A Christmas Obsession

A love for the holidays has been the guiding force behind Claron Durrant’s festive collection that is slowly taking over his house

James L. Davis

Claron Durrant will admit that when it comes to Christmas he’s just a little bit obsessed. But when you step into the front room of his home in Huntington you might wonder exactly how he defines “a little bit.”
When you step through the doorway of the Durrant home you are stepping out of reality and into a magical and miniature village where it is always Christmas.
Painstakingly developed over a span of 38 years, “Durrant Village” completely overtakes the sitting room of the Durrant home during the Christmas season with model after model of Christmas scenes that depict everything from a boy with his tongue stuck to a flagpole to Santa kissing Mrs. Santa Claus. The village has grown to the point where there is no longer room for a couch and all of the furniture has to be removed during the Christmas season, which for the Durrants, starts the day after Thanksgiving.
“It’s crazy but we have a lot of fun with it,” Durrant said with a laugh.
Durrant said he and his wife started their Christmas collection years ago with small cardboard Christmas scenes but for Claron, the true obsession stretches back to his youth, when his mother started collecting Christmas scenes.
“My dad wasn’t big on Christmas but my mom sure was. Christmas is the greatest time of the year,” Claron said.
With six grown children and 14 grandchildren, Claron and his Christmas village continue to be a big hit with the family.
“They love it. The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally when we start to put it up. That’s part of the excitement of it for me, to see their eyes,” Claron said.
“I think the grandchildren would be extremely disappointed if grandpa didn’t put up the village,” said Claron’s wife, Vicky.
Claron said most of his collection he has picked up at local stores such as Wal-Mart and when the Christmas season comes to retailers (around September) he starts to keep his eyes open for something new.
With one room completely overtaken by Claron’s Christmas village some items have moved on to other rooms in the Durrant home and others have moved to the classroom. Claron is a first grade teacher at Huntington Elementary, where he has taught various class grades for the past 28 years. He has invited his classes to come by and visit the Christmas village every year, which is one of the reasons he goes to the week long effort to reconstruct the village every year, is so others can enjoy the sights and sounds of the Christmas season he has created with his village.
Vicky takes her husbands Christmas obsession all in stride with a smile and a shrug. “He puts up with my idiosyncrasies. If this is the only vice he has then so be it, but it is getting to the point where he has to stop or we have to move out.”
“We’ve talked about building onto the house and keeping it up all year long,” Claron said.
Two of the Durrant children have inherited their father’s love for Christmas in miniature with Claron’s son, Dennis and daughter Melinda collecting the models as well.
If Claron’s collection can be truly called an obsession, then it is an obsession being fed by friends and loved ones. Fellow teachers at school always know what to get Claron for a gift and his mother-in-law, Dessia Cox, who lives next door, often makes a gift of Christmas models from Avon.
“She feeds the habit,” Vicky said of her mother.
As the years pass and Claron’s collection continues to grow one piece at a time he has taken to telling his grown children that Durrant Village will be their inheritance.
“I keep telling them this is your inheritance. When I die you can sell it and get rich,” he said and then shrugs. “But maybe not.”

Food bank benefits from season of giving

James L. Davis

During a season of giving the Emery County Food Bank has found itself filled with the generosity of the community it serves as individuals and groups have rallied to support the charitable organization.
Kathy Thomas, coordinator of services for the Emery County area, reports that the food bank is in good shape for the holidays following an outpouring of support from schools, businesses and members of the public.
“Emery County is very generous to the food bank. Every time we have a food drive the response is great,” Thomas said.
Emery High school students recently held a food drive and Thomas and her staff of volunteers were overwhelmed when 10 pickups worth of food showed up at the food bank.
Cottonwood Elementary students also held a food drive recently and donated more than 1,000 pounds of food.
Last week the Utah Food Bank delivered 100 turkeys for the holidays, all of which were distributed during the week because the food bank has no facilities to refrigerate them.
According to Thomas the food bank typically provides services to 100 families at any given time.
“The numbers go up in the winter time. I’m sure a lot of people are seasonal workers, which is a reason for the increase,” she said.
As services coordinator, Thomas also oversees the Heat Program, Crisis Program, a referral services program and the Sub for Santa program. “Coordinator means I do a lot of things, including shoveling snow,” she said.
Thomas has been the services coordinator for the past six years and said she loves her job.
“It’s a wonderful job to be able to help people. Helping people get back on track is very rewarding. It’s also frustrating because you can’t always help because of a lack of funding,” she said.

Elmo man dies in industrial accident

James L. Davis

An Elmo man died Dec. 12 following a heavy equipment accident at C.W. Mining Co. in Huntington Canyon.
David Whiting, 31, was killed when he became pinned between a semi and a loader in an attempt to attach a tow cable after the truck became stuck.
Whiting was a driver for Trimac Transportation of Cleveland and while attempting to reach the load-out for the mine his semi became stuck. According to the Emery County Sheriff’s Office Whiting went in search of help to move his truck and an unidentified loader operator went to assist with a loader belonging to the mine.
When Whiting went to attach the tow cable to his truck and the loader the loader backed into him, pinning him against his truck. According to Sheriff Lamar Guymon whether the loader slipped on the same bad conditions which led to the truck becoming stuck or because of brake or other mechanical problems is not known, as of yet. Officials from the Mine Safety and Health Administration are investigating the cause of the accident. Whiting’s death marks the 31st coal mine fatality in the nation for 2007.
Whiting leaves behind his wife, Layci and their three children, Christian, Aspynn and Larry. Layci is pregnant with their fourth child. Funeral services for Whiting were held Dec. 15. A memorial fund has been established for Whiting’s family at Desertview Federal Credit Union in Huntington.

Acreage proposal goes to commission

James L. Davis

The Emery County Planning Commission voted during its Dec. 12 meeting to forward its recommendation to the county commission to approve the proposed ordinance that would change the county subdivision acreage requirement from 10 acres to two acres.
The planning commission held a public hearing on Nov. 14 regarding the proposal where citizens had a chance to voice their approval or disapproval of the proposed ordinance change.
According to planning commission chairman Mack Huntington after a short discussion the commission voted unanimously to send the proposed ordinance change forward to the county commission. The county commissioners can do one of three things with the proposal: they can adopt it, they can amend it or they can reject it.
The proposed ordinance change came after a long and intensive process by the planning commission regarding what to do about continued requests for the county to change its acreage requirements for subdivisions. Currently property owners must have 10 acres of land to meet zoning requirements and build on their property. The commission proposal would allow for a property owner to subdivide into two acre lots to build.
Prior to the hearing representatives of the Castle Valley Special Service District had voiced their objection to the proposal, stating that they felt the acreage requirement would lead to uncontrolled growth around Emery County municipalities by property owners who did not contribute tax revenue to cities but wanted all of the benefits of city life, including water, sewer, garbage pickup and paved roads.
According to Huntington the Emery County Board of Commissioners requested the planning commission look into the matter and bring them proposed legislation that they could consider on what to do about the problem.
The planning commission has taken pains to emphasize that if the proposal is adopted by the Emery County Commission, then no property owner could subdivide their property if they didn’t have access to water.
“Before you can subdivide you have to have water in place,” said Gary Arrington of the planning commission during the Nov. 14 public hearing. “The cities are very much in control of what goes on around them.”
The proposed change to the subdivision rules impacts property only in the agricultural zone of the county and would not impact property in the mountains or the eastern part of the county. Before being allowed to subdivide property owners would have to secure water connections and have a legal survey of their property. The planned subdivision must also have access along an existing county or state highway, so there could be no demand for new roads to access new subdivisions.
The requirement for water connections prior to subdividing could be a deal breaker for property owners if cities are not interested in providing water connections outside their boundaries. It is one of the requirements that supporters of the proposal believe keep the cities in the driver’s seat when it comes to unwanted growth outside their boundaries. The exception would be property owners in the northern part of the county, which is served by the North Emery Water Users Special Service District. The district has connections available in some of its area and would be willing to provide them to property owners interested in subdividing. Outside of the NEWUSSD boundaries, the only way a subdivision could be allowed in the county without cities providing a water connection is if a private water company was established.
Darrell Leamaster, manager of the Castle Valley Special Service District has been vocal in his objection to the proposal. One of Leamaster’s concerns was that if individuals were allowed water connections in the county they would be reliant on septic systems for their sewer and septic systems do not do well in the county. His objections were followed by others in the audience, some of them residents of cities, some of them residents of the county.
Of the public comments during the hearing most were against the proposal and a few had specific questions on how it might impact cities and property owners. Of those who were asked if they had read the proposed change to the subdivision ordinance, most admitted that they had not read the document. The proposed change to the ordinance had been available for review at the county clerk’s office before the hearing.
Supporters of the change said the proposal is the end result of almost a year’s worth of work and comes about to address a demand by property owners.
“There is a demand. People are looking for lots and for whatever reason they do not wish to live in the cities,” McCandless said.
Emery County is one of the most restrictive counties in the state when it comes to acreage requirements for building. Carbon County, by contrast, allows building on lots as small as 8,000 square feet if they provide a letter to the county that certifies that they have water service to their property.
While most of the public comments during the hearing were against the proposal, Huntington said that none of the comments heard by the commission changed their opinion that the proposal was best for the county. He went on to say that it was obvious those objecting to the proposed ordinance had not read the document. The proposal had been available for public viewing at the county clerk’s office but Huntington noted that not one copy of the proposal had been picked up prior to the hearing.
With the vote by the planning commission to send the proposal on to the commissioners, they will do so in writing and the Emery County Commission will vote on the proposal in the new year.

Christmas carolers help Cleveland council end meeting on sweet note

Judi Bishop

The Cleveland Town Council met for their regular council meeting on Dec. 13 at 7 p.m.
Mayor Chris Parkins called the meeting to order. In attendance were Verla Jensen, Greg Oliver, Richard Murdoch and Jason Merrell.
Parkins stated they didn’t have a lot to decide on for this last meeting of the year, however, the issues that needed to be discussed were important.
In the absence of the town secretary, Verla Jensen read the minutes from the meeting in November. Motion was made to approve by Murdoch and seconded by Oliver to approve the minutes. Approved by all present.
The burn pile located by the cemetery was discussed and it was stated by the mayor that Steve Taylor was handling the situation well. It was then brought to the table by Oliver that this burn pile should only be used by Cleveland residents.
Mayor Parkins indicated that the town was working toward signing the burn pile to address that problem of unauthorized dumping.
Next the Mayor stated that Jamie Jensen had submitted the paperwork for the audit report and that should be back to them by year’s end.
Nick and Laurie Rogers wanted to know how to legally reverse a subdivided parcel of land that they own within the city limits of Cleveland. The road to the property they explained was a county road. Mayor Parkins said that having some knowledge of their plan, he had gotten information needed with the steps that needed to be taken to be able to do that.
Rogers wanted to know if the land owner was responsible for the development and improvements of the property with regards to sewer, water and other utilities, including curb and gutter. Councilman Oliver responded that as far as he knew the property owner is responsible and then if the property is within city boundaries, the city becomes responsible for maintaining them.
Parkins said that in order for Rogers to break the property down into three parcels he will need the agreement from the property owners whose property is adjacent to it. A survey would need to be done to determine exact property lines. Rogers indicated that he would get all of the requirements taken care of.
Christmas bonuses for the two town employees were discussed and a motion was made by the mayor and seconded by Oliver and approved by all for the bonuses to be paid.
A problem that towns are all facing was discussed and that is of drainage and possible flooding of some of the new homes being built. The mayor and council agreed that it will be an issue they will be looking into and discussing in detail in the future.
A group of ladies from the town, Teresa Jensen, Patti Powell, Evelyn Bird and Darcy Powell came in singing. “We wish you a merry Christmas and presented a plate of cookies.
Verla Jensen reported that she is still working on putting a planning and zoning committee together for the town of Cleveland. Oliver made a motion to pay the bills and mayor stated that they could as the town is healthy. It was seconded by Merrell and approved by all.
A motion to adjourn was made by Murdoch and seconded by Oliver and approved by all with a hearty see you next year.