulating in the vicinity for the past few days to the effect that a headless body has been found buried near Williamsburg but nothing has been reported to confirm it.
