Team Picture

One of the basket ball teams coached by my Grandfather Wilkinson.

Grandpa Wilkinson is standing at the rear. The players are:
Front row - unidentified, Wood Urie, Vernon Lunt
Back row - Tom Thornley, Darwin Nelson, unidentified, Dan Webster

For those of you who know Ned Lunt, Vernon Lunt was an uncle of his, if I remember correctly what he told me. I don't know which school this was. Grandpa was a school teacher before he decided that it didn't pay enough and went into other things. I think he coached some at the BAC in Cedar City also. The school was established in 1897 as a branch of the state teacher training school, then became the following

1897-1913	Branch Normal School
1913-1953	Branch Agricultural College
1953-1969	College of Southern Utah
1969-1990	Southern Utah State College
1991-present	Southern Utah University

Grandpa Wilkinson and I believe Grandma Lawrence both graduated from there before becoming teachers. An interesting side note for our immediate family, our bishop in the Madison 1st Ward in Wisconsin, Steven D. Bennion, was president there from 1997-2006

Joseph Thomas Wilkinson Family

This is the Joseph Thomas Wilkinson family

Unfortunately, not all the people are identified. The only label is
Standing Elisabeth Emily Wells Wilkinson
Seated in center: Joseph Thomas Wilkinson

The picture has a stamp on the back with the following
Jim Booth,
Photographer
St. George,
Southern Utah
North America

Labor Day Weekend

Holidays are always times to get things done that were put off during the press of daily life. I finally got the ice maker fixed in our refrigerator, just in time for fall and winter. Oh well, hopefully it will still be working for next summer. Now for Monday I have to work on finishing touches for the bathroom, cleaning up the construction mess, and miscellaneous errands.

At my last follow-up for cataract surgery, we talked about scheduling the other eye. For some reason the insurance will now pay for the other eye. Friday the 8th is available, but i don't want to take time off from school so soon after the start of the year, so I will probably schedule it during Thanksgiving break. He is doing surgery that Monday and Tuesday is available for the 24 hr follow-up visit.

Family Pictures V

This is the home of William Augustus Bringhurst, my Great Grandfather, and his wife Mary Janet Stapely. He was the bishop of the Toquerville ward for over 30 years until his death. The people in the picture (listed by Veda Bringhurst Wilkinson, his daughter) are, from left to right:
1. my brother Samuel Bringhurst
2. my brother Charlie Bringhurst
3. My sister Arvilla Bringhurst
4. My sister Vera Bringhurst
5. my cousin Velma Stapley
6. my cousin Vivian Stapley
7. my brother Will Bringhurst
8. my brother Leo Bringhurst

The picture was taken in 1903

Stake Conference

This weekend was our Stake Conference. Elders Nelson of the 12 and Pearson of the 70 were the visiting authorities. It is unusual to have a member of the 12, even for reorganization of the stake presidency, and to have a member of the 70 also is even more unusual. Elder Pearson is a new general authority and this was part of his training. I was impressed by his talks. He is fresh from 3 years as a mission president and in his early 40's. He is a member of the 1st quorum and one to watch for the future. It was interesting to see the choosing of a new presidency from the perspective of Stake Clerk.

Elder Nelson told about his experiences in Czechoslovakia and trying to get the Church recognized under the old communist regime. He also spent about an hour on the Abrahamic Covenant in the Priesthood Leadership Session.

Family Pictures IV

Mother and Daughter:
Mary Janet Stapley Bringhurst and her daughter Veda Bringhurst, taken 1905. Mary Janet was 40 and Veda was 16. Veda is my grandmother, wife of SRW Wilkinson in the previous post

Family Pictures III

Left to Right: Sibyl, Wells, Winifred, Willard

Family Pictures II

S.R.W. Wilkinson Family

Left to right Willard, Winifred, Veda, Wells, S.R., Sibyl, (date unknown, estimated about 1928). Sibyl is my mother. S.R. is the son of Jane Sarah Wells Wilkinson in the previous post.

Correction

I did some more research on Mary E. Wells Whitehead, the fourth woman in the picture. In the New Family Search, she is listed as an older sister of the other three. I did not have a record of her or two of the other children in my PAF file. She was the oldest of a family of 11 according to one source. Another source lists her as a half sister, from another wife, Mary Ann Lowe. Most sources list 8 children, so she is probably a half sister. There were 6 sisters but two of them died young. Interestingly, my great grandmother, Jane Sarah Wells died the year before I was born.

Family pictures I

I decided to use this blog to post pictures from Grandma and Grandpa Wilkinson's books of remembrance for those who would like to download them. You can click on the image to view it in a bigger format and right click on it if you want to save it.


This one is of Anna Eliza Wells McAllister and Stephney Wells Davies on the back row left to right and Jane Sarah Wells Wilkinson and Mary Wells Whitehead on the front row left to right. Anna or Annie Eliza, Stephney, and Jane Sarah are sisters, daughters of Stephen Robert Wells and Annie Thorne. Jane Sarah is my great grandmother, wife of Joseph Thomas Wilkinson. Anna Eliza was married to John D.T. McAllister, a person of some prominence in the early church. I am not quite sure who Mary is. There was another sister named Edith Ann Wells, but I don't see how that translates to Mary, unless my grandmother labeled it wrong.

I will try to post at least 1 picture per week.

Surgery Update

If you have to have surgery, this is a good one. I was out of the surgery center by 9:30 (surgery was scheduled for 8:00, I don't know exactly what time they started). The rest of the day I had to put in eye drops every 2 hours and wear a shield. Otherwise I could be out and about, but no strenuous activity and no lifting over 14 lbs. There is virtually no pain. The next day I went in for a follow up visit. I had 20/30 vision in the operated eye which the doctor said is very good for so soon after surgery. Pressure was good, etc. and I could remove the shield except at night. Had to continue the drops every 2 hours for 2 more days. They are now down to 4 times per day. I am not supposed to overdo reading for a few days. I have been out and about working on misc. things around the house, reformatting Suzanne's computer, etc. Have to wear the shield at night and continue the drops for abt 2 weeks.

They marked an L on my forehead just above the eyebrow with a permanent marker to show which eye was being operated on and they took the lens out of my glasses on that side, so I have been going about town with an L painted on and one lens missing. Also, I cannot shower or shave or wash my hair for 3 or 4 days, so I must have been a pretty weird sight shopping around town for stuff. The frame of my glasses also broke the night before the surgery, so I have to use an old pair. Since I don't want to spend much on glasses I won't be using for long, I will get the lens for the other eye replaced and a blank lens put in for the operated eye for the old frames till I get the second eye done.

Here I am at last

Well, this is my entry into the blogging world. I feel like somewhat of an anachronism. This past week I attended a Summer Institute on teaching pre-AP chemistry. I was the only one there not familiar with the TI graphing calculators commonly used in High School Chemistry. When I went to college we used slide rules and I graduated directly to the computer. It was good to review some of the concepts taught there, such as thermodynamics and electrochemisty, that I haven't thought about for 40 years or so, and was never really comfortable with when I did learn them.

My schedule for the fall has been changed. I will have 3 sections of regular John Jay HS pre-AP chem and 3 of Science Academy (magnet school) pre-AP chem. It will be nice to have only one prep again and students who are more motivated to learn.

This summer I have been working on some home improvement projects. The downstairs half bathroom is almost finished and the family room floor a little over half done. Those of you familiar with the previous state of the bathroom will recognize an improvement, I hope. The half concrete wall is done in the same tile as the floor with added accents.

The wall before and after



All that remains is for Janet and Suzanne to paint the other two walls with their special technique that they want to use. The laundry room floor is also done, but not the painting, yet.

Two views of the bathroom at present







I am procrastinating doing the stairs because I am expecting a difficult time getting them done right.

I will be taking a forced break this week for my cataract surgery on Wednesday. Can't do anything strenuous for a couple of days afterward. Hopefully I will be able to read again, comfortably. I was asked to read a scripture in Sunday School today and had a hard time of it.