Struttin' Our Christmas

Jordan, Maci, and girls in Orem, Utah, strut their Christmas cheer on their blog, which GAP caught just in time for the celebration of Orthodox Christmas. This follows up previous Christmas pictures from Karla, Shari, Dave (now with updated picture!), Rob, and John.


Thanks, Jordan!

Auld Lang Syne

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2010, everyone!

The GAP staff has taken a bit of a breather over the holidays after preparing and sending out DVDs with all of pictures in our archives. If you do not have a DVD to download the pictures, ask around (Grandma and Grandpa received one, as did each of their childrens' families) and you might find one in your neighborhood. If you have no luck, let me know and I can help you out.

Having distributed all of the archives, GAP is plum out of original material to post. Sure, we have not posted every picture individually, but we did get the pictures out to the family, which was the main goal. If you have any other original material to add to the collection, or any suggestions on specific pictures to post and discuss, let me know.

In the mean time, there are a variety projects GAP would love to tackle in 2010, such as:

• Collect and digitize more pictures/slides/negatives.
• Prepare thumbnail images of picture collections other than Grandpa's slides.
• Begin an online photo album with full-size images that can hold the enire GAP archives.
  
• Collect, digitize, and transcribe old Grandpa's Apple Press newsletters.
• Collect, digitize, and transcribe old family writings.
• Record (and transcribe?) oral and video family histories.
• Encourage use of other family blogs and information sites, including Stutz Barn and the Stutzfamily Wiki.
• Encourage sharing of current family events and pictures.
  
• Contact extended family and friends to see if they have pictures, etc. that they are willing to include in the Stutz family archives.

All of these -- except for the first two -- require more time than the current GAP staff can spare. Did anyone resolve to work on family history this year? If so, GAP has a task for you!

UPDATE

Anonymous asks in the comments "what's the pay?" Apparently anonymous is unfamiliar with the economics of blogs ... or of good deeds. That's OK, though; I like the entrepreneurial spirit! Propose a way to monetize the blog, anonymous, and we can talk shop.

Videos - Grandma Discusses Calves, Seams, and the Next Morning

Today GAP posts its first videos. They are large files, but that's OK. Grandma tells three great stories that we hope you enjoy. Thanks for recording and sending them, Susan!

Look below the videos for details about a contest GAP is running.

Check Out My Calves



Seams Right



The Morning After



The videos have lousy names on purpose. If you are the first person to post the transcript of a video in the comments, you can give the video any reasonable name and GAP will change the title in this post and give you credit. That's right, GAP is holding its first contest! And there is even a prize, of sorts -- fame on this blog.

We hope to make GAP a little more collaborative; our previous efforts have been duds. If you have any ideas to encourage participation, let us know and they just might make it into GAP's New Year's resolutions!

School Portraits - Roxy and Poppy

Two school portrait posts in one day sets a record! (Granted, the bar was pretty low for the school-portrait-posts-in-a-day title.) GAP's next pair of student portraits -- of my two GORGEOUS nieces -- is gonna be Roxy and Poppy from Missoula, Montana.



They join other school portraits we have featured of Lori, Kent, Craig, Tom, Joe, Boyd/Sam, Ellen, Shari, John, Susan, Ryan, Dave, Tyrel/Ellis/Seth/Kalli, and Alea/Breck, as well as some non-school portraits of Grandpa, Grandma, Priscilla, and a variety of unidentified people.

Send in your current (or past) school portraits, and we will feature them on GAP.

UPDATE

Shari clarifies in the comments: "Hey, those girls are GORGEOUS!" And she's right, of course! They are beautiful GORGEOUS girls. I was actually going to note this in the original post but ran into a grammar problem. I really, really wanted to write "is gonna be Roxy" as the introduction to the portraits because it is an awesome line from the really awesome movie Chicago. Unfortunately, "is" is a single verb and Roxy and Poppie are two people, so I had the whole subject-verb agreement thing to overcome. I guess it depends on what "is" is. Anyway, it was poorly written in the original post, so I have rewritten the intro paragraph to recognize their gorgeousness, maintain subject-verb agreement, and still include the line "is gonna be Roxy." Grammar nerds have at it if you can come up with a better way of accomplishing all three!

Mystery Picture 091222

This picture had "Firelight girls" written below it, and it was printed in July 1963. Having not been a Firelight Girl, I am unfamiliar with an organization with that name. And, I do not recognize the people or the horse in the picture. Do you? Information or stories can be left in the comments.


When I think of this horse as being Tony (based on the time frame) it sets off my equi-dar, so perhaps that is correct.

UPDATE

Ellen writes in the comments about Firelights, identifies some of the girls (including herself), and confirms that the horse is Tony.

Back in the "olden days", in the 1960s, Primary for the LDS children was held on weekdays rather than on Sunday as they do now. The children were assigned to classes according to age and the older children were further divided into girls classes and boys classes. The classes were each given a name. "Sunbeams" (for the 3-year-olds) is the only name to survive to today. There were also names like Bluebirds Top-pilots and Guide Patrol and so on. The names for the older girls (10, 11, and 12 year olds) were Gay-notes, Firelights, and Merry Hands. (Thank goodness they don't use those names any more.) This picture is of the Firelights (meaning the 11-year old primary girls) and I think that is me (Ellen) in the middle on the horse. I am not sure about the others, but just guessing, I think Diane Baum is seated behind me, Peggy Haws in front of me, Mary Tucker, Marsha Boyce and Yvonne Stacey standing in the front. I have no idea who the teacher is. And, yes we are riding Tony.

Thanks, Ellen!

School Portraits - Alea and Breck

More school portraits! Alea and Breck in Mumbai, India, hit us with their best shots.



They join other school portraits we have featured of Lori, Kent, Craig, Tom, Joe, Boyd/Sam, Ellen, Shari, John, Susan, Ryan, Dave, and Tyrel/Ellis/Seth/Kalli, as well as some non-school portraits of Grandpa, Grandma, Priscilla, and a variety of unidentified people.

Send in your current (or past) school portraits, and we will feature them on GAP.

Then and Now - Igloos

In Grandpa's slide collection are some really great pictures of an igloo on the Stutz farm, including the following of John and Ellen from a slide developed in September 1967.


As it turns out, I took a similar shot of Boyd and Sam in an igloo today -- Happy Birthday, Sam! -- in our front yard.


Not a shabby comparison, especially when you consider that the top one was taken at an elevation of 4,500 feet in Provo, Utah, and the bottom one was taken at an elevation of 250 feet in Arlington, Virginia, i.e. the South!

Found On The Interwebs - Gift Givers

Sometimes -- and especially during the holiday season -- I am at a loss for choosing just the right gift. Grandma and Grandpa do not have this problem. They are great gift givers!

One of the most memorable gifts they gave me for Christmas was a pencil. It was just one pencil, and not even a new one -- an odd gift at first glimpse. But it got me thinking. How had they used that pencil? Perhaps it was used for writing family history, paying bills, recording phone numbers and addresses, or making shopping lists. How could I use that pencil? Probably for the same sorts of things.

The pencil is long gone, but its utility remains, although in many cases I have replaced its graphite with electronic 1s and 0s. I write family history online, on this very blog. I pay my bills through bank transfers. I keep my phone numbers and addresses stored in a word processor, in an e-mail program, in an Amazon.com account, and in a dozen other places. I still use pencils for shopping lists, and now they also serve a newer, more important purpose: I use them to help my children with their homework.

Of course, Grandma and Grandpa gave me many, more important gifts. Their love led to seven children, one of them my father, without whom I would not be here. Their love was shared with an extended family who I still call, e-mail, and chat with on Facebook, even though I have not seen some of them in years. They gave me stories about the past, wisdom for the future, and a piece of Earth -- the Stutz farm -- on which they allowed me to create my own stories and gain my own wisdom during life's brief journey.

The importance of the Stutz farm cannot be overstated. I have traveled around the world with the comfort of knowing that Grandma and Grandpa's farm remains just a visit away. And I have loved the visits! Reunions in the picnic area. Ice cream on the back porch. The river on a hot day. Pipes to move, grass to cut, orchards to flood, cows to shepherd. An old barn full of weird tools and dusty relics. Trees of all types, one with an impossibly long rope and an old tire for a swing. Fond memories, all. The best times always involved lots of family.

The farm is a gift of Christmas past, present, and future because Grandma and Grandpa have ensured that, someday, the Stutz farm will become the Stutz Park. I will visit with my children and my children's children. We will eat a picnic lunch, splash in the river, run through the trees. We will laugh, live, and love. I will tell them stories about the past and watch as they create their own stories and gain their own wisdom. I will confess to my son Boyd that my cousin Boyd and I rode the tractor faster than we should have, but don't tell Grandma and Grandpa.

I could go on, of course, and I probably will one day. But, today is my day to give thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for the gifts they have given me. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for everything. I look forward to seeing you this summer and to letting my children explore your farm.

"Provo looks to buy land for new park." Provo Daily Herald (April 7, 2002).

The park site is perfect, Mayor Lewis K. Billings said. "It's a magical, wonderful piece of ground," Billings said. Amenities of the land include its proximity to the river, there is a well for irrigation, it's a good size and there isn't another park nearby. "It's a beautiful, needed location right along the river," said Max Mitchell, assistant parks director. "The view from the site is spectacular," said City Parks and Recreation Director Roger Thomas. And the city definitely won't have to plant any new trees on the land." Howard Stutz has already created an arboretum around his home," Thomas said.

"Couple looks back on memories of land." Provo Daily Herald (April 7, 2002).

Stutz likes to caress the soft green boughs of the bristlecone pine. Or brush the feathery leaves of the dawn redwood. And then there is the hidden tree fort. "It's a secret tree place," he says. "Every child discovers it and thinks they're the only one who knows about it," Mildred Stutz says.

"What a steal for a Provo park." Deseret News (April 10, 2002).

"It's hard to describe what I feel in nature," Stutz says. "I guess it's an emotion of peace and tranquility." It's an emotion he felt as a boy hiking in his hometown of Cardston, Canada. His wonder of nature never left him, and now that his hair has turned white and his gait slowed, it is the legacy he wants to leave for his family, friends and city.

"Park coming to Riverbottoms." Provo Daily Herald (April 18, 2002).

"I'm delighted, of course," Howard Stutz said. He is a retired BYU botany professor who has planted 40 species of trees on his land and wanted to leave his legacy as open space. "If the council wouldn't have approved it, we wouldn't have gotten our dream," Mildred Stutz said.

Mystery Picture 091220

Today's mystery picture is less mysterious than some, but there is still plenty that remains unknown. Written on the picture was the following: "Zohary, Stebbins, HCS Mt. Conness 1953". I do not know Zohary or Stebbins or why they were with Grandpa on Mt. Conness in 1953. Do you know?


UPDATE

Andrew provides information about the background in the comments.

Check out http://www.danielzohary.com/. It mentions both Zohary and Stebbins. Mount Congress is on the Norwegian island of Svalbard.

Thanks, Andrew! A quick Google search for Stutz and Zohary returns 500+ hits, so Grandpa and Zohary must have quite the history.

Also, I would not have guessed that Mount Congress is in Svalbard, in part because I had never heard of Svalbard! It looks cold, but it would make sense nowadays -- from a certain point of view -- for a botanist to visit Svalbard because it houses the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the "doomsday" seed bank to protect plant diversity should some large-scale calamity occur.

Alas, the real explanation is not nearly as interesting as that. I rechecked the photo and, through old eyes and smudged ink, I now believe it says Mt. Conness, which is in California. I have corrected the initial post but am leaving Andrew's comments so that the next time my wife asks me when I have ever admitted to being wrong I can direct her to this entry!

Ellen writes in the comments that she spoke with Grandpa about this picture.

I asked Grandma about Zohary and Stebbins. We know, of course, that Stebbins was an outstanding internationally known geneticist and Grandpa's mentor while he was earning his Ph.D. at Berkley, California. But I didn't know who Zohary was. Grandma said that Zohary was a Jewish student who studied with Grandpa. His wife was also jewish and had a name that nobody could pronounce, so Grandpa nicknamed her "Deborah" and it caught on for everybody else. Zohary eventually went back to Jerusalem after he graduated and did undercover work (spy) for the Jewish government. Grandma said, "maybe I shouldn't say that because he might get in trouble." I reminded her that this all happened over 50 years ago. He's probably not even alive any more.

Thanks, Ellen! As Andrew pointed out, there is a web site for Daniel Zohary: www.danielzohary.com. I do not know whether he is still alive -- the site does not say that he passed away, but perhaps it has not been updated -- but he was named the Distinguished Economic Botanist for 2003 by the Society for Economic Botany.

Mystery Pictures 091219 - Ghosts of Christmas Past

Not much is know about these pictures, so any dates, stories, or additional information you can provide would be great. You can also send in other pictures for us to post.

This holiday shot with Grandma was featured in a previous mystery picture, but now it is cropped and has better color correction.


Angie, Lloyd, and lots of tinsel.


Susan, John, Ellen, Angie, and Lloyd.


Dave, Karla, Rob, and Stella. The picture had 1973 written on it, but I am guessing it is 1972. In either case, this is in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Does Santa hang a sheet at anyone else's house?


Rob, Karla, Dave, and Joe, circa 1975 and probably at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Provo, Utah.


Dave, Susan, and kids circa 1999.


UPDATE

Shari writes in the comments, "What a great castle. I remember that castle." Thanks for the memories, Shari!

I remember that castle well. It broke my arm when I was four. Because of that castle, my boys are not allowed to stand or to jump on furniture, lest they also break their arms. The boys like to joke about all they things they are not allowed to do because of injuries I received as a kid.

• No running on ice because they might slip and crack their heads like I did in second grade.
• No fake fighting or they might bloody each others' noses like, ahem, Dave did to me in second grade.
• No bursting through things when you cannot see what's on the other side or they might crack their heads like I did playing bullfighter with Dave in third grade. (I was the bull; go figure!)
  
• No throwing hard, non-toy objects at each other or they might cut their eyes open like, ahem, Shari did to me in fourth grade.
• No running through the house or they might break their toes like I did in fifth grade.
• No real fighting or they might chip their teeth like I did in seventh grade.
• No riding bikes without helmets -- and this also applies to skiing and skating, which I did not do growing up -- or they might crack their heads and break their thumbs like I did in eighth grade.
• No playing football or any other full-contact sport or they might tear their ACLs like I did in ninth grade.
• No throwing basketballs at each others' faces or they might break their noses like I did in tenth grade.
• No flag football or they might break their jaws like I did in twelfth grade.

There have been plenty of other injury lessons learned as an adult -- don't play squash with a bad ACL, stay aware of the lit vs. non-lit status of fireworks you are holding, when prying off old cabinets stand to the side, etc. -- but that would fill a book. Two things especially stand out as I look at the above list. First, I cannot imagine how much I cost my folks in medical bills as a kid (thanks Mom and Dad!). Second, I injured my head quite a bit. Here's to hoping my kids are less injury-prone than I am!

Mele Kalikimaka

John Stutz and his family in Redlands, California, posted their Mele Kalikimaka picture on Facebook, which means it's fair game to post here, I suppose -- at least until I get a cease and desist letter. This follows up previous Christmas pictures from Karla, Shari, Dave, and Rob.


Thanks, John!

Mystery Picture 091217

After a bit of a slowdown while we prepared the Christmas Extravaganza, GAP finally has a new mystery picture, about which we know nothing.


Feel free, of course, to fill in the names on the previous mystery group picture.

Christmas Extravaganza - Grandpa's Slides

For the holidays, GAP presents each and every slide it has scanned from Grandpa's vast collection, more than 700 in all. Thank you Joe, Ellen, John, and Susan for letting us scan your slide books! Thank you also to everyone else who has sent different picture collections for us to scan; we hope to feature the other collections in a similar format in the future.

These pictures, labeled using GAP's fancy pants file naming system, are presented below as thumbnail images. They are almost all chronologically arranged, except for a very few at the beginning and end (due to the way we name files). Click on any page to view larger (but still very small) images.



















If you are wondering how to get larger copies of these pictures, fear not. Grandma and Grandpa, as well as the families of their seven children, are each receiving a DVD with all of these pictures in a much larger size. The disc contains all images previously sent out and many more; in fact, your best bet, if you have copied previous versions of these pictures onto your computer, is to delete the previous versions and use these new ones. GAP encourages people to share these discs and to distribute the pictures to as many family members as possible.

Do you see something of interest that GAP should post in a larger size to discuss on the blog? Leave a comment and we'll see what we can do! This is GAP's Christmas present to the family -- sorry, no Scooby Doo Chia plant, Glee soundtrack, or Snuggie from GAP this year!

Mr. GAP would love a new flatbed scanner or camera for Christmas, but is confident that it will not be in Santa's sleigh this year. OTOH, Mr. GAP would also love more family negatives or slides to scan and is delusional enough to think they might arrive. Just saying.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

School Portraits - Tyrel, Ellis, Seth, and Kalli

Our second batch of 2009 school portraits has arrived! That's right, Tyrel, Ellis, Seth, and Kalli in Cokeville, Wyoming, are now on Grandpa's Apple Press and, therefore, are now famous.





These follow up other school portraits we have featured of Lori, Kent, Craig, Tom, Joe, Boyd/Sam, Ellen, Shari, John, Susan, Ryan, and Dave, as well as some non-school portraits of Grandpa, Grandma, Priscilla, and a variety of unidentified people.

Send in your current (or past) school portraits, and we will feature them on GAP.

Up on the Mountaintop

Rob Stutz and his family in Arlington, Virginia, took their Christmas picture on a mountaintop in Shenandoah National Park, following up on pictures from Karla, Shari, and Dave.


Thanks, me!