The Gunnison Valley Gazette Page 6 I'm Just Saying... by JANIS SAURIC Like a large extended family, those we rub shoulders with in town can be comforting and help us have a feeling of belonging. A sense of community can lift the burdens of others, strengthen us when we have a bad time, and provide things for us to look forward to. I'm a great believer in always having something to look forward to—a successful harvest, a well-planned breakfast in the park with other residents, the first camping trip of the season. I want to encourage you to be an active participant—even volunteering to help when the time is right. You have to give a little to get a lot. Have you heard the heartwarming story of Stone Soup? According to the story, some travelers come to a village carrying nothing more than an empty pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food with the hungry travelers. It is post-war somewhere in Eastern Europe and there is a great famine in which people jealously hoard whatever food they could find, hiding it even from their friends and neighbors. The travelers fill their pot with water and drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire in the village square. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making "stone soup," which tastes wonderful although they need a little bit of garnish to improve the flavor they may be missing. Someone shows up with a little salt pork and another villager brings some cabbage. The farmer doesn't mind parting with just a few carrots to be a part of things, so they go into the soup. Another villager walks by inquiring about the large pot and the travelers again mention their stone soup which hasn't yet reached its full potential. The villager hands them a little seasoning to add to the pot. As the soup simmers, more and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all. It is really quite a brilliant story. Everyone puts in a little and everyone gets a lot. Just like the stone soup— we are each better as a group than we are as our own ingredient. The sum of the whole is better than carrots by themselves! It has been said that every day is a new beginning and no matter what our past has been we have a chance today to begin again. Let's take that at face value and begin today to be better—better neighbors, better sisters, better spouses, better citizens. Let's be happy for the opportunities we have and try to be participating villagers who contribute what we have for the good of the stone soup. Together we can make quite a tasty dish! Janis welcomes your comments. You can email her at janissauic@live. corn Thursday, June 9, 2011 RELAY FOR LIFE - Fundraising for the Sanpete County Relay for Life is underway. Cassi Hansen's team took jars to the elementary school and talked to the students about the Relay and how all the money raised goes to the fight against cancer. Cassi provided a pizza party for the classroom that raised the most money. The elementary students contributed a total of $288.96 in the jars. Cassi and her team rolled pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters for nearly four hours. Mrs. Delene Bartholomew's class was the winner with a total of $71.61. They filled two jars. Pictured is Mrs. Bartholomew's class with Cassi at the pizza party. Cassi would like to thank all the teachers that participated and wants everyone to come out and support the Relay for Life on July 29-30, 2011. Free financial class Utah Community Action Partnership, Real Economic Impact Tour and Utah Saves are offering a free financial class this Thursday, June 9, 2011 for Six County residents. Rebecca Mills, Utah State University Extension Assistant Professor will teach about Basic Budgeting. "In these difficult economic times it is imperative to learn new ways to budget the money we have as well as save money," Tammy Nordgren with Six County Association of Governments said. Nordgren will also have handouts from the IRS on the Home Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, IRS publication 4075 and other financial information. The evening is set to begin at 7 until 8:30 p.m. and will be in the Utah State conference room, B06, downstairs in the Sevier County Administration building. For more information contact: Tammy Nordgren at (435) 893-0738 or Toll Free 1-888-899-4447 ext. 738. to PODIATRIST As pen 14( i' SAVAGE De44/ T. 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