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Show Thursday, December 7, 2006 Page 2 AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN NEWS AND NOTES TO KEEP YOU . Two-year-old Jer7y Matthews of llighlund gives Santa a good Iwking over at the Star Mill in American Fork Saturday. The visit with Santa followed the annual Christ man parade. AF unveils city's new history book at rededication ceremony Megan C. Wallgren fCMH ' O''JI ' 'All As the bell on (he top of American l ork City Hull rang out Tuesday night hundreds of residents contemplated the city's past and future. There was standing room only on the fkor of the city council chambers and people spilled down the stairs into the hallways for the re-dedication ceremony following a year long restoration project in the building built in VMi. The program also included an unveiling of the city's new history book "American Fork City The ( jrow ing Years by local author and historian Iletty Sjencer. "It 's been a special evening. We liave two major accomplishments accom-plishments to honor." said Mayor Heber Thomjson. "The two things go hand in hand to give renewal to the city." Speakers at the program included in-cluded Mayor Thompson, and former Mayor l ed Barratt. Many other former mayors NorthCounty NEWSPAPERS ' ym Std'"',i Pirt ! Giove Phon: 766-7609 Fm: 756-5274 Kirk Parkinson 4433200 Vk:e Pt':li-n JPutli hcr iriv'M'iwl'Ji'Va com Marc Haddock 443 3?os Notih County Cdnor mhd'j'J'.K(t n;t a I ' j 1 1 a com .U 1 II 1.1 i, ,,. mxmui .iJ Cathy Allred 443 3,2 Letu, Stitutogn Sptu iyi. 11 Grove callredii heralolwira com Barbara Christiansen 443 3264 American Fori., Alpine, Cedar Hills bcrinstianwrihefal(Jftracorn Mike Rigert 443-3205 Orem, Vineyard rrvigertralck;tra com Beky Beaton 44 3 3267 Sports bbeatofihercilctet.ra com Lane Dubois 756 -7663 Advertising Account Executive Idubois 8 he aWextja corn Volume 134 trmtjm I j Cituwr . Da, HwJ f -w IMPS 01S4MO mmrh wnaw piJeJ IWE Sum Got news? r I I '' ! 1 ?1 V, V V' : ( tr ' y - r - Ci , rff- ' I Civ"- ' ;: - 'V k ' 4 , ' ' I .fMStt 1yn - L t;" a i-lr ' and their descendants were in attendance. (her speakers included representatives from the city's Arts Council, the Daughters of the Utah Roneers and the Historic His-toric Preservation Committee. Many of them were emotional. Citizens renewed old acquaintances ac-quaintances and reminisced at the open house that followed the re-dedication program. Snippets of conversation included, in-cluded, "Do you remember the old hamburger stand?" and "1 used to come here way back when Spencer, who was signing her books was inundated with old friends offering congratu-latioas. congratu-latioas. "I'm so proud of you, this is a big step in your life." Rae Huggard, a friend for 50 years told the 81 year old Spencer. Residents liked the restoration restora-tion job. "I'm amazed ... it really preserves pre-serves the tradition and spirit of the community," said Garth Norman. Barratt said, "What has DAILT IlltLD rUBLIIHIMS OO. Jennette Esplin 756 7669 Office Manager Erin Stewart 344 2558 Project Coordinator.' DesignerCopy Editor Julia Fullmer 344-2570 DesignerCopy Editor Jeremy Harmon 344 2585 Ptwtographer Issue 49 Give us a call at 756-7669 INFORMED AND been accomplished is beyond belief." He expressed appreciation for all of those that were involved in-volved in the restoralioa "We've gone beyond what I thought we could do," he said "I'm so impressed." Spencer said the newly restored building was "like a home light," for American Fork and its citizens. AMERICAN FORK BRIEFS I Golf course agency considered con-sidered The City Council is considering action that would form an interlocal agency for management of the golf course that would be able to bond for improvements which may leave the cities involved footing the bilL Council members failed to approve a resolution creating the agency at their Nov. 28 council meeting, but tabled the item for discussion at a future work session 'Man of Steel' Re-edited Superman II DVD restores losttheme I bought a copy of "Superman II: The Richard Dormer Cut" last week, basically as soon as the DVD of the re-worked movie was put out on the shelves. It came out the same day as the DVD of "Superman Returns," which I did not buy, but which 1 hope to find under the Christmas tree in about 19 days. Sharon said the odds are good that I will get it, as long as I stop bugging her about it. So I've promised not to mention it any more. She feels I can be a bit obnoxious when it comes to getting something I really want. I don't understand that myself, but I've learned to behave as if I did, since it's the only way to get what I want sometimes. some-times. Not that I want much (although a "Superman "Su-perman Returns" DVD would be ... well, never mind.) I'm pretty certain that the question burning in everyone's mind is this: Is the new director's cut of "Superman II" really better than the original movie which they probably haven't seen since it was released in 1980? Then again, maybe not. But my qualified answer is this: The version released on DVD last week has some production issues, which is probably inevitable if you revisit a movie 25 years after t was made and try to "fix" it with some of the puzzle pieces missing. But if director Richard Dormer had been allowed to complete the original movie in 1980, it would have been better. This new version certainly is more true to the original 1978 Christopher Reeve movie, and provides a much better lead-in to "Superman Returns," Re-turns," which was released earlier this year. ("Superman III" and "Superman IV" will nut be discussed in this column. We will pretend they were never made. I just think it's better this way .) The story behind the release of the Richard Dormer cut of Superman II is a tale of two directors. direc-tors. Donner directed the first and very successful success-ful "Superman." Simultaneously, he filmed much INVOLVED Shelley sidewalks American Ameri-can Fork will seek funding for new sidewalks for the area surrounding Shelley Elementary Elemen-tary under the Community Development De-velopment Block Grant Small Cities program. Suggestions for potential projects were solicited so-licited at a public hearing Nov. 28. The Shelley PTA along with city staff came up with the proposal, the only one presented pre-sented that night. The safe sidewalk project qualifies for the grant because it includes ADA accessible sidewalk ramps. There are wheelchair students in the area. The city will now send in a preliminary application. I Pierce honored Ted Pierce was presented a Community Com-munity Service Award by Mayor Heber Thompson Nov. 28 at the City Council meeting. Pierce has served eight years on the Cemetery Committee. This is a very happy and joyful person known for a good sease of humor and Marc Haddock THE EDITOR'S COLUMN . 1 MARC HADDOCKNorth County known for making people happy and comfortable," said Mayor Thompson. "Thank you for your service." I Zone change OK'd Approval Ap-proval was given by the city council for a zone change between be-tween Barratt Avenue and 200 West at 100 North, consisting of one acre from single family to multiple family residential. The zone change makes way for the Moriah Estates condominium condo-minium project which also received re-ceived city approval Nov. 28. Moriah Estates will consist of four row homes slated for individual ownership. "This project is significant because if its proximity to the historical district," said Council Coun-cil member Heidi Rodeback. The architecture of the development devel-opment will blend in with the historical district. "They've done a beautiful job. I'm pleased to recommend this," Rodeback said. redux of the sequel. That included shooting a lot of Marlon Brando footage that was never seen by the public. Donner succeeded in re-inventing the comic book movie and launching launch-ing the whole series comic book hero movies. We wouldn't be seeing "Spiderman III" next year if not for "Superman." But he never completed the sequel. After the first movie was completed, Donner and the producers of the movie had a major falling out, and he left the project, Richard Lester was brought in to finish "Superman II." He used a lot of Donner's film, but changed a lot of it, tx). The main change was that he couldn't use any of the Brando footage because of a contract dispute. dis-pute. So lie ruined the movie by using Susanna York, as Superman's mother, as the mentor in the second movie. The second "Superman" got good reviews, and made money. But it wasn't the sequel Donner Don-ner had mapped out. Apparently enough pejple wanted to find out what that sequel might be like that Donner was given an opportunity to make the movie he had walked away from 25 years earlier. The result has some obvious issues. is-sues. None of the scenes could be re-shot, of course. In one crucial scene, he pieces together film from two different screen tests to reveal the moment when Lois Lane figures out that Clark Kent is Supermaa And there is a continuity continu-ity slip here and there. But the restored footage of Marlon Brando as Jor-EL Superman's father, is worth the effort. The re-edited film is primarily a story about the relationship of a father and his son, and that element is missing completely from the Richard Lester movie. It's the same theme that drives "Superman Returns," only for the next generation. genera-tion. But that relationship is much stronger in the new movie after seeing Drxmer's cut of "Superman "Su-perman II." At least it did for me. Now 1 can't wail to watch the new movie all over again ... provided someone is nice enough to put it under the Christmas tree with my name on j. Historic Continued from Page I city's historic registry however, howev-er, does not automatically approve ap-prove the site plan and allow businesses in the building. Rodeback tried to assure the residents that the City Council is not opening the door carte blanche to any business. She said a site plan would have to be reviewed by the Planning Commission and approved by the City Council. "It does not mean that anyone any-one can go in by right and put a restaurant or bed and breakfast there. It is not a use by right," said Rodeback. Residents also felt the home did not have any historical significance other than its age, and that age alone should not be the sole criteria for putting put-ting it on the registry. Belmont agreed they don't want businesses with negative nega-tive impact in the neighborhood, neighbor-hood, but doesn't see how this business will have any negative impact. Belmont said where an old building can often be a blight, it is an asset to the neighborhood neighbor-hood when maintained. Belmont pointed to the Northhampton I louse reception recep-tion center just two blocks west of the home in question as an example of how a restored re-stored home can revitalize a neighborhood. The City Council voted to table the action item that would put the building on the city's historic registry until Fillmore and the neighbors have a chance to discuss their differences. Writer Continued from Page 1 Marsh, the city's chief of staff. Around 400 copies were sold in the city's pre-publish-ing sale. There are still copies available at the City Administration Admin-istration Building. The cost is $39.95. The book is the culmination culmina-tion of countless hours of research For four years, Spencer and a reader went to city hall three days a week to read City Council notes and documents. docu-ments. She researched at the library what went on outside of city halL "I tried to use original research re-search whenever possible," she said. "It was fascinating to get to know all of the city agencies and their beginnings." begin-nings." American Fork's fire department, de-partment, for example, has grown from a few vclunteers to now providing ambulance and trained EMT services. Spencer said the service clubs in the area, (Lions, Rotary, Ro-tary, Kiwanis and Jr. Chamber Cham-ber of Commerce,) were some of her best resources. The civic clubs were very active. They did a kit of community com-munity work and sponsored a lot of activities," she said. They also took lots of pictures, pic-tures, many she included in her rxxik. Spencer especially enjoyed the history of the Jr. Chamber Cham-ber of Commerce, also called the Jaycees. "They were young men in entry level jxs and it was interesting to see them grow up and see how many ways they were active in the community," com-munity," she said. Women's organizations also played a big role in building build-ing the community. In L945 13 women's clubs had projects in the community. They contributed contrib-uted to the library in 1948 and brought sheets to the opening of the first hospital in 1950. The most amazing thing to Spencer has been the change in the business climate. "The University Mall opened in 1972-1973 and changed everyone's shopping shop-ping habits," Spencer said. Before then, Spencer said people did all of their shopping shop-ping on Main Street where Chipman's Department Store was the anchor. There you could buy nearly anything. Farm equipment, ckjthing, furniture, and the first televisions televi-sions in the city were all sold at Chipman's. "We knew all of the business busi-ness people and they knew all of the customer's names," she said. "We've always had a very progressive attitude in American Fork and it's been a very prosperous community," communi-ty," Spencer said. "I've loved this city. I've been to other places and I've always felt a pride in this city. I was bcrn in American Fork and I hope I'll die in American Fork." POOR |