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Show A4 Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition Wednesday, December 20, 2006 IN OUR OPINION ... Through sharing, caring, Sanpeters show the true meaning of Christmas Good things seem to happen at this time of year. People seem to have more spring in their steps, drivers seem to be more courteous, and children seem to behave a little better. There is music in the air and snow on the ground. It’s the Christmas season, Sanpete County style. People in Sanpete County understand how to spread Christmas cheer through service. Some do it quietly, approaching leaders for recommendations of families needing some help and then making donations or leaving gifts on doorsteps. Some do it door to door with cookies and Christmas carols. Some come together as civic groups to orchestrate large-scale projects like Sub for Santa and angel trees. At Snow College finals end this week, and many students are leaving the area. But before they left, the student government raised a record amount of money and collected thousands of dollars worth of food and clothes for needy families. Pastor Dave Boge and the First Presbyterian Church of Mt. Pleasant, joined by some LDS congregations in the North Sanpete area, are again running a countywide Sub for Sanpete program with a dozen drop sites from Gunnison to Fairview. Jensen’s Department Store in Manti, and specifically Kay Jensen, has sponsored an angel tree for many years. Despite personal difficulties that have struck key people involved, they are doing so again this year. We understand the response has been unprecedented. Students at all four high schools are participating in charitable projects. At Gunnison Valley High School, teachers are shaving and dyeing hair and doing other stunts to motivate donations to the Bulldog Bucks program. Perhaps the Christmas story of the season is out of Fairview. The four co-owning families of the Country Garden Restaurant (who have asked not to be named) are serving a Christmas feast to four families per night—50 over the course of the season. Many of the families served have six, seven or eight children or more. After dinner the families are whisked into the “Christmas Room,” where each person select a gift for another family member. A live nativity scene north of the restaurant, supplemented by live, costumed carolers, was built and is staffed by volunteers. The restaurant provides free cider and hot chocolate to people who gather round to witness the scene and listen to the carolers. Yes, people in Sanpete County show by their actions that they recognize Christmas is not about what you get but about sharing what you have. From us to you, Merry Christmas. Introducing Conversations with ... I was watchin’ television the other night and looked out the window and a few does and some fawns were on the lawn eatin’ some apples that fell off the trees earlier in the Fall. I turned the lights off in the front room and opened the curtains and just set there and watched them. They are a pretty animal. I started thinking of all the deer hunts I’d been on in my life. I’ve shot a lot of deer over the years. There’s a bunch of pictures in a shoebox somewhere in my house. Ma used to pull the Kodak out when we’d pull in. She took some pretty good pictures. We didn’t shoot small bucks back then. It would have been embarrassing to take a two spiker or a small three point. It wasn’t hard to find a decent buck. Shoot, we’d load up the old trailer with deer and come down off the mountain for a day or two and go back up to help the others fill their tags. Nobody wasted deer either. I thought about that while I watched a doe paw the snow to get them apples. It seems like everyday there are a few more deer hit on the road here in the county. The people who are managing the deer nowadays are doing a fine job. They’ve just about managed the deer right out of existence here in the mountains. But I can see their point. If you don’t sell tags, you have to cut the workforce, and if that happened, we’d have a whole bunch of pickups for sale, and they wouldn’t be burnin’ gas like they do when they ride around ‘managing’ the wildlife for the public. I figure the fish and game boys will keep sellin’ tags as long as they can find fools to buy’ em up, and there ain’t no shortage of customers in Utah. Only 5 Days until Christmas! Kids eat free Family Night: Monday, between 5 & 8 p.m. 61 S. Main, Ephraim 283-FOOD (3663) 2 Kids eight and under eat FREE with each “one” paid adult entree. Call today and make reservations for your holiday parties. Call the restaurant at 283FOOD (3663) or call Don’s Direct Reservation Line at 835FOOD (3663) and ask for Sylvia. Additional parking in back, with a back door, for your convenience as the Newest Member of the Gunnison Valley Hospital Medical Staff Dr. Young recently completed his family practice residency program at the Williamsport Hospital and Medical Center in Pennsylvania. Dr. Young is trained in the broad spectrum of family practice medicine, including obstetrics and pediatrics. He is also fluent in Spanish. Appointments can be made by calling (435) 528-2130. Dr. Young is seeing patients in the clinic located at 79 East Center in Gunnison. Extended clinic hours will include Thursdays until 8:00 p.m. and every other Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. |