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Hiking in Ephraim Canyon 24 January 2024 |
I've done it again. I moved.
After 7.5 years in Newburgh, Indiana, my husband and I moved to Ephraim, Utah. This is a return trip to the state of Utah. However, I formerly lived in Utah County (9 years) and Salt Lake County (1 year). I am new to Sanpete County, population 28,437. I did visit the Manti Pageant in 1976 and the Manti Temple in 1991; otherwise, I am very naive about all things Sanpete.
The county has deep roots with the Latter-day Saint Pioneers. It was settled in the 1850s (with some controversy with conflicts between the white settlers and the Native Americans as well as many conflicts among the white settlers over land rights and water rights). Many of the settlers were Scandinavian. I looked at all the photos of pageant queens at the county court house. I saw names such as Jensen, Hansen, Nelson, Olsen, Jorgensen, etc. Ephraim hosts an annual Scandinavian Days Festival at the end of May, and Spring City hosts Heritage Day the same weekend.
More than half the county is federal or state lands. It's beautiful here. My husband works at Snow College, but much of the economy is based on agriculture: raising cattle, sheep, and turkeys. Many people have ancestors going back 3, 4, or 5 generations. However, in the last twenty years, there have been more people moving in from other Utah counties or even from out of state. There is a significant Hispanic population here, many working for The Moroni Feed Company / Norbest, working with turkeys. (I think Tyson recently bought this business.)
Word of the Year
You can see that I have been thinking a lot about my new community. I recently finished a book about the history of Sanpete County, a book that has a strong focus on the 19th Century. I have also been trying to meet people at the college, at church, at the library, at quilting bees, at gardening club, book club, the university fitness center, the hardware store, etc.
I am trying to create community around me. It will take me months to accomplish this.