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Show Wednesday. May 17, 2000 A-14 the low-cost of Sunday in the Park J t4 r-i. . T : r r- dv i en urr ker The Park Record Em A r L P1 1 ' I 3 S7 Bstzfrcggg &Ducane set the standard for great grilling! Free! Deluxe BBG Tool Set with grill purchase this month! .4"' it 1 -tt- . J q1 lov, Hov... o i5 0 t i 1. w ji -CO' Dn'miro. barcnts. We've faun! . e t' And no, it doesn't feqy. nobody's busliMW-wWl, ,,,. 6 summer fun for iciefs aged 5 to 12. And sum1 ( . t for parents ot an yU'll be geS. 1 0 tlglHIY' t office cM My 'perfect' friend I plan to celebrate more, 1 know that. It is what my friend Linda, who passed over this week, would have wanted. I know that because one day, more than a decade ago, I came home from work and saw something stuck to my front door, it was a poem Linda had found at some workshop that talked about celebrating the ordinary things, it arrived, as I recall, with a bundle of wildflowers and a candle. Looking back, I should have known from the beautiful, beauti-ful, carefully scripted, calligraphy that the gift had come from Linda, but it was weeks before I guessed. Then we talked about It. The need to recognize and celebrate simple accomplishments by oui children, chil-dren, celebrate the car not breaking down for another anoth-er week and. always, celebrate friendships. It was in keeping with Linda's spirit her ability to find the good among the gunk I first met Linda when she was the speech teacher for my adorable blond, seven-year-old son who spoke with a lisp. His regular classroom teacher was concerned about his speech pattern. pat-tern. The intern I took Randy to said there w as a procedure w here the tongue was cut that might improve his speech but he suggest- ed I consult a speech expert first. Smart guy he sent me to Linda. She knew about the cutting therapy and found it radical. She thought with some work and age. Randy would outgrow the problem. Like so many children she helped, she watched him graduate from both high school and college. She knew he married and knew he is completing his doctorate doc-torate in physics at the University of Utah. He had managed to communicate successfully in all his endeavors without the disfiguring surgery. We have Linda to thank for that. It's easy when someone dies to think of them as having been "perfect." In fact, it was Truman Capote, a keen observer of social blunders, w ho said of Babe Paiey, "Mrs. P had only one fault. She was perfect; otherwise, she was perfect." But when I think about Linda I think about the word "perfect" used in a different way. Much has been reported about Linda being one of the first women in Rotary in Park Qty, and in the state. But dont be confused it wasnt exactly a lovefest when she was nominated. I know this more from hei sponsor than from Linda herself. Her sponsor spon-sor in the club was also her minister at the time. Rev. Mark Heiss, who watched over the flock at the Community Church for years. It was an easier fit than her Baptist upbringing and it gave Linda a safe place of worship. Mark's wife, Heidi, worked with me at the newspaper and the three of us were fast friends. That's why Heidi asked if I would talk with Mark about his difficulty with the Rotary club and Linda's nomination. There were many, many men who didnl want any women in Rotairy and, since . change is always hard, that was to be expected. But on the membership committee there were a few men 4 at Linda went on to become the first woman Rotary president in the state and a crown jewel of the 'service above self motto -Teri Orr w ho specifically didnl w ant Linda. ' Linda was a sinde woman who didnl stay home every night correcting papers she had a life. And though I never remember her as outspoken, she didnl agree with everything her superiors in the school district did. Mark had lost patience by the time he entered that last membership meeting. He used the word "perfect" about Linda that nigh. Wht he said was that no one could live up to the standards of "perfect" that ihe men w ere demanding of this woman; that Linda was "perfectly human" which made her the "perfect" candidate for membership. mem-bership. And then he challenged the group if they found themselves "perfect" to feel free to cast the first stone against Linda, it was an emotional meeting meet-ing and Mark walked out after his speech and came over to my office w here we prayed for the best possible pos-sible outcome for all involved. Sou know the rest of the stoiy. Linda went on to become the first woman Rotary president in the state and a crown jewel oi tne "service above se!(" motto of the club. ; There is anothaf piece of the story. Two years ago when I was nominated for without objection. This time it was Linda sitting on the membership committee. I donl know what was said, but I do kqow it was. in par). Linda's quiet way insisting I be admitted, that allows me to enjoy membership today. 2 Midway through her service Sunday night, two Hispanic children, all dressed up a little br maybe seven and his younger sister walked up to the stage where Linda's ashes were held in an urn and they placed, lovingly, roses there. That was the moment that got me. those children represented all our children who had been nurtured and loved and educated by Linda. And those Hispsnic children have no idea the battles Linda fought for them to be educated and equally integrated info our community. communi-ty. I'm not going into work today. I have declared it a personal holiday. The sun is shining. But there are clouds in the sky and the threat of rain. It's a "perfect" "per-fect" day to celebrate the beauty of ordinary thingv. My friend is gone but not lost. Linda will remain in my heart whenever I see a hot air balloon (her favorites) or when I see her beautiful daughter, Lindsay, headed off to college this fall, or when I see her new husband and forever soulmate. Dean. Linda was a beloved member of our community. She was also a perfect example of giving and loving and serving. serv-ing. She faced her death with dignity, humor and grace. She was the teacher even to the end. I will remember her best by celebrating little things at odd and unpredictable hours. And those "perfect" celebrations cele-brations will come any day of the week not limited limit-ed to a Sunday in the Park.. . Teri Orr, former eduor of The Park Record, is car-. ; rtndy dirroorof the Pork City Performing Am Center-. Core Sam pi By Jay Meehan Manning the barricades There are those "over to Heber" who seern to be acquiring a siege-mentality of late and, if the truth be told. I am one of them. We have identified iden-tified the enemy. It is' "they." "They" want to pave the dirt roads into town, and the ones that are already paved, "they" want to tear up and widen. It doesnt take a whole lot to scare us these days. Recent talk of an asphalt plant in our valley did the trick. And the thought of spreading that asphalt, or any asphalt, on the Guardsman Pass road up Pine Creek Canyon realiy brings out the revolutionary side of our normally subdued character. char-acter. Now I don't want to give anyone the idea here that I am any kind of spokesperson for the Heber Valley or its residents, for i certainly am not. There is a const ituen- it 2 7h j -4 -' s We are not wont to attend public hearings and the like, although we consider consid-er ourselves fortunate that others do partake par-take of that mm.' . .. JayMethcn cy. however, whose views I share. Actually, we are more of a "cult" than a constituency. con-stituency. Our group is small and devoted to the idea that, as a culture, we do not need any more roads, aiiBBiiiMBvBmiH and certainly no more paved roads. I donl "hang out" with my cult all that mucu and. in fact, most of those whose company I keep are on the opposite side of these issues. They would just as soon tee lumbering, mining and road building go on unabated. Where they see livestock on public lands as one of their inalienable rights, I root for the predator. D-fnse! D-fense! Coyote, Wolf, Hold That Line! This kind of talk oftentimes results in me get-ting get-ting verbally abused. M L.vl rc very good at that. And for a bunch of right-wing, land-despoiling, gun-toting, snowmobile-riding, homophobk chaps, they are a rather taleuted lot. They are certainly cer-tainly a lot more fun to drink beer with than most of those who share my politics. I used to wonder as to why that was. Lately, 1 just accept it as cse of the mysteries of life. But back to my cult-mates and our quandary as to how to deal with the possible paving of the road between Park City and Midway via the Guardsman Pass. We are not wont to attend public hearings and the like, although we consider ourselves fortunate fortu-nate that others do partake of that route. ' We opt for the more creative approach. At a recent gathering it was suggested that we could hand out free cans of Copenhagen laced with Jagermeister to the heavy-equipment operators employed on the job. Road builders cot to like a pinch of 70 proof licorice between their cheek and gum. The idea waa kibosned when it tat invested that Jagermeister and "tree-Logging" do not marriage make. ; I decided to check out the site for Kysett, at katt up to the snow line Alas, it turned oat that, at least as far as the jiinttioa of the road to Brighton, the only snow was on & siit of tie road and there was precious little of that. There was enough, however, for a small sedan chuck full f wilderness sightseers to get completely stuck. As I rounded a bend, there they were, fighting the good fight. A half-dozen of them were bounding bound-ing the froni end of the car up and down as the driver, dri-ver, transmission locked in reverse, spun trie wheels for all he was worth. If they would hatfr missed that patch, it was a good couple-of-hundred yards to the next one. Damned car! Damned snow ! Why isnt this toad paved, anyway? A rope attached to my rear bumper settled ai! their questions. ques-tions. What a fun road. Onward and upward, past the fox, turkeys, deer, moose and Titleists of Wasatch Mountain State Park. On through the rabbitbrush and scrub oak, into the Aspens and "no tres- !assing" sign? and. inally, that peaceful expanse below Girl Scout Lake. Wouldn't a subdivision go good right here? With paved ingress and BIBaaBaaHliaaaiBaaaaBaiiaBa egress, of course. 1 fire up a cigar nd hop, well, walk around, the concret barriers at the bottom of the road up the backside of McConkey'S Bowl. Come to think of it, a hillside community wouldn't look aU that bad in this locale. With a couple of montks and a little asphalt we could buff this area into shape. , 1 run into a guy, quite possibly a "dude," with, a couple of "North Country" lookin dogs and a pair of "fat boy" skis fastened to his backpack. He.'d caught some decent turns up arou- i !2C" and was spending the rest of the afternoon in so&e "behavior-modification' training with his dogs. When I was there the dogs appeared to be working on him. M Just then it hit me. Maybe the concrete barriers had been placed, not by the state road crew to keep autos from communing with higher elevation snow, bat rather by a "cult" from Brighton that wished to deflect Park City Range Rover parade toward the Heber Valley. Aha! No doubt we had met oar match. ; , But wait a minute. Maybe, just maybe, wc gorp-eating, gorp-eating, tree-hugging, bleeding-heart pansies frojn over Heber way could take a page from Brighton s book and just move their cute little concrete barriers barri-ers to oar side of the junction. Then those asphalt peddlers could continue their loop right op td over into Brighton. . Ard why stop there? The lay of the land would almost dictate a byway up and over Catherine's Pan into the Albion Basia and Alta. Would ttis be a great place for a Jeep Safari what? TVy t could use a little siege-mentality ov ie them parts. And then my cult could get back o what we dc best, which U keeping the pickled egg off the endangered species list. , |