.

The hole the Curry’s have dug is already full and it is too dry to burn. If you have a dump truck that can be used  and/or a place where we can dig a hole to bury the debris contact Richard or Debbie Curry. Hope to see you on the evening of August 4th (a Wednesday)!

If you have plans for the afternoon/evening of the 24th of July, this project may not interfere with those plans as this will be completed in the morning.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

She came to Arbon as Cindy Bradley in 1974 after she graduated from BYU with her teaching degree and a special interest in rural education. She had applied for work in several small towns in Idaho and Colorado but luckily Steve Lusk hired her to work here. She met and married Ron in 1976 and they lived in The Cottage until they moved to Washington in 1977.

Todd Fitch was one of her early students and when asked what he remembered most about Cindy’s teaching he said he remembered Ron coming to the school and teaching them to build huge kites. One day they were playing with a kite and the string broke. It flew out into Barry Williams’ meadow and they went after it. He said they had to wade across the crick to get it so they decided to take the long way back to the school. Mrs. Peterson was very angry with them for taking so much time to come in after recess.

Cindy and Ron moved back to Arbon again in 1991. Cindy went back to work as a teacher o while their house was being built, the entire family of 6 lived in The Cottage. Robin (Neeser) Claunch was living in her double wide trailer behind The Cottage so they were neighbors as well as coworkers for those two years. Robin said Cindy is a “great friend and confidant.” She was supportive and helpful not only with teaching but also in her personal life. She loved sharing kid and grandkid stories. Robin said,

“If I had a problem I knew I could always go to Cindy. She always gave me a shoulder when I needed one.”

For the last few years I have been privileged to work with Cindy as a substitute teacher. I have found her to be very considerate and patient with the children. She worked to understand each individual and their own special needs. She has the wonderful gift of quiet diplomacy.

When I asked her if there was anything she wanted to add to this article she said, “I promise not to believe half the stuff your kids said about you if you promise not to believe half the stuff they said about me.”

I believe the intelligence and ethics of the children who have graduated from Arbon Elementary speaks volumes for the quality of the teachers.

Thank you, Cindy, for all the years of dedicated service!

If you are interested in looking into your family’s roots, and helping each other with theirs, we are meeting every third Tuesday at 7:00 at Melinda Campbell’s house.  We are meeting this Tuesday, July 20th.  If you have a laptop, please bring it.

Please call ahead so that we can be sure we have enough laptops to accomodate those attending.  Call 335-2187, and leave a message if no one is home.

Thank you!

Some of the activities that will be going on are:

• Hay rides
• Races
• Water balloons
• Volleyball
• Eating contest
• Quick Draw
• Softball
• Games

There will be old-time photos taken at the event, so you’re invited to come dressed in old fashioned attire.  We’ll see you there!

W

hile riding my dirt bike on the Onion a few years ago, I stumbled across a trail that made switch backs up the mountain, and led to quite a few old, abandoned mines. Most of them were caved in at the entrance, except for one that was still open enough to crawl down into.

Once inside, I was blown away by how big of an operation must have gone on there. There were still tracks for a cart to carry out excavated dirt, and you could still see the places where the miner had drilled holes into the walls. After going straight into the mountain for about 100 feet, the mine split into three different tunnels, one going straight, while the other two veer of to the left and right. The tunnels to the right and straight were caved in, so I went left. After walking down the mine a little longer, I found a huge rusty tank of some kind that had pipes coming out of it heading further into the mine. I could also see that behind the tank, was another dark tunnel, going back further into the mountain.

After deciding to stay on the path that I was on, I followed the pipes from the tank and the tracks to a pile of old boards, going out across a huge gaping hole. I later realized that what I was looking at was what was left of an elevator and an elevator shaft. Since I could not see the bottom from shining my light down, I decided to try to throw a rock down the hole and count the seconds until I could hear it hit the bottom. After the rock left my hand, it fell into the pitch black darkness for about 4 seconds, and then hit what I thought was the bottom. About three seconds later, I heard it hit the actual bottom of the hole.

Once back outside, I took a quick look around the area and discovered an old collapsed cabin, and the pile where the miner or miners dumped the excess dirt and rock. After being in the mine, I began to come up with some questions that I would like to know the answers to.

• Who owned the mine, and what was being mined out of the mountain?
• Was the mine ran by a small group of people or was it a much bigger operation?
• How long ago were the mines in use?

These are just a few of my questions and I would like to know more about the mines. I would really like to learn more about the history of the mines and Arbon Valley, so if anyone has any information about them, submit a news story to our editor or send me an email at, arbon_ite@hotmail.com .

I believe it is important that our valley has a little more exposure in our county, so I chatted with Brett Crompton of the Power Country Press and we’ve worked out a deal where certain articles from arbon-valley.com will be included in the Press.  In the next coming weeks, you’ll see a column dedicated to Arbon Valley.

We look forward to this relationship between the Power County Press and the Arbon-Valley.com news site.

O

n Memorial Day 2010, one small purple iris was all that was paying tribute to past loved ones in this forgotten cemetery in Arbon. The flower, much like the homesteaders who came into the Arbon Valley, is unbreakable and determined that Arbon is worth the biting cold, the fierce winds, and the  hard work it takes to survive here. It is planted over the grave of a little girl, Lucille Danken Fredrickson, who was laid to rest November 19, 1914. Incredibly, this plant has survived on its own for nearly one hundred years.

This is not the main cemetery located off Bailey Road but a small acre of ground about a mile west of the Arbon School. The hallowed ground lies surrounded by CRP fields, belonging to the Estep and Adams families and has no public access road. It is a lonely hill seldom visited by anything other than gophers, rabbits, and an occasional coyote.

Many of the grave markers have rotted away, disappearing into the ground. One partial wooden grave marker still stands while another lies next to it in the grass. Both are washed clean by sun and weather. The last burial here was in 1939. Other markers and headstones, still in existence, date back to the 1920’s, and many belong to babies who succumbed in 1915 and 1916. A hand drawn map exists of others buried in the graveyard. According to the map 24 known people are buried on this hill. This cemetery is listed as an official cemetery in Power County, set aside for burying the dead and is not privately owned.

In the fall of 2009, Braden Campbell fenced, mowed the area, and installed a gate for his Eagle Scout project. He received help from adults, Ken Campbell, Stu Adams, and David Lusk. Members of his Scout troop, Eric Ward and Hank Fitch also helped in this endeavor. Many thanks go out to this group for repairing this memorial to the dead.

Spring found the cemetery looking as if it had green mown grass. Once again those family members who have loved ones resting here can be assured they are well-cared for and honored in their final resting place.

M

onte and Cheri Evans are heading on a two-week Church Mission to Jinja, Africa, and other small villages in the surrounding areas. There are two teams going, each with it’s own assignments, taking on the mission. Each team has three categories of personnel, doctors, teachers, and laborers. The first team, with 12 members, left on the 28^th of April. The second team, with eleven members in which Monte and Cheri are a part, is leaving on Friday, June 4^th.

Once in Africa, Monte and Cheri will be helping with a small school of about 100 children. Education in Africa is not free, and many children cannot afford to get any education at all. Some students have managed to be sponsored by a US family, but many are not so lucky. It is a huge sacrifice for the parents to pay for the education of their children. When it first started, the school had only one student, yet this year it is hoping to have over 100. Education in Africa is growing, but it still needs some time to get on its feet, and a few selfless people that are willing to sacrifice of themselves for their fellow man.

There are doctors going in Cheri and Monte’s group which will be giving free physicals to the children. The teachers will be helping in the school, sharing their knowledge with the students. As laborers, Cheri and Monte are not entirely sure exactly what they will be doing yet. There is a chicken farmer, Abdu, that Monte will mostly likely be helping. There is also a group home for teenage boys, a village of mostly prostitute mothers who are desperately trying to raise their families without the helping hand of a husband and father, and there is also a bakery that they could possibly be working in.

They are both excited about their mission, and are prayerfully seeking the help of the Lord in their endeavors. They pray for the guidance of the Savior and that their hearts will be softened to His will. They desire to be instruments in the hands of Jesus and to share His love with the people of Africa.

The hearts and prayers of the people in Arbon, as well as those elsewhere, will definitely go with the Evans’ as they embark on their journey. It is my prayer that they will be successful in their mission and will bring to pass much righteousness, good, and the love of Christ to all those who seek it. Monte and Cheri will be great missionaries. They will be returning home on the 19^th of June.

For those who wish to follow this story more closely, one of the members of the teams will be posting a blog of the mission while they are there. http://uganda2010-karla.blogspot.com

By Hank Fitch

Over the past weeks I’m sure you’ve noticed the election signs and posters all over Arbon, as well as the rest of Power County. These are to promote the few candidates who are trying to get elected or re-elected into the office of their choosing. After seeing these around American Falls, and also along the long, lonely road back home, I started thinking to myself about the issues that could be presented to the candidates in the upcoming election. After weighing some thoughts around in my head, I began to wonder, “What are things that effect us as a community here in Arbon?” “How could I find out more about the people running for office and what their opinions are about these issues?” Over the next few days, and after some conversations about Arbon-related issues with Jacob Andersen, we decided that it would be a good idea for me to interview Kenny Estep, and find out more about his views on things that effect the Valley, not only for our knowledge and benefit, but for the benefit of all of the residents of Arbon.

On the night of Friday the 21^st, I went to Kenny’s to interview him, and find out more about his views. I came up with three questions that I felt were in the best interest of Arbon. They are as follows:

Kenny, what is your opinion on the proposal of a new set of power lines coming through the Valley?

Kenny’s answer went as follows:

The power lines coming through, are necessary and will happen eventually. He said that he will do everything in his power to work out a way to bring them through the valley so that the least amount of people are effected, or the least amount of landowners have to have these power lines come through their land. It is necessary though, for them to come through because of the growing need for power all over Idaho. He said he will do everything that he can to make sure that the people that are effected, or the people on whose land the power lines are put, get a fair compensation for their land used.

My next question for him was this: “Where do you stand on the CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation) laws?”

His answer went as follows:

CAFO’s or Confined Animal Feeding Operations, are mainly laws that deal with managing Feedlots. (Unlike what I originally thought, these new ordinances wouldn’t have a lot to do with our ranches out here in Arbon…) He said that he will do what he can to make ordinances that adequately protect the owners of the CAFO’s and home owners. The real debate about these issues comes from ordinary people who don’t like living next to feedlots of dealing with the smell and other things that comes with being next to them. Kenny assured me that both parties can be happy and that he will work to make sure that they both get what they want and the new ordinances bring positive results to both parties.

My final question for him was thus: “In what ways do you feel you will best represent the interests of your Arbon Valley constituents?”

Kenny’s last response was this:

He said that he will continue to keep the services we have in Arbon and Power County as a whole, and do his best to see to upgrades to those services, where possible. He will also push for realistic growth so that we can remain a community. He said he will do everything he can to represent us as best as he possibly can.

I would like to quickly thank Kenny Estep for taking the time out of his personal life to answer my questions. Best of luck Kenny!