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Show Lehi Free Press New Utah! - Wednesday, June 16, 1999 - Page 2 Opinion Being a great father just takes good horse sense Celebrating the community Summertime offers a unique opportunity to get involved in the life of our local communities as each of them lets down their hair and kicks up their heels in the annual ritual of city celebrations. There's something happening somewhere in north Utah County every weekend from now until the end of summer. Traditionally these activities begin with Pleasant Grove's Strawberry Days, the oldest continuous city celebration in Utah. This year, however, Saratoga Springs got the jump on the other local towns last weekend with its first Saratoga Splash. Strawberry Days will be followed by Eagle Mountain's Pony Express Days, the Lehi Roundup, American Fork's Steel Days, Cedar Hills' Manila Days and Cedar Fort's Pioneer Days, rounded out by the Highland Fling, Alpine Days and Lindon Days. Each celebration is unique, with traditions that perpetuate the flavor and texture of the community it represents, from the strawberries and cream of Strawberry Days to the won derful miniature parade in Lehi and right through to the town-wid- e water fight at Cedar Fort. But each promises parades, games, activities and lots of family fun. They provide a great opportunity for newcomers and old timers to get in touch with the pulse of their community, to make new acquaintances or renew old ones, and for our towns to gather together for a common purpose. They also provide a homecoming for former residents and offer an invitation for others to get to know their neighboring communities a little bet- ter. Here's some advice for this have some fun. Get summer involved in the community-sponsore- d activities offered during your own city celebration, and take some time to participate in some of the activities at a nearby community or two as well. It's a great way to get to know your neighbors, and one way to help make certain that while our communities keep growing, we keep growing together. Porter Rockwell, meet Norman Rockwell I know that we have been told by ecclesiastic leaders time and again how to become a successful family but I have never been told so wisely and simply as I was by a successful horse breeder that I interviewed years ago. You see, he knew what made great race horses and the key to his recipe was in the mare. It was not as important what the pedigree of the father was or what his disposition was but it was very important in the mother's. If the mare was gentle and even tempered so were her children. If the mare was not taken care of and she got testy and nervous, so did her chil- dren. Therefore, the rancher knew that his responsibility for raising fine horses was in taking good care of that mare. He was to make sure that she felt secure and safe; that there was adequate shelter, and that her needs were met. Now I know some women will be insulted by being compared to a mare but I've seen time and again where this man's philosophy just makes good horse sense. Granted the analogy only extends so far, I am not going to suggest that we fix all the unfit or unneeded stallions and auction them off as work horses or geldings, although there are probably more than a few divorcees that would be thrilled with the idea. I need only remind them that unfit mares can make a fine glue. Still, the rancher's philosophy stands true. been told many times that the best thing a father can do for his children is by showing love and respect for their mother. We are adamantly told that fathers are to preside in love and righteousness, that they are to provide the necessities, and to provide protection for their families. Mothers need that. I have friends who have had to leave abusive relationships. Their lives of juggling a career, nurturing children, and keepWe have ing some semblance of social interaction with their community are not easy. And it is not easy on their children. On the flip side, there are fathers, who because a mother has left, have had to do the same. When the scriptures talk about men's hearts failing them, my husband, who is in the medical field, likes to point out the increase in heart related health problems in America. He is entitled to his view but he also agrees that men's hearts are failing them, not from a high cholesterol diet but because they lack integrity and love. Too many stallions out gallivanting about and no one at home tending the herd. I am thankful for the care that he has taken to watch over our family. I am thankful that he cares enough also to take time out for our children.'' They have memories of hiking, camp-- . ing, sledding, and working together. Even though he jokes about our Tuesday night TV dinners, I am thankful that my children's father is there for them, holding the home while mom is out. I don't expect j him to be a mom but I do expect him to be a dad. He has been a strength to our home. Next Sunday is Father's Day or as j it is better known, New Tie Day. Many , of us in our communities can be 'J thankful for our fathers on this day ' and every day. They deserve our honor and appreciation. T We can be thankful for the men , that have dedicated themselves to our children in scouts, sports, church, and other civic organizations. My son has ' enjoyed the fellowship not only of his father but of numerous scout leaders, fort-dow- . , youth leaders, teachers, and bish-- J oprics. Their examples and commit-- , ment to the successful rearing of our ; children has been invaluable. They have reaffirmed what the father and mother are trying to teach in the , -- home. All the same, they will never be a substitute for the family. It goes back ' to the wise philosophy of the prosper-- , ous horse breeder. I suspect his wealth was not just counted in dollars but also included the love and respect of his children and of his wife. He had .. learned through his business, the; important role of a good father in the ' home. Conversation mode of travel to the Ozarks of Branson ited the Branson area of the Ozarks ' before. We enjoyed our stay so much, we'll probably return. I was very ' ' impressed that although Branson has for some in ; 50,000 people seating year. dozens of shows, there is no gambling, In order to get the lowest airfares, no "adult" theaters, and no racy shows we had to catch connector flights to St. Louis in DallasFort Worth. I usually and ended up marching with his unit or shady humor. All entertainment is J try to catch up on reading, but this into Russia. He was never heard of based on Christian family values. ' time I found that flight times passed again. Her father rarely talks about Although the performances we saw did not begin with prayer, each one ' much more quickly when I engage a the war, but occasionally her grandtotal stranger in an hour or two of con- parents will recall the bombing raids had at least one "gospel" number and and how their lives became so limited at least one patriotic number. What do versation. ' "So, are you flying home to Dallas?" by the tragedy of war and all the sufthey know that we don't about barring undesirable businesses? Surely, they1 or "What brought you to Dallas?" were fering it inevitably brings. -Rettaretag from Dallas, I spoke with have been pressured to1 become theiJ " out, i uciu Burnt? tcjj micieaimg tuii- - a womatrwho had been the organizer Las Vegas of the Ozarks? DeLbrean She We convention there. .venwdaxmsTThe'Iongest one was with a of a stayed at a resort kPKimberling man from a small town about 150 and her husband own one each you City on what I would have to call ' miles outside of Dallas who was visit- know the stainless steel car that was "Lake Powell of the Ozarks." Table t ing Salt Lake City for a Union Pacific only manufactured for a year or two Rock Lake, like Powell, is and was used by "Doc Brown" to make It also has some 700 miles of shore-- 1 training seminar. He was very complimentary of our capitol city and how his time machine in the movie "Back line. We rented a ski boat one day and ' found the water delightful for boating, "clean" it was. However, since his to the Future." I asked her what hapgroup didn't have a lot of free time, pened when they hit 88 miles per swimming and fishing. ' Branson, with all its shows, was they only got as far from Salt Lake as hour. "You get a ticket," she said. Park City. He also said he couldn't call always a short drive away, along with t those hills back home "mountains" However, the DeLorean business the 1890's theme park, Silver Dollar; e was just a hobby. Her real job is a City. We especially enjoyed our dinner anymore. I learned a lot about his job with the . wedding coordinator at a very on the Showboat Branson Belle the railroad and his family back home. busy Catholic Cathedral in Burbank prime rib dinner was delicious and the ' His wife was born in Germany and California. She and her husband had show was spectacular. Besides dozens they try to visit her parents there each recently returned from Italy where of other Branson shows, what we also ' year, but now that they have a young they celebrated their 35th wedding had to save for another visit was a daughter, the additional airfare means anniversary. They have four 'children family water park and the show that all married "in the churchand she started it all that sometimes only his wife and the Shepherd of the ' is very hopeful that one daughter-in-laHills outdoor pageant. The pageant is ! daughter make the return visit. who wants her newborn baptized, His wife grew up in a home that based on the story in Harold Bell' was built in the seventeenth century will also join the church. She loves her Wright's 1907 book by the same name and did double duty as a mill, powered grandchildren and wants them all to that has become the fourth most wideby a water wheel. Basically, she lived live close to home. ly read book in publishing history. I was glad she ended up in the in one of those postcard hamlets that With the combination of lake resort, make most U.S. homes and gardens wrong seat so we could talk. If you theme park, river boat, and Branson ; look very plain by comparison. Her plan to be on a plane for any length of entertainment, it was a vacation j father was a young teen during World time, I highly recommend the conver- unusually rich in variety because we War II and her uncle was just old sation mode of travel. could see it all and stay in one place ' I vis to he never mentioned we that had that had the the entire week. enough join military Although we have visited my wife's brother and sister in St. Louis several times, we had never been to the Branuntil this son area of the Ozarks Jt 1. The principal said, "Let there be light." 2. And there was light. And he saw that it was good. . , , tr And all the. people., rejoiced because of the light. Yea, the'people'T did rejoice exceedingly because the light made the parking lot appear as if it were noonday. 4. The people did continue in their great rejoicing, one with another, because the light continued, insomuch that they could converse after evening events at the school. Maybe it's not as dramatic as some of the signs of the times described in scripture, but the new lights in the parking lot of the high school are good, and people might actually rejoice a little because of them. Although I had seen them erected, I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing them in operation until after the Miss Lehi Pageant was over. We had stayed around inside talking to all the people we don't seem to get to see very often, and finally went outside to our car to return home. There they were, all ablaze in the night. What made it most intriguing was to see the people who were still milling around in the parking lot, chatting away in the gleam of the lights. Sure, they could have conversed in the darkness, and perhaps some of them might have preferred it that way, but how much more quaint it was to be able to observe the chatting in progress. Despite the sleek new look created by the lights, the scene seemed more nostalgic than high tech. In some ways, I guess it reminded me of a Norman Rockwell painting. Although I realize that a Rockwell piece would have included incandescent lights in ornate bulbous fixtures, the action itself seemed like a slice of Americana a group here and a group there, laughing and talking amongst themselves, oblivious to time and space around them. The scene could have been played out after a number activities, the big homecoming football game, the junior prom, the school play, and especially, graduation. Artist Rockwell could have been responsible for the Flag Day scene I 2? fin . i3 ' 1 1 . -SdaBL enioved as well. What a thrill it was to drive down Main Street on Monday and see all of the flags put up by the veterans lining the main drag. I suppose I was more observant to the flags because my sons and I had gone out earlier in the day to post the flags that the scouts put up in yards around the ward. The earli-nes- s of the hour almost scared me away, but it was a great way for me to celebrate Flag Day. Do pastures and other green space look any greener to you? If they do, it isn't because they are on the other side of the fence, but probably for the fact that there is not a subdivision on it. We have experienced so much growth over the last few years that what is left of the open space really does look greener to me. (Except in Eagle Mountain, where the open space isn't really "green" space, but "brown" space.) A few weeks ago, I caught the broadcast of the movie Footloose, which was filmed in Lehi, American Fork, Provo and Springville. Rockwell could man-mad- full-tim- 1 1 have done a great piece on the old Hi Spot Drive In or any of the grand old mansions, and probably would have given his to capture the Lehi Roller Mills on canvas. The scene with the Provo Hi Spot wasn't as nostalgic as the memories it brought back to me of the American Fork location, where Blockbuster Video now stands. It is getting harder and harder to recollect what the drive in looked like because it seems like the video store has always been there. I was certainly jarred back into reality when I watched the overhead scene of the mill. Where there was just wild grass now stands two convenience stores, two hotels and a mall. Quite a different scene than our Rockwellian Reader's Forum eye-tee- th past. Of course, Mr. Rockwell might not recognize his hometown, either. those It is up to us to memories on the canvasses of our own mind3. te e. Vefs do great work Editor: to tell you and the citizens of Lehi how great it was to see the dedication of the Veteran's Memorial at the Lehi Cemetery two weeks ago. As I listened to the speakers and looked at the monument itself, I was very impressed at all the work the veterans had done to be able to complete this site in order to honor our heroes on I would like Memorial Day. In the mayor's speech he men- tioned that the veterans still owed some money on the memorial. He also said would like to pay for the rest and even though the city should be obligated to pick up some of the cost of the curb, gutter, and sidewalk, I feel that as citizens, we should take pride in our commu- Thanks for web site Editor: I am a member of the U.S. Air Force currently stationed in Los nity and finish paying with our Angeles, Calif. I was born and i raised in American Fork prior to I own donations for the memorial. ! All you need to do is take your entering military service. I would like to extend my thanks donations big or small, to the John Hutchings Museum and for a job well done on your web ver- of the New Utah! paper. What!; they will get it to the Veterans sion a great source for my hometown? Post 19's Commander Blackie news! It's nice to know that the Harris. I would like to thank those in information will be available wherever my military travels may lead. community who have donated so Thank you for providing me an far and those who gave whatever to keep abreast of opportunity j change they had at the service. "back home"! things happening Their donations are appreciated. that the city - Nola Raye Hooley - - Thomas W, Hansen, SSgt, USAF J 3 Published weekly by .... ri2v;Utah! (ISSN No. 1521-685- (U.S.P.S. 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