OCR Text |
Show Thursday, December 4, 2008 AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Page 7 1 1 1 out Vicky Turner AMERICAN FORK PUBLIC LIBRARY rs r?'.ith the election of a y ' new president and W XJ Thanksgiving just past, now is the time to remind children of all they have for which they should be thankful. We live in a marvelous, beautiful beauti-ful and free country what would be a better time to explore ex-plore it than right now? . Here are a few good choices. "See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes, and the Race to the White House" (by Susan E. Goodman) is a quick, humorous look at how we elect our gov ernment officials. A short history his-tory of democracy is included to show how we decided what form of government we wanted. want-ed. The formation of political parties are explained along with Party Crashers: Third parties. Pick this book up for a little giggle and a lot of information. infor-mation. (J324.793 Goo) "Our 50 States : A Family Adventure Across America" (by Lynne Cheney). Pack your bags and travel with Lynne Cheney, the current vice president's presi-dent's wife, on an inspiring trip to all of our 50 states. Each state is summarized on one nicely illustrated page of interesting inter-esting facts such as this little bit of nonsense on the Utah page: "In 1896, Martha Hughes Cannon, Can-non, a doctor, was elected the first female state senator. One of her opponents in the election was her husband." (J973 Che) "The Art of Freedom: How Artists See America" (by Bob Raczka). Eighteen different artists take a look at America in 18 different ways. Art, architecture, ar-chitecture, and sculpture are represented in this imaginative book. "America is a country. America is an idea. ... America is black and white. America is a rainbow. ... America is a work in progress." Give children chil-dren crayons, paint, clay, or building blocks and let them , show you their idea of what America and freedom is. "lady Liberty: A Biography" (by Doreen Rapport). I have always been fascinated with the beauty and symbolism of this green giantess. Just taking tak-ing a tour around the island on a boat (the statue was being renovated when I was in New York), brought tears to my eyes. She has an overwhelming majesty and a tender beckoning beckon-ing about her that welcomes all who pass. But how did she come to be and why is she there? Read her life's story from her romantic visionary beginnings to the pennies from children that finally brought her to stand on a little Island in New York Harbor. (J974.7 Rap) An old friend has come all the way from Africa to visit our land and explore our wonders. won-ders. In "Babar's USA" (by Laurent de Brunhoff), Babar, Celeste and the rest of the family are on a grand tour of America. They enthusiastically enthusiasti-cally start in New York and then head west to see all the sights. Photographs of famous and interesting places are digitally enhanced with the elephant family as they picnic, ride buffaloes, ski, and ride in hot air balloons. "When they had seen the seasons change and the fireworks at Disney World, when they had eaten too many sweets, drunk too much soda, and had all gained weight, it was time to go home." A disposable camera in the hands of a child may help them discover as many new and interesting places as Babar and his family did. Bonding over beef Joseph Walker Dinner was going to be late. That was my motivation honest, it was. Anita was going to pick up Beth from college, and then they were going to do some shopping. That meant that they probably wouldn't get home until about 7, VALUE so we weren't going to S PE AK eat dinner until ... you know ... late. Which was fine with me. I'm like a camel. I've got enough food stored in my hump to last me through five or six shopping excursions possibly through the entire Christmas shopping season. Delaying a meal or two won't hurt me. In fact, it would probably do me good to skip a meal or two entirely. But Jon is another story. Jon is 17, and still growing. He is long and lean and about that far from starvation every moment of every day. A delayed meal could destroy his delicate dietary equilibrium equi-librium and scar him for the rest of his life or until the next pizza delivery, whichever comes first. Besides, the meal that was planned for the evening was a good one, but not the sort of thing that provides much comfort to a starving teenage boy. It is a family tradition that when we decorate our Christmas tree, we open up a box of Swiss Colony and munch on crackers and cheese and summer sum-mer sausage while we work. We enjoy the tradition, to be sure. But if you're hungry teenage boy hungry cheese and crackers and summer sausage constitute a snack, not a meal to quell the ravenous beast within. So as I was driving home to comfort and support Jon, it occurred to me that this might be a good time for a little father-son bonding bond-ing over beef, bread and special sauce. I mean, we were still an hour and a half from dinner, at least. It wasn't like I was going to ruin his appetite or anything. It would be a kind thing, a benevolent thing and I could be a hero to my son for at least as long as it took him to inhale a take-out hamburger. The fact that I was getting a little hungry myself had absolutely abso-lutely NOTHING to do with it.a Well, OK. Maybe it had a LITTLE to do with it. But the way I see it, it's entirely en-tirely possible that my own hunger was actually a profoundly empathetic reaction reac-tion to my youngest son's plight. Isn't it? Anyway, I picked up a couple of burgers burg-ers and hurried home to surprise Jon. "Are you hungry?" I asked as I poked my head into the house. "Yeah," he said as he looked up from his homework. "But we're not eating until Mom and Beth get home, and that may be a while." "Not necessarily," I said as I walked in, proudly and conspicuously bearing the familiar fast good bag. Jon's eyes grew wide with wonder and excitement. "You read my mind!" he said. "You're my hero!" Yeah, I thought as I handed his hamburger ham-burger to him, this was a great idea! Jon and I had a meaningful bonding moment as we enjoyed our hamburger hors d'oeuvres together. Unfortunately, however, the mix of hamburger, cheese, crackers and summer sausage proved to be too much for Jon and he ended up ... urn ... indisposed most of the night. And to be perfectly honest, by the end of the evening I wasn't feeling so well myself. The thing is, my intentions were good empathetic, if not completely altruistic. altru-istic. But sometimes being an effective parent is more than just good intentions. It's also thinking things through, and realizing re-alizing that a little sht-term hunger is better than a long-' i immy ache. No matter how 1;"- u T er is going to be. r rtickeil i State park gift sale Through Dec. 6, the Camp Floyd State Park gift shop will be offering a discount of-15 of-15 percent on all purchases, j There are bonnets, kepis, historic his-toric games, and cap guns for children or children at heartL stamp and coin sets for collectors. collec-tors. Plus, there are more than 40 book titles to choose from on topics ranging from cooking, cook-ing, to ghost towns, to the Civil War. Established in 1858, Camp Floyd housed the largest concentration of U.S. troops then in the United States. The troops were sent to Utah to suppress a rumored rebellion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which never took place. The army was recalled back east in 1861 for the Civil War emergency. Camp Floyd State Park is located lo-cated in the town of Fairfield, 22 miles southwest of Lehion State Highway 73. For more information or to register, please contact the park at 801-768-8932. Eric Gurr acquires Orem CPA Firm. On Nov. 21 Eric Gurr CPA acquired the accounting and CPA practice of Seely, CPA, PC an Orem firm. The Seely CPA practice acquired by Gurr CPA consists of individuals, individu-als, business owners, businesses business-es and non-profit clients. Gurr CPA's office is located at 1156 S. State Street. Suite 202, in Orem. Gurr CPA's office of-fice hours are from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Real Estate Auctions how-to Most everyone knows with the current conditions of our economy it is a buyer's mar- . ket, and with a large inventory inven-tory of homes, condominiums and lots available, where do you find the real and best deals. Real estate auctions can be one of your best sources, however it should be understood under-stood there are typically two types of real estate auctions. First, there are bank-forced auctions where the property has gone into foreclosure and it is then sold on the court house steps. This auction is used by lenders to legally take back the property from its owner, once in default. Second, self -directed auction, auc-tion, which is the type that Utah Real Estate Auctions conducts. This auction is usually usu-ally a win-win situation for both the seller and the buyer. Properties in these auctions are typically bank -owned, in foreclosure or from highly motivated sellers. Buyers generally participate in real estate auctions with two goals in mind. They want to purchase a property either as an investor or as end user wanting or needing to buy a property. The other reason is to take advantage of the current cur-rent market conditions by being be-ing able to buy a property at a significantly reduced price. Real estate auctions conducted con-ducted by "Utah Real Estate Auctions "give buyers the opportunity op-portunity to inspect the properties prop-erties with two to three open houses prior to the auction, pre- arranged for financing, and have 45 days to close after af-ter the auction. Buyers at the auction are required to bring a cashier's check payable to themselves for $5,000 which if they become the successful bidder the check would then be endorse over to the title company as their earnest money mon-ey deposit on the property. Real estate auctions bring buyers and sellers together and are like any normal real estate transaction except the price is established in an open, fair format called an auction. We invite you to visit our Website www.utrealestateauc-tions.com www.utrealestateauc-tions.com or (801) 922-9700 for more information. NewBlimpie location in Orem A new Blimpie restaurant has opened in Orem at 1470 N. State Street. from your frien ds at the North County Newspapers C ozy up this winter ith i wjt li a newspaper! Call 375-5103 for information alut winter ' subscription specials. orem $ pleasant grove & alpine f ..... Save for one. Sometimes, saving money isnt easy. We can help. Whether you're looking for a simple savings account, a CD, an IRA, or automatic transfers from checking to savings, we have the savings vehicles for every need. Call 222-9006. Wesfernii Community Bank Life's needs. Life's bank." WtTtmCOMMUNITYti.COM 10 Days or LESS... That's EXPRESS!!! From order to install on in-stock cabinets Providing all of your Countertop & Cabinetry Needs - from Luxury Homes to the Humble Abode $tnre Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 6pm - Saturday by appointment 801-756-3200 - Office & Fax 801-755-8337 - Rick 801-514-8477 - La Val ; . 1 154 W. AXain St. American Fork ; I s t M f f V ' . ' ft V L Introducing the new Antalgic-Trak" (The Only One In Utah!) Revolutionary new treatment (Avoid Surgery) COME EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE! AVOID SURGERY . DRUG FREE PAIN RELIEF .2 1 ii Lingerie, Shod, Adult Novttil, 170 North Main Spanish Fork Family Pediatrics Cosmetic yfS) Dr.DavidRC0rdon,DMDJ mm mm mm iEBEEniD A IVlost Insurance accoptod. Present tills cd for FREE Teeth Whitening with new patient exam, x-rays, and cleaning. www.gordonfamtlydental.com American Dntal Anociattan QjKf'j HOLIDAY SMILE SPECIAL! 'A IT r.. - : x j mCf- See vour SMILE 1 become white as snow in about an hour with ZOOM Whitening! $300 Mi : ''15; V' ' V I . Call for an Appointment 756-8686 f V . J : Dr. Urlte Ii Richards i 23 L Main, Anu kk an Fokk |