My Portfolio

As a Vietnam vet, I find it easier to share war stories with fellow vets than with non-vets. But there's a lot more to military life than the worst of the worst. And since only a small fraction of veterans ever see actual combat, there are lots of fascinating stories to...

On the road …again!! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek    Stupid Coconut!   When the senior Swiss researcher saw a coconut that had washed ashore at high tide, he was delighted to know that he would soon have a fresh snack.  Despite being in a...

Acer rubrum To Zyzyphus jujuba Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek     Change Your Razor Blade—On Demand   Sometimes finding a news story to comment on is not always an obvious topic of interest to everyone. An essay about razor blades is far from...

"Meet you at the roller skating rink."  Arland LeRoy and Ilean Hazel did just that.  They met at the Roller Skating Rink at the Spanish Fork City Park. Arland was born on January 8, 1926 in the family home in Salem, located on the corner of 100 East and Hazel Drive....

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   The Baby and the Bathwater   The continuously improving technologies of digital coding and wireless communications via computer have opened up opportunities for individuals that most of us do not fully appreciate.  As the innovators, techies,...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   The Golok   Shortly after his arrival on the tiny island of Pulau Peucang in 1975, one of his Indonesian counterparts mentioned that if the Footloose Forester intended to go into the forest, he needed to...

Aylene Christensen was born August 9, 1927 in the family home in Benjamin, Utah.  Her parents were Charles Arlynn Hickman and Delta Larsen Hickman.  She was the baby of the family with two older brothers and two older sisters.  Her mother passed away at age 39 when Aylene was a young...

  On the road… again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Let’s Go Shake The Apple Tree   The Bengal Tiger was already in the branches of the Pennsylvania apple tree in the autumn of 2015 when she connected with the expression she had used...

PREFACE:  This is the second memoir of a multi-year experience that had a definite impact on my later life.  I want to stress that I am sharing these experiences in an effort to give some testimony to the way God has worked in my life and not in any sort of...

In rummaging through my bookshelf recently selecting books I could donate to our church’s garage sale I came across a collection of stories my next oldest brother, Gene, had written as a columnist for the weekly newspaper in the town in which he grew up  He grew up living in and...

We'd like to introduce you to Beverly Faretta.  She was born December 12, 1931.  She was born and raised in the family home at 555 East 200 South, Provo [Utah]. Her parents were Ervin and Minnie Bell Brailsford.  They lived in this this home until she was 12; then they moved...

Marion Robert Morrison aka John Wayne (1907-1979) John Wayne was a larger-than-life movie hero, but his ancestors were the same type and could have fit right into his film roles, according to a Utah genealogical research company. Research International was in the midst of work on a book about Wayne's ancestors...

Preface:  This is the first "chapter" of what will be a "quadrilogy" chronicling a part of my teen years that had a profound effect on my later life.  I do not offer these in any kind of "I'm proud of this" boasting way.  If I have any motive other than simply...

On the road… again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Cracking the Lilly Fuchsia Case   Youthful CSI investigator Jaelyn (Mushroom) Hunt(er) lived the CSI credo of following the evidence. Those essentials are: observe the evidence; gather it up; display it during an initial examination;...

NaDean Sheen 1 July 2015, Salem Utah NaDean Sheen is a spry 92-year old.  She was born June 16, 1923 in Springville at her grandmother's home. Her parents, Reed and Cathrine Hansen, lived in Palmyra.  She grew up there on the family farm.  She learned to work helping her dad on...

Back From the Edge   When someone has lived at the edge where safety and danger intermix, where adrenalin pumps, and senses stay on high alert they can become addicted to the feeling. Some cannot stop and return again and again back into the lion’s den to fly higher, dive deeper,...

  Although I no longer fly airplanes my passion for it still runs hot in my blood.  I spent a little over 2,000 hours of my life piloting small airplanes and they are among the most precious hours of my life.  During those hours I had many occasions to learn the...

By Lloyd R. Adams This is a true story that might inspire you by helping others and at the same time fulfill your own dream to enjoy financial freedom for the rest of your life. In 1986, shortly after securing a 100% financed small business loan with the local community bank...

 July 4 th , or more properly “Independence Day.”  Outside my window dads with little kids close beside them are lighting fuses, sending rockets aloft to burst high in the air raining varicolored bits of incendiary material down onto the streets, roofs and lawns.  Most I suspect are giving little if...

Max and Mava Walters are our Senior Spotlight for July.  Mava was born in Salt Lake City on July 15, 1942, but her family moved to Salem when she was six months old, so she is an original "Salem" girl.  Her parents were Wilford and Virgie Hunt.  Max was born in...