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Show WOT 2a$iiHcrolfi edition YOUR TOWN, YOUR NEIGHBORS, YOUR NEWSPAPER THURSDAY, JU. : SCHOOLS: AFHS hosts marching band camp SPORTS: Looking back at the prep sports year TOWN HALL: Elizabeth Smart shares her smarts Business ELLIOT'S MAKES ' CLOTHES FOR PREEMIES C3 .'v!' t. MOVING ON I i i NT i r - Ml .i i -; ' ? .7 BARBARA CHRISTIANSENNorth County Members of the AFHS Choir sing "Make Me art Instrument of Thy Peace" during commencement exercises May 29 at the Marriott Center at BYU. AFHS graduates 436 seniors Barbara Christiansen NORTH COUNTY STAFF Four -hundred and thirty-six graduates made the short walk across the stage and into the rest of their lives at the 95th annual commencement exercises exer-cises for American Fork High School on Thursday. The theme of the ceremony was taken from a quote by -Eddie Robinson, the famed football coach of Grambling State University in Louisiana. "The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential ... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence," he said. Valedictorian Conner Harper Harp-er referred to those and other similar keys to success. "It has been said that the key to realizing your dreams is to dismiss them as mere dreams and instead convince yourself of their inevitable reality," he said. "Once this barrier between be-tween our wildest aspirations and what we perceive as our likely reality is broken down in our own minds, then it is easily broken down as we continue our progression in life." He encouraged the students to move forward with confidence. confi-dence. "If we, as this year's senior class, can move forward with a mentality of confidence in our potential, and back it up with the necessary hard work and determination to see our goals through, the possibilities for the future are limitless," he said. "We must remember to make our dreams our reality and, of course, remain, till the end, proud to be a Caveman." Principal Carolyn Merrill said she was pleased to be able to recognize four salutatorians instead of the usual one or two. Paris Evans, Erin Mower, Geoffrey Bodily and Nathan Thatcher each gave salutatory addresses. Paris Evans said the will to win came through the students completing their tasks, showing show-ing the desire to succeed. "The will to win that was pounded into us in past grades eventually came through, and we picked up our stuff and completed the work, no matter how long we had procrastinated," procrasti-nated," she said. "Our will to win has gotten us this far, and it will now have the chance to help us succeed in college, a career, ca-reer, or any other path that we may choose to take. We will hopefully continue to develop that urge to reach our potential that will help us lead successful lives." Erin Mower told about Shun Fujimoto, of the Japanese gymnastics team in the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, who competed with a broken leg. He was part of a team which was in contention for the gold medal, and Fujimoto would compete on the rings, which required mainly upper-body and core strength, not the use of his leg. His teammates lifted him to the rings, where he performed. per-formed. "The real test was that throughout his entire routine, he knew that he would eventually eventu-ally have to land when it was over," she said. "He executed a triple somersault twist through the air and struck a perfect landing. His face registered the pain tearing through his broken right knee as he maintained main-tained his balance long enough to clinch the gold for his team; then he crumpled to the floor." In an interview, he said the pain brought tears to his eyes, but it was worth it. "Now I have a gold medal and the pain is gone," she quoted quot-ed him as saying. She said she hoped the students would be able to say something similar in their future. Geoffrey Bodily quoted Winston Churchill in striving for noble causes to make the world a better place for those yet to come. Bodily said the thoughts were still applicable in today's world. "Society is faced by a myriad of pressing issues that demand action, and we are the generation that must resolve them," he said. "Through our perseverance, we will be the solution to these problems." Nathan Thatcher urged the students to reach for the goal of excellence. He said human nature had two opposing elements to expend energy or work, and to save energy. "Saving energy doesn't reward us with excellence," excel-lence," he said. "There is only 'one method for attaining excellence: excel-lence: It is work." "May we go out from this point, armed with education and a desire to work and strive for excellence every day," he said. "In the end, all it takes is work hard, hard work." Merrill gave a "Class of 2008 Excellence Award" to teacher Sam Beeson. He received the most votes from the class members, and Merrill said he was "talented, creative and engaging." Beeson is known at the school for his creativity in writing, including winning limerick contests. as . w i V 'mm Conner Harper valedictorian Paris Evans salutatorian Geoffrey Bodily salutatorian ,4 ' 1J "We must remember to make our dreams our reality and, of course, remain, till the end, proud to be a Caveman." "The will to ' win that was pounded into us in past grades eventually came through, and we picked up our stuff and completed the work." "Society is faced by a myriad of pressing issues that demand action, and we are the generation that must resolve them." "There is only one method for attaining excellence: It is work." Nathan Thatcher salutatorian i j Erin Mower salutatorian, speaking about Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto in the 1976 Summer Olympics "His face registered the pain tearing through his broken right knee as he maintained his balance long enough to clinch the gold for his team; then he crumpled to the floor." iiding club gets cityffer Barbara Christiansen , NORTH COUNTY STAFF American Fork City is ordering or-dering stalls for horses of the American Fork Riding Club. That is, if the club members agree to terms put down by the City Council in its May 27 meeting. - The council gave trie club members two weeks to agree to limit its use of the race track near Fox Hollow Golf Course. The city is tearing down the old stalls to make way for a reservoir for its pressurized irrigation system. The club would have 20 stalls to rent from the city; they would be placed farther to the south than their present location, where the club has had more than 40 stalls. They would have limited hours to use the race courseand then only through the end of June. The club members will rent the stalls for $20 a month, plus a charge for upkeep and manure removal, bringing the total to about $50, approximately approxi-mately twice what they were paying. - Riding Club representative Chris Mitchell gave a brief interview following the decision.- ;'V "I am sad," he said. "It is pretty sad. I thought we had everything all resolved." He predicted that club officials would end URfigning the See CLUB, Page 2 City scales' back spending Barbara Christiansen NORTH COUNTY STAFF . Many families are being cautious about spending with a questionable economic future ahead. American Fork City is following suit. Mayor Heber Thompson told council members about a budget slowdown at the group's May 22 work session. He See BUDGET, Page 2 Community CONCERT IN THE PARK - The Timpanogos Chorale and the American Fork Children's Choir will entertain at the Concert in the Park on Monday at 7 p.m. at the American Fork Amphitheater at Quail Cove, 851 E. 700 North, American Fork. The Timpanogos Chorale is conducted byKenna Mills with Sheralyn Hess as pianist. They will perform "Americana," "Amer-icana," with accompaniment by keyboard, flute, oboe and piccolo. They will also perform "All Things Bright and Beautiful," "Home of my Heart," "Simple Gifts," "Peace Like a River," "Oh! Susanna," "Ain't-a That Good News," and "The Star-Spangled Banner." The American Fork Children's Choir will do the pre-show. pre-show. That group is conducted by Irene Tullis. Those who attend may bring chairs or blankets. GUARD EARNS BEST OF STATE AWARD - The Utah National Guard Charitable Trust, an organization created to assist Utah's military families in need, was honored at the Best of State awards Saturday at the Salt Palace Grand Ballroom. Major General Brian Tarbet, adjutant general of the Utah National Guard, along with Guard leaders and Trust board members, accepted the award on behalf of the Trust, selected as the top charityservice organization organiza-tion in the Best of State's Community Development category for 2008. The Utah National Guard Charitable Trust was established estab-lished in 2005 as a 501 (c)3 entity to assist Utah military families with medical, home, or property emergencies, lost wages, travel expenses of wounded Soldiers' families fami-lies or other unexpected financial needs. Since its creation, the Trust has disbursed nearly $100,000 to military families in need thanks to the generosity gen-erosity of donors to include corporations, businesses, church groups, and individual adults and children. "We are gratified that Best of State has recognized the efforts of so many donors and volunteers, all with the goal to meet the needs of Utah military families," said Utah National Guard spokesman Maj. Hank Mcln-tire. Mcln-tire. "This award not only highlights the kindness of our citizens but alsoseminds us of the continuing challenges that Service megibers and their families face in answering answer-ing the call of our State and Nation." r WW OS"- Jt I U BARBARA CHRISTIANSENNorth County The welcome sign for Highland on the city's border with American Fork. NEW HIGHLAND ORDINANCE TO ALLOW AMERICAN AMERI-CAN FORK TO MOVE POWER LINES - The process was started on May 27 to allow American Fork to move power lines and construct part of their pressurized irrigation ir-rigation pond in Highland. The current public utilities ordinance prohibits other cities from putting utilities in Highland. However, the Highland Planning Commission recommended a code amendment to change the ordinance. ordi-nance. They also recommended approval of the general plans and zoning amendment to accommodate American Ameri-can Fork's pressurized irrigation pond. In this way, Highland can still maintain control over the parcel but allow American Fork's plans to go forward. for-ward. There had been some concern expressed by the city council about American Fork's sign ordinance. Andy Spencer city engineer for American Fork said American Fork had about the same sign ordinance as Highland but probably did not have as vigorous an enforcement en-forcement policy. The triangular piece of Highland along the Alpine Highway is actually owned by the Utah Department of Transportation. It was created when Second East in American Fork was reconfigured to cross across the Alpine Highway (SFt 74 or First East) at 9600 North in Highland. Now the little more than one acre is landscaped and contains the "Welcome to Highland" sign going north backed by the "Welcome to American Fork" sign going south. Spencer told the Planning Commission that the power lines would be moved to within 12 feet of the highway, and the berm for the pond would begin to rise just to the east of the lirtes. "The land slopes from the north to the south, so the berm will be higher on the south," he said. Commissioner Elizabeth Macfarlane asked if they would put in more landscaping. Highland city administrator Barry Edwards told her the landscaping plan would be limited by the regulations regula-tions for dam safety. 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