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Show Letter to the editor Former school board head praises Hawker Dear Editor: It is good to be back home in Payson once more after ten strenuous weeks abroad. We have seen many beautiful things and places during our trip and hope to be able to retain the memory of them as long as we are permitted to live upon this beautiful old world of ours. We met many wonderful people, especially in Scotland. Of course I could be slightly prejudiced because my father was born there, and we did some research and perhaps got a little closer to the people. Ouf pleasure in these things was, however, marred by some news from home which was extremely ex-tremely distressing to us; the news of the seemingly unnecessary unneces-sary shakeup in the school personnel per-sonnel in Payson and other parts of the Nebo School District. Dis-trict. I was not born in Payson, but I have lived here in this community perhaps longer than the majority of the people who have been born and reared here. For the past forty-five years I have been interested, more or less, in the schools of this district. I have been personally per-sonally acquainted with every man who has been at the head of our high school, and am proud to feel that they included includ-ed me in their circle of friends. They have all been men of the highest calibre, dedicated to W. Harold Hawker is such a man. Principal W. Harold Hawk- tne interests oi uie community and to the development of the young people. We are living in very perilous peri-lous times and the thinking of some has udergone radical change. The sense of responsibility responsi-bility to one another and to the community seem outmoded, as well as our ideals of respect for law and order. It is felt that each individual should be a law unto himself, giving vent to his passions and desires regardless re-gardless of how these actions affect the lives of his fellow-men. fellow-men. We hear much of juvenile delinquency, acts of vandalism, and senseless destruction of property; the violation of the moral code; the light regard even for human life. All these seem to be the ultimate end of the present trend of our times. We need, here in Payson, no less than in other parts of our great nation, men and women wo-men with courage enough to face this tidal wave of public drift, who will stand for the principles of right and justice, of respect for law and order, and for the good way of life. er has shown himself to be a man of character and courage; willing to face the criticism of those who disagree with him in his efforts to maintain high standards of conduct in the youth under his supervision. I have found him to be a man of high personal integrity, with a desire to help in every way he can to stem this drift of lawlessness, which is far to the left of any goal to which a good community must steer if it wishes to exist as a refuge for an ailing society. I admire him for his courage, for his honesty and sincerity; and until un-til I can be shown that the ideals to which he subscribes are not good for us all and for the rising generation, I must feel that the citizens of this and surrounding communities have been "sold down the river" by the superintendent and the School Board of the Nebo School District, and that they have failed in their sacred trust. S. Roland Lindsay 1964-65 President Nebo School District Board of Education |