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Show Comments Free Press - Wednesday, May 21, 1997 - Page 2 'We are proud of our lads and our lasses' Editorial What should we remember on this Memorial Day? What will you remember on Memorial Day? Or better yet, what should you remember? For many Americans, Memorial Day has lost much of the meaning it held when May 30 was set aside to commemorate the soldiers of the Civil War who had paid the ultimate price for their country. It isn't hard to understand why. Despite current unrest in the various parts of the world, war is an unclear concept to many of the members of this generation who have not faced the reality of serious, prolonged armed conflict since the 1960s. Shifting Memorial Day to the last Monday in May to create a three-daweekend hasn't helped, either. The change in dates transforms any holiday from a special occurrence into any number of generic bank holidays placed strategically throughout the calendar to give workers a break from routine. And since Memorial Day is the first of these three-daweekends when one can pretty much depend on the weather to provide an opportunity for camping, hiking and other outdoor activities, the actual reason for holding Memorial Day becomes lost in the rush to get out of town and recreate. This isn't the case for war veterans, who consider Memorial Day a sacred opportunity to pay homage to their comrades who fell in combat to preserve a way of life they considered more important than their individual lives. Maybe the rest of us should pay a lit y y tle more attention, as well. James E. Nair, Commander-in-Chie- f of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, expressed his sentiments about the importance of Memorial Day in the following terms: "Sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance. America's collective consciousness demands that all citizens be aware of and recall on special occasions the deaths of their fellow countrymen during wartime. "Far too often, the nation as a whole takes for granted the freedoms all Americans enjoy. Those freedoms were paid for with the lives of others few of us actually knew. That's why they are all collectively remembered on one special day. "This should be regarded as a civic obligation. For this is a national debt that can only be truly repaid by individual Americans. By honoring the nation's war dead, we preserve their memory and thus their service and sacrifice in the memories of future generations." How can we pay tribute? It can be as simple as a few moments of personal silence, or as demonstrative as attending a memorial service at the local cemetery, placing flags at grave sites, dedicating memorials and wearing Buddy Poppies. But we should all take a moment to pay tribute of some type to the men and women who have given their lives to preserve our freedom. That's what we should remember on Memorial Day. Not a bad outing for a disaster thought I was pretty well through with the fathers and sons activities held by our local LDS ward. And that was fine with me. Not that I don't need that kind of togetherness with my boys. But these fathers and sons things always take place outdoors and overnight, and camping ranks low, very low, on my list of favorite Maybe we need to start holding two homecoming celebrations for the alumni of Lehi High School. The recent rash of state championships and individual titles has brought about a tremendous sense of pride for me, a alumnus of the school. It was so great to go out to 1100 W. State to wait for the bus bringing home the soccer team after their victory. As we waited, a few parents drove up and joined the queue at the park near the freeway exit, not only to watch the bus come in, but to join in the parade themselves. We watched several buses some even bearing the Alpine School District name ignore the first Lehi exit, and we worried that perhaps they were taking the shorter, route via the Main Street exit. Meanwhile, the Fire Department trucks and the ambulance vehicles joined the police cars that had already gathered, and all geared up for the revelry. Finally, some members of the crowd hollered out that a school bus was exiting, and the excitement built up even more. Some of the emergency vehicles pulled out to lead the procession, others waited to follow up the rear. 20-ye-ar Standard motorists may have initially wondered where the emergency was, but the young men hanging out the bus window would have provided a quick and clear explanation. After taking a few shots of the team members in that position, as well as some of the parade itself, we got back in the car d and it to the high school to get more photos as they disembarked. As we walked to Main Street from where we had parked at the school, a woman on her front porch asked what we high-taile- With Mother's Day behind us and graduation around the corner, I thought it might be appropriate to look at life from the perand perhaps spective of my teenagers from some of my "ancient" teenage years as well. You've heard or seen the lists of and Editor's Column activities. When the ward announced this year's fathers and sons outing, I just figured kids who were 15 and 16 and 17 years old and pretty wrapped up in their own lives wouldn't be interested. So when I got the call from Jeffrey about 4:30 Friday afternoon, I was surprised. The conversation went something like this: "So, uh, are we going to fathers and sons?" "You mean you want to go?" "Uh, yeah. Me and Seth want to go." Seth is my son. Jeff is my stepson. They By MARC HADDOCK agers horsing around. I slept well. A successful camp out? Maybe not by some standards. But we had a great drive, made some good conversation, cracked a lot of dumb jokes (Those cows are sure and shared an adventure. As a fathers and sons outing, I think 'moo-ving- that ranks pretty high. know you're a teenager when: This year's body has outgrown last year's clothes. You want to look up to your father, but all you can see is the bald spot on his head. Your life, it seems, is measured by a report card. Your wages are minimum but your plans are maximum. You can hit a high note and a low note in the same breath. You think anyone under 12 or over 30 should be ignored; in fact, you think life will end before 30. Your pimples outnumber your whiskers. You shave once a week whether you need to or not. You wear a bra without anything to fill it up. You never stop eating or you never eat enough. Your pant length is a higher number than your waist measurement. You actually worry about looking old enough. ment, considering they just declared nicotine an addictive drug much like cocaine and heroin. The inhaler will be sold by prescription only. I imagine this is because it will be very easy for a smoker to get hooked on the inhaler. Perhaps we should look at the inhaler as a substitute for cigarettes. The entire tobacco uproar is due to people objecting to smoke and the diseases caused by sucking the smoke into our lungs. The inhaler does away with smoke and gives the user a low level of nicotine to attempt to wean him off from cigarettes. There is no reason they couldn't jack up the amount of nicotine in the inhaler and use it as a substitute for lighting up. It would be a carcinogen-fre- e way of If nicotine is truly a drug, would doctors advise using low levels of it in order to kick the habit? Can you imagine a doctor prescribing a low level cocaine Dick Boland O 1997 Creators Syndicate, Inc. inhaler as a cure for being addicted to cocaine? It would be another instance of the cure being worse than the disease. I believe the nicotine inhaler will be a great success in getting people to stop smoking. However, the smoker will be left with a great yearning to continue use of the inhaler. If he isn't then nicotine should not be considered addictive. The pharmaceutical company that , will market the inhaler says that it provides a sensation in the back of the throat similar to the feeling of inhaling a cigarette and the user continues the hand to mouth ritual that goes along with smoking a cigarette. As I see it, one Daly Planet By RUSS DALY were doing. She joined in the enthusiasm when we explained that the soccer team had just taken the state title. Another woman joined my wife and I, and she too asked what was going on. She was very impressed that the town would join in on such a grand scale. The only disappointment in the whole situation is that I wasn't around the next night for the same sort of celebration that attended the girls Softball team. When I found out that they had taken state, I felt the same sense of pride in their accomplishments that I had when we watched the bus carrying the soccer play- ers. So I must apologize to all those athletes who may think I must have ignored them. If I would have known about the police escort, I would have been the first in line to take your picture as you came into town. But my congratulations definitely go out to you. Throughout the school year, I am always excited to hear about the accomplishments of the students in our schools. I am always happy to go to any of the schools and take photographs and write stories about those students and classes who succeed. In addition to the big events such as the a teenager when... it for you. can't understand why your mother always waits up for you, but secretly you're do Looking over the Obvious You glad she does. Whenever you're home, your little brothers and sisters are constantly screaming your name. Your parents are as glad to see you go as By BRETT BEZZANT they are to see you come home. Your parents know the words to all the "oldies" on the radio. You're absolutely sure youH be rich, A date means so much more than a numfamous and skinny. ber on the calendar. You think you're immortal arid indeYou think sex was invented after you structible while your parents think you're were born. You think love is a phone call, a movie immature and incorrigible. There are "Mom clothes" and "Dad jokes" and a kiss. Your parents are always an embarrassand your parents use both. The security guard follows you and your ment ... unless you need to borrow the car. Your body is involuntarily drawn to loud friends around the store. i. ."The policeman doesn'Hbelieve-yomusic. can You have to set the alarm to get up before '. produce a driver's license. ;, You believe your parents as long as its 10 a.m. on Saturday. You can party all night and sleep all day. confirmed by a reliable source. You can't imagine your parents as You realize there's more to sex than gender. teenagers. You go out with friends just after you told You think the opposite sex is God's greatest creation, but become flushed and speechyour mother you were too tired to do the dishes. less if one should say, "Hello." You think life is over because you grow a Your appearance is perfect but your room pimple on your nose the day before the is a mess. prom. You just get things figured out and someIf you can't tell by now, my teenagers one changes all the rules. helped write this column. They'll probably Every jock has a name and a letterman's think of a few more tomorrow. I just hope you do, too. Congratulations to our gradujacket and everyone else is an athletic supates. Just remember that life is a lot easier porter. You rarely worry because your parents when we don't take ourselves too seriously! u Letters to the editor Billing error Editor: Recently the billing company for the American Fork Emergency Physicians mistakenly notified many patients that their bills were overdue and that the accounts were being sent to collections. This is in error and we apologize for any concern and inconvenience this has caused anyone who received this letter. We have met with the billing company and a notice retracting this statement is being sent now. We appreciate the opportunity to serve the citizens of this area and regret this incident. We thank the personnel of the for smokeless smoking Just when you think the war on tobacco is about over, along comes another lunatic idea to make you wonder who is waging it. The FDA has approved a nicotine inhaler. The inhaler would serve the same purpose as the nicotine patch and nicotine gum. This is some develop- smoking. , whole bit." Armed with this information, we found Mona, found the rail crossing and headed north. An hour later we found a group of men and boys and figured we were home free until we realized these were not any men and boys we know. They told us that Burriston Ponds were south of Mona, not north. "You can't miss it," the guy said. "It will be lit up like a small city." And it was. It was also about 10 p.m., and we found that Burriston Ponds were, on this weekend, the prime camping grounds for dozens of fathers and sons groups. We drove around the dusty roads for a while, then parked and walked until we stumbled into a camp of familiar faces. "Where you been? We just finished the program." Well, we explained that we'd had a bit of trouble finding the place, but we were okay now. About 11 p.m. we assembled an unfamiliar tent by lantern light, made our beds and settled down to about an hour of teen- "Okay." "Really." "Sure." "But if you are, like, busy, that's okay." But I wasn't that busy. Nobody should be that busy. "We'll leave at 6," I told them. And the adventure began. By the time I rounded up a tent and we had packed and filled the car with gas, it was about 7 p.m. We stopped for snacks at the local grocery store and picked up sandwiches at the Spanish Fork Hogi Yogi. By now it was about 8 p.m. We headed south for Burriston Ponds, somewhere near Mona. I hadn't kept the directions, figuring I wouldn't need them. it You But I called another dad who was going and got directions from him. The directions were a little odd, since he works for the railroad. "When you get to Mona, turn north. It's about two miles from a railroad crossing with signals and the hang together. "Well, I really have a lot to do." "It's okay if you don't want to go." "But you guys really want to?" "Uh.yeah." Then, about two minutes too late, my brain kicked in. These kids are old enough to drive. They both have jobs. In a few years they will graduate from high school and move on in their lives. And then there won't be any more fathers and sons camp outs. We've been on our share, but the odds were good this would be the last. Let's hear Well, this is a when..." dedicated to every parent and all their teens. : SB You know you're I The The History Fair or the Spelling Bee, many of our classes are doing things on their own. Sixth grade classes at Lehi Elementary recently held a Medieval Fair, sixth graders at Sego Lily present an annual Christmas play, Meadow Elementary held a Safety Fair and some students at Lehi Junior High School won the Knowledge Master competition for the second consecutive time, just to name a few of the great things that are happening around town. The successes of the year have brought me to the conclusion that we might want to look at two Homecoming celebrations. Perhaps the traditional one in the fall could serve as a rallying point for students and alumni, a way for graduates and others to show their support of the students for the coming year. Then another one in the spring could celebrate the accomplishments of the individuals and organizations who have achieved honors and titles, or those who have exceeded their goals. Such a celebration might also be convenient for those who want to demonstrate their pride in the school but cannot make it to the fall event. Others, especially those who still live in the area, could attend both and exude twice as much school spirit. As I look forward to my 20 year class reunion this summer, and combine that with the association I enjoy with all of the schools in town, I still maintain my Pioneer Pride. (I still sing the school song at various events, too.) Sure, one can always find the horror stories about today's youth, but we can find some great things, too, especially in our community. We have some great kids doing great things, sometimes with great personal effort. Everyone of them ought to be commended for being a source of pride for us all. of the great advantages of the inhaler is it will eliminate the use of ashtrays. Imagine feeling like you have just enjoyed a smoke but there is no butt to contend with or messy ashtray to empty. One of the side effects of using the inhaler is mouth or throat irritation along with a cough. What more could a smoker ask for? They recommend using the inhaler six to 16 times a day, but not for more than six months. This seems like a strange way to discontinue use of a substance that has been declared a drug. Is there a heroin inhaler in our future? How about cigar smokers? Will they be treated to a much larger inhaler, but limited to only one or two squirts a day? Using the inhaler instead of lighting up could be a great boon to those afflicted with the smoking habit. I fear it will never come to pass, however, unless the government imposes a heavy tax on the use of inhalers. To my knowledge, there has been no study on the damaging effects on the use of nicotine by itself I would presume if it were damaging, we wouldn't have the patch and gum. We should have looked at the smokeless inhaler years ago then today we could go to a restaurant and sit any place we desired. American Fork Hospital for their assistance in handling the calls this has generated. We are independent of the hospital and IHC and they have been very helpful. Please be assured that we will make every effort to correct this situation and have taken steps to prevent this from happening again. American Fork Emergency Physicians Senior Bus Trip Editor: I know it has been several weeks since the Lehi Senior Citizens took a bus tour to see the cactus blooming around the Death Valley, but sometimes it takes that long for all the good things to sink in. Like the good tour leaders, Cookie, Gloria and bus driver JJ, the extra surprises along the way extemporaneous singing at just the right times, such special folks on the bus that by the time the five days were over, new friendships were made and old ones strengthened. There was excitement over the winning sprees, plus jokes and yodeling and bingo and extra concern for those who needed it Also snacking and treats, naps, relaxing, and just getting away from it all. What more can you ask for? Even the worries about a lost checkbook are over. It just came in the mail. Hey! When do we get to go again? Bryon and Eulia Dastrup Honest student Editor: I would like to thank a fifth grade student at Meadow Elementary School for his honesty. Michael Southworth found my camera ($130 value) and turned it in to the office. Little did he know how priceless the film was inside my daughter's birth. He can be proud of himself for making the choice he did to turn the camera in. He is an example to all of us including his friends of what honesty is. Michael has restored my faith in the youth. I will always be grateful to Michael for his honesty. In a world where there is always a story on violence, drugs and gangs, we need to hear more stories about honesty. We need more Michaels in this world. Apryl A. Beck What we were missing Editor: Recently my wife and I attended the Old Folks Dinner at Lehi High School. Although we had been invited for several years, we didn't make an effort to attend. We didn't know what we were missing. We were served a delicious dinner and entertained by Bud Hutchings Band, with lots of big band music from the 194(fs. It brought back many fond memories for us, and I'm sure for many others there. They did an excellent job, as did the cooks and servers and all others involved with the delicious dinner. On behalf of all us old folks, we thank everyone who helped in any way, to give us this special day. We had a great time. Thank you all. We enjoy and appreciate all you do for us. Thank you very much. Robert A. Edwards Policy on letters to the editor 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, Utah, 84003 or through email at NewtahaoLcom. We welcome |