February Facts and Fun related to San Juan Connections

Today, I posted on Facebook that I was interested in learning of stories with San Juan Connections.  I was surprised by how many were written, in just one day.  To expedite sharing in a permanent way, I will add the shorter connection stories here, and the longer ones will appear as stand alone Connection Stories with links on the right column, once I have permission to use them.  Two stories are already posted there.  Claudia Orr gets the first prize, as she sent seven stories in January.   An Yucatan Encounter is also posted.

If any of you have photos to accompany your experiences, that would be wonderful. Let's keep the connections coming!

Thales Haskel

➽ Provo, Utah --  Chris Wilcox:  Wednesday night we had some speakers talking to the youth about fun family history stories. One gentleman shared some stories of his great great grandpa Haskel. I talked to him afterwords and found out it was the same Haskel that Stan Bronson sings about.  

More about Haskel can be found at:   http://trekholeintherock.blogspot.com/search/label/Haskell








➽ Annapolis -- Liz Johnson:   When we moved to Annapolis, On the very first Sunday we were there someone asked if we knew Stan Bronson!   (Stan was San Juan's Ambassador for many years!)

➽ Price, Centerville -- Rosalie Payne Post:  I was at stake conference right after moving to Price. Man asked if the seats by me were taken. I said no so he signaled to wife and daughters. After they sat down, he turned to me and said, I don't know you. My name is Eric Mantz." 
I said,  'If you are Eric Mantz; then you are from Blanding and you DO know me." Took him a while, but he figured it out.

2) Also, my visiting teacher here in Centerville graduated from SJ high where she was friends with Harold and Arlene Lyman. Her name was Evelyn Cox. Her maiden name was Burnham.

3) I remember another story. I got my teaching job about 3 weeks after school had started. I interviewed on a Wednesday and was supposed to be to work the next Monday. I was freaked out having to find a place to live, get moved, etc. I asked my home teachers for a blessing. Within about the next hour or so, I had received six phone calls from people who said they had a sister, uncle, mission companion, roommate etc from Blanding. At the time, there were only four wards in Blanding. All of the names and phone numbers I had been given were people who lived in the second ward. Guess which ward I ended up in? Can't remember all of the names but one was Elaine (Bevan) Wright.

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 Russia-- Tiffany Kurtz Parker:  I met a man in Rostov, Russia who had Blanding, Ut marked on his map! When I asked why, and told him I was from there, he got so excited. He was taught and baptized by Nathan Nielson. He had Nathan's wedding announcement.  He wrote a letter to Nathan, and I brought it back and mailed it to him. It made our trip pretty neat.



➽  Germany-- Kerry L Shumway:  I was standing in line at the chow hall at Bitburg AFB, Germany and mett a Navajo girl standing right in front of me from SJ County. She was a SJHS grad, a few years younger than me. I said, "Yá’át’ééh."  I only got to talk to her a few minutes. She had tears in her eyes and said it had been 10 years since she'd heard that word pronounced correctly."







➽ Spanish Fork--Adam Lacy: Heather's parents bought a table from someone randomly off KSL in Spanish Fork. We went to pick it up for them. When we got to the house, we started chatting with the older couple and mentioned the table was headed to Blanding. The lady's eyes lit up and she said, I grew up in Blanding, but my family moved away when I was 15. I asked if she remembered anyone and she said, "I only remember I used to tend a few boys with the last name Lacy, I think one was named was Mike." It's a small world."  

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Magna, Ut, Lawrence, Ka-- Audrey Campbell:  Happens all the time! In Utah at family reunions, at hospitals, at professional businesses, at church while staying in Magna, At the Nauvoo Temple. My sister's daughter married a Steven's whose Uncles live here. One of the perks is that if you know someone from Blanding , you get instant friends. 

     Last year in West Valley I went to a Verizon store to get help with a very tricky situation with my phone. The young man helping me asked where I was from. When I said Blanding, he said he had an aunt who lived there, Janet Keeler Wilcox! Yup, I do know her! His name was Dave Keeler. Best help I ever got at a Verizon store. 
      The most recent, I met a man from the ward I attend, here in Lawrence, Kansas, where I am staying and caring for my mother-in-law. He and his wife were both from Utah and asked me to come visit them and talk about places and things we might have in common. He was an Uncle to David Hickman's dad. Wish I could remember exact names and places for other times. What fun. Thanks.

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 Saratoga Springs, Am. Fork -- Heidi Perkins Pilling:  I’ve had many such San Juan encounters since moving up here. I’ll share my favorite two: 
After moving out to Saratoga Springs, my visiting teachers dropped in to welcome me. Turned out one of them was Julie Eberhard Warburton who grew up in Blanding.
Working in the ward library, I asked the lady who was with me who she had cut her hair. She gave me the name and number of her lady. Tuned out to be Virginia Palmer Bretey. I didn’t know either of these ladies but knew their families well. They have both become great friends.
 Feb. 4, (another encounter!)   After I wrote my first post yesterday I went into American Fork to do some shopping. Was shuffling through the dollar bins at Target and in walked Marsha and Kendra Johnson. We had a nice visit. 😀

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Anaheim, Boston, Yucatan -- Liz Mueller Weilenmann:  I have had so many everywhere we have ever lived
1. Anaheim. I have a talk in church and mentioned I was from Blanding. A guy came up after. He was the Ray's son or brother I think. Hard to remember now.
2. Boston, I was giving another talk in church and mentioned that I had grown up in Blanding. A woman came up afterwards and asked if I knew her three aunts who lives together all by the last name Mahon. Absolutely I did!
3. We also had the pleasure of feeding Adam Lacy on his mission to Boston.
4. Hilton Head. Sitting in church one day and noticed someone looked familiar, it turned out to be Brad Young from Monticello. He and his wife Beth had just moved into our ward.
And I even ran into Janet Keeler Wilcox in the streets of Playa Del Carmen Mexico! (See story.)

➽ West Jordan, Ut-- Rachele Burtenshaw In our ward up here in West Jordan, after Blake gave a talk in sacrament meeting he started talking with a man about teaching and other things and it turns out it was Sam Rogers from Monticello and he knew my dad.





➽ Logan, Hyde Park -- Kira Mae Gappmayer:  

1)This first one is kinda backwards. I became friends with Shannon Webb at USU then ended up living next door to her parents.
My neighbor across the street here in Hyde Park is Stewart Shumway from Blanding. And our Stake President, Mario Durrant is married to Karla Pincock from Blanding. 
2.) When I moved back to Cache Valley I needed a root canal done so I got a new dentist and the paperwork was sent from Monticello and the receptionist said her dad grew up there and she had relatives in Blanding too. They apparently have their family reunion at the dude ranch every year.

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Alaska-- Josh Palmer:   During my mission in Alaska, my companion and I were on our way to Anchorage from Palmer for transfers, we stopped at the church in Chugach to attend a baptism. As we walked down the hall my comp. said "Elder Palmer" just as we passed the library. Just then a lady popped out and said, "You're Elder Palmer.... from Blanding! Wow. I heard you were called to the Alaska mission, I hoped we would run into you sometime." Turned out to be Gloria Grover Cluff, who grew up here in Blanding, and still has many family members here. But that's not the end of my story..... Approximately two years later after returning home, I found a beautiful young woman to marry, Candice Grover, Gloria's niece!!!

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Florida --Tara Dawn Olson:  We were visiting my daughter Harmonie Nielsen in Florida. While we were there we attended their Sacrament meeting. I looked toward the side of the chapel and there sat David and Karleah Lee who were there visiting friends. Two Blandingites from different states attending Sacrament Meeting in the same Florida ward.