OCR Text |
Show ! Thursday, March 2, 2006 Page 2 OREM GENEVA TIMES NEWS AND NOTES TO KEEP YOU INFORMED AND INVOLVED Pastor Mike Tharp leads his congregation in singing "How Great Thou Young pastor helps congregation grow in faith Jamie Lawson Nl.KIH C OtJNIY STAIF "Heaven don't miss it for the world." That's what the sign says outside out-side Fellowship Bible Church on 375 N. State St. in Lindon. Inside, on a typical Sunday morning, a crowd of about 85 people smile and greet each other oth-er waxmly as they wait for the service to begin. A praise band, complete with vocalists, guitars, piano and drums, lead the congregation con-gregation in modern Christian songs of worship and Pastor Mike Tharp gives the sermon. "We are an independent, non-denominational non-denominational Bible-centered churc h," said Tharp in a private interview. , Though small, the church has been in the community for 10 years and has successfully carved a niche for itself in a predominantly LDS area, with people coming from as far away as Spanish Fork or Salt Lake City to attend. And although they are not aligned with any other faiths, NorthCounty NEWSPAPERS 399 E Stan- St Pleasant Grove Kirk Parkinson 756 7669 Vn v PresuhntPtinlisher IqiHihnsonWhrMriklextra com Marc Haddock 756 7669 North County Editor mhadriockheraldextra.com Cathy Allred 756 7669 Lehi, Saratoga Springs, PI. Grove callredheraldextra.com Barbara Christiansen 756 7669 American Fork, Alpine, Cedar Hills bchnstiansenheraldextra.com Chris Peterson 344 2556 Orem, Vineyard cpetersonheraldextra.com Beky Beaton 756 7669 Sports bbeatonheraldextra.com TTTTTCT Lane Dubois 756-7669 Advertising Account Executive lduboisheraldextra.com NEWSSTAND PRICE: $0.50 SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS 1 year (in Utah County) - Sunday, Thursday and holiday deliveries (which includes the week of Easter plus Memorial, Independence, Pioneer, Labor, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day). 1 year (outside Utah County) I year ( in Utah County - Thursday only) USPS 411-711 Penotkats pcmaqp ofuc! at Orri Utah MOM Poatmaatcr: Sund acklrass changnMrjP'; Bot 6& Orem UT 81058 PuDklrwx) Thursdays by I ee Publication', which is a (tvi sionfihpFntrrrwes in; Mtrnlwf: Audit bureau of Circulations l - , -:.,- ... -. Tharp says the church sticks to mainstream Christian Protestant Protes-tant teachings. "We definitely love the people of the Mormon faith, but we wouldn't be here unless we thought there was a need," he said. In fact, according to Tharp, the church is currently experiencing expe-riencing some growing pains and trying to raise enough money to expand the building to better accommodate the congregation. In the meantime, he will begin conducting two services every Sunday to ease the crowding. Tharp, just 26 years old, has served as pastor of the church for the last four years. When he first stepped into the role, many members were skeptical because of his age. "I had misgivings because he's so young," admits Paul Fay, a longtime member, "But he's probably the best pastor we've ever had." Travis Thomsen agrees. "He is really beyond his years in terms of spiritual maturity," ma-turity," he said. "He is a great Phone: 756-7669 Fax: 756-5274 DAILY HERALD PUBLISHING CO. Jennette Esplin 756 7669 Office Manager Chris Peterson 344 2556 DesignerCopy Editor Casey Rogers 344 2570 DesignerCopy Editor Rachel Rybicki 344 2558 DesignerCopy Editor Jeremy Harmon 344-2545 Photographer Art" at the Fellowship Bible Church in Lindon Jan. 29. example to us. Even though he is young, everyone looks up to him." Tharp, his wife, Livia, and their two small children are completely financially supported sup-ported through donations of members so he can focus on his ministry full time. In addition to Sunday services, Tharp conducts con-ducts Wednesday evening services ser-vices and a Bible study group on Sunday nights. "He goes far beyond the job that's expected of him," said Fay. "He just enjoys so much what he's doing." One such example, according to members, was about a year and a half ago when Tharp took a group of the church's youth to San Vincinte, Mexico, for a week-long mission trip. "We put on a free carnival for people at labor camps in the area," said Tharp. The youth performed music, gave away prizes and food and distributed literature about their beliefs. By all accounts, the members of Fellowship Bible Church are a loving, tight knit group of District puts money to n 2001, the Alpine School District came to the public and asked for money a lot of money to meet the ever growing needs of the students in the district. Five years and $200 million later, what do we have to show for our hard earned tax dollars which we voted to give to the district? Quite a lot, actually. I ran through the figures available on the school district's Web site, and this is what I came up with. In the past five years, the Alpine School District has, or will have by the start of the next school year: I Built 10 new schools. Two of those are traditional junior high schools which house grades seven through nine, although the board of education chose to name them "middle schools." One is in Alpine, the other is in Lehi. Each cost almost $20 million. The other eight are new elementary schools. Two are in Eagle Mountain, two are in Saratoga Springs, two are in Highland, one is in Lehi and one is in Cedar Hills. The least expensive one which was built first cost $8.5 million. The elementary schools that will open next school year cost around $10 million or more. Those 10 schools accounted for about 60 percent per-cent of the bond money, by the way. I Remodeled four schools with projects that cost more than $5 million, including what amounted a rebuilding of Forbes Elementary in American Fork. The other schools which saw significant projects were American Fork High School, East Shore High School and Lehi High School. Orem High was remodeled with two projects proj-ects at a total cost of $4.7 million. Carried out 14 other remodeling projects that cost more than $1 million. t Remodeled or renovated a total of 46 schools, including $750,000 for Clear Creek Camp. Almost every existing school in the district saw some improvements, including new gyms and auditoriums auditori-ums and increased classroom space. I Spent $10 million to secure property for future fu-ture schools. When we approved this bond in 2001, we were told the money would be spent for the kids. It was. - w people. "We're family," remarked Thomsen a family that is always ready to welcome new members. "Everyone is welcome to come and join us. People here are openly accepted and we love to see new faces," said Tharp. COMMUNITY BRIEFS I Orem issues road bonds The Orem City Council went forward for-ward February 28 with issuing part two of voter-approved general gen-eral obligation bonds for road and sidewalk projects. In November of 2004 election, elec-tion, voters okayed a total of $14.5 million in bonds to fund a variety of road improvement projects in the city Sandhill Road, 1600 North, 2000 North, and other collector and local roads. Funding has also gone to construction of missing sidewalk sections throughout the community particularly those within one-third mile of Marc Haddock THE EDITOR'S COLUMN JEREMY HARMONNorth County public schools. This second, and final, issuance is-suance of the bonds was for $5,515,000, and will be used complete the projects. The city's bond counsel, Laura Lau-ra Lewis, complimented the city and staff for "continually maintaining main-taining the financial integrity" that has placed Orem's credit rating among the elite of cities in the state. I Stella Welch honored by Women Wom-en in Leadership Stella Welsh, former Orem City council member mem-ber and mayor was honored at the recent third annual Women in Leadership Community Service Ser-vice Conference. Also honored was Shirley B. Paxman, long time Provo activist activ-ist and founder of the McCurdy Historical Doll Museum. The conference was held at the J. Reuben Clark Law School on the BYU campus and was attended attend-ed by more than 110 women. Keynote speaker was Annette An-nette Paxman Bowen, a Seattle-based Seattle-based author, who encouraged the women to be activists. good use We were told it would all go into schools. It has. We were told it would not be enough. It won't be. Even as schools in Saratoga Springs, Lehi and Highland are being built for the 2006-2007 school year, school district dis-trict administrators are wondering where they are going be putting the new students arriving in 2007 and 2008. Watching the school board tackle the time consuming task of carving out boundaries for the three new schools was painful, in part because growth projections for the Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs and Lehi would indicate that even with the new schools, it won't be long before there aren't enough classrooms for all those kids. That means there is nothing left to do except come back to the people who live in the Alpine School District and ask for more money. Even now, district officials are crafting a bond proposal to meet our ever growing needs. This time around, the task of convincing voters to approve the bond will be more challenging, as well. In 2001, school officials offered something for everyone. Not everyone was happy with the results. Many Lehi parents wanted a new high school instead of a remodeled one, for example. ex-ample. But the district made good on its word. While more money was spent in the north where new schools were needed than in the south, almost every school got needed improvements. im-provements. For the next round, however, the focus must shift to new construction. District officials are talking about one or two new high schools, one or two new middle schools, and four to six new elementary schools. It will cost about $200 million, mil-lion, although the final figures aren't available, but district officials say they can bond for the money without raising taxes. For my part, I think the school district gave us our money's worth with the last $200 million bond. That in itself should go a long way toward convincing us to support them when they come around again, hat in hand, asking us to invest in our most precious resource our children. Blankets Continued from Page 1 Afghanistan and Africa.. Fleece blankets are distributed distrib-uted nationally to babies with a rare, painful skin disease that makes them unable to tolerate regular blanket fabrics. fab-rics. After the initial push, Thatcher's enthusiasm did not wane, and she recruited her sister, Linda Rnkham, and their mother to assist in the blanket -making. Pinkham said that the local Project Linus chapter delivered deliv-ered blankets to Hurricane Katrina victims at Camp Williams some of whom had only the clothes on their backs. Eventually, 16- and 17-year-olds who had at first refused re-fused the offer of the gift of their own blanket returned to accept one. Each recipient clutched the blanket to their chest. "There just seems to be something about a blanket that goes beyond nurturing," Pinkham said, "something deep-seated in the human psyche. It's like a hug you can hold." In 2003, Thatcher was diagnosed di-agnosed with two forms of breast cancer. Her treatment has involved mastectomy, radiation, and two years of chemotherapy, with another four or five months to go. But that hasn't dampened her enthusiasm for the blanket blan-ket project. Project Linus, Thatcher said, continues to be "a wonderful won-derful outlet" for her, even with her limited strength, and husband Bruce is supportive sup-portive of her efforts. For now, Thatcher mainly buys and donates fabric. Current Project Linus chapter coordinator Judy Cox said of Thatcher, "She has just been so willing to donate do-nate fabric. She loves to buy it, and she cuts it, matching up fronts and backs. And it's not just material for a couple of blankets. Last time, she brought me 100 fronts and backs, and Linda brought 50. It was 150 a time before that." i Because of the generosity of Thatcher and Pinkham, Cox said, materials are available avail-able for community groups who may not have the funds to buy fabric, but who want to volunteer by assembling the blankets. "The beauty of it is that it impacts every person involved in-volved in a positive way," said Pinkham. "The giver is blessed and the receiver is blessed." For more information on Project Linus, contact Cox at 221-9866. CDBG Continued from Page 1 Family Support and Treatment Treat-ment Center, $6,500; Food & Care Coalition of Utah Valley, $5,000; Kids on the Move, $9,500; Orem Literacy Resources, $8,000; Parent Education Resource Center (PERQ, $7,538; Project Read, $5,000; Recreation Program, City of Orem, $3,000; Recreation Recre-ation and Habilitation Services Ser-vices (RAH), $7,500; Utah Alcoholism Al-coholism Foundation, $3,500. No funding recommendations recommenda-tions were made for the American Red Cross, Moun-tainland Moun-tainland Association of Governments, Gov-ernments, and Mouiitainland Community Foundation. Other CDBG funding recommendations rec-ommendations are: CDBG office, of-fice, $130,000; code enforcement, enforce-ment, $120,000; curb and gutter replacement, $75,000; housing rehabilitation, $129,918; and loan repayment to the Department of Housing Hous-ing and Urban Development (HUD), $105,000. Habitat for Humanity will receive $9,000 in re-programmed funds to pay fees and pre-construction costs associated with building a single-family home for a needy family in Orem. Mayor Washburn said Tuesday night that it is "frustrating" "frus-trating" to see needs increasing increas-ing as funding is decreasing. Allocating the funds is "truly a 'Solomon's sword' experience," experi-ence," he said. YOUR ONLINE SOURCE FOR LOCAL NEWS baldextra.com northcounty POOR |