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Show Times Newspaper Thursday, July 29, 2004 Page A9 KIDS ON THE MOVE Continued from front page On one trip to Russia in connection with her work, Karen had a Russian woman ask her if her (the woman's) handicapped baby was a blessing or a curse. "Your baby is a blessing bless-ing and an opportunity," was Karen's earnest response. "That's what I believe in my heart," the woman replied. One of the "gifts" that Karen has received through her work, in addition addi-tion to the experiences she has had and the people she has met, is witnessing the process of change that families fam-ilies go through when they have a child with a handicap. handi-cap. "At first, people come and it is the hardest thing. But at the end of three years, they will say, It's been really difficult much harder than I thought it would be. But would I change it if I could? Maybe, for the sake of the child. But I've learned so much." Karen has seen many become advocates to "change systems that don't support families and children." chil-dren." The director also stated that she is very proud of her staff She cited one incident inci-dent that took place when the program was located at the now-demolished Spencer School in Orem. "There was a baby born with just a brain stem. The mom walked in with her baby, and the staff commented, com-mented, What a beautiful baby!' The mother cried and said they were the only ones who had ever said that to her. The baby died a couple of weeks later. All babies are beautiful no matter what's there, what's not, what works, or what will never work." Karen said that she was about to sign a contract to teach school when the opportunity came to adopt Reed, changing the course of her life. "It's important to plan," she said, "then, when everything is stirred up, recognize there are great blessings." One day, when Reed was just a toddler, he and his mother came in contact with some students walking walk-ing from Orem Junior High. Karen said that two of the "biggest and toughest-looking" of the group reached down and started interacting with Reed. There was something in them that responded to him, and it made me realize real-ize again that he must be part of the community." But Karen admits that even she did not realize how much a part of the community Reed would become as he grew up and went through school at Suncrest Elementary, Orem Junior High, and Mountain View High School. He has made many friends and maintains those relationships. The first day of high school, Reed came home with a full slate of dates for the year's dances. He had simply been sitting .with a group of girls, and passed a card around for them to sign. There was one extra girl, so he booked her for a date to homecoming the next year. The young man sang in the choir, acted in plays, was a Thespian offi- cer, and a member of the National Honor Society and student council. Reed has completed a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a service missionary mission-ary at the Orem Institute of Religion, which he loved, according to his mom. He works in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. "Now Reed wants to go to college, and we want to see him go as far as he can go with his dreams and ambitions," Karen said. He is starting at Utah Valley State College this fall. What of the other children chil-dren in that first Up With Downs group? Karen said they are in the community communi-ty living with their families or in foster care, some in sheltered workshops, work-shops, some in the school system until they are 22. "Babies with disabilities grow up to be young people. peo-ple. They want to go on missions, get jobs, and do the same things that others oth-ers do. It is their right.. .People have hopes and dreams for all of their children." Karen emphasized that the Kids On the Move program pro-gram is not the building, although she sees that as a symbol of the community's communi-ty's caring. "The program is the families, and the people who work with them... The bigger we get, the more connected we get. We now have people come to us and say, You served my grandchild (or great-grandchild), and because of that, I want to help." When people ask the director how she can give up her "baby" the Kids On the Move program she simply states, "It's not my program; it's God's program. There are babies continuing to be born, and families who need support and encouragement." Asked if she would take the same course of action if she could go back in time, Karen thought, then replied, "If I had known then everything every-thing I know now, I might have said, 'Let's think about this a bit.' This has been so much beyond me. I never could have done it on my own. It's the miracles mira-cles it's what needed to happen. Reed's mission was to get our attention and be here so this could happen." Retirement does not mean that Karen is giving giv-ing up her advocacy role. She plans to be a volunteer volun-teer for People First, an advocacy group for adults with disabilities that gives training in citizenship, citizen-ship, leadership, and personal per-sonal management. And Reed recently added his opinion when he expressed the thought, "We're so glad Mom's retiring so we can have lots of fun." "Geneva" name lives on in name of Geneva Steel Plant CLYDE E. WEEKS, JR. Times Correspondent Part 3 of 4 The time came when the Geneva Resort was ravaged and reduced to a debris-ridden, weed-choked site, bearing few traces of its former glory other than a few Lombardi Poplar trees still struggling strug-gling to life. For the next 20 years, the Geneva Resort lived only in the memories and photo albums of those who had danced at the pavilion or picnicked on the green lawns by the lake. Meanwhile, the advent of World War II in 1941 brought the construction of a new steel plant in the large dairy farming area, located just east of the old Geneva Resort. Extending from 300 South to 1600 North, and west from Orem's 1600 West to the shores of Utah Lake, the new steel mill was named "Geneva Steel Plant," after the once-flourishing Geneva Resort. Most of the construction workers on the steel plant, and the steelworkers who followed them, had no idea of the steel plant's close proximity to the one-time thriving lakeside resort, named "Geneva." One affect of the post-war boom in the City of Orem was the growing in popularity popular-ity in boating and fishing on Utah Lake. Retailers of boats in Orem found a growing grow-ing demand among local residents. Getting the boats onto Utah Lake, however, was a prospect that left something some-thing to be desired. Launching a boat much larger than a row-boat required boat ramps, which enabled boat owners to ease their crafts into the water easily. Boat owners and retailers soon called on Orem City officials to provide a boat dock west of the city on Utah Lake, from which their boats could be launched. After studying the matter for several months, city officials agreed there was a need, and laid plans to meet that need. In 1959 the Orem City Council envisioned and developed plans for a lakeside park and boat harbor at the site of the old Geneva Resort. The property was obtained under a 25-lease 25-lease by the city, and extensive clearing of the area revealed a large, well-shaded lawn area, considered ideal for the park and marina development. The following year, Orem City leased the adjacent accretion grounds, extending out to the lake, and began constructing facilities for launching of boats. In 1960 the first boat slip was constructed in the harbor, and rest rooms, constructed of concrete block, were built in the picnic area. Wooden picnic tables were installed in the picnic area, underneath the towering Lombardi Poplar trees. It was a perfect lake-side setting for a picnic, and an ideal location to develop a marina.. Orem's long-range plans, which were formulated in 1961, included plans for further development of the boat harbor, construction of ball diamonds, a concession conces-sion stand, a children's play area and additional picnic facilities. Many local residents were elated with Orem's emerging lakeside development, and saw it as a welcome addition to the community. Thus, the old Geneva Resort, destroyed by fire nearly a quarter of a century ago, would be rising, phoenixlike, phoenix-like, from its ashes. Another generation of fun-loving families fami-lies would play ball, picnic on the grass, and go boating, where their fathers and grandfathers once frolicked, many years ago. The spirit would be the same. Only the name would be different: Orem Marina Park. The reality, however, turned out to be something, quite different. Before city funding could be budgeted and detailed plans drawn for the entire Orem Marina Park project, the word got out that Orem had built new restrooms and installed picnic tables at the lakeside park. Families flocked to the Orem Marina Park to hold picnics and reunions and to enjoy the lake-side setting. Also flocking to the park came all sorts of unprincipled vagrants and vagabonds who used and abused the new restrooms and picnic tables. Over a relatively short period of time, the new concrete rest-rooms rest-rooms had been vandalized, becoming entirely unusable. The wooden picnic tables had been deliberately burned in the park's fireplaces and charred beyond recognition. Located about five miles from the center cen-ter of Orem, 24-hour-a-day security for the park was seen as an impractical strategy by the Orem City Council. Without a park manager living at the park site in order to protect the facilities, which might be built, Orem City re-considered moving ahead with its earlier Marina Park development plan. And thus, in a few years, the family park area of the Orem Marina Park gradually grad-ually declined to its former status: As an attractive nuisance, drawing beer parties, transient campers and other destructive visitors. Next Week: Lindon Marina Evolves From Geneva Resort MSP ClQISQ (HEGD1ME1 OS (MB GflEQB (Ml m Right now is the perfect time to replace your old, inefficient furnace or air conditioning system. Every now and then the planets align and an opportunity presents itself. Let me explain how you benefit. 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