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Show OREM GENEVA TIMES NEWS AND NOTES TO KEEP YOU INFORMED AND INVOLVED f he hot lazy days of summer are here again mi 1 "Family City U.S.A." is gearingAip foritslaS Thursday, June 8, 2006 - , V- . ..4. mar I i ri r j -i i i i oj i -m ,1 Here is a behind-the-scenes look community who are bringing it rent Sumner, Reva Bowen A historic front page of the Orem-Geneva Times, announcing announc-ing the assassination of President Presi-dent John F. Kennedy, is among the memorabilia framed and displayed on the wall of Brent Sumner's office at Utah Valley State College, where he serves as the College Times newspaper advisor. The keepsake hints at Sumner's Sum-ner's extensive background in the newspaper business a business he grew up with when his father, Harold B. Sumner, purchased the Utah Valley Publishing Pub-lishing Company and the Orem-Geneva Orem-Geneva Times in 1953. From his youth. Sumner learned about and worked in all aspects of the business, eventually succeeding his father as publisher and managing man-aging editor. As a newspaperman. Sumner was closely involved for years in covering local events like Orem's Summerfest long before he became a committee member and, this year, chairman chair-man of the entire event, with particular responsibility for the games, rides and fireworks "I'm just kind of the guy with the 'chair' hat," Sumner said. "The committee members do their own thing. They check with me. but do a wonderful job putting their area of responsibility responsi-bility together. 1 really have it pretty good." Sumner's wife. Becky, has been very involved helping with the community celebration this year, joining chairman Candy Belliston and Jan Clark in organizing orga-nizing the baby contest. Grant Ellingson, Michael Rigert Hi )MM COt iU!Y SIAff The traditional Community Breakfast is a perfect way to fill bellies and begin Saturday's Summerfest activities in Orem with hot cakes,' eggs, ham and orange juice. Yet filling hungry mouths prior to a long day of family fun in the sun isn't the only benefit of the breakfast, said Grant Ellingson, the event's organizer. For the past 10 to 15 years the Orem Rotary Club has flipped flapjacks and served the Community Breakfast to city residents one morning a year during Summerfest. Ellingson, who is the club's president-elect and organized his first Summerfest breakfast last year, said the proceeds from the meal go back into helping Orem students. "Locally the club provides a dictionary to every third grader grad-er every year in the schools," he said. This year Ellingson said the Rotary dispensed 1,300 dictionaries diction-aries to third graders. "If every third grader who got a dictionary brought their family to the breakfast, we wouldn't have enough food," he said. If you go What: Summerfest's Community Commu-nity Breakfast When: Saturday, June 10, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Where: Rotary Pavilion at City Center Park at 250 E. Center Street just east of the Orem Department of Public Safety building Cost: $4 per person or $20 per family ai ummenest on rnaay ana aaiuruay. 1 nougn Orem has thrown city celebrations for 30 years, Summerf est got has grown into Fireworks When: Saturday Time: 10 p.m. Where: City Center Park $8,000 fireworks display Last event of Summerfest Games & Rides Midway West Amusements Carnival When: Friday - 2 to 10 p.m. and Saturday -10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Where: City Center Park In the past, Sumner served on Orem's Recreation Advisory Commission for six years, and coached baseball from T-ball to high school level for 15 years as his children grew up. "I watch my grandson play now," he said. The newspaperman has found a niche coaching students in the business both at UVSC and at Mountain View High School, where he is also the newspaper advisor. Sumner said he and his committee com-mittee members began talking as early as last November, and their first official meeting was in January the month the city had to get on the carnival schedule. Midway West Amusements is providing the traditioral games and rides. Summerfest prices are lower than in other Grant Ellingson, left, and Joe Kelley May 31. The funds generated from the breakfast also go to scholarships schol-arships for students at Utah Valley State College and for student humanitarian aid projects proj-ects in Africa. Forty volunteers and their families prepare and serve up the annual breakfast which last year fed 800 patrons. This year's breakfast runs from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., though it's started nearly before sunrise sun-rise in previous years. "We've gone 7 to 10 but nobody wants to get up that early and we don't either," Ellingson El-lingson said. Ellingson and the Rotar-ians Rotar-ians are hoping 1,200 to 1,500 Orem residents show up for .L4r-''' V- h'f & ' ni frmSj" - . n if ) ; its start in the late 1980s and a seasonal community tradition. at the names and faces of our all together this year. Brent Sumner sits in his office at places, Sumner said, because instead of collecting a share of the ticket sales, Orem discounts prices to make them more affordable af-fordable for families. The committee held another six or seven meetings, but members mem-bers are in communication with sit in the Rotary Pavilion at City Saturday's breakfast. Though the event begins before be-fore many residents even think about hopping out of bed on a weekend morning, he said the breakfast is an integral part of Orem's two-day celebration. It also gives the Rotary Club an opportunity to serve the community com-munity and patrons a chance to help their neighbors. "Orem and the nature of the community is very service oriented ori-ented and family oriented and always looking for a way to contribute without it being expensive," ex-pensive," Ellingson said. "This gives residents the opportunity on a local and international level to help out in a way that they otherwise couldn't." Net - X News at UVSC Tuesday. Sumner is the current Summerfest each other so much that they have developed a family sense, Sumner said, adding, "We don't always agree." The chairman fields about five phone calls a day dealing with issues related to the upcoming up-coming event. ROBB COSTELLO, Worm County Center Park in Orem on If every third grader who got a dictionary diction-ary brought their family to the breakfast, break-fast, we wouldn't have enough food." Grant Ellingson SUMMERFEST The fireworks display will be an $8,000 extravaganza, and, for the first time, a sound system will be set up in City Center Park to provide music to accompany the show. "It's not your Lagoon or Disneyland, Dis-neyland, but it's still your small Jacque Brown, sponsorships Ben Carter NORTH COUNIY SlAFf As thousands of people come out to enjoy the festivities at Summerfest this weekend they will have Jacque Brown, in part, to thank. The director of public relations rela-tions for Timpanogos Regional Hospital, Brown has served on the Summerfest committee since 2002, and has volunteered at the celebration as far back as the 1990s. Her current primary responsibilities responsi-bilities include bringing in sponsors, spon-sors, one of which is the hospital where she works. She said she is enthusiastic about that role because be-cause of her personal philosophy about business.' "Every business, to some degree, has a responsibility to give something back to the community," she said. "Summerfest "Sum-merfest has been a great way for (the hospital) to give back to the community." The hospital's involvement goes beyond just monetary donations. It provides a booth where people can take a break f rom the celebration to have a free blood pressure screening. "We've actually had people who have had health problems and have not even known they had health problems until they had their blood pressure taken at our screening." Brown's enthusiasm for Summerfest Sum-merfest comes in part from her upbringing. She was born and raised in Provo and graduated from Timpview High School and Brigham Young University. She said her parents raised her to have a sense of pride in the community and a sease of duty to serve in good causes. She said her enthusiasm comes from the Summerfest being a great event for families. Brown said there is something MARIO RUIZNorth County Chairman. town celebration atmosphere," Sumner said. "Any pressure (as committee chairman) is self-imposed. You want it to be good to work. But that line-up (of committee members) can compete with the Yankees anytime." Every business, to some degree, has a responsibility to give something back to the community. com-munity. Jacque Brown SUMMERFEST for everyone at Summerfest. She mentioned the Grand Parade, Pa-rade, the baby contest and the AirMed medical helicopter as some of the main attractions. "There's a carnival," she said. "I don't know anybody who doesn't enjoy the fireworks. I have people tell me regularly that they think it's the best fireworks fire-works show around." Brown said one of the best things about Summerfest is that families can come have a good time for very little money. "For example, they can go to Taste of Orem and get a sampling sam-pling of a lot of different kinds of food for not a lot of money," she said. "It's also being able to go to a parade for some people, for others it's listening to the entertainment." Some of the major sponsors Brown has been working with include the hospital, AirMed and Humana, but she said she appreciates all the smaller donations dona-tions that have come in as well. "Not all businesses can be all things to all events, all entities," she said. "It takes all different types of donations to help support a baby contest, for instance." COPY |