Kenneth Ernest Hafen

Uncle Ken would come to Henderson during the summer break at BYU and help my dad at the OK Rubber Welders (known today as OK Tire Store). My dad, in later years, related how much he appreciated Ken's help. Uncle Ken would sleep on an old brown sofa we had in the living room and he would keep his clothes in a big moving box (probably 3 feet by 3 feet by 5 feet tall. I remember getting in trouble more than once for playing in that box with the clothes in it. One weekend there must have been something going on in St. George because the whole family made the trip. I was lucky enough to go with Uncle Ken in his 1951 (?) 2 door Chevy coup. When I say "lucky", let me explain. In the old days (this would have been in 1953 or 1954) you would drive from our house up the Boulder Highway to Nellis Blvd. and then on to what we called the old Salt Lake Highway, past the Air Force Base and straight to St. George. Just after we turned onto the old Salt Lake Hwy but before we got to the Air Force Base, Uncle Ken pulled into a service station and got gas. He must have gotten a nickle or two when the attendant gave him his change, because I remember him putting a nickle in a slot machine. I guess in those days it wasn't uncommon to have the "one armed bandits" in all kinds of places. He let me pull the handle, we watched the cylinders turn and all of a sudden, the machine spit out 5 nickles. How exciting was that? Before Uncle Ken realized what had happened, I grabbed the nickles out of the tray and put them in my pocket. As I look back on this experience, I'm sure he probably thought the pay off should have gone to him, but after all was said and done, he let me keep the coins. I put them to good use when I got to St. George. My cousin, Dale, and I went to Judd's and bought candy.

Uncle Ken would come to Henderson during the summer break at BYU and help my dad at the OK Rubber Welders (known today as OK Tire Store). My dad, in later years, related how much he appreciated Ken's help. Uncle Ken would sleep on an old brown sofa we had in the living room and he would keep his clothes in a big moving box (probably 3 feet by 3 feet by 5 feet tall. I remember getting in trouble more than once for playing in that box with the clothes in it. One weekend there must have been something going on in St. George because the whole family made the trip. I was lucky enough to go with Uncle Ken in his 1951 (?) 2 door Chevy coup. When I say "lucky", let me explain. In the old days (this would have been in 1953 or 1954) you would drive from our house up the Boulder Highway to Nellis Blvd. and then on to what we called the old Salt Lake Highway, past the Air Force Base and straight to St. George. Just after we turned onto the old Salt Lake Hwy but before we got to the Air Force Base, Uncle Ken pulled into a service station and got gas. He must have gotten a nickle or two when the attendant gave him his change, because I remember him putting a nickle in a slot machine. I guess in those days it wasn't uncommon to have the "one armed bandits" in all kinds of places. He let me pull the handle, we watched the cylinders turn and all of a sudden, the machine spit out 5 nickles. How exciting was that? Before Uncle Ken realized what had happened, I grabbed the nickles out of the tray and put them in my pocket. As I look back on this experience, I'm sure he probably thought the pay off should have gone to him, but after all was said and done, he let me keep the coins. I put them to good use when I got to St. George. My cousin, Dale, and I went to Judd's and bought candy.

Uncle Ken would come to Henderson during the summer break at BYU and help my dad at the OK Rubber Welders (known today as OK Tire Store). My dad, in later years, related how much he appreciated Ken's help. Uncle Ken would sleep on an old brown sofa we had in the living room and he would keep his clothes in a big moving box (probably 3 feet by 3 feet by 5 feet tall. I remember getting in trouble more than once for playing in that box with the clothes in it. One weekend there must have been something going on in St. George because the whole family made the trip. I was lucky enough to go with Uncle Ken in his 1951 (?) 2 door Chevy coup. When I say "lucky", let me explain. In the old days (this would have been in 1953 or 1954) you would drive from our house up the Boulder Highway to Nellis Blvd. and then on to what we called the old Salt Lake Highway, past the Air Force Base and straight to St. George. Just after we turned onto the old Salt Lake Hwy but before we got to the Air Force Base, Uncle Ken pulled into a service station and got gas. He must have gotten a nickle or two when the attendant gave him his change, because I remember him putting a nickle in a slot machine. I guess in those days it wasn't uncommon to have the "one armed bandits" in all kinds of places. He let me pull the handle, we watched the cylinders turn and all of a sudden, the machine spit out 5 nickles. How exciting was that? Before Uncle Ken realized what had happened, I grabbed the nickles out of the tray and put them in my pocket. As I look back on this experience, I'm sure he probably thought the pay off should have gone to him, but after all was said and done, he let me keep the coins. I put them to good use when I got to St. George. My cousin, Dale, and I went to Judd's and bought candy.

Uncle Ken would come to Henderson during the summer break at BYU and help my dad at the OK Rubber Welders (known today as OK Tire Store). My dad, in later years, related how much he appreciated Ken's help. Uncle Ken would sleep on an old brown sofa we had in the living room and he would keep his clothes in a big moving box (probably 3 feet by 3 feet by 5 feet tall. I remember getting in trouble more than once for playing in that box with the clothes in it. One weekend there must have been something going on in St. George because the whole family made the trip. I was lucky enough to go with Uncle Ken in his 1951 (?) 2 door Chevy coup. When I say "lucky", let me explain. In the old days (this would have been in 1953 or 1954) you would drive from our house up the Boulder Highway to Nellis Blvd. and then on to what we called the old Salt Lake Highway, past the Air Force Base and straight to St. George. Just after we turned onto the old Salt Lake Hwy but before we got to the Air Force Base, Uncle Ken pulled into a service station and got gas. He must have gotten a nickle or two when the attendant gave him his change, because I remember him putting a nickle in a slot machine. I guess in those days it wasn't uncommon to have the "one armed bandits" in all kinds of places. He let me pull the handle, we watched the cylinders turn and all of a sudden, the machine spit out 5 nickles. How exciting was that? Before Uncle Ken realized what had happened, I grabbed the nickles out of the tray and put them in my pocket. As I look back on this experience, I'm sure he probably thought the pay off should have gone to him, but after all was said and done, he let me keep the coins. I put them to good use when I got to St. George. My cousin, Dale, and I went to Judd's and bought candy.