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Show SLT LkV SOUTH STE IJT 5005 rj y F 't .. Wednesday, November 30, 1994 Vol. 16, No. 48 50 cents a single copy It's lights, camera, action for Lehi Movie Buffs location By RUSS DALY City Editor Amid the reiteration of issues that tabled a request made at a previous meeting, the City Council narrowly approved the petition to operate a video rental store in Lehi. After saying that he "could feel good if the gentlemen keep their agreement to work with citizens," Councilmember Reed Sunderland made the motion to approve the Hearing ends in Stores' reinstatment that he still felt the company had In addition to Sunderland and Carlton who voted for their own motion, Councilmember Carma Johnson also voted in favor of the store, but ended the matter by warning the men that another venture was picketed by citizens and eventually run out of town. Councilmember Knollin Haws was absent from the meeting that night, and Councilmember Dee Ray Russon abstained, later explaining request m ade by Larry Peterman to open Movie Buffs at 380 E. Main St. Councilmember Wayne Carlton gave a second to the motion, but later asked about the possibility of havingamaleemployeefor the night shift. "We don't want to violate the law," said Jerome Mooney, counsel for the Movie Buffs chain, and said they could not make a guarantee for that reason. - I "We want to be a good citizen, be a good taxpayer," said Mooney, explaining that his company would not "put a store where it won't be viable." He also said that they will not tolerate activities that aren't ap- - ' ' . , , - ing." There still remain items to be dealt with, he said. "The board feels," he said, "that there are many things that need to be fixed. We are prepared to address those." He did not elaborate what issues would be addressed. Those feelings were echoed by Lehi mayor Bill Gibbs. "I think we have done the only fair thingthatcouldhave been done," he said. Board chairman Lloyd Ash, Pleasant Grove's mayor, did not participate in the final deliberations or the vote, since he had been involved as a witness due to his position as personnel officer of the board. 24-ho- un-rate- d movies. Santa parade scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3 the moment with a Christmas Santa Claus will make his grand entry Saturday, Dec. 3, in the Lehi Christmas Parade. By BARBARA CHRISTIANSEN The Timpanogos Special Service District is back to a full complement of employees, with the reinstatement of operator Ricky Storrs. He had been given a termination notice over a month ago and appealed that decision to the board. That group comprised of mayors and a council representative of member cities American Fork, Pleasant Grove, Lehi and Alpine voted to reverse the termination late Monday evening, climaxingfour nights of special meetings, with over 20 hours in closed session. Storrs, who also serves as an American Fork City Council member, was pleased with the decision. "Let's get back to work," he said. Along with the motion to reinstate Storrs was a provision to use a management facilitator to evaluate the operations of the sewer district in an effort to have the plant function properly. Recent concerns include reports that employees had been divided in their loyalties and that some of the flow meters were not functioning properly. That resulted in improper billing to the member communities, according to Storrs. Storrs' dismissal came shortly after he had called American Fork's attention to the improperly functioning meters, and he claimed that was the cause for his firing. That was refuted by Pleasant Grove Council member Bill West. "It was totally unrelated, "he said. "The timing was a little unfortunate, however." In making the motion for action, West indicated hopes for reconciliation. "I think it is an opportunity," he said, "for the members and management to get together and build a team. We are trying to cooperate and create an opportunity for heal- on-sit- 24-ho- and the availability of r - Mooney explained that the store is always open for the following three reasons: Insurance costs go down when an employee is e at all times, The company's advertising, trademark and marketing strategies are all built around the concept, and Night employees use the slow periods for inventory and accounting activities. propriate, such as people "hanging out" to watch movies at the store. Planning and Zoning Commission chairman Bob Park also said that they had agreed not to have arcade games at the store. Two men, who did not identify themselves to the council or the audience, said they were concerned business hours about the not been as cooperative with the community as they had purported. "We've been accused of trying to legislate morality," he said, "but Movie Buffs has not given one iota." formance in the at the library. per- room e multi-purpos- The City Christmas Tree is on the corner of 200 North and 100 East for all co enjoy. A special thanks to Lynn Lewis for donating the tree, and to the City Electrical Department for retrieving, erecting, and decorating the massive tree, and also for lighting up Main Street with decorations. The parade will start at 10:30 a.m., beginning at 200 West, going east to 100 East, north to 100 North, then west to the library. Santa and the Miss Lehi Royalty will stop at the library to greet children and bring in holiday cheer. "Guys and Dolls" will brighten City acts to preserve water sources near Alpine Following discussion in execu- The motion authorized the initiation and filing of a condemnation action in order to acquire 164 acres north of Alpine City known as the Moyle Trust property, which is connected with the Lehi City culinary water system. tive session, the four members of the Lehi City Council present at the last meeting unanimously voted to adopt a resolution to exercise the city's power of eminent domain in order to preserve the city's water sources. Newspaper adopts new approach to Yule project Richard Van Wagoner, shown here at the computer in his Salt Lake office, has recently completed his 4th book. Local author awaits 'birth' of his latest historical tome By CATHY ALLRED He has been in labor and travail for four years and the blessed event is near. The proud dad is Richard S. Van Wagoner, Lehi historian and author; the name of the new "baby" will be Sidney Rigdon A Portrait of Religious Excess. The book was scheduled for delivery Nov. 28, but the publisher says the book will be a few days late but copies will be available for a Dec. 3 public appearance by the author. This is his fourth book in print. Van Wagoner's previous works include Mormon Polygamy.A History (three printings), and Lehi: Portraits of a Utah Town. He also Book of Mormons which will be coming out with a second volume in 1996. Van Wagoner is a prolific writer. Not only in his spare time has he managed to produce a book every four years, but he has published numerous articles in Sunstone, Dialogue, Utah Holi - day, The Utah Historical Quarterly and Brigham Young University Studies. He is also in the 5th year of his column Lehi Yesteryears, for which Van Wagoner has written over 200 articles delving into the history of Lehi. "When each book first comes off the press, even though you have spent four years working on it, when the first book is handed to me it is like I have been handed a new baby, one of my own children each one of them has been just as special and different as each one of my children have been," explained Van Wagoner. "It is actually the first time that I have seen it all put together. It is a very, very important moment when that first comes out." e The Rigdon biography was actually a requested study by the publisher and reveals a man that basically "went through everythingthat Joseph Smith did" and then lived another 32 years. Rigdon was Joseph Smith's mentor in the early years of the Church .... 640-pag- Beginning this year, this news- work harder to provide information to families, organizations and other groups who wish to do their own projects. "Our strength as a newspaper is in providinginformation," says Publisher Brett Bezzant. "We simply do not have adequate facilities or manpower to effectively store, sort, and distribute the growing mountain of goods donated each year." "So far this year, the number of sponsoring organizations has been almost equal to the number of needy families. For many people thisseems to be the preferred way to help. By putting greater emphasis on matching needy families with sponsors, we actually hope to help more people." Here's how the project works: Newspaper readers provide information on needy families. Jesus Christ of Latter-daSaints. He was known for his eloquent orations. Smith was the revelator and Rigdon was the spokesman. "Not a lot was known about him (Sidney Rigdon) except for the period of time that he was within Mormonism, explained Van Wagoner, "but there was a fascinating collection of over 300 personal letters that were written from 1856 until his death in 1876. The church acquired those letters in the 1970s from the descendent of the individual that he was writing them of y 1830-1844- Christmas for their assigned families as they see fit. The project willbe as anonymous as possible. The identity of needy families and sponsors will not be published. However, schools who wish to gather food, for example, may want to make their food banks available to these sponsors. The same is true for organizations who take general donations of toys. This service may need to be publicized in paper's project will take on a different emphasis. Rather than carry out one large community project, the newspaper will ," to." Because the letters are historical, they could not be copied because the light of the copy machine would fade the original ink and also dry out and corrupt the paper. Each letter had to be transcribed. One day a week for eight months, Van Wagoner and two of his daughters, Lisa and Amanda, See VAN WAGONER on Page 4 the newspaper. Any cash donations received by this newspaper will be divided among the sponsors for their assigned families. When special needs arise, say, for example, a wheelchair, the newspaper will seek specific donations for that particular item. "With this change in how we carry out the project, we can also extend the deadline for submitting information on needy families to Friday, Dec. 9," says Bezzant. "That means we will also need additional sponsors. We encourage readers to get together with friends, neighbors, or extended family and jointly sponsor a needy family." Information on needy families should be submitted in writing to Christmas Families, co Newtah News Group, P.O. Box 7, American Fork, Utah 84003. Sponsors can write or call Families, groups of families, clubs, neighborhoods, organizations, companies, or any other group who wishes to sponsor a needy family registers their desires with the newspaper. The newspaper will match and assign needy families with sponsoring organizations who will provide 756-766- 9. Telephone brought major changes at the turn of the century By RICHARD VAN WAGONER The invention receiving the greatest acclaim at the U.S. Centennial Exposition of 1876 was the telephone - the brainchild of transplanted Scotsman Alexander Graham Bell. Millions of visitors picked up the oddly built contraptions he had assembled and chatted with companions elsewhere in the room. Young men at the fair dropped a hint of what was to come by "ringing up" young ladies standing across from them, thus respectably striking up conversations that would have been unacceptable face to face without proper introductions. Bell, a teacher of the deaf, perfected the telephone in his quest for a hearing aid for his deaf wife. Unable to interest Western Union in the device, he established a pilot company in New York and the telephone quickly seized the American imagination. Rutherford B.:Hayes put a telephone in the White House in 1878. By 1880, only four years after they had first heard of the thing, 50,000 Americans were payingmonthly fees to use it. By 1890 there were 800,000 phones in the United States. By -- Lehi Yesteryears 1900 there were 1.5 million. The first telephone in Utah was installed in Salt Lake City in 1879. The first exchange opened in Ogden the following year. The Utah Telephone Company, with less than a hundred subscribers, was organized in April of 1881. Two years later Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Company purchased the Utah Telephone Company. Lehi's first telephone was a nonelectrical system which connected ( 193 East the uptown People's State) and the branch store downCo-o- p emtown (189 We6t Main). ployee W. F. Butt later wrote that a wire was stretched between the two stores - a distance of nine blocks. A brass button in the center of a piece of "hog skin" as taut as a drum was enclosed in a "square flared box like a horn or speaking trumpet." To signal attention a mallet was struck on the box several times un Co-o- p -- til someone from the other end responded likewise. Butt noted that a speaker's voice could be heard throughout the receiving room. During windy conditions, however, an annoying humming noise often distorted the sound. This mechanical system was replaced on Aug. 13, 1887 by a connection with the main Rocky Mountain Bell telephone line between Salt Lake and Provo. The first instrument was installed in the People's and maintained as a toll station. "We now have the use of the telephone," wrote a Lehi reporter in " J : : : ''' -- m i'- ,f I i t i I r J V Co-o- p f ' ,':' the Nov. 22, 1887 Deseret News, "which we find a very handy affair." Clarence A. Granger, superintendent of the Lehi Sugar Factory, was the first person in town to have a home phone. As more people began to subscribe, Rocky Mountain Bell installed a switchboard in the Union Hotel (121 East State) and hired Birdie Stoddard to operate the system. In April 1894 telephone service from Lehi was extended to Mercur. The line left the Salt Lake-Prov- o linkage at the Union Pacific Depot. See YESTERYEARS on Page 4 FT i 1 11 ' ? sh X 11; i ts, n j - W iw-- ru n W jr. r jJi l, The Lehi Telephone Office, in the early 1900s was situated at 46 W. Main (now Tim Hillard Photography). From left to right are pictured: Lucy Stoddard, Mabel Southwick, unknown, Howard Adams, and Clarence Lott in buggy. mil, |