CHAPTER 9
CULTURAL LIFE
J u m m i t County old-timers are more than eager to sit a while and share stories of the way life used to be. Emma Lemon, for one, has lived in the same house in Park City for more than sixty years. From that vantage point, history has r u n past her w i n d o w like a motion picture, sometimes speeding by and during other times, difficult times, moving so slowly she wondered if she could weather the troubles. Until 1996, Emma still cooked on a coal stove, producing seasonal favorites like apricot jelly and chili sauce to be given away. But perhaps even m o r e i m p o r t a n t are the stories she saves. Emma remembers the big strike of 1936 and the anger and torment that raged. She knows personally the grief caused by an explosion in a mine tunnel and the way economic problems damage families and lives. E m m a Lemon is a reminder of the value of the past and its function in our lives. Wendell Berry has written, "When a community loses its memory, its members no longer know one another. How can they k n o w one another if they have forgotten or have never learned one another's stories? If they do not know one another's stories, how can they k n o w whether or n o t to trust one another?" 1 193
