It was time this summer for the big 20 year high school reunion. Hard to believe it has been that long. It seems like it was only a couple of years ago that I was at the 10 year reunion just a month before starting law school. Time flies whether you're paying attention or not, I guess.
I drove to Preston for the reunion, and I ended up getting there a few hours earlier. I decided to take a few pictures as I walked or drove around town seeing how the old hometown was doing. I hadn't been to Preston for quite awhile. Since Grandpa Castleton died and Taggart moved to Logan we haven't had any family connection there, and my visits there have been few and far between.
This is the old homestead our family called home for almost 30 years. It has changed a bit since my parents moved in 2002. They cut down the big Chinese Elms on the south side (the far right of the photo), and they've also made some other cosmetic changes, such as turning the back lawn into a dirt parking lot and turning the garden into a storage area for odds and ends. Oh well. We don't own the place anymore and really don't have a say in how it's run. A good part of the old neighborhood has come on some hard times, it seems, including the home to the east that has apparently been vacant and unkempt for years.
It was kind of funny. When I was taking this photo I didn't realize there was someone sitting on the front porch of the home. As I was snapping this pic he yelled "No thank you!!!!" very loud at me. I just waved and walked on down the street and took the following picture.
This is Pedro's house from Napoleon Dynamite, just three houses to the north of ours. It hasn't really changed much, not from 2003 when the movie was filmed, and not from when we were growing up decades ago. That movie--Napoleon Dynamite--has certainly had a long 15 minutes of fame, but I think those final seconds have wound down at this point.
This is my alma mater, also made semi-famous by Napoleon Dynamite. I sometimes share with people that, like Pedro, I once ran for student body president here. I even gave my final campaign speech from the same podium he did on the same side of the stage in the auditorium. Unlike Pedro, though, I lost the election. I didn't have quite the campaign team he did, and I think my problem was that I had about as much charisma as Pedro did when I ran, but no one did a last-minute ultra-cool/odd dance on stage to captivate the student body and change the tide of opinion. I could have used Napoleon and his cutting edge campaign ideas. Maybe history would have been different. Maybe I would have won that race, and then I'd have gone pro. No doubt in my mind. I would have gone into politics for a career. I'd be a U.S. senator by now making millions of dollars and living in a big 'ol mansion somewhere, soaking it up in a hot tub with my soul mate.
Oh well, me and my soul mate will have to settle for our current life as it is.
This was our 1990 class gift to the high school. It's aged a little, but it still stands proud in front of the school. It could us a cleaning, though. It's apparently a magnet for eggs for some reason.
This is apparently the class gift of the PHS class of 2010. It's hard to see, but it's a big rock painted blue with "2010" printed on it. No doubt the town has fallen on hard times. Maybe it's a sentimental rock.
The field of dreams, where we went 3-6 my senior year in football. Not a stellar record, but we were in contention for the district playoffs in the last game nevertheless. I still remember watching those touchdown passes that were dropped with seconds left. If just one would have been caught we would have gone to playoffs. They were not caught, and our season was over. I won't mention who dropped those passes. I was an offensive/defensive lineman in my football career. I was the second biggest person on the team and I fibbed just a little to say I was 200 pounds to look more imposing on the roster. I'd have to fib a lot today to say that, and I don't think anyone would believe me anyway. Funny how the perspective changes.
There is a lot of construction going on at the high school. It's a growing school and they're making it bigger for the increase in students. New gym, new cafeteria, etc. Change happens.
This is the ward building where I attended most of my years in Preston. It's kind of a light purple color. There are a lot of good memories there. Ordinations, young adult activities, lessons, basketball games, and mission farewells and reports. It was a big part of growing up.
This hill used to have a giant "P" on its side. It was the first hillside letter ever done in Preston, given by the class of 1988 as a gift. It was a big deal, with the seniors finishing it the very afternoon of graduation. They showed up to the graduation ceremony in robes and sunburns.
Unfortunately that P wasn't maintained and it eventually disappeared some years later.
This hill also used to have a giant "P" on it, up near the top underneath the tower. This P was done in the late 90s or early 2000s to replace the previous one. I don't know much of the story, except that I recall that one senior tragically lost his life in an accident during construction as a vehicle rolled over on the hill.
That P is no longer visible either. I guess they don't do a good job of maintaining Ps in Preston.
This is the Oakwood Elementary where I attended in the late 70s and early 80s. It has changed some, but largely remains as it was. The door to the right in the picture is the cafeteria door where we emerged after eating lunch to go and enjoy the lunch recess. I can still hear the screams of laughter. That 25 minute recess lasted forever back then.
This is the playground. Those homes behind the school were nothing more than a large grass field back in the day. We'd have our club meetings back in those fields in big holes that were about a foot deep. As we grew older we'd go out to the holes that were farther out there, until when we were in fourth or fifth grade we went to the furthest one out, which was probably about 300 feet from the school, which seemed like a mile.
One thing I miss a lot about Preston are the mountains. They stood over us on both sides of the valley.
This is the church ball park where I did my Eagle scout project. I supervised the repainting of those two utility sheds on the right. I still can feel the itchiness of paint flakes from scraping off the old paint, and the stickiness of the new paint as it got splashed everywhere as it was going on. Course, the sheds appear to have been repainted a few times since then.
I can brag and say that I hit two home runs in one church softball game on one of those ball fields. They were both low flying hits that turned to grounders in the outfield, but the ball was nowhere close either time when I touched home plate. I still remember the exasperated look on the center fielder as he sat on the grass after trying to throw me out on the second hit. He'd just returned to the playing field from chasing the ball down. It's one of a few athletic competition highlights I have to remember.
The Riverdale Resort, where I spent two summers lifeguarding. Good times and good memories. Lifeguards were cool even in that pre-Baywatch era, and this place was the cool place back then. The junior olympic sized pool was brand new when we started. I loved the night shifts and watching the summer sun set in Riverdale as I sat on a lifeguard chair. I worked with some good friends.
I still remember the first time I saved someone. There were two boys who got out too deep and started to panick. I was on the side of the pool close to them and immediately jumped in, swam to them, and wrapping one arm around both of them pulled them to the side. I was so full of adrenaline. As I pulled them out they both thanked me and I looked around to see the whole pool watching. It was a small little moment. And then my friend Ryan, who was the other lifeguard on duty, came up to me and said "Good job." I thanked him as I tried to catch my breath. Then he said "Why didn't you just use the hook?" And it was then that I recalled that we had a long metal hook at each lifeguard stationthat would have reached those two boys quite easily without me having to get wet. The moment was over.
It has aged since then, and not gracefully.
This is the old Riverdale bridge. This was the place for bridge jumping into the Bear River, and it was a favorite spot. You'd climb to the top and then jump about 15 feet into the water below. There are still initials carved all over it. I recognized many of them. I was tempted to take a jump, but then I wouldn't look pretty for my reunion.
This is the old Oneida Stake Academy. This was originally constructed right behind where the high school is now, and it was there when I attended PHS. A few years afterward plans were made to demolish it, and members of the community organized and raised money to have it raised from its foundation and moved about two blocks to a community park, where it now stands waiting for enough funds to fully restore it. It's a very historical building in the area. Ezra Taft Benson attended high school here, as did many other notables. There is a beautiful ballroom on the top floor where we used to have choir concerts and dances. One of our favorite things to do as a group of friends was to somehow get the key to the bell tower door and go up there late at night. We'd then righ the bell as many times as we dared--it was loud enough to be heard all across town--and then we'd race down the flights of stairs, out into our cars, and drive off before the police came. Fun times in a small town.
Our reunion was the week before the Famous Preston Night Rodeo weekend. This is the biggest weekend of the year in Preston with 3 days and nights of sidewalk shopping, parades, carnival, and rodeo. The town is packed. You can see that even one week prior people have set down chairs along the parade route to reserve spaces.
And yes, I did make it to the reunion. It was a great time. I was a bit uneasy at first but you soon realize that everyone feels the same way. I had a great time talking to everyone, and catching up on some fun times. It was good to do. We didn't have a great turnout, but those who came had a fun time.
We look really old, don't we. Time passes by.