Last month Drdad and I traveled to Utah from New England for the exmo conference. We arrived early on Friday, rented a car and drove down to Utah valley to revisit our early history. We took a walk at the BYU campus.

We went over to the walkway kind of near where the health center used to be (maybe it is still there). Uh - the far side of campus near the pizza place.

Wow - very much improved. In fact it was under construction. We enjoyed watching the crews plant shrubs along the canal as we walked along. I was recalling my days on the BYU grounds crew in the summer of 1977. I only mowed lawns that was it. And only with a push mower. It would have been fun to plant shrubs.

So this older walks up to us and asks if we saw the sign and what were we doing there? "What sign?" we asked.

"The one that says this path is closed to pedestrians, can't you see we are working here?"

Drdad maintains that I turned the situation around through sheer flirtation, he was mad enough at the guy's tone to walk off, I was genuinely surprised. I said something like, "I do see the work going on here, it looks fabulous. We are tourists, alumni from way back when enjoying a trip down memory lane. You guys are doing a great job here."

He settled right down and asked where we were from. "Massachusetts."

"Where in Massachusetts?" he went on.

"Northwest of Boston, near Lowell if you know the area."

"I know the area, where near Lowell?"

"Chelmsford." Suddenly he was beaming. "My son lives in Chelmsford." He went on to tell us the son's name and seemed surprised and hurt that we didn't recognize it. (Hey there are 35,000 people in Chelmsford, cut us some slack.) Then he says, "He works in the computer industry." Um yeah, Chelmsford used to be the HQ for Wang back in the day. We have more than our share of techy geeks here.

The guy persisted, "He's six foot eight, with red hair and weighs 300 pounds."

Now THAT we might recall seeing on the street, only we didn't and we told him so. He tried to recall the name of a restaurant he had been to in Chelmsford. We had the name for him so clearly we were all talking about the same place.

He shook his head and asked how someone who was assoicated with BYU living in Chelmsford could not know his son. We shrugged and I changed the subject.

"Were you part of the grounds management in 1977?" I asked sweetly.

"I sure was," he said. "Been here for forty years."

"I think you were my boss the summer of 1977. I mowed lawns."

I explained how I broke his safety rules by pulling the mower backward and forward when mowing creek banks. He chuckled that I was lucky not to have lost a foot. He said that particular kind of mower had been banned for both environmental and safety reasons.

He walked along with us to the next pathway exit. He took down the barricade that said "no pedestrians." He said, "You folks walk along and check out the latest landscaping. If anyone asks why you are there, tell them Roy said it was ok."

We said we would keep an eye out for his son. (We still haven't seen him. I think that would require locating the Lowell ward!)

Can you hear the music?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2010 08:07PM by msmom.

I worked for Roy on BYU Grounds Crew too! Brown hair, glasses, always wears a cowboy hat. But I got to plant shrubbery :)

When was that? I keep my eye out for his son because I would love to walk up to a stranger to say, "Does your dad manage the groundskeeping at Brigham Young University?"

I worked there off and on around 2002-2003, I really enjoyed it. Pruning bushes, planting flowers, turning on sprinklers, removing Virginia creepers (Tarzan vines!) and of course, mulching. I did think it was a little overdone - the amount of money and effort put into making BYU look nice - because of course, it's all about appearances. BYU is the single largest employer for grounds maintenance workers in the area. But it is a fun student job.

From articles in BYU's news, I think the groundskeeper's last name is Peterman, and I've found a Randy and Jerusha Peterman in Chelmsford. You can Google his website and see if he looks like the groundskeeper. :)

Tyson



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2010 01:08PM by Tyson Dunn.

I looked them up on anywho for a Chelmsford address. Maybe I should stop by and invite them to church with me!