My cousin, Millie Kay Francis (Uncle Howard's daughter), owns a spacious cabin between Duchesne and Heber City. Every year, she invites her Calder cousins to the cabin for a retreat. I spent Friday, September 16, 2016, with my cousins. From left to right, Colleen Marshall (Uncle Dave), Cal Volker (Aunt Sally), Janet Calder (Uncle Ham), Millie Kay, me, Susie Liechty (Uncle Dave), and Sally Joyce Bradshaw (Uncle Dave). I was the baby, at 66. The rest ranged from 71 (Sally Joyce) to 79 (Colleen).
After breakfast, we left for Vernal, where our parents and grandparents lived for fifty years, from 1899 into the 1950s. Millie Kay lived in Vernal from her birth in 1940 until 1956, and she had many stories to share.
Our first stop was the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum.
There was a large picture of our great-great uncle, Sam Bennion, in the very first room. He was the Uintah Stake President when the tabernacle was built, which has now been remodeled into a temple. Our grandfather, Hyrum Bennion Calder, was a bishop and stake president in Vernal for 45 years.
Our guide explained that Vernal is always in a boom/bust cycle because of its reliance on energy industries. It is now in a bust cycle, because the price of oil is low.
We saw wonderful antiques, including this prayer altar, used by the high priests of Uintah Stake.
This cheese cutter came from the Calder Brothers cheese factory.
Millie Kay knew the woman from whose house this chaise longue was donated. "She always wore a little sailor hat," Millie Kay remembered.
Next stop was the cemetery. I visited the graves of many people whose stories I know. I wish I had spent more time with my grandmother, Agnes "Nellie" Calder. My mother was often uneasy with in-laws, but she always spoke highly of Grandmother Calder. "She was a gracious lady," Mother said.
Lula Hamilton was Grandmother's sister who died while her boyfriend, Clive Davis, was fighting in World War I.
Marie Calder was Aunt Sally's best friend, who died of diphtheria as a high school student. Aunt Sally missed Marie all of her life.
Kristin was my cousin, Millie Kay's sister, who died of breast cancer at 38. She had married a few years before, but six months after her marriage, her husband died when his paraglider crashed. Kristin went by her maiden name.
George Calder and his wife, Mary Bennion, founded Calder's Park, the first amusement park west of the Mississippi, in 1863. Mary was born in Nauvoo and arrived in Salt Lake City in 1847. She lived until 1933 and was feted as one of the last living pioneers from 1847.
We then drove along Vernal Avenue to the old home sites of the Calders. We passed the home where Dave Calder lived with his family for several years in the 1940s and 1950s, before moving to Provo. Collen and Susie remembered living there.
We passed the home of Pontha and Rosella Calder. Pontha was Grandfather's brother and his partner in many business ventures, including the original ice business. Eventually, Pontha started his own businesses, including a candy-making business and a soda shop.
We paused at the site of the creamery and Coca Cola plant. We saw the loading dock where trucks used to pick up milk and cheese.
The Calders no longer own the Vernal Coke plant, but it is still in operation.
We looked around the graffiti-lined walls of the old creamery. Millie Kay pointed out the spot where Grandmother had her office and sent out the bills.
Years ago, this spot was the Calder Pond, from which ice was harvested in the winter. The Calder Brothers' first venture was selling ice. From there, they moved into creameries and soda pop.
We lingered at the Calder home. Grandfather and Grandmother built a log cabin on this spot soon after they arrived in Vernal in 1899, as newlyweds. Over the years, they completed this home, with four bedrooms and two baths. It was rundown when we visited, with beat-up pick-up trucks and a scrawny cat, but someone still lives there.
"There used to be a gazebo in the back yard," Millie Kay said. "It was brought from Calder's Park."
