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Show Free Press - Wednesday, February Hutchings Museum worth the visit lect, preserve, catalogue and exhibit items of interest and importance to our natural, cultural and artistic past Utah is rich with these treasure troves of our historical heritage with some 136 museums, 86 of which are available for public use on a regular basis, and 50 that open by special request usually smaller museums operated by local camps of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and staffed entirely by volunteers. Lehi's Hutchings Museum is a interesting mix of natural and cultural collections, and stands unique among Utah's museum population, as it basically represents the "collected works of one of the state's most prolific collectors of things natural and historical, John Hutchings, and his family. Here you will find enough interesting items to keep you busy for hours. In the area of nature, there are cave formations, dinosaur fossils, shells of every type and description, birds' eggs of all sizes and shapes and mineral formations of every type, just to name a few. From the standpoint of history and anthropology, the museum is rich as well with artifacts from Native Americans that date back hundreds of years, and plenty of things from Lehi and Utah's more recent past. Porter Rockwell's saddle is here, and Butch Cassidy's rifle as well. Museum displays give insight into the lives of Lehi's earliest pioneers and later Lehi residents, too. For many years the museum occu a nondescript building near Lehi Elementary on the city's Center Street pied But the Hutchings collection never did fit in that first building. Many items were displayed sporadically; others never did get much attention, simply because there wasn't room. But this week all that changes. This week, the Hutchings Museum in a structure that fits the Hutchings collection like a glove. The Lehi Memorial Building merits special attention all by itself The structure was the first in the nation dedicated to the of the veterans of World War I. Since its construction, it has housed city governments, police and ambulance departments, veterans groups and the city library. But home of the Hutchings Museum may be its best destiny, since both the structure and the collection are largely dedicated to honoring the past and present of the community they serve. Once a private enterprise, the move to the Memorial Building marks the museum's opening as a publicly-owne- d collection. The intense and eclectic interests of the museum's founder, John Hutchings, has endowed the collection with a broad base that provides items to satisfy the curiosity of all ages and all interests. Lehi can be proud of the Hutchings Museum, and the museum's new home, the Lehi Memorial Building. The Museum this weekend after more than a year of moving, refurbishing, planning and organizing. Treat yourself and your family to a few hours in this unique look in north Utah County's past. The 'Best Valentine Made' I always wear a watch. Kelly doesn't care to own one. I'm a hawk. She's an owl. I make checklists. She never worries about it. I balance the checkbook. She writes checks. I pat myself on the back for getting things done. She's the people person. I remember the license plate letters "BVM" on our van by thinking of "Best Vehicle Made." She thinks of "Big Voluptuous Mama." I always thought she was missing something. It's taken me nearly 20 years of marriage to realize that I'm the one who was missing something! One Valentine's Day I sat at the office, eating lunch with the entire staff In walked this funny looking woman in overalls and a straw hat. She had fake freckles and blacked out teeth. Everyone stopped in amazement as Kelly grabbed my face and sang her own hillbilly rendition of "Lovin' that Man of Mine." Then there was a similar occasion when d she came in with a monkey mask and sang her own words to the music of King Louie and the other apes from Disney's Jungle Book. "I wanna be with you cob. ooh..." or something like that. When our oldest daughter won the coveted "Camp Queen" award at girls' camp, I knew she was just like her mother. And, of course, her mother was there. I'd be surprised if Kelly has missed girls' camp since she was 12. Last summer it was the long red flannel underwear. Another year it was the midnight "flashlight dances. I think her middle name is "Wacky." IH never forget the hot summer day when a sudden cloudburst filled our before the water could drain away. Not to miss a golden opportunity, Kelly started a neighborhood water fight. What started with kicking and splashing ended with buckets and hoses. Some of our best family home evenings have been that way. They just happen like spontaneous combustion. I hope I've learned never to get in the way when that happens. Sometimes you just have to dive in the river and enjoy the rapids. The last thing the family needs, especially then, is an ornery father. Like Richard and Linda Eyre, we believe in serendipity (the gift of finding unexpected good fortune). That's why we named our last child Seren. As soon as she could answer, when asked her name, Kelly taught her to half-face- A Page 2 Laughing about the little Oops! of Life Editorial Our museums are important caretakers of our heritage. These unique institutions make it their mission to col- 14, 1996 - You've seen it before the "it's too late I've said it" look that gives away the verbal faux pas. If you attended one of the spelling bees in the local schools, you might have seen it when one of the participants misspelled a word. Most of them knew how to spell it, they likely just went blank under the pressure of being on stage and having to perform. I think all of the students at Sego Lily last week who missed a word spelled it correctly under their breath as they left the stage. They'll probably never forget how to spell that word for the rest of their lives. In a Michigan newspaper, the police beat reported the actions of a man who was stopped for speeding, particularly since the officer couldn't read the license plate on the car because it was so dirty. The report went on to say that the man explained that the illegibility didn't matter, because the plates weren't the right ones that car. Oops! How about the Utah State Legislature who recently held a private meeting to discuss the ramifications of gay clubs in schools. Personally, I don't think anyone can win for in this situation. If we ban the club, well likely have to ban all clubs, an unfortunate situation for all of the wholesome clubs science clubs, art clubs, dramatic organizathat can enhance educational tions, etc. opportunities. On the other hand, if we accept the club, are we bending our very principles, in essence actually justifying something that many people believe to be wrong. But in the process, the legislative body attempted to circumvent a system put in place to monitor its actions by holding the meeting. Perhaps we need more courage to face such issues head on rather than behind closed doors. During the Miss USA competition a couple of years ago, the last few contestants lined up for an question from one You must By BRETT BEZZANT say, "Serendipity Bezzant, Mommy and Daddy's love child." (Heavy emphasis on the word "love") She'll probably tell that to her kindergarten teacher. And she's the only "love child" I know who has seven older brothers and sisters. Most of their births were an adventure, too. Jared missed being born on 7777 by only three hours. My father always teases Kelly that she should have just waited. Nathan was born during a rare September snowstorm. (He's the skier in the family.) Nattalie came three weeks early to be bom on Christmas Eve. (A few years later we learned that her name actually means "Christmas Child.") We almost delivered Kylee in the hospital parking lot and Kelly went into labor with Abigail while we were in the emergency room stitching up Nathan's head. By the time Adam, Myka and Seren arrived, we knew every birth would be an adventure. Kelly was in the Strawberry Days pageant when I first decided to take her on a date. Included in her biography was an intended joke that said she was going to college to seek her M.R.S. degree. She was embarrassed when the emcee actually read that line to the audience. However, it told me she was available. I shudder to think what could have happened if I hadn't taken that as my cue to ask her out. (I attended the pageant with a different girl to see one of the other candidates.) Eventually, I sent a package to the Harris household. It was addressed To the father of Mahana." I had enclosed a card and 11 "Black Cow" candy bars. I couldn't let Johnny Lingo out-d- o me for this woman! And yes, she has been much more than an wife. I love you, Kelly. Happy Valentine's Day. You make every day an adventure and who knows what you'll do next! A story in the Sunday paper explained the difference between skiers and People who are old and boring ski, those who are young and hip snowboard. Actually I don't think the story used the word "hip," since as far as I can tell, it isn't hip to say "hip" any more. But it's about as good a word as my old, boring brain can come up with this morning. Boy, I wish I'd read the story on Friday, before I went snowboarding for the first time in my life. Actually, Friday wa3 a beautiful day to be on the slopes. The sun was shining brightly. There was lots of snow, and not too many people, since the really old and boring folks had to work that day. Brighton ski resort, trying to get the word out to older, boring folks about just how hip snowboarding is, had offered a morning lesson in the art to people in the media, and I took them up on the offer. After all, I was a pretty good skateboarder in my day. And I'm comfortable on the snow, having skied since I was 12. I'm not as limber or quick as I was in my younger years, but I'm adequate on the slopes. How hard could it be? But as I walked out into the sun Friday morning wearing the bulky snowboarding boots and carrying this single broad board to join the group of beginners all older, who would be learning the boring types new sport with me, the sun, the snow and the happy attitude of all those around me reminded me of an old Klingon proverb from "Star Trek - TNG" "Today is a good day to die." As stated earlier, in my day I was a pretty good skateboarder. I neglected to mention that my day was a long time ago. This was before plastic wheels came along that made the sport much safer and prompted a comeback in the skateboarding craze. The skateboards I learned on had clay wheels that were prone to braking when you hit a small pebble in the street. And I had been told that skateboarding was a good introduction to the sport of snowboarding. Whoever told me that forgot to mention a few things: In skateboarding, you can jump off the board anytime you want. Just because the board goes over, you don't necessarily have to crash. In snowboarding you are tied onto the board both feet lashed into position and unable to move without undoing two or valentine to a married woman Paul Ir Valentine to a married woman: I've .seen you at the Elks Club, at the PTA and at the White House. Whatever name you use, I'd know you anywhere. I've seen you at the corporate convention, the State Department reception and the airport ticket counter. Everywhere that everyone else sees your husband, I see YOU. And my heart goes out to you. You are his wife, but it is his hand they want to shake, his eyes they want to see, his words they want to hear. "And this is my wife," he tries to say but it's plainly he they came to see. Even in the Salvation Army, where husbands and wives are equal partners with equal rank and equal authority, she knows better. Only in the beauty parlor, where they make you look like a queen, can you dare at least for fleeting moments to feel like one. Everywhere else, you are the wife of the banker, the wife of the politician, the wife of the government official, the wife of the industrialist, the wife of whatever person of prominence. In any receiving line, the stranger's Harvey News 1995 jpj Paul Harvey Products Inc. extended hand may reach right across to shake his. yours Some of these women have established identities of their own, but if you look within one who has dared to defy tradition to become, herself, however uncomfortably, a political, professional or corporate leader, you will discover a woman who would rather not accept that this was the only way she knew to become the party of the first part. And for each of these women, there are tens of thousands of you who give your pri vate lives to make your public husband seem so grand. And when he, meaning well, deferentially refers to you as his "better half" or something similar, his intended kindness is like a nod toward the back of the bus. I offer "SS Daly Planet By RUSS DALY of the celebrity judges. One of the judges had a pronounced accent, which made the question a little difficult to understand, even for those of us who weren't under the pressure to perform. The girl asked her to repeat the question, then answered it in an acceptable manner. The next girl, however, must not have understood the subject of the question, because she asked Dr. Joyce Brothers, who had enunciated clearly enough, to repeat the question. After all of that fuss, she still missed the real crux of the question and pretended to answer it based on what she mistakenly thought it meant. Oops! In the pageant milieu, one of the favorite stories that circulates is that of the alleged contestant, who, when asked a question about euthanasia, replied that she thought "they" (the youth in Asia) were adorable or brilliant or whatever adjective happened to be used in the retelling of the folklore. I only read a small portion of the comic strips in the funnies, but every now and then there is one that really makes me laugh. Thinking about the "it's too late" look reminded me of one I saw just last week, where two trapeze artists both leapt off their bars in hopes that the other one would be on the receiving end. With both of them flying through the air at one another, one said to the other "I thought I was going to jump."Big oops! But the look on their faces was really funny. Nearly 20 years ago, we auditioned for bed." With the greatest of confidence, and based on his own experiences, he answered, "Oil it." Since he had had to do that with his own baby daughter each night, he felt it was a valid and reasonable answer. And although it was to him, it didn't make it on the survey. Partial oops, but the experience was great fun! Another situation that will probably always stick with me is a night where I found myself in a location where I shouldn't have been. I thought I was doing my duty by joining with my Scout troop in fixing up bikes for the needy. While that act in and of itself was fairly magnanimous, I should have been somewhere else that night. The music department was holding their Christmas concert, and I had been assigned to accompany the choir, and play a piano solo as well. For some reason, I stopped my repair work and remembered where 1 should have been at that moment. Not old enough to drive, my best friend had to drive me to the high school, where I made it through both my solo and the choir numbers, although I'm sure I caused Scott Dorton some serious concern in my absence from time we should have met to warm up and rehearse. Oops! I heard of another group of politicians who were discussing a course of action to take in a particular situation, only to suddenly realize that a member of the press was among those around their conference table. Yet another oops! Fortunately, we can learn from our oops! And it never hurts to have a laugh along the way. be more than young at heart snow-boarder- s. Looking over the Obvious The Family Feud. For the first round, they scheduled mock game where our family and another went head to head to see who could win. I don't remember all of our questions, but my brother was asked to "name something you do to a baby before you put it to this Valentine to you, knowing beloved will understand that my own for she is one of you. So, here is my heart with an arrow through it. And, for an inscription, I cannot improve on the songwriter: "It must be cold there in my shadow, "Never to have sunlight on your face. "You've been content to let me shine, "You always walk one step behind... "I am the one with all the glory, "You are the one with all the strength. "Yet yours is the face without a name, "Though I never once heard you com- plain... "Could you ever know you are my hero? "You are everything I'd like to be. "I can fly higher than an eagle "Only because you are the wind beneath my wings." The Editor's Column By MARC HADDOCK rfj three straps. And you just bend way over to undo those straps, something that comes much easier to younger folks than to newspapermen who have added a few pounds around the middle over the years. In skateboarding, you start in a standing position. You step on the board and, with a little skill, remain in a standing position. But snowboarders spend a lot of time on their behinds or their knees, resting up for the next run. And you must be able to negotiate that short trip from the seated to a standing position. I learned I could not do this. Everyone else was doing it. Heck, even the little old lady journalist who was in our group was doing it. But I never once managed to get to my feet from a sitting position without help. I could stand up from my knees, but then the hill was behind me, and I found this somewhat tedious. In skateboarding, you lean one way or the other to turn but since you are on wheels, you can lean a little or a lot without major consequences. In snowboarding, if you lean a little too far one way or the other, you catch an edge, lose your balance and take a hard fall on the snow. I learned this lesson repeatedly my first fall throughout the morning coming on my first attempt to get off the ski lift. I landed directly on my tailbone. It hurt like the dickens. After three more similar falls, our instructor told us not to land directly on the tailbone, but by then it was too late. The damage was done. Still, I learned how to fall better as the day proceeded. It was the only point where I noticed some improvement. When the lesson ended, I was lagging behind the rest of the group somewhat, but earning praise from my teacher for my increasing control. By that time I was so bruised and battered, control was a matter of life or death. I learned because I had to learn. We took a long time at lunch before heading back out to the slopes for one more go on the snowboard, this time without our instructor. The first thing I found out was that the lunch break had not made it easier to stand up. I still needed help. But my instructor was not there to help me, so I worked my was down the hill backwards until I took one more fall on my tailbone, and decided to call it a day if I could just get down the hill. After that painful process, I was almost at the bottom when I took one last fall for- ward, this time landing on my arm and bruising a rib. I was through snowboarding for the day. Will I try it again? Probably, after my rib has healed and my sprained thumbs and shoulders recover. After all, they say that first day is the hardest. Frankly, I envy the snowboarders the apparent freedom with which they move down the hill. I'd love to be able to do that. But I know my limitations, so IH give it a rest for a while. After I removed the board for the last time, I went to the car, put on my ski boots and spent the rest of the afternoon being old and boring on skis. It was wonderful. The sun was shining, the snow was good and the lift lines were short. I was glad I had survived. It was a good day to be ahve. Letters to the editor Museum depends on volunteers Editor: It has been written that "No public organization can function without its volunteers." This is certainly true with Lehi's John Hutchings Museum. As we plan the reopening of the museum this week, it is appropriate that an acknowledgement be made of the volunteer help in making the move to the restored Lehi Veterans Memorial Building. This could only have been done by the generous contributions, both in money and free labor, of many, many Lehi citizens and volunteers. From the beginning of the project to this point there are many examples of support from the city, from the county, from other groups and organizations in and out of the community, to the individual efforts of private citizens. To all who have made sacrifice and contributions we now wish to express the appreciation of the John Hutchings Museum Board of Trustees. This accomplishment could not have been successful without your help and contribution. There is still a need for docent help at the museum. An invitation is extended to any who would be willing to contribute a few hours each week to come forward and make the museum a facility that Lehi can be proud of and will attract many visitors and tourists. Again, a hearty "Thank You" to every citizen and volunteer. The John Hutchings Museum Board of Trustees Alvin G. Schow, president Policy on letters to the editor welcome letters to the editor. All letters should be typewritten and double spaced. Letters must also be signed, and must include the writer's name and telephone number. Please send letters to Editor, Newtah News Group, P.O. Box 7, American Fork, We Utah, 84003 or through email at NewtahaoI.com. |