REMEMBER WHEN FROM THE PAST--TURF CAFE-POLAR QUEEN--CARTER SERVICE

Remember When
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Kenna Holm
 
TURF CAFE–POLAR QUEEN–CARTER’S SERVICE

    Okay--to start of with, I realize I put the wrong address on the Stake house last week. I put it at 800 South and 500 West and it should have been 800 West and 500 South. My husband picked that up right away. I could say I did it on purpose to see if anyone was alert enough to catch it, but no--I made another mistake.
    I've wanted to write about the old Turf Cafe, Service Station and Polar Queen Drive In for some time. I couldn't find a picture of it and today I got lucky. I called LaVee Curtis. She and her husband had owned it at one time and she didn't have a picture but suggested I call Wayne Carter's son in Palmyra and BINGO he had a picture. I was so excited. That building has been gone for a lot of years but at one time was a super busy place. It stood where Little Caesar's Pizza and Mt. High Credit Union is now.
    I think Jess Bachman built the place and ran it for awhile and then By and Delsa Staheli ran the restaurant . Now everyone knows what a great cook and restauranteur he was. He had the very best fish and chips you could ever imagine and they cost all of 49 cents for an order. His menu was great.
    On the South side of the restaurant was the service station. Wayne Carter ran it. It had gas pumps and a bay where he worked on cars. Wayne was a fun guy and so friendly with everyone.
On the North side of the restaurant was the Polar Queen. (The Polar Queen that is up on the hill now was not in existence yet) It was really small and Jess and Wanda Bachman ran it. They lived directly behind where the Polar Queen is today.
    I began working there when I was a Junior in High School. I think my wages was 35 cents an hour. I thought I was real lucky to have a job. I worked there for a long time even after I was married.
    I remember the school lunch rush. We would put rows of hamburgers on to fry and they would be done about the time the kids came for lunch. That way they didn't have to wait to long. Those large hamburgers were served with a big handful of french fries put in the bottom of the sack and it was sold for 25 cents. If you wanted cheese it was 35 cents. The french fries were fresh, no frozen ones in those days. We had to peel the potatoes and then we precooked them in the french fryer so they wouldn't take so long to fry for orders.
    Malts were probably more popular than shakes in those days and they sold for 25 cents also. Drinks were 5 and 10 cents- and those were I think 12 and 16 oz. drinks. I think we had Coke, Orange, Root Beer and I can't remember if there were any other flavors or not. It wasn't a big selection. We had hamburgers and hot dogs, french fries, (10 cent and 25 cent orders) Those orders were huge compared to todays orders. The ice cream cones were 5 and 10 cents.
Those prices seem unreal now but then as you can see, we didn't make big wages so it was comparable.
    I'm not sure when they everything moved. I know the new Polar Queen opened and the Turf quit selling food and went to a bar for a number of years. Wayne run the service station and also opened one down town where Leo Daley used to have the Chevron. Eventually he closed it.
    They had a huge fire in the cafe and it was burned down
Does this take you back a ways to remember when.....

REMEMBER WHEN FROM THE PAST--OLD NEBO STAKE

Remember When
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Kenna Holm

OLD NEBO STAKE

    As I think how fast Payson is growingit blows my mind. It seems like just yesterday we were a little town with four LDS wards and one stake that also included Benjamin, Spring Lake and I can t remember who else. Now we just got our sixth stake and I don’t know how many wards just in Payson area.
    I used to know every Bishopric and every boundary of every ward, now I can t keep up with my own ward let alone any other ward.

   At one time there was just one ward. They built a building to house that ward. It is the building that houses the Park Ward now. It is the oldest ward house in Payson. When they divided the one ward and made two, what was known as the First Ward built a ward house.

 It was the building that the Catholic Church is housed in now on third East and first North, and the old building that had the original ward was known as the second ward and was housed in what is known as the Green Church now

    In 1930, they separated the First Ward and made the First and Fourth Ward from the members of the old  first ward. A new building was built up on 200 South and 400 East. (where the First Ward Building is now). And also about the same time they built the Third Ward chapel on 200 North Main.

    Now the Third Ward had half of West Mountain in their ward and the Second Ward had the other half of West Mountain. The First Ward had all of Haskellville (that is now Elk Ridge.)  The West Mountain Ward was created a little later to include the area west of Payson.
The dividing lines of the wards was Main Street and Utah Avenue. Payson was divided into four areas and each area was a ward. Spring Lake had their own ward, Park Ward was created in 1946, then came Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and so on.
    We only had one stake and it was called Nebo Stake. The old Stake Tabernacle stood where
the Central Bank is now. It was a lovely old building.
    Time marches on and Payson grew a little bit more and Fifth and Sixth Wards were created. Fifth Ward was created in 1952 and Sixth Ward was created in 1961.Then came Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and so on.
    My husband and I had been living in Third Ward, where I had lived most of my life even after our marriage and now we were to be in Sixth Ward. For three years the Sixth Ward and Third Ward shared the Third Ward building. In the year of 1964 the new Stake Center at 800 South and 500 West was built. Gee it was nice to have that beautiful new stake center. The Sixth Ward would hold their meetings in there. A lot of man hours went into that building. Those were the days when we had building missionaries and the members of the stake volunteered their time to help build it. I know every time we go into that building, we think of the good times we had helping build that building.
    In 1974, Nebo Stake was divided and two stakes were created. (Oh no! How would we ever have enough people to have two stakes) They would now be known as the Payson Utah Stake and the Payson Utah East Stake. The East Stake took in everybody East of Main Street and Payson Stake took in the West side of Main Street.
    Now wehave six stakes and I could’ t begin to tell you what wards each one takes in. I know we have the Payson Utah Stake, The Payson West Stake, The Mountain View Stake, The Payson East Stake, The Payson South Stake and I don t know what the new stake that they just organized a week ago will be called.
    My how little Payson has grown and things have certainly changed, but isn t it fun to remember when....

Payson First 100 Years--Dr. L. D. Stewart--23rd Mayor

PAYSON–THE FIRST 100 YEARS
Part 25–Dr. L. D. Stewart–23rd Mayor
Payson Historical Society

STARTED ONION DAYS AND HOME COMING — BUILT RACE TRACK

    Dr. L. D. Stewart took over as the 23rd Mayor of Payson January 1928.
    Early in the summer of 1928, Former Paysonian's Club representatives, Dr. Louis N. Ellsworth and Dr. Potter from Salt Lake City met with Mayor Stewart and suggested that Payson sponsor a home coming celebration.
    Dr. Stewart called together the heads of all civic and church organizations, city officials, and civic leaders at a banquet held at Arrowhead Resort in Benjamin where he presented the proposal.
    Everyone  received the idea enthusiastically. The idea was introduced to build a suitable place to conduct a sports program to feature the celebration. They decided a race track would be a good drawing card.
    The Depression had begun, money was scarce.
    Dr. L. D. Stewart Ralph Done, a former Payson resident, offered to donate a large sum of money if the athletic and sports field be called Done Field as a memorial to the Done family. With this and local help through contribution in cash and labor, in less than a month this field was ready. The north end provided space for track and football activities of the high school. The south end is arranged for softball, baseball, etc. A race track for horse racing surrounded  the area with stables and a large grandstand.
    In 1929,  at the request of Utah County authorities, who at that time, asked each town in the county to sponsor a celebration to advertise one certain product grown or produced in the county, Payson adopted the Golden Onion. This was the beginning of the Home Coming and Onion Days celebration held each year the last of August and the first of Sept. The last day is always on Labor Day.
    The Nebo School District erected the Junior High School on the grounds of the City Hall on man Street across from Memorial Park. It was built the summer of 1928 and was dedicated in October. Lewis Bates was the first Principal.
    The Daughters of Pioneers, in honor of the first settlers, placed a pioneer cabin, furnished complete with relics in Memorial Park. It was dedicated and presented to the City July 24, 1928.
    Under the management of C. E. Huish who had purchased the old Gayety Theater  from George H. Done, remodeled it and renamed it to Star Theater, the first talking pictures were shown in Payson July 14, 1929.
    The Cultus Club undertook the project of building a tennis court, in west side park. This was completed Sept. 20, 1929. This had been needed for a long time.
    In 1930 the Utah Poultry association built a poultry plant here. Floyd Harmer of Springville was put in as manager. This provided a place that the farmers could buy feed and also furnished a market for eggs and poultry.
    To commemorate the arrival of the first settlers of Payson, Oct. 20, 1850, a committee from Sons and Daughters of Utah Pioneers presented a bonfire program where the settlers first camped.
    On Oct. 31, 1930, a pageant, written by Kathryn Betts who was also the reader, was given. The original settlers were represented in the pageant by members of their respective families.
    On Aug. 4, 1931, the Alexander Keele monument built in Memorial Park was dedicated in connection with the Black Hawk encampment. The erection was sponsored by the three camps of Daughters of Utah Pioneers and Payson City. The erection was directed by the history committee, Ann J. Loveless, Ethel T. Page, Aurora N. Wilson and Annie L. Curtis, assisted by Henry Erlandson and John Gardner. It was to honor Alexander Keele who was shot by an Indian while standing guard at the beginning of the Walker War. A marker placed at each corner of the fort were also dedicated at this time and one marking the spot the settlers camped for the first night.”   *




*Quoted from “The Payson Story” page 21-22, published by the Payson Centennial Committee, October 1950

REMEMBER WHEN FROM THE PAST--A WALK AROUND OLD DOWNTOWN PAYSON

Remember When
Thursday, 01 May 2008
Kenna Holm 

WALK AROUND OLD DOWNTOWN PAYSON

    I have so appreciated all the wonderful comments I have received about my Remember When column, even from people who have not lived here all their lives. One sweet lady in my ward, Thelma Langdon, told me the other day that she just wishes she could see a map of how it used to be so she could get it in her mind exactly where I was talking about. That gave me an idea I hope all of you will enjoy.
    Not long ago Ivan Haskell brought me in some pictures and in it was a drawing of down town in about Payson in 1945. I thought maybe I would number each block and jog your memory a little and also give those who were not raised in Payson a chance to see how it was MANY years ago. Block 1..Where it says tabernacle--that was our Nebo Stake Tabernacle for all of Payson at one time. It is now Central Bank Next door South: A home is there..at one time it was a Dr. Tilson  On the Corner: It says Ed Vance Garage...it went on to become Duke Page’s Garage and the building burned down in 1963. Bradshaw Auto Parts built a new building there in about 1974. It is now Payson Sports and Trophy.
    To the East, was Don’s Cafe owned by Don Cloward--it went on to be Bob’s Cafe owned by Bob Wilson--Then the Mi Ranchireto Cafe and now it is a Mexican Market
    Next door east of that was Dixon s Market owned by Doug Dixon. I have written about it earlier. It has been torn down and now on the corner is Rich s Conoco Service Station and market. The Highway that runs from Salem past the hospital and on down to Main street and makes the big turn to go south up by Smith s Food was the old Highway 91.
    It is actually First North and goes around turn to the South and that is First West.
    Block 2...The Third Ward church is still across from Central Bank. It used to have the old tithing house on the place where the parking lot is now. Also there were a couple of homes there on the south of the ward building.  The Old Fairbank’s home was located in what is now the south part of the parking lot of the church.  The home was moved and renovated at the This Is The Place State Park in Salt Lake City.
    On the corner where the little park is now was the Oldsmobile dealership. The Snyder’s owned it and Franz Suter was their head mechanic.  Later, Painter Motor from Nephi bought it and operated a car dealership there for a short time.  It was torn down and a few years ago they made the little park.
    West of the car dealership was Strawberry Water Users then it went to a movie rental place. I m not sure anything is in it now.  The Strawberry Highline Canal office is in the basement.
    Next to it,  Ivan has Eckersley Apartments (I wrote about them). It was torn down and now the Car Wash is there but also between the car wash and the building where the Strawberry Water Office is  the Mexican Restaurant, which used to be Jolley Mortuary. (that s a story for another day). Block 3...As you can see, the old Orem train depot and tracks I wrote about is there. It is now Crest with Daley Freez to the East of it and then Zions Bank on the corner.
To the South of the bank was and still is Apartments and on the Corner was the old Opera House that turned into the Utah Poultry warehouse and is now the beautiful Mi Ranchireto Restaurant.
Going down Main Street in #3. there was By’s Café which was operated by By Staheli. Several other business were there for a number of years before it became the location of the Petal Pantry Florist and is now Karen s Calligraphy. The post office (I wrote about it early on) was where Doug’s Auto was (or part of Doug’s. The Post Office was small), JoAnn s Head Shed is in there now also. Then there was an alleyway. That was bought by Don McCoy for his Western Auto Store (I wrote about that) and Sterl Taylor for his barber shop. It is still a barber shop.
    Then came Daniels Drug Store that is now Memory Lane Photography and on the Corner was another drug store that was the Huish Drug and then it was City Drug run by Bill Hansen (not the attorney) and is now Behling Insurance.
    Block 4.. Starting at Wells Fargo Bank that was Commercial Bank and then First Security Bank and now Wells Fargo. Next to it was Farmers Merc (I’ve written about it also) On Ivan’s map, it does not show that Farmers Merc ran around and took the back half of bank. (you can see now where the brick is different. That was also Farmers Merc.) It went from Farmers Merc to Bradshaw Auto Parts and then was torn down for the Bank s drive thru banking.
    Next to that was DTR (Dixon Taylor Russell) Furniture Store. It then went to Spencer s Furniture owned by Bus Spencer and now is Get Away Furniture.
    Next door is was a small food drive in.. It was operated by Hart Brown It then became the S&W Root Beer. We recognize it today as The Wee Blu Inn.   Next door south was the two story Douglas Building.  It was torn down several years ago.  The old Douglas Building on the corner of Main and Utah Avenue hosed  several different businesses. It was Dal Adams Appliance at one time.  The Building was torn down and then City Drug moved from across the street to the south part of the new building.  The shop to the  north was the State Liquor store for a number of years.  When the City Drug closed several business, Color Mountain Paint and then Jones Book Store that sold LDS books occupied the former drug store.  It is now a Mexican market and eating establishment.
    West of that going down Utah Ave., was the old fire station until 1954 and then it was the Old Firehouse Restaurant and then it was a women s dress shop and is now the liquor store. Next door west was Boots Billiards owned by Gordon “Boots” Barnett and then Tom Brown owned it. It is now Down Hill Cyclery owned by Troy Lerwill.   Next came a small building that was once a restaurant operated by Bus Spencer. It later became the Bamboo Club.  Then there was a small dress shop.  Moving on down the street we come to the Star Theater, then  It was owned by a Mr. Huish. It is now the parking lot.
    Then came Naylor’s Market that was then sold to Harold Chipman and was called Chipman’s (I’ve written about that one too). Then there was a big vacant lot that later in 1949, Mr. Huish built the Huish Theatre along with all the little shops to the east of it. Around the corner to the north, there was a home and then an alley and then Snyder Apartments where One Man Band is now. The Poultry Plant was behind that where the parking lot of the Bank is now. I ve written about those places in the past..
    That is 4 blocks of Payson and next week I ll do 4 more. Hopefullyit will give you an idea of where things were and are now and boy is it fun to stretch the old memory and remember when..

Payson First 100 Years--Thomas F. Tolhurst--22nd Mayor

PAYSON–THE FIRST 100 YEARS
Part 24–Thomas F. Tolhurst–22nd Mayor
Payson Historical Society

FIRST FIRE ENGINES AND SIREN BOUGHT
    “At the November election Thomas F. Tol- hurst was elected Mayor. He took his office January 1926.
    The "White Way" was extended to include the front of Memorial Park. Six lights were installed.
    June 24, 1926 the Nebo Scnool board bought the City Hall property intending to erect a School House.
    The Payson Seminary was dedicated in February 1926. A program was given at 10 a.m. at which Dr. Asa L. Curtis gave the dedicatory prayer. A stake reunion was held in the evening at the tabernacle. After the program refreshments were served. The "Prodigal Son" and "The Gift" were presented by the stake recreational Committee.
    May 4, 1927 a Foamite-Childs 500 gal "Thorobred" firetruck was bought.  A fire siren was also purchased at that time. The siren was first placed on top of the Telephone Office on the corner of Utah Avenue and Main Street.  In case of fire the telephone girl rang the siren.  The siren was later moved to the top of the Exchange Bank building across the street.  This building was bought by the City in 1927 and was used as a Library and City offices.” *

*Quoted from “The Payson Story” page 21, published by the Payson Centennial Committee, October 1950

Remember When From the Past--Number Please

Remember When
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Kenna Holm

NUMBER PLEASE

    Remember the days of Number Please . I ve been thinking about the old telephone office and the telephone system we had here in Payson.  The telephone office was on the corner where Willow Creek Boutique is now on Utah Avenue and Main Street. I always wondered how the operators knew which hole to plug the wires in.
    We never had a phone until we moved into town and I thought that was the neatest invention there ever was.  In those days, you would pick up the receiver and wait for the telephone operator to say, “Number Please?”  and you would give them the number you wanted. She would say just one moment or the line is busy .
    Sometimes when you picked up the phone to call someone, there would be someone else talking already. We all had party lines. Some places like the West Mountain had as high as 14 homes on one line. (I ll bet it took forever to call anyone).  I remember we had 4 on our line but the only one I remember that was on it was Hill s. (Rae Ann Page s family) Our number was 94-J then. It seemed all the numbers had a letter with it. When we got married our number was 310-R. Seems funny now but that was how it was. If we had an emergency and our line was busy, we would have to ask them to hang up so we could call in the doctor or fire or whatever we needed. It wasn’t easy and kind of hard on the nerves.
    Erma Barnett Fech was the head operator forever it seemed.  She was the mother of Dale Barnett and Ruth Ann Burton. She was such a talented woman. She could do anything (like her daughter Ruth Ann). She actually started in 1927 and then was promoted to manager later on.  Ruth Ann told me her father died when he was only 35, leaving Erma to raise the two children alone. She would work in the office with the girls on the switchboard and then at night she would take all the calls. Ruth Ann says she was always so tired and such a hard worker.
    On Sundays, they would go to Erma’s sister’s house.  Her sister,  Marian Loveless (Pat Hill s mom) would watch the kids play and Erma would sleep. Because Erma worked all night, they moved into the back of the telephone office in a little apartment and rented out their home on North Main to Don Fuller who was a school teacher.
    Erma was such a talented lady. She was great cook, she could do flower arranging, she wrote road shows and directed plays, she would go around and speak on gems, she sang in the ward choir and as
 Ruth Ann said, she made life interesting.

    Everyone that worked there at the telephone office loved her. She was easy to work for and very fair. There were a lot of different women that worked in the office over the years. Shirlene (Peery) Wood, Marianne (Hillman) Evans, Joann (Richard)Ellsworth, LuDene (Menlove) Perry, Gloria (Smith) Barnett, Maxine Wilson, Margaret Peery, Orpha Curtis and I m sure many more.
    Gloria Barnett told me she was working the night the old Curtis Hospital burned down and how frightening it was to be alone on the switch board.  They would also take the calls for the fire department and set the siren off. The fireman would have to call in so the operator could tell them where the fire was. The had to have code words so the telephone operators knew which ones were really fireman and not just someone being curious where the fire was.
    Remember when the first phones were big boxes on the wall?I do. My grandmother had one of those. You would wind a little handle on the side to get the operator and then hold the earpiece to your ear and speak into the mouth piece on the box. Fun. I loved to pull up a chair and reach the phone. Then came the tall skinny phones with rotary dials. Then the desk square and round phones and so on. We ve come a long way since then.
    It used to cost to call Spanish Fork. In 1950 they no long charged for those calls but it was a long distance call any where else. I remember calling my husband at his work in Provo and it would be like 20 cents for the call when it came out on the phone bill. I m not sure what year they changed and made free calling in all of Utah County.
    We went from the operators making the call for us to the dial system inNovember1960.  We then had the 465 prefix and 801 area code. At first wecould just dial 5 and the number and it would ring but later we had to put the 465 and then the number. Now before long we will have to dial the area code, prefix and number to just make a local call. (so much work).
    Now we have cell phones. I think every man, woman and child has one. You see them plastered against everyone s head. They reach anywhere in the world you want to talk. And I guess you’re not with it if you don t have one but isn’t it fun to remember back when...

Payson First 100 Years--Charles H. White 21st Mayor

PAYSON–THE FIRST 100 YEARS
Part 23–Charles H.  White–21st Mayor
Payson Historical Society


    Charles H.  White became Twenty-first Mayor of the city in January, 1922.  On September 25, 1922 the property east of Memorial Park was bought from John Staheli.  It was used for awhile as a tourist park, then later converted into a playground.
    May 17, 1923, the Payson Hotel, formerly the Craven Hotel was destroyed by fire.  The Spanish Fork Fire department was called to help put out the blaze.  A Mr.  Houston of Salt Lake had bought the hotel two weeks before.  It was a total loss.
    Dr.  A.  L.  Curtis bought the John Huish residence on First East and Utah Avenue and opened a hospital with a nine bed capacity.  It wasn't long until the hospital was remodeled to accomodate fifteen beds.  This hospital was operated with the Payson doctors cooperating until the city hospital was built in the late 1930s.
    The Lions Club was organized in 1924 with Dr.  Grover Christensen as the first president and about twenty-five charter members ever since.  This organization has proved very beneficial both socially and civically .
    A "no parking" sign and an electric light was placed in front of the fire station on Utah Avenue.
    The "White Way" as it was called was installed in 1925 by Frank Coombs.  New poles and lights were placed on each side of Main Street from Second North to Second South.  It was completed in December. *

*Quoted from “The Payson Story” page 20, published by the Payson Centennial Committee, October 1950