Erika Cook
Editor-in-chief

“It’s the only one of its kind in Mountain Home,” says owner Mike Healy of his restaurant, Fattyz Pizza on Main Street. “It’s a new concept here, as we figured out.”

Fattyz has been open since early summer 2012, a takeout and dine-in New York-style pizza place. It also recently added delivery to its services. The list of pizzas is extensive, and every plural on the menu board is spelled with a z, as a nod to the restaurant’s name.

It began in, of all places, the Portland airport. “We saw this dude selling New York-style pizza,” Healy said. “And there were like 20 people waiting in line for this guy. And we thought, ‘Huh, we could open one of those ourselves.’”

And yes, they did investigate Pie Hole in Boise, as well as Guido’s, for inspiration and guidelines. “We had to write a business plan,” Healy said, ” and find out how much money in the area for pizza. You know, how much does Smoky Mountain take, how much to Pizza Hut, how much to Dominos. And then we realized we had a pretty good market here.”

The next item was the pizza. “We use our own recipes for dough and sauce,” Healy said, “and we shopped around for products and toppings.”

Before the restaurant officially opened, Healy and his partner in the business conducted test drives. “My partner, Ryan, who worked at Sunset Sports Bar down the street, would make a pizza every Thursday and took it down to test it on an audience. They really started to look forward to Thursday night pizza down there. So when he perfected it, we opened our own kitchen.”

One of the unique things about Fattyz is the open kitchen. “Instead of people in the back room making the food, you can see what they’re doing,” Healy said. “We also have double-decker ovens with baking stones built in.”

It did take a while for Mountain Home to warm up to the idea. “Only miltary people were familiar with New York-style pizza, with coming in and grabbing a slice,” said Healy. “But after a while everybody caught on.”

Fattyz is a popular lunch spot for high school students. “We also get a good-sized handful on the weekends,” said Healy.

Taaron Moore

Art Editor 

Mountain Home has a tarnished reputation for not having anything to do for kids and teens. It’s nortorious for having a disgraceful, low budgeted skatepark that makes our town look quite foolish.

A couple years ago Philip Garcia had the great idea to have a skate cmpition at our locol skatepark. He used it as an excuse to throw a concert so he can rap. He called the event “Open Soar.”

Once Philip saw how much of a success it was and how important the event ment to the kids he made it into a fundraiser to help save up for a new skatepark at Legacy Park.

Since then, Philip has expanded the idea of Open Soar and made it into more of a company. He quit his job and on April 14 opened a skateshop on 358 N 2nd East Street, across the street from the Youth Ranch. “I wanted to open a skateshop before the skatepark was built because I thought Open Soar should be the first skateshop in town instead of someone else getting the idea from the popularization of skateboarding that the park will bring to the town,” said Garcia

The Open Soar Culture Skatshop is a unique idea to Mountain Home. They sell merchandise that you can’t get anywhere else in town. They sell ideams like skateboards, longboards, mini boards, skateboard parts and accessorys, cloths, protective gear, and jewerly.  Soem brands they sell are Blind, DGK, Krew, Alien Workshop,Almost, and many more. “It’s about time we get a skateshop in town so we don’t have to drive to Boise,” said sophomore Luis Martinez.

The adverage price for main brand boards are about $50. “This is alot cheaper than Boise shops like Zumiez,” said Martinez

On ething that separates Open Soar from a normal skateshop is their custom boards. Philip hand paints a design you came up with onto any size board of your choice. These boards can be cheaper than most brand boards depending on the complication of the design. “I ride an Open Soar board and i like it. It’s not bad of quality for a cheap price,” said sophomore Gabriel Partida.

If you want to see any of Philips designs, he has a portfolio at the shop that or go online at www.opensoarculture.com. Then go to custom art.

Philip is always looking for live music or something new and fun in his shop so if you or someone you know has an idea or wants to play music there contact the shop at (208) 366-5907. They are open Monday through Sunday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Kaylee Buckley

Sports Editor

As the year comes to a close, many people begin look back on the last nine months and the memories they have made. Throughout the school year, students experience the high school “way” by attending dances and participating in traditions people associate with the teenage and high school years.

All these traditions started somewhere, but most students just accept them as fact, not even stopping to question the history behind them.

Prom and homecoming, for example, originated in colleges. The first mentions of homecoming are found in the early 1900s. Baylor University, University of Illinois, and University of Missouri all contest to having the first homecoming celebrations around 1910. “I always thought homecoming came from a small town, and just spread into a big thing,” said junior Brandon Reyes.

All three colleges describe the event basically the same way: using a football game to spur excitement, events were held in the hope of creating a stronger sense of school pride. The homecoming events, such as rallies, parades, speeches, and dances, worked extremely well. By the 1920s, homecoming celebrations were common around the nation’s universities and colleges, establishing an American tradition.

Arguably the most recognizable tradition, prom, started in the elite colleges in the northeast, as early as the late 1800s. Parents began organizing formal dances, modeling the debutante balls of the upper-class, in the hopes of instilling social skills and etiquette in the students. The term “prom” is a shortened version of “promenade”, which means the march of the guests at the beginning of the ball or event. “I thought prom started in the 1980s. I didn’t think it had such a long history,” said sophomore Joshua Deal.

Prom never caught on as an American tradition until it emerged in the high schools. Beginning in the early 1900s, high school proms started as simple affairs. As prom began to take hold, it became more elaborate and expensive, and exceecingly important to teenagers. By the 1980s, prom began it’s journey to the larger-than-life fantasy and coming-of-age event, it is considered today.  Prom court became looked upon as true royalty and proof of social status. The perfect dress and date became of the up-most importance.

Another component of prom is the flowers. The nation’s florists support the prom industry by providing boutonnieres and corsages. They, too, have a long history. In as early as the 1700s, both were believed to ward off disease, evil spirits, and bad smells, and boutonnieres were commonly worn everyday.

Boutonniere is a French word, meaning buttonhole, because boutonnieres began as a flower placed in the buttonhole of a man’s suit or jacket. Corsages were worn on the bodice of a women’s dress. Today, both are used for formal events. Corsages are now more commonly worn as wrist bands.

The most important tradition, graduation, has roots as far back as the 1300s. It all began because of the weather. At a time when the first universitites were beginning to pop up, standard dress for students and teachers was clerical garb. The long robes were necessary for scholars to wear to ward off the cold in the unheated buildings of the middle ages.