Honorary tribute to Bart entered into the U.S. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD by Representative Jim Matheson

An honorary tribute to Bart was entered into the U.S. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD by Representative Jim Matheson.

http://0-www.gpo.gov.library.colby.edu/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2009-05-07/pdf/CREC-2009-05-07-extensions.pdf

Page 10, middle column, half way down the page

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HONORING THE LIFE AND WORK
OF BART ANDERSON

HON. JIM MATHESON
OF UTAH
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Mr. MATHESON. Madam Speaker, southern
Utah has lost a local treasure with the passing
of Bart Anderson of St. George, Utah.

Bart Anderson was often described by people
who meet him for the first time as ‘‘bearsized
Bart Anderson’’. He loomed large in the
community life of Washington County. He was
a retired St. George hematologist, historian
and folklorist. Everyone knew him as ‘‘Ranger
Bart’’ because he devoted his golden years to
giving slide shows at nearby national parks—
including Zion National Park—as well as at
state parks.

I knew Bart Anderson as a man with a passion
for the stories of this part of the West,
known as Utah’s Dixie—so named because
cotton was one of the crops grown by the
Mormon settlers here at the time of the Civil
War.

One of Bart’s most popular presentations
was one on the outlaw Butch Cassidy. It featured
vintage photos of Butch Cassidy, who
Bart often pointed out, could charm the locals
and even the lawmen of that era.

Bart was a talented and versatile man, who
turned down a number of more lucrative business
offers because they would take him
away from Dixie and he said he had too much
red dirt running through his veins to leave.

As a child, he contracted polio and when
doctors said he wouldn’t walk again, his father
threw him in the swimming pool to help make
him strong. When he was 11, Bart’s father arranged
for him to work for the Boy Scouts as
a guide into the back country. He developed
a great love of hiking, including the Grand
Canyon.

As an adult, he merged his love of hiking
with his passion for story-telling by giving
walking tours in downtown St. George. That
morphed into a series of history lectures for
which he developed over 100 slide programs
that communicated his love of place to residents
and visitors alike.

He married his sweetheart—Delorice—
whom he called ‘‘the wind beneath my wings.’’
She was often in the audience during his lectures
and performances. Whether he was reciting
‘‘The Ballad of Sam McGee’’ around a
campfire with a troop of Boy Scouts, or researching
history at the Washington County
Historical Society, Bart Anderson was happiest
when he was immersed in folklore. He received
many local state and national honors,
including an award as Outstanding Volunteer
from former First Lady Hillary Clinton.

One of his close friends—Lyman Hafen—
told the local newspaper that Anderson was
one-of-a-kind—with a heart as big as Zion
Canyon. I was very proud to be his friend and
while he will be missed, he will never be forgotten.