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Page 5



We had a storm front blow through, bringing some rain that washed most of the smoke out of the air, slackened the fires a little bit, and gave us blue skies for a while. We finally were able to see the mountains on the other side of the lake.

clear view over the lakesmoky view over lake
Compare this view over our arm of Lake Yellowstone with this previous view. There
is still a slight smudge of smoke rising into the air near the middle of the picture.

Lewis Lake
 Moose in Lewis River
Lewis Lake, a few miles south of Grant Village. Some parts of the shoreline were not touched by the 1988 fires and are very pretty with their tall green lodgepole pines.
 Our first moose! Lewis River, south of Lewis Lake.


Christmas in August

Yellowstone has an interesting tradition of celebrating "Christmas in August". The lore is that in the early 1900's an early snowstorm on August 25 trapped a bunch of visitors at Old Faithful Inn when the stagecoaches used for transportation then could not get through. They decided to make the best of a bad situation by decorating a tree and singing carols. Supposedly Yellowstone has been celebrating Christmas in August ever since. Grant Campground celebrated August 24, i.e. "Christmas in August Eve".

Sherry at service window decorated for Christmas in August
 Tree is registration office
Sherry at her campground registration window decorated for Christmas in August.
 Our mini-tree in the registration office as gifts for the employee gift exchange start to arrive. The tree decorations are cutthroat trout, the native trout species, one for each campground employee.


Setting up for employee Christmas dinner
 Ruthie
Setting up for the employee Christmas in August dinner.
 Ruthie Shogren, a fellow Guest Service Agent, was obviously in a festive Christmas mood.


Doug Prettyman, Grant Chef
 Carving the turkeys
Doug Prettyman, our next door neighbor in the employee campground, serves as the campground chief chef. Here he samples the turkey to make sure it is up to his high standards.
Chef Doug oversees Chuck Beardmore and Fred Ripberger as they carve up his masterpieces.


Preparing the table
 Dinner bell
Ruthie and Georgia Downey prepare the table.
 "Dinner is served!"


Presenting the Ice Cream Chef apron
 The serving line
Fred made two batches of home made ice cream for the festivities. Doug presents him with an Ice Cream Chef apron in appreciation, signed by the whole staff..
 The serving line.


Chowing down
 Passing out numbers for gift exchange
Chowing down. Gene and Joyce Shea in the foreground.
 Joyce passes out numbers for the gift exchange.


Joe Wilroy awarded marker
 Loading into truck prior to caroling
Joe Wilroy was awarded a campsite marker he ran over while doing his Campground Attendant duties last year. "The gang" loads into a company truck to go caroling through the Grant Campground.
Carolers caught in the act
 More carolers caught in the act
Most of the campers thought we were nuts, but we had a great time. Our foreign guests seem to enjoy the event the most.
These two images courtesy Campground Hosts Ron and Sherry Conley.


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Except where otherwise noted, text and images Copyright © 2003, F D Wilson

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