BINGHAM ALUMNI FOUNDATION - Key Persons

Gary L. Hatch grew up in South Jordan and graduated from Bingham High in 1982. While at Bingham Gary was involved in student government being elected senior class president. He was a member of the National Honor Society, was chosen to be Bingham's General Sterling Scholar and won a state debate championship. He was also selected by the Class of 1982 as the person Most Likely to Succeed. After graduation from high school he attended BYU as a Spencer W. Kimball Presidential Scholar, a prestigious scholarship awarded to only about 24 students from around the world each year. He interrupted his education to serve an LDS mission to Copenhagen, Denmark and completed his Bachelor's Degree in English in 1988, graduating with highest honors. He would go on to earn a Doctor's Degree in English Literature from Arizona State University in 1992. He then took a position as a Professor of English at BYU and later served as the Honors Program Director and the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education. He was also Faculty director of the BYU Study Abroad Program, the Assistant Director of the BYU London Centre, on the Executive Board of the Rocky Mountain Language Association, and a member of the BYU Studies Academy and the BYU Studies Editorial Board. He also worked for College Board where he was a committee chair and the chief reader for the national Advanced Placement English Language test. He published numerous articles, books, book reviews and encyclopedia entries and presented professional papers at international, national and regional conferences. Gary made all these accomplishments in the short span of 45 years as he died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2010. Gary had great gifts for learning and teaching. He became a university professor because he wanted a life of learning and to help others improve their lives. He wore his scholarship lightly, however, was beloved by all who knew him. Gary was a dedicated scouter and served in numerous positions in the LDS church, including bishop. He enjoyed the piano, camping, all types of literature, food and travel. Though his teaching, church service and scouting he influenced countless numbers of people. Gary is survived by his wife, AnneMarie, sons Aubrey and Carson and daughter, Maren. His life of accomplishment and service is an example to us all and it is with deep pleasure that we award Gary Hatch, Bingham High School's highest honor, the Pay Dirt Award.

Job Titles:

• Principal, Teacher & Friend

James Prigmore was born in 1943 and raised in Bingham Canyon. He is the son of Martin and Olive George Prigmore (both of whom attended Bingham High School). In Fifth Grade (at a show and tell) he heard a recording of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" ballet and became so enraptured with the music that he decided to make music his life's work. The next year his parents purchased a piano for his 12th birthday and he began piano lessons with Edith Scussel who taught him until he was 15. When he was 15, his family moved to Magna, but his father arranged for him to continue his education at Bingham. Virginia McDonald (who lived a block from his new home) kindly allowed him to travel back and forth from Magna to Copperton with her most days. He became very good friends with Mrs. McDonald and she had a huge influence upon his life. She would later introduce him to some of the musical greats in Utah including Crawford Gates, Ardean Watts, Maurice Abravanel and Keith Engar. He would become a student of Ardean Watts at age 15 who would also have a great influence on his life. While at Bingham he played for Virginia McDonald's dance classes and composed and arranged a considerable amount of music for the annual Bingham dance concert. Some days, for various reasons, he would ride to Copperton with his father on his way to work at 6:00 am. Mr. Carpenter, the custodian, would let him into the auditorium where he would practice on the school's grand piano until time for class. While in high school he spent between six and ten hours at the keyboard every day-and even more on weekends and during the summer. During his years at Bingham High, he was also involved in student government serving as a student body officer and was editor of the school newspaper, then known as the Hi Lights. The 1961 Coppertonian said the following about him, "James is noted for carrying his pen in one hand and his music in the other. The newspaper he edits is as original as his music." While still in high school, he became the rehearsal pianist for the Utah Ballet (the forerunner of Ballet West) and began working with William Christensen, the ballet company's founder. He also played and composed music for Virginian Tanner's Creative Dance Studio and went on tour with that group a number of times. At this time he also entered and won first place in the state-wide young composers contest sponsored by the Utah Academy of Arts, Letters and Sciences with a piece he composed for one of the dance concerts at Bingham. James graduated from Bingham in 1961 and received a scholarship to the University of Utah where he began studying music. While at the U of U he provided professional musical services for the Utah Ballet, Virginia Tanner and the University's Modern Dance and Theater Departments. In 1965, just two weeks before the scheduled completion of his college degree, he accepted a position as composer-in-residence at the Pasadena Playhouse in California. He admits that this was one of the unconventional decisions he made during his musical career. After a season at Pasadena, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. In the army he became the composer, pianist and arranger for the Continental Army Band stationed outside of Washington D.C. and received an unprecedented 5 Star Award (up to the time a 4 Star Award was the highest given) for his creative work. He was given special leave from the army to return to California where he composed his first film score for a movie titled Along Came Mary. After his military service, he was asked to be the musical director of the Utah Repertory Dance Theater, which required him to stay in Utah rather than return to Pasadena. In 1970 he accept the position of musical director of the Pioneer Memorial Theater (later Pioneer Theater Company), a position he would hold for the next 35 years. During this time he conducted, coached and composed music for over 150 productions. (He did this wearing his signature bib overalls.) He was also on the faculty of the music department of the University of Utah, where he was an associate professor, director of the Utah Opera Workshop and associate director of the Utah Opera Company. James has received numerous other awards and honors for his work in music. In 1970 he was commissioned by the First Presidency of the LDS Church to create the cantata "Palmyra" commemorating the 150th anniversary of Joseph Smith's first vision. It was only the second time in Church history that a composer was directly commissioned by the First Presidency. Later he would compose music for the Young Women's organization entitled, "Behold Thy Handmaiden Lord." While doing all of the above, he continued working for the film industry composing for such television shows as the Rookies, Starsky and Hutch, the Lazarus Syndrome and the New Land. His compositions have also been heard on Fantasy Island and the Love boat as well as on several made-for-TV movies. He has been a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for over 30 years. Since his retirement from Pioneer Theater in 2005, he has been taking time to edit and catalogue the more than 500 compositions he has created over the years. Currently between 50 and 75 of his favorite pieces are being prepared for publication. He says that this project requiring him to sort through a lifetime of work has been immensely rewarding, but a huge undertaking. James currently lives in Magna with his two cats Kismet and Bernard.

June Holmes Garrity was raised in Bingham Canyon in the town Copperfield. June graduated from Bingham in 1947 when the school was located in Copperton. She was involved in many activities at Bingham High which included the Minerettes where she served as club treasurer, the Dance Club, Camera Club, Scholarship Club and school play. She remembers participating in the school's traveling assembly and the Candlelight Christmas Program where she was the narrator one year. She credits her Bingham High English teachers; Vern Baer and Laura Marshall, with helping her develop a life-long love of English and writing. After graduation from Bingham, she attended the University of Nevada at Reno where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and English. She would then work as a writer, designer and editor for the EDO Western Corporation publishing an oceanographic magazine, The Flying Fish, and the Libra Scale Corporation where she published a monthly news magazine and an employee newsletter, and supervised its marketing department. She would later serve as a writer and assistant editor for the Kennescope Magazine published by Kennecott Copper Corporation. For her work she would be awarded the Gold Medal Award by the State Advertising Federation and an Award of Excellence from the International Association of Business Communications. She has also worked as an office manager for a law firm and as secretary to the chairman of the Division of Community Education at Salt Lake Community College. She has been listed in the Marquis Who's Who in America, has served as the grand officer for the state of Utah of the Masonic Order of Easter Star, and the president of the local sorority of Gamma Phi Beta. She enjoys writing children's stories and adult fiction for magazines and would like to collaborate with an artist to create children's books. Writing poetry for publication is one of her favorite hobbies along with traveling, photography, golf and skiing. She married the late William Garrity, has one son, John William, and one grandchild. It was our pleasure to award her with the Pay Dirt Award for 2011.

Job Titles:

• Honored Miner, Teacher & Friend

Marilyn Richards was raised in West Jordan when all the towns west of the Jordan River went to Bingham High School. Her parents, Evan Clark and Jennie May Eckman Richards, owned a small dairy farm on Turpin's Hill. This was where she gained her love of animals and learned the value of hard work. She attended West Jordan Elementary, West Jordan Junior High and Bingham High School. During her high school years, she was active in student government, Future Teachers of America, the choir, orchestra and school musicals. In addition, she was the Art Sterling Scholar runner-up and a Minerette. She remembers marching in the old football stadium in Copperton where there was at times snow up to the Minerettes' knees. In 1968 she graduated third in her class of 212. After high school graduation, she attended Brigham Young University and graduated as the valedictorian of the College of Physical Education with a Bachelor's Degree in Education. She was hired as a teacher in the Jordan School District and taught middle school and high school math and physical education for 17 years. She taught at West Jordan Junior High and Middle School, Brighton High and Bingham High School. She earned a Masters' Degree in Education with a mathematics emphasis in 1982 and a Masters' Degree in Administration in 1989. She then spent 17 years as an administrator working as an assistant principal at Mount Jordan and South Jordan Middle Schools and as the principal at South Jordan Middle School and Jordan High School. She finished her career working in the Jordan School District office as the director of Planning and Student Services. She is currently working in her semi-retirement as a consultant, substitute administrator and teacher evaluation monitor. She is also serving as the president of the Bingham High School alumni foundation, a position she has held for the last 15 years. As the foundation president she has rendered countless hours of service to Bingham High School, especially this last year on the Bingham Centennial Celebration. We thank her very much for her service to Bingham High School. She has been recognized for many achievements over her educational career. Some of these have included:

Robyn Hill Bergstrom (Class of 1973), was raised in Riverton and also attended Bingham High School when it was located in Copperton graduating in 1973. She loved her high school years and is always proud to tell everyone that she is a Bingham Miner. During her time at Bingham, she served as president of the Girls Association, (which name was changed to the Women's Association while she was president). She started the Mat Maids (cheerleaders for the wrestling team) and was a member of the debate team, Drama Club, Minerettes, and Coppertonian Yearbook Staff. She graduated from Ricks College with an Associate's degree and from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Teaching with a major in communication and minors in English and Psychology. She did her student teaching experience at Bingham High School where she was later hired, and taught for three years. She received a Special Education Endorsement from the University of Utah. Robyn continued her post-graduate education at the University of North Dakota where she received a Master's degree in Communication and a Doctorate degree from the University of Idaho in Education Adult Organization Learning and Leadership. She has taught at Eastmont Jr. High, Bingham High School, Red River High School, Ricks College, University of North Dakota, and Brigham Young University-Idaho. Dr. Bergstrom is currently the Dean of the College of Business and Communication and a professor of Communication at BYU-Idaho. She also has served as the Director of the Urban Studies Program in Chicago with Inner City Youth for the past sixteen summers where she supervises BYU-Idaho students who work in Chicago with inner city girls ages 10-15. Prior to becoming the Dean of the College, she served as the Associate Dean. She has received awards including: Channel 8 "Eight Who Make a Difference," Honorary Faculty Member at BYU-Idaho, Advisor of the Year, Innovative Teaching Award, Outstanding Masters Student at the University of North Dakota, Outstanding Doctoral Candidate of Education at the University of Idaho and First Place National Communication Association Scholar to Scholar Presentation. She married Scott J. Bergstrom in 1976. He is currently an Administrator in the Academic Office and Director of Institutional Research at Brigham Young University Idaho. They have four children and eleven nearly perfect grandchildren. She enjoys swimming, cross-country skiing, shopping, and time with family and friends