Labor Day Weekend 1990

I have always enjoyed Payson's Onion Days over Labor Day weekend, but continuing in my commemoration of 20 years ago I wanted to record some memories from that year's celebration because it was probably my favorite. (I hope people don't get tired of just reading all of my memories and play-by-plays, but it seems like I am the lone person still using this blog so I am probably fine to just do what I need to with it.)

To start out I remember after school on Friday, August 31, 1990 that me and Kyle went down to somebody's house on the west side of Payson to skateboard because they had built a quarter pipe in their yard. We skateboarded for a while that afternoon, and then closer to evening I remember some of us making our way up to the carnival at the park to go on some rides. I recall Dennis and Kyle being there, but I am not quite sure who else was there at that point. I think that was the first year I remember them having the Gravitron there, or whatever it is called. That is the one that looks like a giant top, and when it starts spinning you get plastered back against the wall. I remember us riding on it that night and starting to get dizzy and a little sick. After it got dark we went up by the high school to watch the fireworks, and I think we met up with everybody else there. After the fireworks it seems that we may have went back down to the carnival and rode on a couple more rides.

We then decided to venture out to Red Bridge that night. I believe that is the first night that a lot of our group of old friends walked out there together. I don't exactly remember everybody that went, but I do recall possibly Dennis, Kyle, Kate, Synthia, Julie, and myself going out there. It was a fun memory of us taking people out there, some of them for their first time. After that I remember us making our customary loop around to drop everybody off which eventually went out to Santaquin.

The next day I remember Kyle and myself going skateboarding again out at the same house as the day before, and then we had to head up to the park because the band was running a food booth that year as a fundraiser. It was my scheduled time to go put in some hours there. Shortly after we got there they mentioned that they needed some guys to volunteer to spend the night there to keep an eye on the booth. If we volunteered to do it then we wouldn't have to put any time in there that afternoon, so it sounded better to me. My and Kyle then drove out to the trout farm and asked Rob if he was interested in camping out that night at the park too, and he agreed to do it.

Later that night we went back down to the park and met up with people at the band's food stand. I recall that Kate and Julie were there, and I think that Kyle rode on the Merry-go-round with them because it was right by the band's booth. I just remember us all just talking and having a good time, and it is an incredible memory where I can recall even some of the littlest details because it was such a great night. After the carnival shut down we watched some videos in the band's food booth because we had brought a video player. The one's that had planned to sleep over that night were myself, Kyle, Rob, and Steve Lindsey. I think Dennis had gone camping with his family up at there property in Fairview Canyon that night or I am sure he would have been there too. Kate and Julie, and possibly Jenn, stuck around and watched Highlander with us. It seems like it was Julie's recording from TV. I remember it being a lousy recording and a lot of the important parts had been cut out, but we still enjoyed watching it. All of us doing that that night made for truly a classic memory.

In The Orchard

Twenty years ago on August 24 I had a night that was very significant and memorable for me. School had just started two days earlier for my Senior year. The 24th was on a Friday that year, and to back up a little earlier that day I recall that after school I had gone home and my dad was there. He cooked us some food and we ate it as we listened to Paul Harvey. I remember that we talked and it was just a time that was relaxing and we connected well. There was a little bit of a feeling of anticipation for that night and the weekend. I then remember going to my room and listening to some music before I went skateboarding up around the Payson park. While I was skateboarding that afternoon it was hot and the sweat was just dripping off of me, but I just enjoyed pushing myself and feeling alive from it.
The band had to play at the football game that night, but we just played as a pep band and didn't have to march during half-time. We also got to just wear regular clothes that night and not our band uniforms. After the game, which I am sure Payson lost that year, I remember that myself, Kyle, Kate, and Julie all went to hang out by taking a ride in our old Bronco II. It seems that I got to drive it on that particular night instead of my old green Chevette for some reason. We took the back-roads out towards Julie's Mom's house, and I remember listening to the Boingo Alive tape while driving with the windows down that night. I believe that Julie then had us drive into the orchard a little south of her mom's house while we were out that way.
We drove in a bit and then parked, so that we could get out and walk around a little. One reason that night was so memorable was that I remember it being such a perfect late summer night. It was still warm, but it felt refreshingly cool in the orchard under the trees. You could hear the hum of vehicles traveling on the freeway in the distance. The stars were out and it was a clear peaceful night. Kyle and Kate decided to sit down under the canopy of trees and talk. I felt so alive that night that I more felt like walking around. Me and Julie then walked a little to the north down a dirt road there, and we came to one of the tall white fans standing in the orchard that they use to circulate the air on cold nights. I decided to climb it because it had ladder rungs along the side of it. I recall that Julie was a bit nervous while I was doing it, but I climbed clear to the top. It put me clear up above the trees where I could look around and even see the freeway and other things off in the distance. It seemed like it even swayed a little while I was up there. I didn't stay up there too long, but long enough to look around a bit. It probably was a little crazy to do it, but at that time in my life I felt fearless and truly alive. When I climbed back down Julie was more relieved, and then we just walked around the orchard a bit and talked.
When we got back to where Kyle and Kate were we all got back into our Bronco II and headed out. It seems possible that we may have stopped my Julie's place so that she could get some stuff because she could have been staying and Kate's house that night. We then took the back-roads again back towards the Anderson's house. I believe it was on this same night that as we were still out west of the freeway, but heading east on Utah Avenue toward Payson, we passed by an old barn that was on fire. This obviously caught our attention so I remember stopping to see if everybody was alright, and they were just going to let it burn. We then headed out again toward Kate's house, of course driving with the windows down at least a little so that we could enjoy the late summer air. Around this time I remember we were talking about the movie Highlander, and I was impressed that Julie was a big fan of it. We then made it to Kate's, and I think that we just dropped Kate and Julie off at this point.
That night has always really stood out to me since then because it was just such a great night. With the setting of it I have often looked back in my mind picturing how truly alive I felt that night, and the memory of it has served at various times to remind me of what it means to really be that way. Strangely enough there were a couple songs that came out years later that really seem to sum up that night. The first one was actually called "In The Orchard" by the band Tiger Army. It is almost amazingly descriptive of that night in some ways. The other one was by The Cure from their 2004 album. For me both songs really seem to be descriptive of that night and the way I felt, even though they are not exactly from the standpoint I have for my memories of that night.

Four Of A Kind

My last post received a couple of comments, so that tells me that this blog hasn't been completely forsaken by everybody. I would challenge more of you to continue to post here as well so it doesn't just become Rhett's reminiscing corner. I think it's fun to be able to read your memories, thoughts, and regrets also regarding the old times and the new.

In continuing with my 20 years since posts I wanted to write about the trumpet quartet "Four Of A Kind" that I, Dennis, Steve Lee, and Chris Walker have been playing together since 1990. We first performed it on 3/15/90 at the annual Huff Music Contest in the high school. The "Huff" was first started by my grandpa, Lewis Huff, in 1970. I even attended it again this year on 3/2/10 to support my mom and because it was a milestone year.

(I will have to continue this post later when I get time, so bear with me until then...)

Red Bridge

I can see that nobody really uses this blog very much anymore, as evidenced by the fact that there was only one post from me in all of 2009. I looked through some of the posts again today, and I think this whole thing really was a good idea. I decided I will continue to post here even if anybody else hardly ever uses it. For me particularly I like being able to remember and write down old memories on here that I never really recorded anywhere else. I find it to be really fun doing that, and I also like knowing that I have recorded significant and favorite memories before too many years have passed since they first occurred. I would hope that others from our old group of friends would start doing this as well, but if not than that is alright. I've got to admit that I miss getting together with our old friends, but lately it seems like whenever we have tried for something it usually falls through. Hopefully we will be able to align things with everybody to be able to have a successful get-together or two during 2010.

The fact that this year is twenty years since 1990 is one reason that my thoughts have been returning to memories from that year, and many of those included a lot of my old friends. This January it had been 20 years since I first ventured out to Red Bridge, so I walked out there again during that month to kind of commemorate it. I spent quite a bit of time that afternoon just checking it all out again and climbing around a little on the bridge supports underneath. I was trying to find where some of our names should have been carved on it, but I couldn't find this. I did find where Danielle Christensen and Monica Platt had carved their names during December of '89 if anybody remembers them, so that was kind of cool. I just found it to be really peaceful out there, and it brought back a lot of memories of many of us out there together on several different occasions. I plan to continue to walk out there often this year, and I even went out there again after work one night this past week.

I remember during the late spring of '90 that there was one afternoon that me, Dennis, Steve Lee, and the rest of that year's trumpet section from the marching band walked out there and took a bunch of pictures. It was shortly before that year's band banquet. I believe Dennis came up with the idea for us to get a plaque to give to Chris Walker because he had been the trumpet section leader that year but was about to graduate. He had done a lot to help and inspire us that year as a true leader, so we wanted to do something to thank him at the band banquet. We decided to take some pictures of all of that year's section members together to give to Chris. I remember that some of the guys, particularly Steve Lee, were climbing all around on the supports beneath the bridge in ways that I never would have. I believe Steve even climbed all the way up the supports to the top of the bridge from the very bottom. Anyway, after being there we even drove up to Trumbolt in Santaquin Canyon to take some more pictures. It was just a fun spring afternoon from that time in my life, and I wish somebody could find some of those pictures from that day.

One other very memorable occasion for me of going out to Red Bridge was on 11/16/92. It was two days before I went into the MTC, and it was a great last experience right before my mission. Me, Kate, and Julie all walked on the tracks from the west out to the bridge that late afternoon. It was a peaceful and pleasant afternoon, and not too cool for that time of year. I believe we hung out and sat on the bridge and talked for a little while. I did take some pictures of that time, and I have enjoyed looking at them over the years since then. One of the pictures was of the tracks heading west from the bridge into the sunset, and I guess it even was symbolic considering that I was leaving home that week and what not. I took a couple of the pictures with me on my mission, and I was thankful to be able to have them to help me remember favorite places and old friends from home during the two years that I was away. When I look at those pictures again I am glad to see that not too much has changed out at Red Bridge in the twenty years that I have been going out there.

07/08/09

Hey everybody, I just wanted to take a minute and wish congratulations to Dennis and Jill who were married last week in the Draper Temple on 07/08/09. (I believe one of Dennis's kids told them that would be a memorable anniversary date and that is why they picked it.)

Alicia and I went and saw them get married. Steve and Lori also were able to go see that, but they headed out immediately following the ceremony because they were driving back to California and needed to be there by that night. A little later we went to the wedding luncheon, and Derek and Demi also were able to make it to that. We all had a fun time hanging out and talking there. The main thing that stood out to me throughout the day was how genuinely happy and relieved that Dennis and Jill seemed together. We all know what Dennis has been through the last couple of years, and Jill has also had her own personal difficult times. What a blessing it is that they were able to find each other after all of that, and we wish them happiness and success in their new family together.

We will have to try for another get-together with everybody before the summer's end, so if you are interested let me know when potentially would be a good time for that. I know that last year Labor Day weekend worked out pretty well for most people, so that could be a possibility if people are planning to be around the area then. Anyway, stay in touch and I hope you are all doing well.

It was fun to see who you thought I looked like.  I would love to return the favor, but I don't know that many famous people.  I had to look up many of the ones on the list.  

Christmas

Hey everyone,
Two things.
1. I would like to have your addresses so I can send you Christmas cards
2. I would like to see you all this Christmas season. Lets plan a get together. What do you say?

Celebrity Equal List

Here is my completed celebrity equal list of our old friends:

myself - Christopher Lambert (most of you probably know that I am a big Highlander fan)
Alicia - Winona Ryder
Kate - Jodie Foster
Derek - Stephen King
Kyle - Flea (from Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Kyle would totally agree that the two of them are alike in many ways)
Afton - Nicole Kidman
Brenda - Scarlett Johansson
Synthia - Sheryl Crow
Demi - Cate Blanchett
Dennis - John Stockton (this is because both of them were willing to, and frequently did, take one for the team quietly)
Julie - Charlize Theron
Steve - Seth Meyers
Chris Walker - Hugh Jackman
Jenn Anderson - Renée Zellweger
Snipper - Kirsten Dunst
Rob - Daniel Craig

Celebrity looksters...

Derek - Steve


Rhett - Baker


Dennis - Dennis


What do you say? Look alikes or what??

Who Is Your Celebrity Equal?



Rhett and Derek and I played this game a couple years ago via email...it was pretty darn fun. I thought I would start it on our little friend blog...There are no rules to this game, except please, be nice (this means no-one can say my celebrity equal is Delta Burke! No one wants to think that they look like the fat Designing Woman!)



All you do is post who you think is one of the gang's celebrity look alike.



I'll start.

Derek: Hugh Grant

Rhett: Sting

Synthia: Melina Karakaklalalalkalas....That girl on Providence

Brenda: Darryl Hannah



Now it's your turn...come on guys. Chime in.

It's fun.

Really, humor me...I have no life. I am tethered to an IV pole and have been for 13 weeks!



Love and light to you all,

Kate

What's his name???

Just had a thought, what was the name of that guy who came down from BYU to help the drumline out in practices? He was sort of lurpish...I can't remember his name for the life of ME! Remember, he was the one who dropped some heavy object on Robbie's head while in band practice? Rob had to go and get a ton of stitches and, I believe, the guy never even said he was sorry for the incident.

Memory from September 16, 1990

I figured that I would write about another memory I have. There haven't been as many postings here recently. It seems August was one of the more active months on this blog with a lot of memories, etc. being added to it. I imagine everybody has probably been pretty busy lately with their kids and getting them back in the school routine and what not.

The memory I want to add happened on this very night back in 1990. It was Sunday, September 16th. The night before I had gone to the "Homecoming From Hell" dance. (That is a whole other story that some of you have probably heard me tell over the years.) Anyway, that Sunday evening there was a fireside of sorts over at the Marriott Center. I remember that me and Kyle drove over to it in the old '79 green 'vette I had back then. When we got there we found some of the girls from our group of old friends. We probably had talked to them earlier that day about meeting up with them there. I mainly remember that it was Kate and Jenn, Synthia, Demi, and Julie that were there that night, but maybe there were others also. We all watched the fireside together and then we talked a while there. Afterward we split up to go home. Kyle must have rode home with Kate and Jenn, because I remember that Julie, Synthia, and Demi all rode home with me.

The group in my car all went over to a park that is a bit east of BYU. It was a pleasant and warm late summer/early fall evening, and it felt good to just be out enjoying the night. We hung out at the park for a while and talked and just had a good time. I recall that the girls were playing on the swings and running around the park (probably barefoot) in their Sunday dresses. When we got in my car to leave Julie and Synthia decided to swap dresses for some reason that I don't really know to this day. I must admit that I was a little taken back by the whole thing, but they just took their dresses off and traded right there in the backseat of my car. (If you are wondering, no I didn't watch. I turned my head away while they were changing.)

Anyway, once everybody was alright with what they were wearing we started for home. Like a lot of those nights back then we didn't exactly go right home immediately. I recall that for some reason we even stopped at Smith's in Payson to buy drinks or something. After that I must have started the long loop around of dropping everybody off home by way of West Mountain, Santaquin, and then back to Payson again. It seems that it was fairly late (for a school night anyway) before I finally made it back to my own house. Like many of the nights back then I was probably going to be a bit tired the next day, but it was definitely worth it because I remember it as being a memorable night from a very significant time in my life.

Salamander hunting with Derek...

Trevor and his friends found a little pond out in the orchard near our home. It has become a favorite place for the kids to hang out, explore, and try their luck at capturing salamanders.


Lauren, Trev and his friend Josh.


Derek, the salamander lover, came with us to try his luck at finding a new pet. Immediately after I took this picture, Derek slipped and fell into the water! SOOOO FUNNY!!!


"Hey...I'm already wet...might as well make the most of it!"


Now...that's something you don't see every day! Nice mud butt you got there! My kids teased him unmercifully for the rest of the evening. Lauren, my fearless 8th grader, was the only one who caught a salamander that night. She gave it to Derek for his trouble.

As always, thanks for the laughs, Derek!

Boingo concert 1990

Reading Brenda's recount of 1990's 50/20 sparked a memory with me that I thought I would write about. I think this was probably the very next weekend. Oingo Boingo was coming to play an outdoor concert in Park City on May 26, 1990. It was going to be a couple days after school got out for the summer. A few of us guys decided we wanted to go, including Chris Walker. He would have just graduated.
When the evening came Chris drove us all there in their family's van, and I always thought it was cool that he offered to do that. It was me, Chris, Kyle, and our other friends Jim and Brian that went. We drove up to the concert in Park City, and I remember it being a cool and clear early summer night with the fresh mountain air. I had only been to smaller venue concerts until that night. It ended up being a bit of an eye opener. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were one of the opening bands. While they were playing I remember every so often you would see girls fly clear up in the air above the crowd because people would hold a blanket tight and use it as a sort of trampoline to throw somebody and then catch them. (I also remember a couple going at it under a blanket right there on the hill. I guess you see it all at concerts.) That night there was also some dumb-ass standing by us on the hill that was mouthing off, but I knew that with Kyle and Chris there we were well backed up by good friends if he had tried to start anything.
Anyway, Boingo started playing with the sounds of the horns on Dead Man's Party right as it was starting to get dark. They ended up playing for around three hours that night, and it was an incredible concert with the combination of the music and the mountain air setting. That night really added to me becoming such a fan of Oingo Boingo. After the concert we drove down to Salt Lake to get something to eat, and then KJQ played Boingo music on the radio the rest of the drive home.
I know that this whole experience probably don't sound too life changing, but to me it was such a great night that it was a highlight for me in that time of my life. We were young and felt truly alive and free, and we were all at our best back then.

A "Keyan" memory...Labor Day, 1989

At our most recent gatherings, I have appreciated Dennis, Derek, and Rhett's fond memories of Keyan Riley - "The man whose flatus smells like roses..."

(yes...I said it!)

This memory goes back to 1989. After we marched the Payson Onion Day's parade, apparently, it was Keyan's birthday or close to it. The girls had planned a picnic lunch/hike up to the Grotto with Keyan, to celebrate his bday. I say girls, but I only remember Afton and Marianne - I am sure Synthia was there, Kate? Anyway, back then, the trail was horrible and very steep in some places. We lugged this big ol' heavy cooler up the trail. My memory is a little fuzzy here, but I think Keyan actually rode on TOP of the cooler as we carried it, with Marianne leading the way, throwing rose petals onto the ground (heheh...sorry - in the spirit of fun, I threw that in for my boys - Rhett, Dennis, and Derek - Cheers!). So yes, a crazy hike to the Grotto. Once there, I believe it was quite flooded, unexpectedly. We ate; it was quaint. I think Marianne got hurt somehow? Somebody did. Anyhow, they have since made the trail leading up to the Grotto an easy one, traversing the stream with log planks and such. To this day, when I hike up to the Grotto, I am reminded of this memory.

A 50/20 memory...1989-90?

I have many memories, but reading Synth's post sparked a memory of her that I want to share:
In 9th grade, I walked the 50/20 (the only year I ever FINISHED!). I don't remember who I started walking with; they eventually quit and I ended up tagging along with Jill Kent and Cami Burton. By about Goshen, Chris Walker caught up to me and, of course, wouldn't hear of me quitting. Throughout the night, Synth and her brothers drove by, bringing me new shoes, giving us water, etc. Around the point of the mountain that early morning, Julie walked briefly with me past the fields with the new baby lambs. By the time we reached Synth's house, Synth had cooked us a big breakfast of eggs and bacon, probably pancakes. I was so dehydrated, the smell was nauseating. I remember Chris digging into a huge plate of food and I couldn't figure out how he could stomach it? I continued to walk. Synth appeared...I was so sick and in physical pain...she carried me, literally cradled me in her arms. I used that memory in a talk I had in sacrement many years ago...how good friends will lift and carry you through your darkest hours, giving you the strength to keep going. I bawled and bawled as I recalled that moment...the symbolism was incredibly powerful.

I think I am posting this on the right site.  I guess I will see when I post it.  I love reading what you all wrote.  As for memories, I can't believe you all remember the details so well.  I have never been very detail oriented.  I am still working on that. 

I would say that camping while singing "Cecilia" and finding the"fountain of youth" certainly was one of my favorite memories. I also loved going out to Red Bridge at any time of day.  I liked playing broom hockey at the church in Spring Lake.  I liked hanging out at each of your houses, singing at Kate's and Jen's or Afton and Brenda's, fishing a Judd's, sitting in the window at Steve, Chris and Ben's house, sitting around trying to decide what to do...  I could go on forever.  It was definitely a fun time of life.  It is crazy that some of our kids are getting there.  Weird, huh?

Well, I need to get Celeste to bed.  Thanks for letting me post.  Oh, really quick.  For a talk in church once I used the story of hiking up to the "fountain of youth" at night.  It got dark on us and we couldn't see anything so we linked arms so that nobody would fall off of a cliff that they couldn't see.  That was a cool memory.

Hike up Timp

Here are some photo's from our famous hike up the backside of Timp. Whose idea was that anyway? I think we went on this hike about a week or so before Dennis left on his mission. We got up early (like, 5am) and drove up Provo canyon to... (searching my memory) Aspen Grove? I remember being pretty excited about the hike. Probably because I didn't know what we were in for.

All smiles starting out.

Demi, Synthia, Kate, Derek, and Dennis. (Afton taking the picture)

Not too far up the trail was this beautiful waterfall. This was when we were still smiling and laughing - hiking is so much fun!!!

Kate, didn't you slip and fall here and pass out or something? Isn't that why you look so spacey in this photo?

Did anyone know how HUGE of a hike this really would be? I remember looking back down the trail that we had come up - all the switch backs - then looking up to where we still had to go and thinking we'd never make it. And then those two ranger chicks that just clicked on past us like we were standing still. AMAZON WOMEN. I wanted to be like them...

We finally made it up to ... (ugh, my memory sucks!) Emerald Lake?? Crystal Lake?? Anyway, the place where we stopped. Finally. And drank the last of our water and went to the bathroom (yes behind a bush) and contemplated just how much more we wanted to endure.

At the top. Sort of.


So we called it good at this spot. Congratulated ourselves and began our descent. I can't quite recall now when I started hatin it. All I remember is that I was wearing hiking boots that I THOUGHT would be perfect for the trip. But they turned out to be like LEAD weights that had RAZOR BLADES sewn into the heels and toes. Every. Step. Was. AGONIZING. You would think that coming back down would be a cinch. An easy task compared to what we had just put ourselves through. No sirree. This was almost worse. Almost.

-This is the part in the story where I weave in some really good thoughts about perspective and what going on this hike meant symbolically on the road of life... But this post has taken too long already, I'm typing with one hand while I hold my sleeping baby, and I really gotta go to the bathroom so here's all the wisdom I can come up with-

Downhill ain't all it's cracked up to be.

favorite memories for real....

I guessed I messed that one up...anyhow. My favorite memories, wow so many...for us girls...I remember driving in Afton and Brenda's care we name "peanut brittle" we had so many laughs! We used to drive by the guys we currently had a crush on and laugh and try to hide if anyone saw us...like that care wasn't totally visible and original.

I remember spending the night at the band's fundraising booth at the park and watching a horrible recording of The Highlander...by the way...I watched that a couple of weeks ago and bawled my eyes out...it IS a sad movie but I cried for the youth I was when I first saw it...

I will always remember all of the times we spent at Camelot...what a cool place. And senior ball...how cool was that.

I will always remember my jr. prom when Kyle took me and Rhett took Julie...I remember what gentlemen they both were and how fun it was to dance with Kyle and Rhett..
I have tons of more memories...really I could write a novel, but it will have to wait...

I am hoping to see everyone this weekend for Dennis' welcomehome dinner.

Love and light to you call, dear friends.
Kate

Favorite memories