Comments on: Guest Post: Beets in White Satin

By: Grant

Grant — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:16:54 +0000

Wayne-
Thank you so much for your personal history with relation to sugar beets, especially the Nyssa Sugar Factory! I bet you know some of my family. My farm Grandpa was bishop of the Nyssa 2nd Ward in the mid-60s. I have an Uncle that is your age and a couple of Aunts a little younger.

My Bowling Alley Grandpa ran the Gay Way Bowl (yes, that’s what it was called) in Fruitland from 1953-1978. When they lived in Nyssa 1946-53, my dad and siblings were active in the Nyssa 1st Ward, but not my grandparents.

If you want to e-mail me at grant.vaughn [at] gmail.com I’d be glad to hear from you and share names more directly than on the open internet.

By: Wayne Goates

Wayne Goates — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 01:54:25 +0000

Grant,
I was also born in Nyssa (1947). My father started with the U & I Sugar Company during his senior year of high school in Lehi, Utah. The company switched from 12 hour to 8 hour shifts after the workers went on strike the winter campaign of 1921-22. My father and his twin brother crossed the picket lines initially and then decided they didn’t want to do that again, but were hired after the strike when additional workers were needed for a third shift. They worked the swing shift while still attending high school. Father worked for the U & I (primarily in eastern Idaho) until he got on with the Amalgamated Sugar Company to help build the Nyssa plant. My father continued at the Nyssa plant until retiring in 1968 as the Assistant Superintendent.

My parents had moved from Nyssa to a small farm in Parma, Idaho by the time I was born. But our lives revolved around the Nyssa sugar beet factory and our LDS Ward in Parma. It was absolutely understood that there would be no alcohol, coffee, tea, tobacco or cane sugar in our house.

Even though he was retired, during my sophomore and junior years in college, my father thought it would be good for me to make some extra money during the 3-week Christmas vacation by working at the Nyssa factory. He would have me go down at midnight and sit on a bench to get hired. He instructed me that if I were to stay for an hour they would put me on, because someone would be sick or not show up. It happened just as he said, which was great for earning some money, but I always thought I was going to die about 6 a.m. in the morning for the first couple days. It certainly gave me an appreciation for those who work a rotating shift. I also gained an understanding of the beet sugar refinery process. It was like one constant chemistry experiment done on a massive scale. It’s staggering how much sulfur and lime is used in the process.

I also spent many summers working in the sugar beet fields – hoeing, cultivating and irrigating. What is amazing is that they could harvest 40 to 50 tons of sugar beets per acre. That is an incredible amount of growth from water, air, fertilizer, and a few trace elements that is all made possible by the miracle of photosynthesis. You would think the fields would all drop 4 or 5 inches each year to produce 40 to 50 tons of produce. It is miraculous what sunlight, water, air, soil and can create from a tiny beet seed.

Thanks for the research and for sharing the information above. It brought back memories and made me grateful again that I don’t have to work a grave yard shift.

By: Julia

Julia — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:49:37 +0000

Is there a difference in the taste of the meat from the cattle that are on sugar beet pulp, compared to grass or grain fed?

By: Jeff Johnson

Jeff Johnson — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 06:40:33 +0000

There was an U&I sugar factory in Gunnison, Utah in south Sanpete County. I grew up in Aurora, Utah in Sevier County, about 15 miles south of Gunnison. I often went with my father to get beet pulp to feed our cattle. It really had a very strong smell. Later they sold dried beet pulp in large paper bags for cattle feed. It did not smell, but I would take a taste sometimes since it was very sugary.

By: Grant

Grant — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:23:23 +0000

For the Moodies at funerals, I suggest:

Isn’t Life Strange?
Never Thought I’d Live to be a Hundred
The Voyage
Never Comes the Day
[or the all-time classic: Legend of a Mind

By: Coffinberry

Coffinberry — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:22:21 +0000

“Pipe moving probably lasted 40 years or so.”

Heh. Pipe moving is still part of the twice-yearly rotation for the brethren in our stake. But I think this welfare farm grows corn (otherwise there’s overhead sprinklers).

By: Grant

Grant — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:11:32 +0000

Thank you Raymond for noticing.

A girl in my 9th grade, early morning seminary class (Rose Hill chapel which was the Redmond/ Bothell/ Kirkland Ward building at that time for KevinF’s benefit) actually convinced our teacher that “Days of Future Past” was “spiritual” music and it was played as prelude to class forming. It was either that or the teacher’s pick of show tunes, usually “The King and I” This was in the days of Tom Trails on film strip and before Mormon pop music made its debut with “Like unto Us.” I’m sure this will cause serious digression on this posting.

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:01:29 +0000

Raymond, half of the readers here don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.

But, which song does he want? “Go Now”? “Your Wildest Dreams”? There are a lot of options.

By: Raymond Takashi Swenson

Raymond Takashi Swenson — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 23:07:06 +0000

Oh, and I appreciate the Moody Blues pun in the title. My home teaching companion in Idaho Falls said he wanted to have their music palyed at his funeral.

By: Raymond Takashi Swenson

Raymond Takashi Swenson — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 23:04:56 +0000

While there was a center pivot irrigation system just across the canal from my house, on my drive into Idaho Falls (up to 2008) there were still a few fields near US 20 that had pipes that had to be moved around by hand. A farmer would hold a long piece of pipe balanced in the center, as if he were walking a tightrope, and the ends would bounce synchronously as he walked downfield.