Jessica said she used five full note pads recording her observations and interviews with about 20 local residents. She wanted to talk to people from all different walks of life to get a sense of the variety of people who call Castle Valley home.
Jessica interviewed such people as Laura Kamala, Vijali Hamilton, Jack Campbell, Mayor Bruce Keeler, Chris Coffey, Merrill Brady, Terry Tempest Williams, Robert and Hertha at the Castle Valley Inn, Jeff and Mark at Round Mountain Winery and Rusty Salmon for background and historical information.
She said it “was a gift that we stumbled on,” regarding their visit to the valley and said she was heartened about how comfortable people were about talking about their home. “People were so warm and talked proudly” about the valley," she observed, and said she had a “fantastic experience talking with the wealth of characters in Castle Valley.”
Jessica’s story covered 25 typed pages but said she is allowed only 40 column inches for the feature, which will eliminate much of her effort. Ryan also took “an enormous amount of pictures” to go with the article but only a few of those will be used. The feature will also include a few sidebar stories and some information boxes to add to the feature.
Jessica is from Michigan originally and later moved to the Bay Area of California where she spent eight years. She received an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. She has been on the staff of the Tribune since late October. The feature story will appear in the July 3 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune.
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Over the years, I’ve been invited many times to witness the “triple sunrise” that occurs every summer solstice morning from Jack Powers’ deck. For about 22 years, since the early 1980s, Jack and his long-time friend, University of Utah colleague and neighbor, the late Bill Viavant, invited the valley to Jack’s house for breakfast and to view the phenomenon that happens every June 21st. Regrettably, I never did attend. I just hated the idea of getting up that early in the morning.
This morning (Tuesday, June 21), after the thought of the event nagged at my mind for several years, I succumbed to the pestering of my conscience and got up at 5:30 a.m. to view this unusual occurrence. I wasn’t disappointed. The morning was cool and serene and beautiful. A buck mule deer, not really concerned about my presence, sauntered by in the tall grass and trees while I was waiting there.
The only difference from previous years however, was that nobody else was there. You see, Jack moved away several years ago to live with his daughter in the East but I could still imagine a crowd of people milling around on the deck, nibbling at food, talking quietly and waiting for the rising sun.
At 6:55 a.m., the sun finally rose briefly to the left of what Jack called “Baby Carriage Rock,” that nub Northwest of Castle Rock. The sun then reappeared between “Baby Carriage Rock” and Castle Rock, disappeared again and finally rose at the top of Castle Rock to create the “triple sunrise.”
It all happened in about 15 minutes and it all happened just as Jack said it would. And I’m glad I finally witnessed it.