Alumni Happenings - April 2005
Grand County High School

Corky Brewer and Cindy Robertson Brewer,
GCHS Alumni
by Jeff Richards

Corky and Cindy Brewer, who graduated from Grand County High School a year apart in the early 1970s, celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary last month, on March 22.

Corky, 49, is a member of the GCHS Class of 1973. He has served as Moab’s Fire Chief since 1989. He previously worked for 13 years as an electrician and three years as a building inspector. His family moved to Moab when he was a baby.

Cindy, also 49, graduated from GCHS in 1974. She now works as a talent search counselor and at-risk supervisor at Grand County Middle School. She previously co-owned a dance studio and taught dancing for 13 years. She also served as the adviser for the GCHS Devilettes drill team for eight years. Her parents Ron and Joyce Robertson (who still live in Moab) moved to the area when Cindy was in middle school.

The spring after Cindy’s high school graduation, she and Corky were married. They are the parents of three children: Stephanie, 27; TJ, 24; and Stacey, 21, all of whom also graduated from GCHS. They also have three grandchildren: Koby, 8; Taylor, 4; and Traedyn, 2. “They call us ‘Grandpa Buddy’ and ‘Grandma Honey,’” says Cindy.

“Corky and I have lived in Moab for all our married life,” adds Cindy. “This is our home. When our kids were younger, all they wanted to do was to get out of Moab. Now that they’re grown, two have moved back and the other one, who lives in Salt Lake, wants to come back and live here.”

I’m so glad my grandchildren are going to have the same opportunities that Corky and I and our children had growing up in a small town and going to Grand County schools,” adds Cindy.

Corky says he loves living in Moab for its beautiful scenery. “I like being able to go from desert to mountains in a matter of minutes,” he says.

Cindy agrees, saying, “I love waking up in the morning and watching the beautiful sun come up over the beautiful red rocks. I love our small town and the friends that we have.”

Both Corky and Cindy have many fond memories of Grand County High school. Memorable teachers included having “Granny” as an English teacher. Cindy also had Mr. Ferguson (current Grand County School District Superintendent Ron Ferguson) as an English teacher. She also remembers Miss Dunkley (now known as Marion Holyoak) for home economics. Other memorable faculty members included Mr. Maughan (English), Coach Curtis (math), and Principal Theron Johnson.

Corky treasures the many friendships he made in high school, and notes that a number of his classmates still live in the Moab area. He also fondly recalls watching Greg Holland run the 440-yard dash in track meets.

Both Cindy and Corky like to show their school spirit by attending as many sporting events at the high school and middle school as they can. “Every Friday, the staff at GCMS wears red to show our school spirit,” notes Cindy. The current school year, the Brewers have enjoyed watching their nephew Mike and his teammates play football and basketball, and also have managed to attend several other GCHS sports events as well.

Corky and Cindy are also members of the Safe School Committee, and Corky and his colleagues at the Moab Fire Department conduct a number of safety and prevention activities throughout the year at area schools.

When asked to recall a humorous episode from her high school days, Cindy related the story of when she and several classmates made chocolate chip cookies in their 8th-grade home economics class, and spiked them with laxative. Little did she know that one of the teachers that was given the cookies to eat would end up being her boss years later (Mr. Ferguson). “My first day on the job, and he handed me a chocolate chip cookie,” recalls Cindy with a laugh. “He hadn’t forgotten, and we still joke around about it.”

However, when Cindy and a few other girls repeated the stunt with a batch of brownies in 12th-grade home economics, the outcome wasn’t as harmless. They went a step beyond the Ex-Lax laxative and added some methylene blue they obtained from the hospital. The substance, an antiseptic used to treat urinary infections, stains urine blue and often causes nausea and diarrhea as side effects. “The next day, there were a lot of sick teachers, judging from the number of substitutes, and one really mad principal,” remembers Cindy. “We got the lecture of a lifetime that day.”

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