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Show Page 8 The Ogden Valley news Volume XXIII Issue XVI September 15, 2016 Dave Ramsey Partners with Zions Bank to Volunteer & Make a Difference! Wolf Creek st Hosts 31 Military Family Retreat Offer Courses in Ogden Starting Sept. 14 Foundation In early 2006 a chance meet- comes with a parent’s deployment. The parents The Zions Bank financial center in South Ogden will host Dave Ramsey’s nine-week Financial Peace University course, helping families learn to become debt free. The first lesson, called “Super Saving,” is free to those who want to learn more before continuing the full course. The course will be held at Zions Bank, 5635 Harrison Blvd., Ogden, on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. beginning September 14 The course features weekly lessons that help individuals save for the future, eliminate debt, create positive cash flow and build wealth. Topics also include the role of insurance, retirement and college planning, real estate and mortgages. Tuition for the full course is $105 per household, including children 19 and younger, and provides a lifetime membership to repeat the course in the future. Participants also receive a comprehensive workbook, an envelope system for organizing cash, an audio CD EDITOR’S VIEW cont. from page 3 and 82 percent of donations to incoming members of the Utah Legislature came from special interests. In total, 102 legislators out of the 104 on The Hill in Salt Lake accepted donations in 2014 for a combined total of $3.4 million, or an average of $33,568 each. He commented, “That, of course, raises questions about whether lawmakers focus more on the needs of their constituents or on special interests, and what those special interests are buying with their money.” Unable to find more current statistics, 2006 figures showed that 22 of Utah lawmakers made their living in real estate; today this trend continues. Thus, it shouldn’t be surprising to find that the UAR was the top special interest donor to Utah’s legislators, and also to local and regional candidates, too. A Standard-Examiner article (October 30, 2014) brings this point home. In the article, Jenn Gonnelly, co-president of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Utah, commented on the 2014 election year when no one was opposing Republican incumbent Kerry Gibson who was running for his second term as County Commissioner. “The perception of money in politics really adds to the disillusion of voters.” Especially since, as the article points out, Gibson’s campaign report showed that his largest donations included “$5,000 from a political action committee Preserve Ogden Valley, two $1,500 contributions from Randall Moulding [who works in the construction industry] and a business called AFC Tanks, and $1,000 from Staker Parsons . . . . Records show that the Preserve Ogden Valley PAC was launched in December 2013 by Elliott Bisnow, founder and chief executive officer for Summit . . . that purchased Powder Mountain. . . . Reports show that in early January, Summit Mountain Holding Group LLC—the real estate development arm for Summit—contributed $12,000 to Preserve set of all the lessons and access to additional online lessons and tools. Since 2003, Zions Bank has supported Financial Peace University classes with more than 60,000 participants from Utah and Idaho. After participating in the program, the average household reports paying off $5,300 in debt and adding $2,700 in savings within three months. Zions Bank hosts Financial Peace University as part of its Eliminate Needless Debt (END) program to support responsible spending and saving habits. All program participants receive an entry in a sweepstakes for the chance to win $1,000 deposited to a Zions Bank Money Market Account to use as an emergency fund savings account. For more information on the Zions Bank END Program and Financial Peace University courses, visit <endprogram.com> Additional information is available at <www. zionsbank.com> ing between Steve Roberts, former managing partner at Wolf Creek Utah, and a chaplain from Hill Air Force Base resulted in a program that has served over 1,700 airmen and their families. Twice a year families that have someone scheduled to deploy or just returning from deployment are invited to Wolf Creek for a complimentary weekend that includes luxury second home accommodations, all meals, world class recreation opportunities, a structured program to help both parents and children deal with deployment issues and a dinner dance. This program has held Best Practice status within the Air Force since 2008 and several bases from around the U.S. are working to create something similar for their families. One of the unique qualities of this program is what is done for the children. Several base organizations along with Air Force child development specialists take over the local junior high with a myriad of activities along with Ogden Valley in three separate donations. And on focused programming to help these children Jan. 10, $5,000 went to Friends of Kerry Gibson, deal with the inherent fear and uneasiness that and $5,000 to Friends of Matt Bell. . . .” It was sad and disheartening to see the recent MOTHER TERESA cont. from page 1 last-minute play by two of our three Weber County Commissioners, which so blatantly noticed them. A large crowd was there hoping to sidestepped the two-year public process to see the Osmonds, who arrived at the same time. On the big day, we arrived early for the develop our new Ogden Valley General Plan. This public process included hundreds of hours mass. We waited anxiously with other guests for of volunteer input and participation, and thou- Mother Teresa’s appearance. We sat in the back sands of tax-payers’ dollars to fund the private balcony of the monastery chapel, just behind consultants who were hired by the county to where she would sit. She arrived quietly, wearing a black sweater, guide this enormous public process, only to have a last-minute political decision introduced simple white sari robe with blue trim, and before the vote on the plan without a public sandals with socks. She was tiny, with a worn, hearing or public debate on the controversial homely and wrinkled face and a bulbous nose. newly-added verbiage, and even though the Still, even my immature eyes saw her intense decision drastically undermines a critical ele- inner beauty. During mass, the monks gathered at the ment of the plan—overall population density— and subsidizes, in effect, larger developers at front of the church. As a male, I joined them, the expense of landowners who own smaller but monastic rules required women to stay in tracts of land in Ogden Valley who can’t take the back guest area. I felt privileged and reguadvantage of bonus density options that provide larly gloated to my mother and sister, Karen, a financial windfall to large-scale developers about this special status. During Mother Teresa’s visit, my mother and realtors who benefit from the sale of these and sister turned the gloating tables around extra lots and units. Political theorist Ian Shapiro succinctly on me. While I was up front, the congregants states the cause of most corrupt political deci- were invited to greet each other. Mother Teresa sions and actions that sidestep the common turned, shook hands with my family and warmgood, “. . . in the world of actual politics, people ly spoke to them. My sister later pointed out, confront one another in massively unequal several times, how I did not get to shake the power contexts—in the United States most living saint’s hand. I am still jealous. In her Huntsville talks, Mother Teresa told obviously owing to the role of money in polihow her Calcutta house for the dying was in a tics” (The State of Democratic Theory). While this editorial was not written as an temple formerly dedicated to a Hindu goddess. outright indictment of corruption against our Many Hindus objected to her presence there and elected officials, whose dedicated service to protested, shouting, “Kill Mother Teresa!” The the public over the years has been sincerely loud demonstrators disturbed her patients, so appreciated, it is more of an explanation of she confronted them, saying, “You want to kill why the recent actions of these same public me? Kill me! I’ll go to Heaven, but you must servants have appeared so egregious, distaste- stop this nonsense!” They stopped it. Later, the protesters brought ful, and dubious to the constituents they claim her a Hindu priest stricken with tuberculosis. to represent. go through three training sessions that thoroughly deal with the issues that arise during a spouse’s deployment as well as re-integration issues when the spouse returns. Several seasoned officers have reported that in their 25- to 30-year careers, they have never been offered anything as beneficial to their families as this program An Opportunity for You to Make a Difference - We are looking for volunteers to help serve at some of the meals during the next retreat taking place October 14-16, 2016. Your only commitment will be for one meal during that weekend. All of the meals are served buffet-style so a volunteer’s main responsibility will be serving occasional beverages, clearing tables, and resetting for the next meal. We are looking for six to eight volunteers per meal. We invite you to thank these airmen and their families by volunteering. To volunteer, please call Sue Munson at 801-388-7596 or 801-745-9233. We look forward to seeing you in October! No other hospital would take him in. Mother Teresa did, and she personally cared for him until he died peacefully in the former temple. A month after we saw Mother Teresa, a newspaper article briefly reported her visit. Of course, now we all know the rest of her story: 1979 Nobel Peace Prize; 1997 state funeral when she died the same week as her friend Princess Diana; her face on a 2010 American postage stamp. Finally, Pope Francis canonizing her as a saint Sunday. Few people predicted all of this in the fall of 1972, yet the Utah monks were ahead of the news cycle. They knew Mother Teresa would be known worldwide, respected and loved for who she was and what she did. Knowing the monks as a boy provided me with a living education about the virtues of simplicity and compassion. Meeting Mother Teresa, even briefly, and learning about her work, was the capstone in that education. With her and the monks, what better models of such important values could a young man like me, or any of us, possibly get? I have met many people who are saintly. St. Teresa of Calcutta is the only person I have met who holds the official title. It is amazing that at age 11, I met such a person at a secluded Trappist monastery in rural, out-of-the-way, but lovely Huntsville. Note: Mike O’Brien is a Utah attorney who represents The Salt Lake Tribune in First Amendment matters. He is writing a book about his adventures growing up with the Huntsville Trappist monks. This Op-ed ran in “The Salt Lake Tribune” September 5, 2016 and is being used by permission. A Match Donor is one who wishes to uplift ALL Ogden Valley Non-Profits in one donation. These donations go directly to match the gifts that are given to the non profit organizations during the OVerDRIVE giving period from May until September 30. We call all generous donors OVers, because they display such a love of Ogden Valley. Many of these same people have also donated to OVerDRIVE as sponsors of the Summer Scramble event. AND many of them have been Match Donors for the past five years. Mt. Ogden Match dOnOrs ~ the highest peak of giving Janet Muir and David Suehsdorf Wadman Corp. Williamsen Family Foundation Doug Cardon Match dOnOrs Richard Webb Biker’s Edge Jeffrey and Jenna Holt John Lund Hanson Family Revocable Trust Marlin and Kathy Jensen Dennis and Diane Shaw Dave and Sharon Holmstrom Dave and Jerre Winder Philip Coleman John and JoAnn Loomis Paul and Judy DeLong Kathy Peterson Steven and Cindy Batchelor Stephen and Linda Clarke Allan and Betsy Wiscombe Melinda and Pete Roland Richard and Miranda Menzies Marion Horna and Marty Mayo Morey and JoAnn Haymond Friends OF the Match Carol Lechthaler Tim Ludlum Brandi Hammon Kathleen Elkins Gage and Gloria Froerer Gregory Stevens Alison and David Tomlinson Edward Power C & H Eden You too can be a match donor. go to cfogdenvalley.org under donations and look for match donor. |