Life plods along pleasantly in tiny Leamington

LEAMINGTON, Millard County — One snowy morning shortly after he quit teaching and coaching at Delta High School, Ladd Holman drove his truck south of Leamington to feed some of his cattle. He kicked the hay off the flatbed and thought about the change in his life.

He had worked 20 years at the school, but now he was staying home in Leamington, focusing on farming and ranching. He thought about what school would be like at that time of day, about 10 a.m. It would be noisy. Students would be rushing through the halls.

"I shut the truck off and the cows were eating hay in the snow there, and I could hear their jaws munching," he remembered. "It's that quiet."

This, Holman thought, was what the Celestial Kingdom must be like.

Welcome to Leamington (pronounced Lemington), where life is peaceful and small-town traditions thrive.

Situated halfway between Nephi and Delta on U-132, Leamington for many drivers is a blur of greenery and a now-closed general store, a defunct Phillips 66 gas station, a large cream-colored town hall and a series of houses — one or two abandoned, fading and leaning, but more neat homes behind stately elms. Then travelers pass the post office, which looks about the size of a workplace cubicle, and they're out of town.

There's a lot more to Leamington than that, say residents. There's tradition, a glue that binds friends and families together.

Take Leamorado Day, said Leslie Rasch, wife of the mayor, Jim Rasch. When World War II ended, "They threw a big party, a big celebration for the soldiers coming home."

Folks liked the celebration so much they continued doing it every year on Labor Day. On Monday, Leamington will hold its 60th Leamorado — a town dinner, rodeo, games and talent show.

Military personnel will be honored, including the four service people from Leamington now in Iraq. Also celebrated will be a special guest who isn't with the military but has lived here a long time.

The rodeo grounds are behind the town hall, which is nearly 100 years old.

"There's a bunch of shade trees, and we have the dinner right behind the town hall," Leslie Rasch said. "It's a lot of work for the town. It's probably our biggest fund-raiser, to help run our little town."

Leamorado is such an important tradition that everyone gets an assignment to do something for it or to bring something for the day's events.

She also remarked on the quiet. A train comes through at night delivering coal to the nearby Intermountain Power Plant, but other than that, Leamington nights usually are calm.

"At night you can hear the coyotes," she said. "The stars are beautiful," brighter than in cities because of the lack of light pollution.