I'll be at work for Christmas WHITNEY CURTIS/Standard-Examiner Al Huff, of Pleasant View, carries an order from the kitchen at Denny's on Thursday in Ogden. Huff and his co-workers served a full restaurant Christmas Day. Some residents do everyday jobs despite holiday BY JESUS LOPEZ JR Standard-Examiner Staff jlopez@standard.net MARRIOTT-SLATERVILLE Most places are closed on Christmas. Many people spend the day with their families, open presents or prepare for a Christmas feast. There are many, however, who still have to work. For several hours, Lowell Niklason and his grandson Jack Niklason go to a red barn in Marriott-Slaterville to feed Lowell's cows, a seven-days-a-week job. Niklason said his family opened presents early Christmas morning, and he plans to be home in time for a Christmas dinner, but there is still work to be done. "There are no holidays," Niklason said. "These cows have to be fed and taken care of." The pair load up a powered wagon with hay to feed Niklason's Angus beef cows. WHITNEY CURTIS/Standard-Examiner Lowell Niklason (right) watches as his 14-year-old grandson, Jack Niklason, fills a trough with water Thursday at Lowell's cattle farm in Marriott-Slaterville. Jack, 14, fills the cows' water tanks before they check the fences. If the weather were nicer, they would also clean the barn. "My wife thinks it's great for me," Niklason said. "I'm 78, and I love it. The secret to longevity is activity." At the Flying J parking lot in Willard, trucker Bill Southerland sat in the cab of his rig. About eight other trucks surrounded him. "Normally I do not work," Southerland said, "but when the load has to go, I have to go." Southerland said he would rather be home for Christmas, but he will return to Noble, Mo., to celebrate his wife's birthday on New Year's Eve. Since most restaurants were closed for Christmas, customers at Denny's Restaurant, 1250 Washington Blvd. in Ogden, had to put their names on a waiting list. Waitress Kimmy Byrne worked frantically to serve all of her customers. She said she has worked every holiday for the past 13 years. "I didn't like it before," Byrne said, "but now, I'm glad there's somewhere for people to go people who don't have families, people who are lonely, people who have nowhere to go." She said if she did not have to work, Dec. 26, 2003