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AMERICA'S FUTURE : Schoolchildren observe Veterans Day ceremonies at USU. Click Arts&Life for a link to photos. / Photo by Leah Lopshire

Today's word on journalism

November 14, 2008

Fun Stuff

1. "The days of the digital watch are numbered."--Tom Stoppard, playwright (Thanks to Tom Hodges)

2. Palin-dromes: "Wasilla's all I saw." "Harass Sarah!"

3. "If you don't think too good, don’t think too much."--Ted Williams (1918-2002), philosopher-athlete (Thanks to alert WORDster Karl Petruso)

4. "I don't know anything that mars good literature so completely as too much truth."--Mark Twain (1835-1910), writer

5. "The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." --Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), writer

6. "The First Amendment was the iPod of 1791." --Ken Paulson, editor, USA Today

7. "That's not writing. That's typing." --Truman Capote (1924-1964), writer

8. "The future of the book is the blurb." --Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980), sociologist

Speak up! Comment on the WORD at

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Feedback and suggestions--printable and otherwise--always welcome. "There are no false opinions."

Arts & Life : :

Providence serving up sauerkraut with a side of tradition

By G. Christopher Terry

October 28, 2008 | PROVIDENCE -- The more the annual Turkey and Sauerkraut Dinner changes, the more it stays the same. Folks who are familiar with the proud history of sauerkraut in Providence can tell you all about the ways they used to celebrate their city's German lineage.

Used to be, the LDS wards in Providence hosted annual turkey and sauerkraut dinners separately. The Sauerkraut Follies would perform a program of skits and feats of talent. Providence-dwellers grew cabbage, harvested it, washed it, sliced it and salted it away in barrels so they would have enough of the sour, stringy delicacy to go around.

That was before Providence mushroomed in size from two wards to 14, according to Mayor Randy Simmons. That was also before the state of Utah's public health inspectors got a look at the sauerkraut-making process and gave it a thumbs-down.

This year, as in every year since 1994, the city put on the dinner. It was catered by the Providence eatery Iron Gate Grill, and was held at Spring Creek Middle School to accommodate a large turnout.

Jay Hicken, a longtime Providence resident who was enjoying the meal in the fellowship of some other well-tenured Providencers, said he "kind of had to be talked into eating it when I first came out here.

"Really good kraut this year," Hicken said, a sentiment echoed by the others at his table.

And so despite the radical changes to an event which reflect the radically changing conditions in Providence, the turkey and sauerkraut dinner is still all about bringing neighbors together, whether they live on a farm, as many folks in Providence still do, or in a brand-new home in a subdivision, as more and more do every day.

KRAUT AND FUN: "Providence Gothic" was a chanace for a gag photo. Below, Iron Gate Grill employee Randy Walker slices turkey, and, at bottom, Tara Bankhead, left, displays her first-place ribbon and sauerkraut reuben casserole. Erica Low holds a Tyrolean sausage and sauerkraut dish that was also excellent. / Photos by G. Christopher Terry

Simmons does not underestimate the power of sauerkraut. He tells of a couple, both in their 80s, who have never been without Providence sauerkraut in the pantry for their entire married lives. Now they are down to their last two jars, but all may not be lost: Simmons hopes to replace the commercial kraut served this year with kraut grown in Providence for next year's banquet.

"Next year, we'll have things organized and set up so we'll have a kitchen and we'll can it at the Franklin cannery," Simmons said.

2008 is the first year a car show has been incorporated with the sauerkraut dinner, and 49 vintage and custom automobiles were on display out on a soccer field. A craft fair and free games for children were set up adjacent to the gymnasium-cum-banquet hall. This is where Jeff Flammer, who remembers helping to make sauerkraut as a kid, has set up a display for his home printing business. "The thing is," Flammer said, "I can't stand kraut."

Flammer may not enjoy sauerkraut's pungent, instantly recognizable flavor, but he is adding to the flavor of this ever-evolving community happening by being here, with his t-shirts and stoneware. (Flammer owns a printer which paints a detailed image right into the surface of stone or fabric. Most feature comforting expressions of domesticity, or hilarious attacks on liberal democrats or Brigham Young University.) One finds it difficult to square the young man proffering a shirt depicting former Vice President Al Gore being gored (get it?) by a bull with stories of hoary old Germanic farmers packing their barrels with shredded cabbage and salt, and storing the barrel behind a wood-burning stove until the kraut attains the right flavor. Yet these two Providences exist side-by-side, every day. And there's no better way to take in the delightfully contradictory nature of Providence than with a belly full of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and of course, sauerkraut.

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