Wendy Hassan, the director at Cache Valley Center for the Arts, will be speaking to the Cache Valley Historical Society about the history of the performing arts in Cache Valley, which — she explains — is extensive.
Hassan began researching the topic in 2008, when she worked for the Utah Arts Council.
“It was really inspiring to me to see that Cache Valley was such a rich landscape of the performing arts with historic offerings,” she said. “We’re sitting on generations of investment in performing arts — decades of it.”
Hassan has given speeches on the history of Cache Valley performing arts many times before. She was one of nine speakers scheduled to present to the Cache Valley Historical Society from September to June. Scott Bushman, the president of the society, said during the meetings in the summer, the group throws out a bunch of ideas for topics they’d like to hear more about, and Bushman invites experts on those topics to speak.
“All the topics are on local history,” he said. “We cover just about everything you could ever imagine.”
This year, topics include women and poetry, the history of Cache Valley skiing and inventions of 19th century Utah women.
Bushman said he has heard Hassan speak before and he is looking forward to her presentation.
“We have a surprisingly rich history in performing arts, back since it was first settled,” he said. “All the wealthiest people here were patrons of the arts.”
As part of Hassan’s role as director of the center for the arts, she invites performers to come to Cache Valley. This, Hassan said, is not very difficult. Performers are often eager to visit the valley and perform in unique venues.
When Hassan was grateful for the opportunity to come to Cache Valley. It has three musical performance groups, one performing arts center, a ballet studio, modern dance — in short, a uniquely well-rounded performing arts community, Hassan said.
“All the history — that’s really what inspires me,” she said.
Friday, November 27, 2015
Photo gallery in library shows history of Logan and USU
An art exhibit on former Utah State University professor Harry Reuben Reynolds is on display in the Merrill-Cazier Library.
Chris Terry began curating shows of work by former faculty members at USU five years ago. Terry, himself a professor at the university, regularly puts together exhibits for the Tippetts Gallery in the Chase Fine Arts Center, but this display is in the library during the center’s renovation. Most of the photos he uses come from special collections archives division of the library.
The exhibit includes several dozen paintings and photographs by Reynolds, many of which feature Old Main and scenes around Cache Valley. Terry said Reynolds was inspired by the local landscape and he believes displaying this art helps preserve history in several ways.
Chris Terry began curating shows of work by former faculty members at USU five years ago. Terry, himself a professor at the university, regularly puts together exhibits for the Tippetts Gallery in the Chase Fine Arts Center, but this display is in the library during the center’s renovation. Most of the photos he uses come from special collections archives division of the library.
The exhibit includes several dozen paintings and photographs by Reynolds, many of which feature Old Main and scenes around Cache Valley. Terry said Reynolds was inspired by the local landscape and he believes displaying this art helps preserve history in several ways.
“The images show what Cache Valley and the campus looked like many years ago, but they also remind us of significant faculty members who built the programs that still exist today,” Terry said.
Reynolds first came to the university as an art instructor in 1923. He was an advocate for the arts in Utah and he taught several courses, but he was best known as a pioneer in photography.
“Harry Reynolds goes way back before my time at USU, but I’ve always been impressed with his photographs,” Terry said.
Reynolds was one of the first people to produce quality photomicrographs, or photographs of microscopic objects, and he was invited to display his work around the country.
Katie Weaver, a staff worker at the library, sits across from the exhibit most days.
“I think it’s cool to have people see what the school was like in the past, and so we can see how far we’ve come,” she said.
The exhibit will be on display until Jan. 22, when a closing reception will be held at 3:30 p.m. with a talk presented by professor emeritus Craig Law.
Reynolds first came to the university as an art instructor in 1923. He was an advocate for the arts in Utah and he taught several courses, but he was best known as a pioneer in photography.
“Harry Reynolds goes way back before my time at USU, but I’ve always been impressed with his photographs,” Terry said.
Reynolds was one of the first people to produce quality photomicrographs, or photographs of microscopic objects, and he was invited to display his work around the country.
Katie Weaver, a staff worker at the library, sits across from the exhibit most days.
“I think it’s cool to have people see what the school was like in the past, and so we can see how far we’ve come,” she said.
The exhibit will be on display until Jan. 22, when a closing reception will be held at 3:30 p.m. with a talk presented by professor emeritus Craig Law.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Hatch's Cabin to maintain registry for historic landmark
Hatch’s Camp — also known as St. Ann’s Retreat and the Nunnery — was acquired by Matt Nielsen in fall of 2015, and he plans on maintaining its status on the National Register of Historic Places.
In order to do that, certain criteria must be met, but Lieutenant Brian Locke with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office thinks it may be a challenge for Nielsen. Young adults in the community often ventured up to the camp for thrills, especially in the summer months, Locke said.
“It’s because of all the stories people keep telling of the place — you know, the local legends,” Locke said.
Local legends include stories of pregnant nuns and dead babies, but the only story some have been able to confirm is that in 1997, dozens of teens were held hostage by several shotgun-wielding watchmen in the empty swimming pool at the camp.
“Vandalism was the biggest problem we were dealing with up there,” Locke said. “People would go in the buildings and break things and mess things up.”
Many of the cabins’ walls have writing etched in them. Broken glass is strewn about the floors of some of the buildings. Some of the walls have gaping holes in them. While it will take some effort to fix the buildings up, there are some benefits to keeping it on the National Register of Historic Places. For instance, if the property is listed on the registry, that qualifies the owner to receive tax credits for the investment and work they put into the property. Preservation specialist Chris Hansen from the Utah State Historical Society said there is some flexibility with this.
“You’re not required to restore it back to what it was, but you can retain its historic features,” Hansen said. “If they’re too damaged to restore, you can repair them. If they’re too damaged to repair, then you can replace it with an in-kind replacement, meaning it matches the look and feel of the property.”
As Nielsen works to restore and repair the property, Locke said he hopes the trespassing and vandalism die down, but it’s Nielsen’s job to report any issues he has.
“I would hope that people would just respect the new owners and not go in the buildings,” he said.
In order to do that, certain criteria must be met, but Lieutenant Brian Locke with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office thinks it may be a challenge for Nielsen. Young adults in the community often ventured up to the camp for thrills, especially in the summer months, Locke said.
“It’s because of all the stories people keep telling of the place — you know, the local legends,” Locke said.
Local legends include stories of pregnant nuns and dead babies, but the only story some have been able to confirm is that in 1997, dozens of teens were held hostage by several shotgun-wielding watchmen in the empty swimming pool at the camp.
“Vandalism was the biggest problem we were dealing with up there,” Locke said. “People would go in the buildings and break things and mess things up.”
Many of the cabins’ walls have writing etched in them. Broken glass is strewn about the floors of some of the buildings. Some of the walls have gaping holes in them. While it will take some effort to fix the buildings up, there are some benefits to keeping it on the National Register of Historic Places. For instance, if the property is listed on the registry, that qualifies the owner to receive tax credits for the investment and work they put into the property. Preservation specialist Chris Hansen from the Utah State Historical Society said there is some flexibility with this.
“You’re not required to restore it back to what it was, but you can retain its historic features,” Hansen said. “If they’re too damaged to restore, you can repair them. If they’re too damaged to repair, then you can replace it with an in-kind replacement, meaning it matches the look and feel of the property.”
As Nielsen works to restore and repair the property, Locke said he hopes the trespassing and vandalism die down, but it’s Nielsen’s job to report any issues he has.
“I would hope that people would just respect the new owners and not go in the buildings,” he said.
Friday, November 20, 2015
IT improves registration process, despite new challenges
It was registration week at Utah State University, and database administrator Ryan Merrill sat in front of two computer screens in his office. Two other IT administrators — Eric Allen and Duane Black — were adjacent to him, each with two screens in front of them, as well.
“We figure the more screens you have, the more productive you are,” Black said, and the trio laughed.
They had five or six windows open each in order to monitor all components of the registration system — “watching for red flags,” Merrill said. The three of them sat in this office in the Science Engineering Research Building until 1 a.m. on the nights of registration — sometimes later. They arrived at 7 p.m. each night — an hour before registration begins — but preparation for registration starts months in advance.
About 1,800 more students enrolled this semester than in the spring, which created a new challenge for the group.
“With increased enrollment, that generally translates to increased load throughout the week of registration,” Merrill said. “And so we work to create a robust computing environment that can handle the load.”
USU IT’s main focus in preparing for registration is load testing — making sure Banner XE, the new, modern interface, can handle having thousands of students using it at once. In March, registration times changed so they were staggered throughout the night according to the number of credits students have earned. This way, fewer students are on the site at once.
Since the university started using Banner XE in the spring, IT has encountered fewer problems. While it often staffs the service desk on registration nights, service desk manager Steve Funk said he didn’t see a need for it this semester. Merrill and his coworkers, however, are on duty during registration.
“In previous registration cycles, we’ve been here to deal with issues as they’ve arisen,” Merrill said. “Luckily, this registration cycle, we really have just watched and we haven’t really done too much. But we’re here in case something does go wrong.”
Drew Derbidge, who works in computer desktop support, was also the on-call technician during most of registration. He said registration has not been unusually busy for him, partly because he typically addresses IT issues with faculty and staff members.
Funk said the feedback he has received from students has been positive, and they seem to appreciate the new features, including the ability to plan a schedule ahead of time.
“With the older registration system, we were continuously encountering issues during priority registration,” Merrill said. “The new release of the software handles the load much, much better.”
In addition to monitoring the systems in Banner XE, Funk and Merrill said they pay close attention to social media. By watching USU Twitter accounts and USU-related hashtags, they can see what issues students are having and address them immediately.
“It’s a good way for us to keep our finger on the pulse,” Merrill said.
He said he likes to hear students’ feedback — the good and the bad.
“We’re hearing it as students are discussing this, which allows us to be more proactive rather than reactive,” Funk said.
For USU IT, registration is “a party,” Allen said. Its goal is to register as many students as quickly and easily as possible, so they all closely watch their respective areas of Banner.
“Any one of them could hiccup at any point time, and we want to know what’s going on and which one is having a problem so we can fix it the fastest,” he said.
Allen said the IT teams will start preparing for spring registration at the beginning of December.
“We’re always thinking about and working on registration,” he said.
“We figure the more screens you have, the more productive you are,” Black said, and the trio laughed.
They had five or six windows open each in order to monitor all components of the registration system — “watching for red flags,” Merrill said. The three of them sat in this office in the Science Engineering Research Building until 1 a.m. on the nights of registration — sometimes later. They arrived at 7 p.m. each night — an hour before registration begins — but preparation for registration starts months in advance.
About 1,800 more students enrolled this semester than in the spring, which created a new challenge for the group.
“With increased enrollment, that generally translates to increased load throughout the week of registration,” Merrill said. “And so we work to create a robust computing environment that can handle the load.”
USU IT’s main focus in preparing for registration is load testing — making sure Banner XE, the new, modern interface, can handle having thousands of students using it at once. In March, registration times changed so they were staggered throughout the night according to the number of credits students have earned. This way, fewer students are on the site at once.
Since the university started using Banner XE in the spring, IT has encountered fewer problems. While it often staffs the service desk on registration nights, service desk manager Steve Funk said he didn’t see a need for it this semester. Merrill and his coworkers, however, are on duty during registration.
“In previous registration cycles, we’ve been here to deal with issues as they’ve arisen,” Merrill said. “Luckily, this registration cycle, we really have just watched and we haven’t really done too much. But we’re here in case something does go wrong.”
Drew Derbidge, who works in computer desktop support, was also the on-call technician during most of registration. He said registration has not been unusually busy for him, partly because he typically addresses IT issues with faculty and staff members.
Funk said the feedback he has received from students has been positive, and they seem to appreciate the new features, including the ability to plan a schedule ahead of time.
“With the older registration system, we were continuously encountering issues during priority registration,” Merrill said. “The new release of the software handles the load much, much better.”
In addition to monitoring the systems in Banner XE, Funk and Merrill said they pay close attention to social media. By watching USU Twitter accounts and USU-related hashtags, they can see what issues students are having and address them immediately.
“It’s a good way for us to keep our finger on the pulse,” Merrill said.
He said he likes to hear students’ feedback — the good and the bad.
“We’re hearing it as students are discussing this, which allows us to be more proactive rather than reactive,” Funk said.
For USU IT, registration is “a party,” Allen said. Its goal is to register as many students as quickly and easily as possible, so they all closely watch their respective areas of Banner.
“Any one of them could hiccup at any point time, and we want to know what’s going on and which one is having a problem so we can fix it the fastest,” he said.
Allen said the IT teams will start preparing for spring registration at the beginning of December.
“We’re always thinking about and working on registration,” he said.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Three time's the charm: Planning commission to hear request for permit
For the third time since August 2014, the Cache County Planning Commission will hear a request from John and Caryn Mullin for a conditional use permit for a dog kennel business.
If approved in the Dec. 3 meeting, Wild Bunch Kennels — which would house 42 pugs — would be located on 1.14 acres of property at 5670 North Highway 23, Cache Junction. The property is in a cluster of homes, and the Mullins would build the kennel across from their home. While concerns last year primarily stemmed from the welfare of the animals, the commission is now expressing concern about potential odor and noise issues. The area is zoned for agriculture.
“It’s mainly the noise. The odor really isn’t a problem,” said Joseph Chambers, the Mullins' attorney. “The county has no objective standard on how to measure the noise."
If there is a noise violation, it is the applicant’s burden to address the issue. Sound on the property cannot exceed 75 decibels from 30 feet away. Chambers said it would cost the Mullins thousands of dollars to conduct a sound test. While law enforcement officials are not equipped with sound meters for noise complaints, the county can borrow one from the Bear River Health Department or Logan City.
“I’m certainly not a scientist on sound,” said Rob Smith, a member of the commission. “Other areas have certainly dealt with noise issues. I’m sure there are scientific methods established to deal with noise.”
The Wild Bunch Kennel would only house pugs, which are known for their small barks. The Mullins have been in the business of pug breeding for eight years at their current home in Casper, Wyoming, and they have never had an issue with noise before. In last year’s August meeting, John Mullin said the building would be fully insulated.
The path to bringing their business to Cache County has been a difficult one. In September of 2014, the Mullins were denied a conditional use permit by the Planning Commission. It was then appealed and sent to the Board of Adjustments, which overturned the commission’s decision and sent it back.
“Basically, the planning commission just made conclusions without finding the facts, and they denied it again,” Chambers said.
It wasn’t until the Mullins got the state ombudsman involved that the commission was ordered to review the request again.
“It sort of chastises the planning commission,” Chamber said.
While county ordinances change year to year, the planning commission’s suggestions to the Mullins must be according to the ordinance in place at the time of the initial request.
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