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Show Pleasant Grove ReviewLindon New Utah! - Wednesday, October 3, 2001 - Page 2 Opinion .res. :rtr. L Utah County's resort Thanksgiving Point has taken the next step towards transforming transform-ing what was once a simple dry farm into one of the top destinations destina-tions in Utah. The Lehi attraction is taking advantage of its new resort zone status to move ahead with plans for a performing arts center, a 36-acre fairgrounds and an 84-acre 84-acre shopping mall and theme park called the Port of Utah. It is one of only three areas in the nation with the resort zone. One of the others is Disneyland. In fact, Thanksgiving Point's Port of Utah won't be a local version ver-sion of Disney's Magic Kingdom, but it might rival the Epcot Center. Cen-ter. The Port of Utah will be a recreation re-creation of several famous ports of the world around the turn of the century built along an artificial artifi-cial 3,200-foot canal which will sport gondolas for visitors to ride in. In order to accommodate the natural features of the land, the canal will sport a series of locks. No kidding. It's a remarkable vision for the arid landscape of north Lehi, but no more remarkable than the other accomplishments of what has become one of north Utah County's primary tourist attractions, rivaled only by Tim-panogos Tim-panogos Cave National Monument. Monu-ment. Who could have imagined that this simple dry farm could blos We knew we were in trouble We knew we were probably going to walk into bad luck When the car battery blew up in the driveway. ; We had stopped for a few minutes at our son's home in Sandy before going to an appointment to listen to one of those condo time share information infor-mation meetings. When we started the car, the battery blew up. We did not have time to fix it before the appointment so we borrowed our daughter-in-law's cr and left her our non-functioning transportation. ; Although the time share program pro-gram sounded very nice, we did not feel we had ( the money to put into it. So we listened politely and wished, but in the end we said no. It was when we were on our way out that they motioned us over and said they had another good deal we could try out. It sounded like a good deal and it would give us a chance to visit one of their vacation vaca-tion places without a lot of cost. We decided to go for it. And we could take some family with us besides. . The next big challenge was to find a time to go and we finally decided on early May. Of course, that was before I broke my ankle and the doctor said he did not think walking on a sandy beach was a good idea for a while. Then the challenge to find a time to go became quite difficult. The places we wanted to go, all on the west coast, were riot available when we were. We bjegan to think it was not going tf -happen. J With help from the company spvd a lot of maneuvering by my rjusband, we finally found a time to go to Discovery Bay, Wash. The time was last week arrjd we finally got there after a series of unlucky choices in trying try-ing to find the place. The map sajd for us to go to Seattle, then dbjvn to Olympia, then up to Qiecovery Bay which is near Ijort Angeles. I tried a shortcut which 'turned out to be a longcut because, although the distance !was shorter, the time was lodger due to a very winding xraVrow road. The scenery was Jevely, though. ; ' The condos and all they ;offered were wonderful. Howev-;ev Howev-;ev we did not spend much time in them as there was so much we wanted to see. We spent rilost of the first day in Seattle Pleasant Grove Review ; NewUtah! ; ' (ISSN No. 1521-6861) ; I (U.S.P.S. No. 435-780) ! 59 West Main . American Fork, Utah 84003 som into a 50-acre garden that delights at every turn, or that Lehi could become the home of the largest dinosaur museum in the world. When the expansion which was announced last week is complete, com-plete, north Utah County could conceivably become the new home of the Utah County Fair or even the Utah State Fair. It will also play host to many Olympic visitors who come to see the Western-themed show that will be produced in The Barn. Thanksgiving Point has timed construction of this new performing per-forming arts center so that its completion will coincide with the biggest tourist attraction to ever hit the state. It all means good things for North Utah County, which benefits bene-fits from people who are brought to our area for any reason. The announcement couldn't have come at a better time. The proposals for more growth at Thanksgiving Point provide some hope for a bright financial future for our area in a time when the nation has been plunged into economic uncertainty. uncer-tainty. With remarkable self-assuredness, Thanksgiving Point is taking tak-ing bold steps towards its future as a destination tourist resort. The good news is, it will be taking tak-ing north Utah County along with it. visiting the building around the Space Needle before heading for our destination. The next day we went to Port Townsend and played on the beach, visited the light house, rode the ferry to Whidbey Island and had a very nice time. On Friday we went to Port Angeles and took the ferry to Victoria, B.C. where we shopped and shopped and ate at the Cheesecake Cafe and walked in the rain. It was well after dark when we got back to the condo. We were so tired we soon went to bed. We decided not to go back through Seattle and come home via Yakima but to go south on I-5 I-5 to Portland and come home up the Columbia River Gorge. We knew that road and felt we would do quite well timewise to come home that route. It did turn out well as the only sightseeing sight-seeing we did was at Bonneville Dam where we stopped to let our grandchildren see the sturgeon stur-geon and other fish. The only problem was that we wanted to listen to the BYU game on Saturday night but we could not get KSL to come in until we were on top of the Blue Mountains and by then our son-in-law had called to give us periodic reports on the game. He had given us the good news of the win over UNLV as we ate dinner at a restaurant in Pendleton. When we did begin to hear KSL, the postgame show was on so we did get to hear some of that before we stopped for the night at LaGrande, Ore. It was a fitting ending for a very enjoyable enjoy-able vacation, one we will remember for a long, long time. The wait was worth it and my ankle stood up well on the walks on the beach. As it turned out, the worrisome worri-some omens before the information informa-tion meeting last fall when the battery blew up and with the broken ankle were the only real problems. Everything else worked out fine and we are glad we made the trip. A member of NATIONAL NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION Clowns, elephants and snow cones oh my! to the neonle wK .. t We took the kids to the circus last week. When we first announced that we were going to go, the kids were so excited and yelled, "Yeah, we're going to the circus!" I then asked them if they knew what a circus was. They of course had no idea. So really they were just happy to be going anywhere that night. We got to the Delta Center early enough to go see the animals on display. It was very stinky, but fun to look at all the elephants, tigers, camels and horses. Then we went inside where they had some circus acts on the floor that kids could go watch. The kids watched the clowns and petted the elephants ele-phants for awhile and as we were going back to our seats they said how much fun the circus was and thought it was time to go home. We had to explain that in fact the circus cir-cus hadn't even started yet. Krissy, our youngest, really enjoyed watching the clowns. She would laugh and talk about them and point to them. That is until they came into the audience to shake hands with everyone. She started screaming and clinging to me when one came near us. I guess she just wanted to admire It's hard to generate much outrage Personally, I'm having a hard time generating the appropriate outrage for the activities of the local former elementary school teacher who has admitted to sexually molesting teen-aged boys for the past 20 years or so. I know I should be outraged, because the prosecuting attorney told us so. She was surprised there was so little public outcry when the crimes of Brent Whitlock came to the public's attention. Brent was sentenced to one to 15 years for two counts of second-degree second-degree sexual abuse of a child. He will do some hard time maybe a lot of it. You can be sure it will be hard, because people convicted of child sexual abuse are the pariahs of the prison. Did he deserve the punishment? Probably. The system is geared to deal harshly with people who misuse mis-use our children, especially people who are in positions of trust, like school teachers or Little League coaches, and Brent was both of those. But this picture of Brent Whitlock Whit-lock is so at odds with the man I know as Brent Whitlock that I find it impossible to generate any outrage. out-rage. Brent was my oldest daughter's favorite elementary school teacher. He coached my son's Little League baseball team, and he was a good What should we do Editor: We all lost thousands of our brothers, sisters, leaders, families, and friends, by terrorists on Tuesday, Tues-day, Sept. 11, at the World Trade centers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. I am writing this article to unite us to petition our leaders to turn the area of the recent terrorist attack at WTCs into a memorial park for our loved ones. We have time to unite and have our voices heard as our leaders and friend are carefully and respectfully cleaning up this horrible disaster area. This memorial park can include the following: Memorial Monument: inscribed with the names of our loved ones firefighters, police, religious leaders, employees, guests, passengers and flight personnel. Liberty Bell Large Patriotic Flags Memorial statues Historical center where people from all around the world can come to read and write their personal stories sto-ries about this tragic event! This can be a place where loved ones and future generations may gather, to pay their respects and forever remember the victims of this terrible act of war. Telephone Numbers Circulation 375-5103 News & Advertising 756-7669 Publisher Brett Bezzant Managing Editor Marc Haddock City Editor Karli Poyfair Subscription price S26 per year Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork. Utah POSTMASTER: send address change to 59 West Main. American Fork. Utah 84003 Deadlines Classified Advertising . . Tuesday, noon Display Advertising . . . .Monday. 5 p.m. News Monday. 2 p.m. Missionaries Monday. 2 p.m. Weddings Monday. 2 p.m. Letters to the Editor . . .Monday. 10 a.m. Sports Monday. 10 a.m. Community Calendar . .Monday. 10 a.m. Obituaries Tuesday. 1 1 a.m. them from afar. Then we were hit by all the vendors. ven-dors. There were toys, cotton candy and snow cones. The kids went crazy. Never mind the fact that we had gone to McDonalds an hour earlier for dinner, they were suddenly very hungry and very thirsty. We almost bought some snow cones, until we learned that they were $6 a piece. Six dollars for a snow cone? Isn't it just ice with a little syrup poured over it? It might cost 25 cents at the most to make. We also found out the bags of cotton candy were $6 also. We couldn't believe it. The kids had to settle for a $4 cup of lemonade lemon-ade instead. Who pays $6 for cotton cot-ton candy? We also could have purchased wind-up toys for $16 or stuffed animals for $25. The circus programs pro-grams were $10. Wasn't it PT Bar-num Bar-num who said there was a sucker born every minute? Who would have thought that he was refer- coach. He directed several of my kids in his Shelley Sounds productions, produc-tions, and taught almost all of them at some point. My children who knew Brent as a teacher and a coach were all astonished aston-ished when they found out that he had used his position as a mentor to abuse young boys. Shannan called from her home in Logan just to verify ver-ify the events when she read about Brent in the newspaper. She couldn't could-n't believe it. Brent was more than the teacher of my children. We sang together in . some choirs and acted together in "Oliver," where he played the role of Fagan and I was the villain, Bill Sykes. We were friends of a sort. Not really close, but much closer than just someone who had taught my children. It is obvious now, however, that even those people closest in the world to Brent only know part of his personality. For over 20 years he led a very secret life in addition to the public one he presented to the world Reader's Forum I feel there should also be a matching Memorial Stone at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. with the names of our loved ones lost there. We should not re-build over these precious ashes, as if these were condemned, con-demned, empty buildings that were torn down. Generations to come can visit this spot with reverence and peace, to mourn and reflect on the enormity of this historical event. I was in major surgery Sept. 12 and I am unable to give blood or volunteer physically. This is my contribution con-tribution and what my heart desires should become. Let's all work together in these United States and United Nations, to rid the world of terrorism. Working Work-ing as a team, we can accomplish anything. We will win this "Evil War of Terrorism 2001!" My sincere appreciation and respect goes toward all the dedicated dedicat-ed hard work. Our leaders and all the volunteers are doing. Marie Dennis Pleasant Grove Thanks to youth Editor, I would like to thank the youth of the American Fork 19th Ward for the extra time and effort they have put forth since the tragedy on Sept. 11 in New York and Washington By Mail P.O. Box 7, American Fork. UT 84003 In Person 59 W. Main, American Fork pnnpoccinnc of Viio v,uii-uuiviiu ck 1110 -AiUUS Once the circus actually start I ed, we all had a pretty good tirne "; Even our little two year old wh normally can't sit still for a minnt! h was enthralled with all 0f th I action. We saw skiers and snow,6 boarders go down a ramp and then jump on a trampoline. We saw acrobats and trained horses doing tricks. We really liked watching the elephants. There were proba ' bly eight or nine huge animals that were trained. They Were amazing. ' After the intermission the kids started to get restless. We watched1 the tigers and then one by one the kids said they wanted to go home $ We made them sit a little longer d but it was obvious the magic was over for them. We figured it would be good to get a head start on the 'v rest of the crowd since we were riding TRAX. So we headed back 5''1 home. I don't know if I'd say it was the' -" greatest show on earth, it was cer-tainly cer-tainly one of the most expensive'- ' shows on earth, but we all agreed ;1' it was a very fun evening, and once we get over our fear of clowns, we ir might even go again. ' 'ad '.fl3 and the private one he presented to ' his family. -;p There are some who say Brent.it chose his profession and participat- -'or ed in the city recreation activities ;;M and baseball because it gave him access to children. I don't believed that. H From all indications, Brett loved VSsr teaching and he loved coaching. He "-- was dedicated to both. He will never -oil be allowed to do either, ever again. ;;,6: From all indications, he also loved Tito his family. This public revelation o- his secret life must be particularly dimcult tor them. Is a life destroyed punishment . enough? Apparently not. The prosecutor is surprised that there isn't more public outrage over . Brent's behavior. I've thought a lot: about this, and I'm still not sure how : I feel. $ I'm as bewildered as my children, I'm confused. I feel great sorrow for--tcho the Whitlock family. Their pain is iP unfathomable. And I feel sorrow foriirig the young men who were victimized apparently about one a year for the last 23 years or so. No child -,; (( should have to bear that burden. And I feel sorrow for Brent. I still"? like the man I knew, but I didn't el( know the man who will spend the--3 next one to 15 years in prison for these despicable crimes. None of us.:; did, except the handful of children who will bear the scars of that.,, knowledge for a lifetime. oiFc DC. They provide a flag service on holidays during the year as a fund s-'j raiser. They have been putting the CTe flags out every day and gathering them at night starting right after,. H the incident. . It has been very heart-warming to see the flags flying every day m the neighborhood. Thank you. 1 Kav Chidester -J I Young helpeis Editor: ' SQ I would like to thank the youn man who helped me with my car au.1 few weeks ago. It had stalled close U by the Doug Smith Auto in Amen-can Amen-can Fork. He not only pushed rny; .riei car into a safe place, but took tM,Jbra time to evaluate why it stalled, an4, -r then went and bought the partJ'Y get it going again. ff,J:!e ' He was kind enough to offer follow me home, making sure y. Se arrived safely. He would not taw, , pe any money for time and effort spen( by himself. When I tried to pay ninye he replied: "Don't you rernem is t( that we should do unto-others they would do unto us?" . nd I certainly will remember tru e j selfless act of kindness forever, an hope that we would all be as vnil i to help when needed. J Linda G r& Lehi I to a. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include author's name (printed AND signed) and a telephone nu ber. 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