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Little Green Valley Now & Then—Monroe, Utah
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. . .MONROE CREAMERY COMPANY
Click photo for full image
This famous old landmark stands waiting to be put to use again! It’s smoke
stacks reaching skyward, as if to say, "Don’t forget me. Once upon a time
I was very important to the citizens of Monroe and to surrounding communities.
As many as 24 people were employed here at one time. It became Monroe’s most
important industrial operation." (Circa 1964)
It all began in 1910 when a group of leading Monroe citizens organized the
Monroe Creamery Company.. The small plant they built is a part of the present
Federated Dairy Farms Inc., operation. Stock was sold in the new venture and the
organization was owned by a large part of the Monroe citizenry.
Joseph H. Jensen was elected the first president. Others elected were Jacob
Magleby, Secretary and Manager, Directors; Nels Sorensen, Austin Yergensen,
James Brown and Alma Magleby.
The 2200 pounds of milk per day were gathered by John A. Johnson and Joe
Pope. Hans Hansen picked up milk for a time until he was called into the plant
to become a cheese maker. These drivers owned the teams and milk wagons. They
were paid on a hundredweight basis for the milk picked up from producers.
On July 1, 1919, Vern Mortensen, with his brothers Leonard and Levi, leased
the plant and operated it until January 1, 1930. Then the holdings of the Monroe
Creamery Company were sold to the Pet Milk Company. From that time the Western
Creamery Company became an important name in Monroe City.
In 1937 a large addition was built, and it was converted to making powdered
milk and butter. Vern Mortensen was manager until 1946 when Var Porter became an
overseer of their operations. Federated Milk Producers Association purchased the
factory on April 1, 1962. In September 1963 they merged with Weber Central Dairy
and the present Monroe plant became the property of Federated Dairy Farms,
Incorporated. This corporation is one of the largest producers and retailers of
dairy products in the inter-mountain territory. At this time the plant was
producing 95,000 pounds of milk per day, requiring the services of twenty-four
employees, with Val Porter as manager.
In 1945, Russell Ware, and sons Lowell and Vahl, constructed a milking barn
and bottling plant known as the South Sevier Dairy. This has been Monroe’s
only Grade A milk bottling establishment. They had a very successful retail and
wholesale trade in Monroe, Richfield, Elsinore and surrounding towns. They also
supplied milk for the school lunch program in Monroe and Elsinore schools. In
1955 they sold their interests to HiLand Dairy and Federated Milk Producers
Association.
Twelve dairymen in Monroe organized the HiRoe Dairy Association on December
28, 1955. These men were Duane Fullmer, Floyd Mills, Leland Olsen, Aaron
Parsons, Stanley Parsons, Neal Jones, Joseph Lowe, Max tuft, Kent Parsons, Edwin
Jensen, Clinton Rasmussen, and Wilford Murdock. This group believed their were
advantages in building a large Grade A milking barn instead of twelve barns as
they would need to do if they went into the venture alone. Prior to this time
dairymen in a few other communities had formed cooperatives but they had grouped
together just to have a central milking operation. They found it necessary to
drive their herds at all hours of the day and night from their home corrals to
the milking parlor, and wait for the cows to be milked before they could return
home with them.
The Monroe organization wanted a complete operation. They wanted to build
twelve individual corrals on the same location with the milk barn. Then their
hired operators could get the herds out of the corrals, milk them, and then
return them. All that would be required of the owners would be the feeding and
bedding of their animals.
Just how corrals, gates, driving alleys and catch pens could be arranged to
make this possible became a major problem. The Extension Service at Logan was
consulted and dairy experts and agriculture agents were asked for help. They all
came up with the same answer, "This is a new situation heretofore unheard
of." One day, Kent Parsons, a member, handed the group a drafted sheet of
paper which contained the long sought after problem. His sketch required the use
of 26 gates, 5 drive alleys and 2 catch pens. Its simplicity was amazing. This
plan has been in use for eight years without a single change.
HiRoe soon gained nation-wide publicity in the dairy industry. This method
had not been tried before. Because of articles in national magazines, dairymen
have come from as far away as Minnesota to observe it first hand.
The Association has proved highly successful for the owners, and has created
a small payroll in the community.
Changes in ownership have taken place since it’s beginning. The members now
are, Ivan Mills, Duane Erickson, Floyd Mills, Ferd Erickson, Ronald Mills, Duane Fullmer, Joe Lowe, Edwin Jensen, Neal Jones, Leland Olsen and Wilford Murdock.
In 1956 when the Grade A market was offered Monroe dairymen, Max &
Kenneth Yergensen & Junius Christiansen built a fine barn Northwest of town.
Lee and Fred Goold also built a similar one. Other producers in and near Monroe
with Grade A facilities are Max Tuft, Vahl & Sam Ware, Dallin Magleby, and E.L. Trejo.
And now in the year 2000, there are four local dairies, all selling milk to DFA, Dairy Farmers of America. Listed in alphabetical order they are:
The HiRoe Dairy—owners, Calvin Curtis and Tom Jensen
The Okerlund Dairy—Ralph and Justin Okerlund
The Ware Dairy—owners Vahl and LeRon Ware
The Warm springs Dairy—owners, Mike, Matt, and Lance Mills
SOUTH SEVIER HIGH SCHOOL
HOME OF THE RAMS
430 WEST 100 SOUTH
March 1, 2000
Click photo for full image
RAMS COP HOOP TITLE
BOYS GET SIXTH TITLE—GIRLS GRAB A THIRD STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
The Rams pulled out a 63-57 win in the last minutes of their first round
contest with Duchesne. In the semifinals, the Rams jumped all over Rowland Hall’s
Winged Lions to get a 46-35 win. The Rams flat ran away from Kanab in the
championship game, winning 56-34.
The South Sevier sweep marks the 11th time a high
school has taken both the girls and boys state titles in the same year, Mountain
View High School has done it three times and Provo twice while Bingham, Beaver,
Richfield, Valley and Gunnison have done it once each.
For the Lady Rams, it was the third state title in school
history. The South Sevier girls teams of 1981 and 1982 also took the trophy.
This year’s title was the sixth for the boys teams. They
had won championships in 1954, 1964, 1965, 1970 and 1984."I’m so happy
for the kids" Coach Parsons said, with tears of joy streaming down his
face.
The valley is still buzzing about the stellar accomplishment.
Sunday morning a huge crowd was on hand to greet them at the new Crisp’s Food
Town. The teams were loaded on fire trucks for a ride through town after a
fireworks display. The snake dance reached all through town. Principal Peterson
said he couldn’t even guess how many people were there. The celebration
continued Monday at the high school with an assembly , and several players
visited the middle school to share their experiences with the younger students.
1999-2000 Boys Basketball Team Roster
Jericho Avery—Reggie parsons—Layne Barney—Ryan Johnson—Tyler Schlappi—Bryan
Morgan—Adam George—Bryan Castle—Jesse Johnson—Caleb Payne—Aaron Owens—Jaron
Maynes—Josey Parsons—Trent Weeks—Josh Christensen
1999-2000 Girls Basketball Team Roster
Kasia Marsh—Alisa Rose—Kelsey Chapman, Andrea Dowell—Chelsey Jenkins—Kami
Brewer Amber Day—Jessica Brady—Amanda Nielson, Reagan Roberts—Nikki
Leavitt—Ann Marie Smith, Jessyka Bowcutt—Arielle Sudweeks—Sarah Gay
Cheerleader Row—Gina Herbert, Laci Quarnburg, Brooke Davis, Amanda
Anderson, Lori Giggs
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SOUTH SEVIER HIGH BRINGS HOME ANOTHER STATE TITLE
. . .April 5,2000
Click photo for full image
The South Sevier Ram Chess Team received the highest honor for a 2A school in
the state high school chess tournament Friday and Saturday at Provo High School.
The team scored a school record 16 points on its way to a
fourth title in as many years. The state tournament includes students from
schools of all sizes; each player plays seven matches. The members of the ram
chess team competed against students from 3A, 4A, and 5A schools and four
players from South Sevier had four wins.
The team score is the number of wins of the four top players.
The Ram team score exceeded five of the seven 3A teams and also many of the 4A
and 5A teams.
Thaskie Barlowe earned the top award for the 2A
participation. Jimmy Anderson received the second place trophy, and Clayton Bass
was third. BJ Nay received the third place freshman overall trophy.
The other Ram team members were Jeff Mills and Don Grant. The
coach is Lars Nordfelt.
Michael Jorgensen, representing Richfield High School, had a
great tournament with four wins and he earned fourth place in the speed chess
competition. Jacobi Sampson from the Richfield area entered the tournament as an
independent and played well.
Members of the South Sevier Chess team include Jeff Mills,
front left; Don Grant and Thaskie Barlowe. Also, coach Lars Nordfelt, Clayton
Bass, BJ Nay, and Jimmy Anderson.
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