My Portfolio

On Memorial Day we'll show our respect and appreciation to military heroes who gave life and limb for our freedom. While we remember these incredible men and women, their families are often forgotten. It is impossible to measure the degree of sacrifice and pain these families have suffered. Many provide constant...

I was born at a very young age :).  Seriously, I was born on November 12, 1961 at Concord Hospital in Concord, N.H.  My Dad is Paul Edward Rogers and my Mom was Maureen (McCarthy) Rogers.  I have 2 siblings, my older sister Elaine May Sherburne and my younger brother, Brian...

Acer rubrum To Zyzyphus jujuba Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Drs. and Doctorandus Titles, degrees, and honorifics are important in some circles to distinguish the achiever by the achievement, the apparent status of the individual by the designator before the name, or the...

Acer rubrum To Zyzyphus jujuba Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Gadabout and Gadfly   When the Footloose Forester was finally ready to fill in the biographical content for the cover of his third memoir: Acer rubrum to Zyzphus jujuba: Volume II in early...

Ninety-six and loving life!!  Vanita Ward was born in Delta, Utah in her parents’ home on December 11, 1919.  Her parents were William Sanders Jenkins and Betsy Luceen Cook Jenkins.  There were 12 children in her family and she was number seven.  Her father owned a grocery business, and during the...

This week's legacy question is, "Who is your favorite ancestor and why?"   I don't actually have a "favorite ancestor", but I have chosen to write about my great, great, great, great grandfather, Burrell Price. Burrell Price was born in 1810 in what is now called Mecklinburg County, North Carolina.  Imagine...

On the road …again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   A Talk Story to a 2 nd Grade Spanish Class   Sharing ideas with children is an important part of their formative education.  So is showing them things that are all around us; and teaching...

Salem is home for Paul and Karen Hair.  Paul was born in Salem to Delamar B. and Zelma Johnson Hair on November 9, 1936.  Karen was born in Spanish Fork (625 North 100 West) to Joseph Ford and Lily May Stebbins Lucas on September 6, 1939.  When Paul was 7 years...

“For the want of a nail the shoe was lost, For the want of a shoe the horse was lost, For the want of a horse the rider was lost, For the want of a rider the battle was lost, For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost, And...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Littering for a Cause   Some people overtly proclaim their concerns about conservation, environmental awareness, and anti-littering. Others practice low-key conservation and likely are just as effective, or ineffective, as the circumstances permit.  The Footloose Forester...

Artist's rendition of Revere Health In May 2016, Revere Health will open its new campus in Salem to better serve southern Utah County and the surrounding areas.  With nearly a quarter of Revere Hewalth's Utah County patients living south of Springville, this new facility will eliminate the need for them to...

Artist's rendition of Revere Health In May 2016, Revere Health will open its new campus in Salem to better serve southern Utah County and the surrounding areas.  With nearly a quarter of Revere Hewalth's Utah County patients living south of Springville, this new facility will eliminate the need for them to...

As mayor of Salem, I would like to thank the Spanish Fork/Salem Chamber of Commerce for giving me the opportunity to introduce you to our beautiful community and share some of the highlights we enjoy as Salem citizens. Honored by SafeWise as one of the top 10 safest cities in Utah,...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Beautiful Earth, One Slide At A Time   A beautiful place, but don't ask where (one of 70 slides in a Power-Point presentation file [ Rare-et-magnifique---.pps ]   One of the problems in making our stories...

17 August 2010 Working in the family history center today, I received an answer to my prayer of this morning that the Lord would guide me as I worked on the family of Berend Folkers and Geertje Kramer.  I had almost completed the copying of records that had been taken from...

On the road...again!! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Serendipity in the Library   Another dream last night…and another attempt at an essay today.  Most dreams are not long enough or sensible enough to savor and save as muted inspiration, but over the past few...

Resting inconspicuously in my kitchen cupboard sits a small white bowl.  It isn’t an original.  It’s a substitute, a clone.  The original disappeared long ago, either in pieces in a trash can or simply vanished as things do over the course of a long life.  Being well-acquainted with the owner of...

March is a month to get to know Kenneth and Debbie Swenson.  They are both 62 years old.  Ken was born at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo.  His parents, John and JoEll, lived in Springville and that is where Ken grew up.  Debbie was born in Brigham City and grew up...

Our February Sweethearts are Erman and Maureen Stone.  Erman was born July 1941 in Mapleton at home on the kitchen table.  His parents were George and Marie Stone.  He had two sisters and one brother, and was second to the youngest of four.  Maureen was born on November 1942 in Lake...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Me Like Play Kahuku   Another dream, another opportunity to chronicle about a few of those cherished memories.  This one is about golf.  “Play golf when and where you can” was one of the admonitions that...