I was born in Kenilworth, Carbon County, Utah. I was born during the Great Depression but I do not remember any of the depression. I remember the Bombing of Pearl Harbor and the war with Germany. The way we received the news, as to what was happening during the war, was to read the newspaper or
listen to the radio. Each evening our family would listen to the radio to find out what was going on with the war and in America. Three young men from Kenilworth were killed during the war.
During the war, there were metal scrap drives throughout the town and everyone would hunt for unused metal, even tin cans. The collected metal was stacked up in the schoolyard and then it was hauled away to the iron works. There was seldom any chocolate candy and very little soda pop; it went to the soldiers.
Each day, the students would bring what change (money) was available at home and then once a month the students were taken up to the post office where they exchanged their stamp books for war bonds. The day the war ended the miners came out and there was an all night celebration.
The town had a mixture of nationalities. There were Blacks, Mexicans, Japanese, Greeks, Italians, and Scandinavians. There was no discrimination in the school. We all played together and did not know there was any difference between each other.
The company owned everything in the town, except the post office and school They owned the store, made some of their own money (called script), the show hall, had their own doctor and hospital. They sponsored the American Legion Baseball team and the company baseball team. They helped the scouts and in the winter had a nice ice rink and sleigh riding hill. Every summer they had Kenilworth Days. It was a big celebration. There were all kinds of races and other competitions and the scouts would compete in first aid treatment. The company first aid mining teams would compete with other company’s mining teams in first aid. The competitions were held outside on the grass in front of the hospital.
They would have a program and all the town’s people would sit and listen to it. The company would block off one street, up by the hospital, and it was covered with tables. They would always serve a big roast beef dinner--all you could eat style. During the dinner, there was musical entertainment. Once a year they would have a watermelon bust. Again this was held up on the hospital lawns. You could have all the watermelon you could eat and they would cut big slices the length of the melon. At Christmas time, Santa came after a show and he would give us a paper bag of candy, an orange, an apple and nuts. It was not one of the dinky kinds of paper bags; it was the big one.
The company would buy free-swimming passes to the Helper or Price swimming pools for those who liked to swim. They money for a lot of these activities did not come directly from the company. Each miner would pay a given amount of money into a fund and that is the money that was used for recreation and etc.
During the winter, we did a lot of sleigh riding, ice skating, and bumper hitching, Sometimes the hitching took us to the town below which was about three miles down. We would then wait at the sop sign and try to hitch another ride back up. This could be done until the company would sent coal trucks loaded with slack and the men on top of the truck would threw the slack out with a shovel. The slack would quickly melt the snow and ice.
During the summer, we would ride our bikes everywhere. There was always a baseball game going on so we would go play. We hiked around in the mountains a lot. Even to the extent that, I now would say, we put ourselves, many times, in harm’s way. It is a miracle that more kids did not die in the mountains.
To earn money, I peddled newspapers and worked at the company store.
We went to the eighth grade in our town, then the ninth grade in Spring Glen, the tenth grade in the old Price Junior High, the eleventh grade at Carbon College (now the College of Eastern Utah), which, at the time, served as the high school, and college.
The town is still there but the mine, tipple, and railroad tracks are all gone. The people who live there own their own homes and have a 99-year lease on the property. Many of the homes have been moved to communities south of the town.
After graduating from high school, I like most of the other young men, started to work in the mine. It was great pay and the working conditions were not too bad. I worked in the mine for three years then I took on a job in a service station in Price. I worked there until I received a mission call from my church.
My mission would be in Denmark, where most of my grandparents and great grandparents came from. My dad tried to teach me some Danish before I left but I had a hard time with it. One point of interest, one of my father’s nicknames was “Danish.” I was in Denmark for two and a half years.
I then attended Carbon College. My wife, Myrna, and I graduated from the college. We then moved to Provo. After four years in Provo, I accepted a teaching position in Nephi, Utah. After teaching for fourteen years, I became a principal. I was in administration for the next sixteen years.
Ten years ago I retired. Four years ago the superintendent called me and asked If would teach for half of a day and I agreed. I did that for two years and then I told them I would not be coming back the next year.
One year ago, Myrna and I flew to Denmark for two and a half weeks. While we were there, we watched President Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, dedicate the Danish Temple. We renewed some old acquaintances and did some touring.
One of the highest honors I have ever received was to have been named as an Olympic Torch Bearer in 2002. Two of my sons nominated me for the honor, which was a wonderful thing in itself. I was honored, along with others selected to represent our state, during programs at the Utah State Capital, in
Provo and in my community, Nephi. The night I carried the torch for my turn as it moved through our community, I was treated like a hero. All of my family who could came to watch and to celebrate with me. Coca Cola Company sponsored me; bought my uniform and the torch I carried which I still display in my home.
