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Show , CAR-PT LOT-C-0C5 Printed Weekly Read Daily 71st yearNumber 52 Grandma Siafhews bids farewell to Scera Parle Elemental? SCARLETT M. BARGER Times Writer Hundreds of Scera Park Elementary students said goodbye Monday, Dec. 17 to a woman many have come to recognize rec-ognize as a grandmother. Orem resident res-ident Flora Mathews, 94, has volunteered vol-unteered at the school for 15 years under the GRANDMA FLORA MATHEWS local Foster Grandparents Program. However, after she recently broke her hip, her son advised her to move to Gunnison so he could take care of her. With only around 450 students at the school, school officials say I 1 J1M.1IX, T a II111UVUVV Will V 1VUI I J ."r J - missed. After 15 years, the children i affectionately know her as "Grandma Mathews." At the school Christmas assem bly, Mathews was given a plaque in honor of her service. When teachers asked the students who knew her to stand, nearly 80 percent of the students stu-dents stood. Kindergarten teacher Candy Belliston estimated that Mathews probably worked with 1,000 children chil-dren in her years at the school. Mathews' first year volunteering was Belliston's first year of teaching. teach-ing. "She's quite the trooper," Belliston said. When Mathews first started volunteering, vol-unteering, she drove her Volkswagen bug to the school. Then deciding she needed exercise, she started walking on foot. Three years ago, when her health began to deteriorate, members of the Relief Society in Mathews', ward agreed to drive her to and from the elementary school, Belliston said. "Grandma has come through the rain, through the snow to be with the children at Scera Park," Belliston said at the assembly. Mathews said she helps kindergarten kinder-garten and first grade students learn numbers and letters of the alphabet. She said she started volunteering for "something to do." "I love to read, myself," she said. She explained that she wanted to plant the same desire to read into young children so they would want to continue learning. Karen Hunt, the school secretary, said she admires Mathews' giving heart. "Her whole life has been for service," she said Hunt said Mathews has to get up at 4 a.m. sometimes to be at the school at 8:30 a.m. Before she volunteered vol-unteered at Scera Park, Mathews would feed infants at the Tiny Tots care center. According to the BYU Alumni House, Mathews earned a bachelor's bache-lor's degree at BYU in 1969 in teacher education. Belliston said Mathews was also a recipient of the Utah PTA Volunteer of the Year Award, which is only given to one volunteer in the state each year. Carol Morrow, of the Foster Grandparents Program, spoke highly high-ly of Mathews. "She's a neat lady; she's (touched) a lot of lives," Morrow said. The program, which is pot on by the Utah County Commission, has around 87 seniors that volunteer. To participate, seniors must be over the age of 60 and be at least 30 percent above the poverty level, she said. a n Five generations celebrate I .A - -n Celebrating the 102nd birthday of their "Aunt Iva", LucUe Richards Cole), are (back, left to right) Marilyn Yarn; Steffani Yam Wasbbum; Orem resident celebrates 1 BY REVA BQWEN Times Reporter Lucile Richards, or "Aunt Iva", as she is known to her family, is a woman of strong opinions, and is not afraid of voicing them. Family members believe it is this strength of spirit that has "kept her going", and enabled her recently to celebrate her 102nd birthday. Lucile is a resident of the Seville Retirement Residence in Orem, and was feted at a celebration that was complete with flowers, balloons, cards, gifts, and live entertainment. Aunt Iva's birth date is December 9, 1899, which means that her long lifetime life-time has spanned to include three centuries. cen-turies. She easily recited highlights of her personal history in an interview with the Times. Lucile was born in Fielding, Utah, just west of Logan, and was raised in a family with two brothers and five sisters. sis-ters. She moved with her family to Logan when she was ten years old. As a girl, she remembers "playing with the neighborhood crowd" and having guests over for hot chocolate and games on Sunday nights. Lucile graduated from the Utah Agricultural College (later Utah State University), then obtained a master's degree in Oregon, and a librarian certificate cer-tificate in Seattle. She has attended Celebrate New at First Nig :ht First Night will be wrapping wrap-ping up Winterfest activities soon for the year 2001. First Night will begin at 5:30 on Monday, December 31, 2001 and will continue ceremony and sculpture unveiling will begin at 7:00 p.m. First Night entrance buttons but-tons are $3 bought in advance or $5 at the event with through midnight. January 1, 2002. The outdoor festivities will include food, activities, music, comedians, comedi-ans, live bands and fireworks. This year at First Night there will be an ice sculpture in remembrance of those who died in the September 11 terrorist ter-rorist attacks. A candlelight button purchases or information informa-tion on First Night, call Nicole Parker in the Provo city community com-munity development office at 852-6161. d it ion' of The Daily Herald Thursday, December 27, 2001 v M -ks Jul h k . i I 2X1 ? C 3 i f ; . i f 0 1M ijj 4 -1 i& t A J summer school in Mexico, Cuba, and Hawaii. Aunt Iva has also had the experience of traveling all over the world through the United States, and to Great Britain, and the European continent. "I was in Hawaii when it became a state," she said, "and in Russia just before the Iron Curtain fell." Lucile Richards taught high school in Idaho and Utah, retiring from Granite High School. Of the subjects she taught physical education, English, and French she said, "I liked them all," declining to name a favorite. Although it was unusual in her day for a woman to obtain an education as extensive as Lucile's, she said it was a natural things for her to do in her circle of family and friends. Aunt Iva lived in the Belvedere Apartments in downtown Salt Lake City. A sister of hers, Nancy Richards Stevenson, lived by the capitol building, and for a number of years, they were close companions. In 1995, Lucile moved to Orem to live with a niece, Marilyn Yarn, who said her aunt has been like a second mother. "Aunt Iva's just part of our family," declared Rosemary Washburn Cole, who has school teaching in common with her great-great aunt. (Rosemary teaches history at Centennial Middle School in Provo). "It's just nice to have her here." Rosemary's mother, Steffani Year's children 10 and under free. Buttons can be purchased at the Orem Fitnes3 V t rr. I I r Center or any Utah County Zions Bank locations. For more locations for Pleasant Grove High School Sophomores, Tiffany and Amber Baclk, organize gifts for the Angel Tree 1 889 1 8 UTH PRESS ASSOCIATION 307 U 200 S SUITE 4006 SALT LAKE CITY UT sea fx (holding baby Anneka Wasbum and Rosemary Washburn Cole. 02nd birthday Washburn, said her favorite time has been since Aunt Iva has lived at the Seville the last few months. That's when I've gotten to know her," Steffani said. "We've talked about everything from the Jazz pro basketball team to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and mystery novels!" Rosemary said Aunt Iva read3 the newspaper and stays abreast of current events, making her an excellent conversationalist. conver-sationalist. One of Lucile's main hobbies is reading. read-ing. She particularly enjoys biographies, biogra-phies, mysteries, and poetry. John Grisham is one of her many favorite authors. Family membere say that they can bring their reading selections to Aunt Iva, and she can give them her opinion on whether the book is worth reading or not. Lucile is an avid Jazz fan, and was happy at the time of the newspaper interview because the team had won their game the night before. Because of her love for and loyalty to the Jazz, the Los Angeles Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal is one of her least favorite basketball players. play-ers. In her remaining days, Aunt Iva hopes to be able to attend a 2002 Olympics event, and also has a goal to visit downtown Salt Lake City and see the changes that have come to that area. KaHstone of PGHS. 2 ... ..M 0,4101-12' ' i Orem's Weekly Newspaper Since 1930 500 . . j- Per Issue CaCac 538 South State Street Orera. TJT MW (801 225-1340 PGHS participates in Angel Tree program SCARLETT M BARGER Times Writer Some say that this year's recession as well as lay-offs at Geneva Steel and Novell have led to a greater need for holiday service. But according to the United Way of Utah County, the community com-munity has responded overwhelmingly over-whelmingly through Angel Trees as part of the United Way's Sub for Santa program. According to Brittany Snow, director of Sub for Santa, there are three Angel Trees in Utah County - one at Thanksgiving Point, one at Meier and Frank and one at Pleasant Grove High School. The process is fairly simple. Snow said. Each tree has a number of tags, each of which contain a person's name, age and what he or she wants for Christmas. Those interested in donating can pick a tag and buy two or three items for the person. per-son. The gifts are then delivered anonymously. Mainly presents are given to children and teens, known through the urogram as "angel." HoweveV, the program also helps senior citizens in nursing homes called "golden angels," Snow said. She explained that gifts from the Angel Tree help lift those suffering from financial troubles. trou-bles. "They need (a) little boost," she said. Sydney Hackford, student council advisor at Pleasant Grove High, said the school has had an Angel Tree each Christmas for six years. Hackford said she once had a remarkable experience when she adopted a grandmother through an Angel Tree at ZCMI. So she decided to bring that opportunity to Pleasant Grove High. "I knew that if I could do one, if my family could do one, the school could do many," she said. Hackford said the students have donated gifts for around 350 people this year. The project has had as many as 500 donations dona-tions in the past, but Hackford said she thinks there are less this year because of the recession. reces-sion. Some students donate through classes or clubs, and some contribute con-tribute individually. Faculty members also donate. If fact, Hackford said one woman gives to 15 or 20 angels every year. Aubrey Wilson, a senior at the high school, donated to the Angel Tree for her third time this season. She said that donating has made her Christmases more meaningful. "Why wouldn't you (donate)? she said. "It's funny how you take so many things for granted." grant-ed." Hillary Hansen, another senior sen-ior at Pleasant Grove High, said that giving is part of the spirit of Christmas. "We need to focus on someone else (besides ourselves) our-selves) for a change." Snow said that the county has had close to 1,000 angels this year. Because of the recession, reces-sion, more people have needed assistance, but she said more people have been willing to help as well. Residents must apply to qualify for assistance through Angel Trees, Snow said. If they are accepted, they are required to go to budgeting workshops to help them become more self-sufficient. self-sufficient. Snow said the trees are a good opportunity for members of the community to take care of their own. "Its always wonderful wonder-ful to share." (left) POOR COPY |