OCR Text |
Show 1 Lehl Free Press New Utah! - Wednesday, September 23, 1998 - Page 2 Opinion Nibbling away during crunch time at the paper Keeping the dream alive When it was dedicated 17 years ago, the Adventure and Learning Park was hailed as "the impossible dream that became a reality." Now Highland City is keeping that dream alive, after working out a deal to purchase the park property from the State of Utah. In the process, they are working to preserve what was once the premier park in north Utah County. We are confident that the loving attention of Highland City will help restore some of the luster to this presently tarnished jewel of a park. Created by an act of the state legislature, the park was built with volunteer labor in an effort to create something extraordinary. With the residents of the Utah State Training School in mind, many features of the park were specifically designed for individuals with disabilities. At the same time, the added features of accessibility did not detract from the park's universal appeal. The result was green space that could be enjoyed by everyone, and for years it has been. But the years have not been kind to the Adventure and Learning Park. Changing philosophies in care for the disabled moved many of the Utah State Training School residents into group homes scattered throughout the state, and with numbers at the facility reduced drastically, the state lost interest in maintaining the park. Utah County took it over for a few years, but maintenance dropped to a bare minimum. When the county turned the park back to the state, things got worse. The park was allowed to sit unused for a summer. With the gate locked and grass unwatered, the park quickly deteriorated, in part thanks to vandalism. The results of those years of neglect are visible throughout the park. The playground equipment is in a sad state of disrepair. The walls of the play fort are falling away, creating a dangerous situation. The maze is gone and much of the grass has died as well. But despite these problems, the park retains its appeal. There is abundant wildlife in the undeveloped portions of the park. The pond provides space for contemplation as well as play. Trails for the most part remain intact and are well used. Under Highland City's management the past two years, the park has started making a deliberate comeback. Now that the park is owned by the city, we have a guarantee that the process will continue. That's good news for all of north Utah County. Because, despite the years of neglect, the Adventure and Learning Park has remained undeveloped green space in the midst of rapid urban development. Highland City is dedicated to preserving that space, ensuring that the Adventure and Learning Park will be enjoyed by all of us, our children and many generations to come. Highland officials should be congratulated for embracing this dream and preserving the Adventure and Learning Park for the people for whom it was originally everybody. designed between the three because the plain meat dumplings were white, the curry ones were yellow, and the, e sweetened variety were pink. About a month later, no doubt at some predetermined time set by the ed out as a joke. Railroad tycoon Cornelius Vander-bil- t national Ministry of Treats, the was vacationing at Saratoga dumplings would appear in the the fashionable New York steamer boxes, and we could look forSprings resort, not the booming new Lehi sub- ward to two or three months of enjoywhen he discovered that his ing nikuman. urb As winter started winding down, fried potatoes were too thick for his nikuman disappeared again for the taste. The cook on duty at the time, one year, not to return until late fall. Perhaps that was because the MinGeorge Crum, cut a new batch of into slices, paper-thiistry of Treats had a special summer-onlpotatoes throws them into boiling oil and fries goody. This treat, which I didn't discover them to a crisp. Crum's newfangled invention, soon to be named "Sarato- until my second summer in Japan, ga Chips," become a hit at the resort was called somen; it consists of supercucumand all up and down the eastern fine noodles, and seaboard. bers, tomatoes, meat and cheese, all Vanderbilt didn't get any credit, served in a bowl of ice water. One takes his chopsticks and but the cook did; you can find his namesake in the bottom of every bag extracts some of the somen, then dips it into a light soy sauce before eating the famous potato chip Crum's. The Japanese have an interesting it. I thought it sounded repulsive at variety of snack items. One of my first experiences had me first, but once I tried it, I was pleaseating a glutinous glob of rice paste antly surprised. Too bad summer ended so soon and called The little paste ball was heated over the kerosene stove it went away. I knew I wouldn't be until it puffed up, then served with there for another summer, but I wasn't even there long enough to hit that seaweed and soy sauce. The first year I about gagged; the coming winter's nikuman season, second year I actually found myself either. American snacks, on the other purchasing some with my own money. only made its debut dur- hand, are not only available but in hundreds of varieties as ing the winter time, as did another well. treat nikuman. Back to the pretzel, for example, Sometime around the first of November, merchants of the little co- you can get traditional ones (the rner convenience stores would wheel prayer kind), straight ones, twisted out a small steamer box which would ones, pretzels filled with cheese or eventually hold the nikuman, peanut butter, or even chocolate-covereof dumplings filled with pretzels. concoceither meat, a Well, it's crunch time at the paper, and that means I have to open anothtion, or bean paste. You could tell the difference er bag of pretzels. Fold your arms... close your eyes.. .and think, for a moment if you will, about the pretzel. According to Snyder's of Hanover, makers of Hanover's Olde Tyme Pretzels, the little treats were first created by a "pious clan of monks" in 500 A.D. when they twisted and baked dough into a shape symbolizing arms folded in prayer. Being cloistered as the monks were, their snack did not make its way into the public for over 13 cen- bean-past- turies. In the 1700s, a large portion of Pennsylvania's population came from Germany, as did the "new" tradition of pretzel making. It is no wonder that Philadelphia lays claim to the best pretzels in the country. While living on the east coast several years ago, I think I actually did try one of Philly's famous foods (although it may have actually been New York City) and not just the factory variety in the bag, but the street vendor ilk, complete with mustard. It was not just the taste, but the whole ambience of eating a Philadelphia-style pretzel on the streets of Philadelphia created the experience. Another new east coast adventure for us was eating French fries sprinkled with vinegar, as opposed to smothered in ketchup. In fact, our request for ketchup was met with a look of incredulity. I shudder to think how the good fryer would have reacted if we had thin-slice- d year-roun- asked for the even more eclectic Utah creation pink sauce. (Since that time, we've also seen the addition of a barbecue-typ- e sauce for fries.) Now one can purchase potato chips laced with salt and vinegar, a cheesy sort of rip-of- f the original British fare. Speaking of potato chips, it seems that one of America's passions start- - half-spher- know. I'm tired of reading terms that were considered pornographic only a few years ago now touted about as critical public information. I'm disgusted that the process of government has sunk to a level of discourse that is best reserved for the gutter. I don't want to hear any more details, thank you very much. Don't get me wrong. I am aware that our Commander in Chief has behaved more like a tomcat that a statesman. I've heard enough facts and read enough details to make an informed decision about the situation. I had enough information to do that weeks ago, maybe even months. As far as making up my mind, all this detail has done nothing but reinforce my earlier assessments. And I bet I'm not the only one. Folks who wanted Clinton out a month ago, want him out even more now. Folks who wanted Clinton to stay a month ago, still think he ought to remain in office. The detail may have pushed any fence-sitter- s one way or the other, but my experience is that once most folks j i n niii in nil jlWWMWWBWfflWMBW make up their mind, the details don't sway public opinion much. It is enough to know that Bill Clinton had an illicit relationship with a White House intern not his wife. I don't need to know when, where or how this was done to know it is wrong. Do you? It is enough to know he participated in activities that some might consider degenerate. But please spare me (porno)graphic descriptions of the acts and the props. In this case, however, the details have had an altogether different effect, one outside the arena of public opinion about our president and his behavior. What we have accomplished is a basic lowering of the standard of what is acceptable for discourse in our society. In recent weeks we have read in some of our newspapers graphic descriptions of sexual acts that should never appear in a family newspaper. Over the radio and on television, we d On the web: back to school websites With personal computers nearly as common as television sets in Utah homes, we thought it might be helpful to our readers to learn about interesting and informative websites now available oo the Internet. This week wg will highlight a few sites that are valu able to students. More student oriented websites will be featured next week. To research a general topic, the best place to start is with a search engine such as Yahoo, Excite or Altavista. Easysearcher will point you in the have heard radio hosts discuss the details during daylight hours of our president's sexual behavior that are inappropriate for the public airways during times when children are likely to be listening ... t And it's all been done in the name of "informing the public" so they can make a qualified decision about their President. Well, we've made our decision. Honest. So please, stop the bombardment. Move this discussion out of the court of public opinion and let our Congressmen and women take a the role of leadership for which they were elected. Let them hear the evidence and make a decision. If they move to impeach, then let the Senate consider the evidence and make a decision. And then let's get on with the business of moving forward and making the world a better place for our children. It will take some time to undo the damage done by the recent weeks of foul discourse in the name of public information, but I think we can get over it. But for now, it's enough already. We know the charges, we know the deeds, and each one of us knows what we think ought to be done. Please keep the explicit documents, the hours of video-tapedissembling, the mountains of dirty details to yourselves, and away from me and my fam- - :.';ri III, i d, curry-flavore- d Please, spare us the excruciating details A plea to Congress and the President of the United States: Please, kind sirs, in the name of decency do not release another video tape, post another word on the Internet, nor ask another question that tells me more about another person's personal life than I ever wanted to y n right direction. Ask Jeeves uses keywords to find links to helpful sites. Information Please information from pulls almanacs, encyclopedias and dictionaries. Research ItFind It includes biographies, quotations, scriptures from the Bible, and even a rhyming Funk and Wagnalls Knowledge Center is an encyclopedia and more. How far is it? Gives distance in nautical miles between any two places. Latitude and longitude are also listed, and step by step directions if you're driving. Altavista Translations turns English into French, German, Portuguese, Spanish or Italian, and will translate those languages into English. Introduction to Greek Mythology lists names and their meanings, their Roman mythology equivalent, d iiy. Thank you. , ... vi Sir i.u V. i and ii links to other mythology sites. The History Net will take you to any time and place. Other helpful sites for the history student are the Holo- caust History Homepage and Civil War.com. And the Betsy Ross Homepage will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about our flag. Remember to bookmark the pages you decide to keep so you don't have to keep typing in the address. Next week's websites will feature math and science categories. Website addresses: Easysearcher.comhome.html Ask Jeeves: www.askjeeves.coml Information Please: wvm.infoplease.coml Research It: www.iTools.comresearch-it- l Funk and Wagnalls: www.funkandwagnalls.comJ How Far is it?: www.indo.comdistancel Altavista Translations: httpjbabelfish.altavi$ta.digital.coml Greek Mythology: The History Net: httpMhehistorynetcom Holocaust History Homepage: Holocaust-history.or- Civil War: www.civilwar.com Betsy Ross: www.libertynetorgfihabetsy Reader's Forum Another parable Editor: I believe it was the year 1954 and I remember that a one mile walk and a dime would get you into the Scera for the Saturday movie. My good friend, Mikey, who lived across from Chester and Winnie, had known for a long time that walnuts were bad. You see he had eaten some when he was very young and had experienced cankers. He got over them, but his mother had confirmed to him that all walnuts were evil and that he should never touch the nasty things again. By the time Mikey was nine years old his hatred of walnuts was so strong that each time he passed a walnut tree he would jump from his bicycle and repeatedly bash the tree with his baseball bat. Of course, this caused walnuts to fall from the tree and bounce off the noggins of he and his friends. This falling of walnuts confirmed the villainous nature of nuts and soon kids all over town were using their baseball bats on trees and conse quently getting hit on their noggin with nuts. Soon the city of Orem banned the hated fruit and, in fact, a bill went before the state legislature to regulate all nuts and to sell them only in state operated fruit stands. Or was it a fruit operated state stand? I cannot remember for sure. By the time Mikey and I reached our junior year in high school all nuts were considered evil and the only ones left in town were for "them," (the people from somewhere else). Thanks for your patience. The above history was necessary to tell the parable of the vanilla milkshake. As you know this parable did not come from seminary class or even from church, but perhaps it is not all bad anyway. The same year as the legislative effort, I was a junior in high school and worked at the High Spot Drive In. In those days a drive in could be either a movie or a small restaurant where your parked you car and went to a window to order fast food. Fast food was not known as fast food in those days, but it consisted (ISSN No. (U.S.P.S. No. 1521-6853- A ) 309-500- ) member ol NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION TieT lewtahiews (Jroup 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 maggot-infeste- I Circulation Classified Advertising . Publisher Brett Bezzant Missionaries Monday. 2 p.m. Russ Daly Weddings Subscription price $24 per year Community POSTMASTER: Main, noon Monday. 5 p.m. Marc Haddock 59 West .Tuesday, Display Advertising News Managing Editor City Editor Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah . Monday. 2 p.m. Letters to the Editor Obituaries Bill Gappmayer Pleasant Grove United Way Thank You Editor: I work at the Center for Women and Children in Crisis in Provo as the shelter manager. Here at the center, we help victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. We are a private it agency and as such are always in need of financial donations. The Bank of American Fork recently celebrated its 85th birthday. The bank made a generous donation to United Way as part of its celebration. What a great way to celebrate. Through United Way we received a portion of this donation. I would like to thank the Bank of American Fork for their generosity. Kimberlee Kowallis Shelter Manager non-prof- HOW TO REACH Monday. 2 p.m. Calendar busy looking for bits of nuts. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the author's name (printed AND signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, punctuation, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. Deadlines Telephone Numbers Advertising News d enthusiasm. Mikey bragged about his expertise in removing the hated things from shakes and because everyone knew there were no good nuts he was elected school class president and later governor of the state. He never knew about the maggots. In fact, no one ever knew about all the maggots that had infested all vanilla shakes. You see, they were too above-mention- Published weekly by NewUtah! same greasy fries, burgers and onion rings that are so common today. One evening while I was working with Becky, a darling schoolmate and fellow employee, Mikey came in for a vanilla milkshake. He always ordered vanilla and in fact everyone did. Unaware that the shake mix was rancid and full of maggots, Becky mixed up a vanilla shake for Mikey. Worst of all, she accidentally dropped a piece of peanut in the shake. The peanut pieces were for the chocolate dipped cones for "them" (the people from somewhere else). Mikey instantly noticed the bit of peanut in his rancid shake and with flair he extricated it from his shake, which he then gulped down with great of the . .Monday, 10 a.m. By Mail . .Monday, 10 a.m. P.O. Box 7, American Fork, UT 84003 Tuesday, 11 US By Fax 756-527- 4 a.m. In Person 59 W. Main, American Fork Mnd address change to American Fork. Utah 84003 By editor newutah.com i POOR COPY MAaMiliMjlfcif4 .. mj ' |