Content about Food

Alice Geneive Adams Preece, age 75, passed away early Saturday morning March 9, 2013, after a valiant battle fighting frontal temporal dementia.

Is there anyone who hasn’t heard of Taggart’s Grill in Taggart?  The establishment has been serving lunch and dinner for nine years, and its fame has spread far and wide. It began as a gas station in the 1930s when two Taggart boys asked their uncle for some money to start up a station and some cabins.  It expanded to a place that sold burgers and fish bait.  At one point, a bobcat was kept on the porch. In the 1970s or early 80s, it burned down and Howard Taggart sold it to Elaine Stoddard, who owned it from 1996 to 2003. It is now owned by the Tuttle family and if you haven’t been there, you are missing a treat!

Luckily, we have had a mild winter so far because not everyone has been visited by the traveling home insulation vans that have covered the Morgan territory. In fact not everyone has four walls and a roof they can call their own.  St. Anne’s Center shelters hundreds of Top of Utah’s homeless each year. 

Recently, two experiences have caused me to reflect on the Vietnam War.  In May, my husband and I visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.  Monday, May 28, chairs in the area in front of the wall sat empty awaiting the arrival of dignitaries for the Memorial Day service where President Obama gave his address. In addition to honoring Vietnam veterans in his speech, he set aside May 28 - Nov. 11 of this year to honor those who gave their lives to fight in this war, one of the most controversial wars of the 20th century.

Carolyn and Kent Kolan are long term residents of Mountain Green. They built their home in Monte Verde in 1971.  Carolyn is originally from Heber City and graduated from Wasatch High School.  Kent was born and raised in Lehi and graduated from Lehi High School.  They met attending a junior college in Provo, now known as Utah Valley University.  “We didn’t really like each other when we first met, but with a lot of pressure from a mutual friend, we started dating the fall of 1965,” Carolyn said.  Those dates resulted in their marriage September 1966.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was approved by the federal government and is now law.  Morgan School District, and many other districts in the state, participate in the national school lunch program and are required to comply with the new standards and guidelines set by the government.  The new lunch menus are now aligned with this law. We will be offering more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and fewer desserts.  Students participating in the school lunch program must choose at least one fruit or vegetable, plus two other food items.  They may also choose to take all of the food items offered which would include both the fruit and vegetable.  This change will help ensure that students will have on their tray a healthy, balanced meal everyday that meets federal government guidelines.

Creative and ambitious individuals that have a passion for what they do were found in abundance at this week’s Morgan farmer’s market. Each vendor has a unique story and purpose for being involved.
One such vendor is Davis Produce. Davis Produce offers a variety of fresh grown produce from their greenhouse. Tina Davis, owner, is glad to be back for another year and says she enjoys the people of Morgan.
Handcrafted and homemade items from Carol Marshall included parchment crafted book markers designed with calligraphy ink and paint on a type of paper known as velum. Marshall has done this craft for over 10 years and she enjoys it the most. Recently retired, she found herself not content. To broaden her interests, she discovered craft books and learned how to make bracelets and earrings.

Did you know that Morgan/USU Extension has a great FREE resource available to all its residents that can help your family eat healthier, save money at the grocery store and make your food dollar go farther?  It’s called Food Sense.  

Jo Ann Smith, Mountain Green resident for 45 years, moved here in 1967.  Her husband, Kent, used to say she was an Okie—not an Okie from Oklahoma—but from Oak City, Millard County, Utah.  She was born in Oak City in 1933, the first of seven children born to Allen Lovell and Virginia Lyman Lovell. She lived there until age 5.

On Aug. 25, 2012, the 4th annual Focus Four Run will be held in Roy at 4000 South 1900 West.  This event was established to remember John Carter, Cody Odekirk, Lydia Silva and Jeff Reppe who passed away in 2008 while traveling during a humanitarian project to Guatemala.  

Helen Smedley has lived in Mountain Green since the 1960s and remembers some of the first homes being built in the Highlands subdivision. She says she was born in the best little town in America –Fillmore, Utah.  She said “it’s drier than a bone” and that her dad used to say “frogs are 25 years old before they know how to swim.” Despite growing up during the Depression, she had a wonderful childhood. Her family grew their own food and had animals, so they were self-sufficient.  “We didn’t know we were poor because everyone else was to,” she added.

This year marked the 10 year anniversary of the Widowmaker Event in Croydon. The event was started in 2002 with the help of Albert Wilde and his family.  The Widowmaker Hillclimb and Adventure Expo is a three-day event that brings in riders from all over the U.S. and Canada to try to climb the 1000 foot hill.  

Tawra Kellam editor of LivingOnADime.com feeds her family of six for $400 a month.  Most people say that’s an impossible feat but what’s even more impressive is that she does it without using coupons. 

I was driving down the freeway a couple of days ago and saw something very frightening.  In the car next to me, going about 65 miles an hour, was a person reading a book!  Not only that but it almost completely covered his steering wheel!  My first thought was to honk and get his attention but I was afraid he’d lose his place.  How unfortunate for him!  So, to avoid any read rage I very carefully steered clear and hoped he was at least reading a book with large print so he didn’t strain his eyes.  Later, I mused about what better way to spend a boring commute, driving down the freeway with speeding cars and other too cozy, too dozy and distracted drivers, than reading a good book to pass the time!  I would like to know what book this multi-tasking maniac was reading that was worth risking his life and the lives of others for.

All Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts were called on to do the annual food drive in Morgan. The Cub Scouts were responsible for getting the food bags out to every household, and the Scouts picked up the food bags and delivered them to Morgan Food Pantry.

Step 1: Secure it now! 

“Thank You” family, friends, and neighbors for all of the love, support and kindness shown to our family at the passing of our Husband, Father, Grand-father, and Great-grandfather; Dale Thurston. 

Goldenwest Credit Union and members of the Utah Giant Pumpkin Growers recently teamed-up to help feed families in need.

It was a one day event at Barber Brothers in Morgan, but what a difference a day makes. Beautiful blue skies for the discounted helicopter ride with Santa and though it was cold to bring in the car for an free oil change, the only thing ask of you to donate some food or a toy. This event was held last Saturday, December 17th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Over the past few weeks, Morgan Middle School students have been participating in their annual food drive to benefit the Morgan Food Pantry. In an effort to drive participation, the school created some healthy competition between individuals, classes, and grades. The 2010 food drive brought in approximately 3,800 food items, and proved to be very successful. This year the students set a goal to beat that number by targeting at least 4,000 food items for collection. As the students sought donations from family, friends, and neighbors, they truly caught the spirit of helping local families who could benefit from the generosity of their community. This extra help is especially appreciated during the holidays.

“It’s been great,”said Tracy Kummer, Food Pantry Director with Morgan County Community Services, reflecting on the past two years. She continued, “the support from the community has been wonderful! when the word gets out, the people really dig in there and help.”

Morgan City is once again hosting Christmas on Commercial Street on Saturday, December 3.  Come out and enjoy the fun as a community!  There will be food, fun, and family activities.  There will also be a visit from Jolly Old St. Nick.  See you there!

People may visit the City website for more information and entry forms for the Gingerbread contest, the coloring contest and the Christmas boutique at www.morgancityut.com.

You’re on vacation, enjoying the sights and sounds of relaxing surroundings, when all of a sudden it hits.  Did I lock the back door?  Did I forget to leave enough food for the pets?  Is the garage door open?  Usually, it’s no big deal because you’re certain you remembered to do those things, right?  You try to remember every detail hoping that will be enough to assure you, but then you wonder if you left the iron on, or forgot to water the plants, or leave a key with the neighbor for emergencies.  There are plenty of things to forget about that can cause turmoil and spoil your relaxation.  So, unless you want to turn around and go home on a hunch that you forgot something, you’re going to have to remember to forget about some things and trust that everything will be okay when you get back.  

Flyers are being distributed.... collection boxes placed..... sounds like a food drive, but more specific than the regular food drive. Ryan Millburn’s Eagle Scout Project is to help provide Thanksgiving for some Morgan County families. Ryan is working with Morgan County Food Pantry to accomplish this goal.

Almost everyone knows the song “You’re Gonna Miss This” by Trace Adkins (if you haven’t, I recommend listening to it). I choke up every time I listen to this song because I can relate to it. 

Morgan Jubilee has been purchased by the Ridley’s Family Market, “A hometown food and drug store” described on the store website. “Effective September 14th, the store will be Ridley’s,” confirmed store manager Adam Birt. More news to come in weeks to follow. Check out website of new store shopridley’s.com.

The family of Grace Johanson would like to extend our deep gratitude to all of our wonderful friends in the community for their love and kindness during our time of loss. Thank you for all of the cards, visits, and food that was brought to our homes. 

Sub for Santa is a fundraiser that Morgan High School puts on every year.  All the money earned from Sub for Santa went to 21 families in the county.  
Sub for Santa took place December 1 – December 21.  In order to get all the cans the FFA members would go around in the mornings during first hour and collect money and cans.

Morgan Middle School Student Council with some of the food they collected for needy families in Morgan County.

 “I have the best job in the world,” exclaimed Tracy Kummer, Morgan Community Services Director who oversees the Morgan Food Pantry.  She explains that “service is the best thing in the world and I’m grateful to the county for this opportunity.”
When coming to meet with Tracy first time, one may be nervous or hesitant about being there.

It was a week of fun filled events and competition at the Morgan County Fair.  Activities steadily increased throughout the week to a crescendo on Friday and Saturday.

There are several things that I remember about visiting my Grandma Frances when I was young; Grandma was petite, standing only about 4’6” short and living alone in her spacious farmhouse.  She was small but very active and just a bit feisty if one chose to disagree with her or tease her about something.