Sunday Evening Softball is Back

The tradition of Baker softball on Sunday summer evenings has been revived. The softball is open to all ages and abilities.

It's a great excuse to enjoy the beautiful evenings and get some exercise. The field provides some extra agility challenges.

We had a good spectator section. Behind them we set up t-ball for the little kids, and they had great fun hitting the ball into the rabbitbrush.

Harvester ants even can have a closeup view of the action (see the anthill on the left side of the photo?). We noticed quite a bit of improvement just over the course of the evening. By the end of the summer I think we'll all have improved quite a bit. We just need to find someone to compete against. Anyone in North Snake Valley want to get some people together to play?

One of the side attractions is the beautiful light on the mountains.

The little kids also enjoyed swinging on the tire swings.

Ah, this is the life! Everyone is welcome to come play or spectate. See you there next Sunday at 6 pm at the field just south of town.

150th Anniversary of the Pony Express

Last weekend Don and Beth Anderson hosted a most excellent party up in Callao to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Pony Express. The Pony Express operated from 19 months 1860 to 1861 to deliver the U.S. mail from Missouri to California by way of horseback across the rough frontier country before railroads or telegraphs crossed it.

They own the Willow Springs Pony Express Station, the last surviving station. The stone Pony Express monument stands at the entrance to their ranch.

Several local riders helped bring the mail to the station, carrying it in a leather mochila. A caravan of people and horses followed to watch the mail retracing its historic hoofbeats. Despite some cool and rainy weather, the turnout was great, and many people planned to spend the night at Callao, more than doubling its population.

A variety of activities took place, including an auto show, fireworks, hamburger dinners, singing, dancing, and meeting new people. It was a great celebration.

The next morning dawned cool and cloudy, perfect for taking the mail even further east. The Pony Express trail through Snake Valley, and all the people who keep those memories alive, are one more thing I love about the area.

150th Anniversary of Pony Express

You are Invited

to the 150th Anniversary of the Pony Express Re-Ride

Saturday, June 12, 2010

at

Willow Springs Ranch

Callao, Utah

Another mark in history, and we get to be a part of it! If all goes as planned, the mail will be in Ibapah at 5:00 p.m. We will bring the mail in around 8:00 p.m. We want to celebrate this in a grand way. Come and enjoy...

Antique car show/Genuine Tee Pee's

Slide show/Road show/Stories around 4:30 p.m.

Tours of the Station/Kids games

Food available for purchase

Square Dance or just do a jig to the live sounds of the Buckle Buster

Fun and Visiting

Fireworks

Donations being accepted to pay for band, fireworks, and sound system, etc...

Please RSVP by June 4th, 2010

Don and Beth Anderson 435-693-3136 or

wsrancher @ yahoo.com or bethbanderson @ hotmail.com

The menu:

PB&J with milk: $3

Hot dog plate: $10

Hamburger plate: $10

Vegiburger plate: $10

All plates include pasta salad, chips, choice of African peanut soup (vegetarian) or beef stew, and a drink.

Please respond to Bagleyandersonfundraiser @ hotmail.com and let me know what you would like to order so I can plan on how much food to bring.

Happy Graduation!

Despite being remote, Snake Valley has a good system of schools, and like many schools throughout the country celebrated commencement exercises this week. EskDale High School had a graduating class of one student. In the photo above you can see the junior and senior high choir performing during the graduation.

Even though only one student graduated, there was a great turnout for graduation. Out here there is definitely more of a "It takes a village to raise a child" attitude. No child slips between the cracks in school--if a student wants to play hookie, everyone knows about it. Teachers go to extra lengths to help prepare the students for the future and are able to provide a lot of personal attention.

There are definitely some downsides to not having bigger schools, like lack of sports teams, fewer classes offered, and some very quiet class reunions. However, the students that graduate tend to do very well as they go off into the bigger world.

We hope that Nakia has great success in her future endeavors. Congratulations!

New Plants

Ready to learn some new plants in Snake Valley? Every day a new one is featured on the blog A Plant a Day.

So far this isn't as spectacular a wildflower year as last year, but there are still quite a few beautiful flowers out right now, including these Nakedstem Sunrays (Enceliopsis nudicaulis).

The Desert Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja angustifolia) is really lighting up sagebrush areas, providing sparks of color.

So pop on over A Plant a Day if you'd like to see what else is blooming and learn a few plants.

Snake Valley Festival Coming in July

We are planning for a big party July 23 and 24. Those are the dates of the Snake Valley Festival, a fun-filled event for all ages!

We're going to kick off Friday at noon with a workshop with Linda Hussa, a nature writer from Reno who successfully helped fight off a water grab in the western part of Nevada. Transitioning to our water battles here, the workshop will be followed by a water tour to see some of the places in Snake Valley that would be impacted if massive amounts of water are piped to Southern Nevada. For those wanting to stay in air-conditioned comfort, there will be a film festival showing off news clips about the issue and movie clips from movies filmed in the area. At 4 pm there will be a short silent auction, with only an hour to bid on your favorite items. Then at 5 pm there's a potluck dinner at the Garrison LDS church to celebrate Pioneer Day. It's always delicious and fun to visit with folks.

Saturday morning starts off with more food, a pancake breakfast. After you've filled your stomach, check out the community yard sale, booths with a variety of things for sale, and get ready to watch the parade. Then there are kid games, entertainment, a silent auction, a food court, and more. We might not be a big festival, but we have something for everyone! At 6 pm head to the Border Inn for a barbeque dinner, raffle drawing for a cow elk hunt, jewelry, and mountain bike, an auction, and a dance. If you still have some energy left, head up to the Lehman Caves Visitor Center to check out the night skies through some powerful telescopes.

Proceeds will go to the Great Basin Water Network. For more information about the festival, here's a link to the schedule. We're still looking for auction donations, parade entries, booths, and help with various events, so let us know if you can help!

See you at the Festival! Be sure to bring your family and friends!

April 29 Snow

Along with some warm spring days, we've had plenty of windy days and even a few snowy days. We had a good snowstorm on April 29, leaving about five to six inches of snow. It made for a mess, but it was also really beautiful.

The main street in Baker looked refreshingly crisp.

And the desert shrubs were buried. By the afternoon, much of the snow had melted off, giving a welcome bit of moisture to help the vegetation green up and grow.