Wheatland Chapel Groundbreaking

We finally broke ground today for the newest building in our stake. We have tried to get another chapel in the southern portion of the stake since the days of the previous stake president. For years there was a great deal of growth in the area south of Olivehurst (called Plumas Lake) and Wheatland. There were some issues with the Army Corps of Engineers and wetlands mitigation, but after asking our Congressman (the Honorable Wally Herger, a good friend of my Dad, a member of the Church, and former resident of the Wheatland Ward in the Rio Oso area). He made things happen! So anyway, today we started, and in 11 months time we should have it done. Below is the architect's drawing (enhanced with colored pencil by me).

(The mountains in the drawing is the artist's assumption that the chapel will be built along the Wasatch front. We have no such elevations in the flood plain at the confluence of the two rivers that come together in Wheatland. A lot of people thought it was funny to see it there)

Here are a couple of photos of the crowd (we tried to keep this a small occasion in favor a bigger deal with the media and civic officials at the dedication). We had 75-80 people as seen on the left. After some of us officious types dug in the dirt, we turned it over to kids and others to have their turn. It was pretty fun - and a very good event.

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The photo on the left is of the property with a new drainage ditch already in place. The one on the right shows "the Man in the Panama Hat" talking to one of the former bishops of the ward. If you look carefully you can also see the hat in the photo above on the left.

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