INSIDER Merry Christmas
Panguitch • Panguitch Lake • Hatch • Bryce • Tropic • Antimony • Henrieville • Cannonville • Escalante • Boulder • Fremont • Loa • Lyman Bicknell • Teasdale • Torrey • Grover • Fruita • Caineville • Hanksville
Thursday, December 20, 2012 • Issue # 975
Utah Pulls a Hat Trick in Forbes “Best State for Business and Careers”
Join the “Dark Rangers” for a “NOT the End of the World” Star Party BRYCE CANYON N.P. On Friday, December 21st, the Dark Rangers of Bryce Canyon National Park will host a special Winter Solstice Astronomy Event at the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center, and everyone is invited. Come on out and enjoy educational and entertaining “End of the World” themed presentations punctuated by stargazing with telescopes. The evening starts with “Maya Mania vs. More Likely Ends of the World,” a presentation about ancient Maya Astronomers, the Mayan Calendar, and related myths about the end of the world— as compared to more astronomical events like asteroid impact, galactic collisions, our Sun exploding and, of course, even Space Alien Invasion! Then it’s out to the telescopes to see planets Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus, Great Orion Nebula, Pinwheel and Andromeda Galaxies, Crab Supernova Remnant, among other deep-space objects. When you get cold—and you will as Bryce Canyon is 8000 feet above sea level—then it’s back inside for “A Climate Intervention” which is a multimedia assisted, facilitated open audience discussion about the potential calamities we face with Global Climate Change and how if we work together, many can be averted, and even the worst can be significantly mitigated. By this time the sky will have rotated enough to reveal new deep-space objects, so we will return outside to the cold night air for more telescope astronomy and constellation laser tours to learn cultural stories from around the world recorded in the constellations.
Afterward, you’re welcome to warm up once again with an indoor showing of NOVA’s “Cracking the Maya Code” about how the lost language of the Maya was revitalized by clever archaeologists studying glyphs carved on temples and statues. Finally, we will go outside one last time, to await the world NOT ending at Midnight under the Bryce Canyon Sky – one of the darkest, most starry places in North America accessible by paved road. Under the Bryce Canyon night sky you can even see the Winter Milky Way, the smaller fainter spiral arm of our Milky Way Galaxy! If for some impossible reason the world does decide to end... well, at least you will be at Bryce Canyon National Park. What better place to spend your final hours with friends and family? Events at a glance: 7:00-8:15pm “Maya Mania vs More Likely Ends of the World” by Dark Ranger Kevin Poe 8:15-9:00pm Telescope views of Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, etc. 9:00-10:00pm “A Climate Intervention” Open discussion on Climate Change facilitator: Dark Ranger Kevin Poe 10:00-10:30pm More stargazing with telescopes and Constellation Laser Tour by Dark Ranger Kim Hyatt 10:30-11:30pm “Cracking the Maya Code” PBS NOVA special 11:30-Midnight More telescope time and NOT the End of the World! For more information: www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/astronomyprograms.htm —Bryce Canyon N.P.
PANGUITCH weather
LOA weather
WGCI Photos
Christmas Train engineer Lenza Wilson, with his mom Susan Shurtz along for company, took the train for a spin around Escalante last Sunday night, to the delight of just about everybody in town.
Holiday Traditions:
“Christmas Train” Delivers Holiday Magic ESCALANTE - It starts with a low rumble. The setting: It’s about mid-December. A fresh blanket of snow has just graced the town. You’re working your way through your after dinner bowl of ice cream—maybe even your second bowl. The rumble continues. Some inner part of your brain decides that the rumble is not your neighbor’s truck. And then suddenly it hits you. This happens at exactly the same time the fourth grade girl living in your house lets out an earsplitting shriek: “The Christmas Train!” Everybody runs to the windows and out the front door, and looks up the street. And around the corner it comes ...slow, all wobbly and bobbly, squirrel shooter headlights leading the way. Yes, you’ve seen it before, yet you can hardly believe your eyes. This is the gift that Escalante resident Lenza Wilson gives to his town every year. For sixteen years Lenza’s Christmas Train has plied the December streets of Escalante,
making everyone who lives there feel really lucky. “I don’t know—the idea just kind of came to me,” says Wilson, when asked how it all began. “I had a ‘76 Olds that I cut the top off and I just put a tree with lights in the trunk and drove around town. The second year I wanted to make it a little bigger so I added two old flatbed trailers.” And it became a train. Every year Wilson adds a trailer or two to the train. “Right now there are 14 trailers and I’m adding one more this weekend,” he says. The Olds did duty as the train’s engine until it sought retirement about three years ago. Now the train is led by an ’84 Ford half ton pickup, which Lenza has also converted into a convertible. Lenza says the train has several hundred strings of lights and guesses that it probably has more than 40,000 individual lights. Every year he adds not only more trailers but more lights. The whole operation is powered by a generator, which
sits astride one of the trailers. “My dad (Dale Wilson) provides the generator and he takes care of the truck maintenance and tires, and my mom (Susan Shurtz) helps decorate.” Often Susan or Lenza’s brother Zack can be found accompanying Lenza on his rounds. Many have wondered if they don’t practically freeze to death while driving around town. Lenza says not to worry. “The car’s got quite a good heater in it. It stays plenty warm from the chest down.” If you live outside the area and happen to have the opportunity to visit friends or family in Escalante, the Christmas Train is a sight worth seeing. Lenza says it will be running for sure Friday night (the 21st), on Christmas Eve and on New Year’s eve. (And we hope a few nights in between.) If you can’t make it to Escalante to see it in person, videos of the train have been posted to YouTube. Look up “Escalante Christmas Light Train 2012.” Enjoy! And thank you, Lenza. You brighten our holiday. —Insider Report
BRIG GIG Hauls In a Few Unsavory Characters
In an effort to raise funds for the Toys for Tots program the different cities in Garfield County held a Brig Gig to get donations for this worthy cause. Below are the people who were “jailed” and had to pay a fine. Folks were picked up at work or their homes, handcuffed and hauled off to the BRIG. It was a very fun event for all involved. Judge: Alfred Foster. Attorney for the Persecution: Gary Holbrook. GUILTY PERSONS CHARGE FINE David Tebbs Successful Representation of Garfield Memorial Hospital $100.00 Dilyana Birinzhieva Excessive Exercise $ 50.00 Tyson Brinkerhoff Excessive attendance at Basketball Games $ 50.00 Ronald Harris Improper use or exposure of his Fire Hose $100.00 Cary Deccio Improper or offensive Halloween Costume $100.00 WaLon Brinkerhoff Not paying his biggest loser fine $ 50.00 Shilo Richards Failure to attend Elder’s service projects $ 50.00 Lance Syrett Improper or excessive display of Twilight posters in one home $100.00 For additional donations please contact Gary Holbrook at 435-676-3020 Everything you’ve learned in school as “obvious” becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There’s not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines.
Wayne Phone: 435-836-2622 Garfield Phone: 435-676-2621 Fax 1-888-370-8546 PO BOX 105, Escalante, Utah 84726 snapshot@live.com
—R. Buckminster Fuller (1895 - 1983)
THE WAYNE & GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER is owned and operated by Snapshot Multimedia, LLC and is distributed weekly to all of Wayne and Garfield Counties, Utah. Its purpose is to inform residents about local issues and events. Articles submitted from independent writers are not necessarily the opinion of Snapshot Multimedia, LLC. We sincerely hope you enjoy the paper and encourage input on ideas and/or suggestions for the paper.
SALT LAKE CITY - In the heart of the West is a state with a hard-working and resolute people who are the engine of economic prosperity. It’s a day’s journey from the coast and at the crossroads of the region’s major transportation routes. Facing steep challenges, Utah has become not only the “Little Engine that Could,” but the “Little Engine that Does.” For the third year in a row, Utah is Forbes #1 State for Business and Careers. “Our best practices drive Utah’s top-ranking economy and shore up our unparalleled quality of life,” said Spencer P. Eccles, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “Governor Herbert has a vision, which has clearly defined objectives. Building on the Governor’s vision, the key to our success has been our consistent, collective and collaborative efforts to first develop, and then execute on our plan.” From the slopes to the 5 star resorts to the lively downtown business district, Utah is just “awesome.” Literally, for “Pure Awesomeness Factor,” Utah resorts have filled seven of Forbes “Top 10 Ski Resorts in the United States for 2013.” Meanwhile, Forbes just named Utah the #1 “Best State for Business and Careers” — for the third straight year. And the Forbes rankings lead a continually growing list of accolades that recognize Utah’s top performance across virtually every measure. Boiled down, Utah is best for business, and for pleasure. In business, Utah has a “tradition of conservative fiscal management,” according to Moody’s, a constitutionally mandated balanced budget and a well-managed debt portfolio have helped earn Utah a top five ranking of best managed states according to 24/7 Wall St. That translates to a business climate that is friendly to growth and nurturing to entrepreneurialism. Dynamic growth in venture backed businesses is being driven by Utah’s innovation reputation — and a Triple A credit rating along with sensible regulation encourages investment. In pleasure, while Utah’s ski resorts have crowded the top ten, Utah is also leading the pack in multiple overall quality of life rankings. The Beehive State tops both Gallup Wellbeing’s poll that comprises 13 forward-looking metrics and an NBC News/ Reuters poll determining the “most livable states in the future.” Rankings are drawn from a combination of actions and behaviors of Utah’s residents and policy makers in the present, all of which contribute to a higher standard, and quality of life. —Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development
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PRE-SORT STANDARD PAID RICHFIELD, UTAH PERMIT No. 122