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Show Lehi Free Press New Utah! - Wednesday, July 21, 1999 - Page 2 Opinion nice about Nothing Dinosaur museum a welcome addition What is happening in north Lehi is nothing short of a miracle. And we're not talking about Micron. Last Friday, ground was broken for building that an inside of two years will be one of the largest dinosaur museums in the world, with 50 free standing, dinosaurs on display in one of the museum's exhibit rooms. The North American Museum of Ancient Life has found a home at Thanksgiving Point and the $20 million museum building will make a great addition to the Point's offerings over the next few years. It will also provide a much needed showcase for the rich collection of dinosaur fossils located in Utah. Before the groundbreaking took place, local dignitaries and members of the press were given a tour of the gardens now under construction at Thanksgiving Point, to the north of the golf course. These are not the gardens on display near the main buildings at the Lehi facility, which were built as an afterthought. Although these gardens will be one of the last features to be opened to the after the existing greenhouses, public nursery, golf course, restaurant, soda the idea of fountain and animal park gardens on the site creating world-clas- s e of this dairy farm was the catalyst that sparked the creation of this extraordinary enterprise The gardens are incomplete, but they will be open to the public next summer, about the time the first phase of the dinosaur museum is completed. Despite the preliminary nature of Friday's sneak peek, what is already in place at the Thanksgiving Point gardens is nothing short of breathtaking. One reporter at Friday's groundbreaking asked if the dinosaur museum wasn't just one more carrot being waved in front of the Utah County public, like so many other proposed projects that have come and gone through the 83,500-square-fo- ot one-tim- years. That reporter had missed the tour of the garden area, or he would have never rosed the question. This was not ground. Within a year the first phase will d open with Utah Valley's first movie screen. A year later, the museum will feature the finest dinosaur displays on the planet, as well interactive displays as and activities geared to spark a child's imagination. And while the museum is a private enterprise, just like the golf course, and the gardens, and all the other Thanksgiving Point ventures, one of the prime benefactors will be the north Utah County economy. Thanksgiving Point is already the greatest tourist attraction in the area outside of Timpanogos Cave. With this dinosaur museum and world class gardens, that trend is sure LMAX-size- state-of-the-a- rt adapt that vision as opportunities present themselves. The North American Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point is a welcome addition to north Utah ty's growing tourist economy. if nt day-to-da- Published weekly by NewUtah! member of NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION fast before. Gertrude didn't get to talk to the children that day and for months afterwards. When necessary, just getting Gertrude out and letting them know that they had crossed the line was usually enough to bring back J J order. Mostly, she was used as a stir spoon for cake batter and cookie dough. When I was a child and we had done something terribly wrong, my father would have to talk to us. After making sure that we knew what we had done wrong he would send us out back yard to into the find a stick. Getting smacked on the bum a couple of times was not nearly as painful as having to go look for a stick in a back yard that had only two small decorative trees growing in it. I suspect the sticks were planted there for such times as those. Your stomach would twist and turn as you looked among the garden plants wishing somehow that you could disappear. The other day before Gertrude's handle broke, our youngest had gotten in trouble for running off to play without telling us where she was. This was the third time it had happened. No amount of explaining, pleading, or scolding seemed to have helped. We held a family meeting and asked her what she thought the consequence should be. She suggested being grounded for week. A week is an awfully long time for a young child and difficult to enforce. I asked her if she rather I got Gertrude out or give her the grounding that she suggested. She quickly smiled and said Gertrude. ! is. ! Half of my children are too old to talk to Gertrude now, but they enjoy; talking about her. She has become! part of the family. As they mature they seem to lose whatever it was they had that made Gertrude a necessity consequences must be thought! of they usually are harder on them- ; selves than I ever would be. We still don't have a home, but it is a better home. As each year goes by the children take on more and more responsibility for their own ; actions and their possessions (there is life at the end of tiny tot time.) There is less clutter of the little kid type to ; ; and-whe- well-groom- J well-ordere- d! ! ; ! ; deal with. I suspect that those moms with spotless, perfect homes keep! their children locked up in the cellar anyway and only let them out at din- nertime. Gertrude (the second) is being used right now by our oldest daughter; Kate, to stir up a yummy batch of oat--; meal chocolate chip cookies. I prefer it that way and look forward to the day when Gertrude will permanently be retired to the kitchen. Until then, occasionally our! youngest children will be told that! they have options, one of which is talk- ing to, you guessed it, Gertrude. J ! ! ! Unexpected discoveries on the Island of Liberty j Several years ago, my wife Sharon way to Ellis Island. In the play we all look in wonder and point to the imagi- was invited to help contribute to the I I "ill of national restoration that unique fignary statue, turning as the boat j moved around her. ure, the Statue of Liberty. I experienced some of that wonder i She had never seen the Statue of as we neared the statue, but I noticed she in and figured Liberty person, that we turned the wrong way in our probably never would. But the amount was reasonable and the Statue cerplay. The boat would have passed along the other side of the statue. tainly seemed a worthy cause. After landing, we got in line and i Surely, no statue has the worldwide recognition of this massive figure after about an hour found ourselves at holding a torch and officially named before the president. She still thought the top of the pedestal looking out j at the New York and Brooklyn sky-- 1 a new name might be appropriate.) "Liberty Enlightening the World." We found we were too late to get lines. This was okay, but the Statue of Since itJ was created by iFrench tickets that would allow us to climb to Liberty is a lot more impressive" from j sculptor; Frederic AugusteBartholdi and donated to the United StatesJay Liberty's crown. Those are limited to the outside than the inside. Inside, all France in 1885, the Statue of Liberty those few who make the first ferry of you can do is look out at New York or i has become recognized world-wid- e as the day, as National Park rangers New Jersey. From the outside, you can ' for the basic freedoms that work to minimize the impact of 2 mil- look at the statue. standing have distinguished the United States lion annual visitors on the venerable Then we walked through the muse- of America from all other countries on old lady. um located inside the pedestal. There i the earth. Then we boarded the ferry for the we saw the original torch, which was ' Sharon put her money in an envebrief ride through New York Harbor replaced during the recent restora-- J with a lot of other people, folks from tion. We were learning about the j lope, filled out the requested information, and did her part to help restore all walks of life. building of the statue when we turned the statue. Then she forgot about it. A few observations: The statue a corner and saw a computer screen That is, until two weeks ago, when doesn't dominate the harbor, as it offering to list the names of donors to we had the opportunity of taking the would appear from many of the pictorthe restoration project. That was when j ferry to Liberty Island and climbing to ial representations we've seen. That's Sharon remembered her modest con- the top of the pedestal where the because its a big harbor. But as you tribution years before. n We stepped to the near the statue in the ferry, and her and grand old lady stands in that permanent pose we all know so well. immense size becomes evident, she called up the names of all the Had- We hadn't gone to New York just to does become a dominating figure. In docks who had donated. Her name was make this visit, but while we were in fact, we learned she was the tallest listed at the top of the second page. town it seemed like a logical stopping thing in New York until the Empire What a wonderful way to acknowledge the public gifts that made the recent ' point for a group of tourists from Utah State Building was added to the skywho were in the Big Apple for the first line. restoration of this great national sym-- 1 time. The ferry ride was also eerily remi- bol possible. We rode the subway to the south niscent of a play in which I had perThe rest of the day was filled with end of Manhattan Island and walked formed only four days before in Amer- the sights, sounds and smells that through Battery Park to Castle Clin- ican Fork, named "Rags." help make a vacation memorable, and The play, written by the same play- visits to the top of some of the tallest ton, where they sell the ferry tickets that get you onto Liberty Island, wright who wrote "Fiddler on the buildings in the world. where the statue is placed. (Sharon Roof," is about a group of Russian But I don't think anything topped thought they ought to rename this old immigrants coming to America, and our visit to the Statue of Liberty, whre; cannon battery after someone other their experiences once they get here. after we had traveled 2,000 miles intcj than the sitting president, but we In one of the opening scenes, our boat new .territory, we found our own name pointed out that the castle was named passes by the Statue of Liberty on its in the most unlikely spot. i s I J J 1 , J & J-Jro- n i ii wi ii ii 59 West Main American Fork, Utah 84003 ! touch-scree- ! ! J Reader's Forum Veterans say thanks Editor: The members of American Legion Post 19 would like to thank all those who contributed funds for the construction of the Veterans Memorial at the Lehi Cemetery. A special thanks to the major contributors, Lehi City Council, Bank of American Fork, Lehi Civic Improvement Association and Lehi Irrigation Company, and all the other businesses and individuals too numerous to mention for lack of space. A special thanks to all those who worked on this project for their skill and expert workmanship; and for the quality of materials they used in the construction of the memorial. When the time capsule is opened in 50 years, this monument will still be standing to pay tribute to the veterans who he here in .756-766- 9 .756-527- 3 ..... ... .Brett Bezzant Managing Editor City Editor Marc Haddock Publisher .Cathy Aflred Subscription price $24" per year Deadlines Classified Advertising Display Advertising News Missionaries . .Tuesday, noon .Monday, 5 p.m. .Monday, 2 p.m. Monday, 2 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m. Sports POSTMASTER: Obituaries WM Hah, American Fork, Utah (4003 ... Weddings Community Calendar Letters to the Editor Mnd Ktttwa chvtgt to , ........ .Monday, 2 p.m. Periodicals Postage Paid at American Fork, Utah 59 J J Circulation . . . . New JewlahJTews ! Telephone Numbers Advertising . NATIONAL ! J tures because we were actually sharing a home with them this time. The porch they used before was only rented, and the lamp fixture they appropriated is now included with a mortgage. I still get upset when I hear people make derogatory comments about renters, insinuating that a person, couple or family who rents is less than desirable. At the same time, however, I can see how owning a home or at least having a vested interest in one feels different. Not that purchasing a home makes a higher caliber person, but that such a person does feel like he or she belongs somewhere. Perhaps I can create for the birds a more permanent home, one that they can return to when they feel the need or one that they can send their grandchildren to when the time comes. In the end, though, there will be a final farewell. With courage, mother bird will push the growing family off their perch they can't really fit inside the nest anymore and into the wild blue yonder. Our oldest son pointed out that he is of mission age in just a little over two years, a time that we once thought was farther into the future. As I took pictures of the veterans known. No one really expected Mae to actusealing up a time capsule at the cemeally leave, although we all know tery, I listened to them joke about how they would be watching either from everyone must. as the citizens of If the birds weren't enough to get above or below the message across, one news pro- tomorrow unearth the plastic tube gram covering the search for the and examine the contents from an missing John F. Kennedy, Jr., helped earlier century. Although it troubled me to realize solidify it when someone quoted John-Joh- n as having said that "no that they will be gone at that time, I one really becomes an adult until was also fascinated to think that I both parents are gone." might possibly still be around, albeit Like the birdhngs, I got my final ancient, to witness the opening. Meanwhile, ITl keep watching the "push" out of the proverbial nest of life since the last time we housed birds. bird, and my own little brood, as they The word birdhouse took on a new grow and change and eventually leave meaning with this set of avian crea- - the nest. A Gertrude. I remember the sudden change in facial expression, eyes widened, mouths fell open, and until that day I hadn't seen a child move so to continue. That's good news for other local tourist attractions that often go wanting for lack of an audience like Stagecoach Inn at Fairfield because tourists will start to see Utah County as a destination, rather than a side trip, for their summer vacation. That's good for Utah County. We commend the Ashtons, who first had the vision to build Thanksgiving Point and its gardens, and who continue to impress us with their willingness to don't know when the famed swallows return to Capistrano, but some birds are back in our lives. A few years ago, I wrote a column about some birds that had inhabited our front porch area for their nesting, hatching and eventual pushing out of the nest of the little ones. The little chickadees meant more than just a splattering of mess on our front porch, and a little inconvenience when they frantically fluttered away every time we open the door. The birds were a gentle reminder to us of the grand cycle of life. Our feathered friends this year have been no exception. Except that they have provided us an additional glimpse beyond just the basic pattern of growth. You see, this time, the little birds have pointed out to us not only the cycle of life, but the passage of time. We miss the y changes in our lives because we sometimes do our best just to cope. I would imagine that most of us don't see the growth and changes that occur in ourselves or in our children in the small steps of every day life. Just like the grand changes one sees in a relative whom one hasn't seen for years, we noticed changes with this year's birds. The changes, though, were in our own lives. One of the biggest changes is the death of my mother, the last and only grandparent my children have ever 0) cheers and giggling. The children discussed funeral arrangements. I didn't have the heart to tell them there were three more Gertudes tucked away in my kitchen utility drawer. Gertrude was born one day out of a mother's desperation to prevent mutiny. With a husband that worked long hours away from home, I often felt overwhelmed. The house had become a total disaster, there was no order, and the children had gotten impervious to any motivational techniques available to me. Short of promising them an expensive toy or a Disneyland trip if they would just pick up their mess, I don't think that they would have listened. With a permanent marker, I drew a smiley face on the back of all my wooden spoons. What a difference it made. With a gracious smile, I quickly held up one of the spoons with the smiley face and asked nicely (I've long forgotten which child it was) if they would like to clean up their mess and behave or if they would rather talk to a proposal designed to elicit public donations for the fanciful building of a "castle in the clouds" that would never actually materialize. Thanksgiving Point's owners and developers have demonstrated over the last few years that they mean business. After all, Friday's event wasn't a press conference, it was a ground breaking. The financing for the museum is all in place, and the bankers who are loaning a good portion of the funds to build the museum were on hand for the festivities. Within weeks, area residents driving by Thanksgiving Point will see this structure begin to rise from the I (ISSN No. 1521-685(U.S.P.S. No. 309-50- So Gertrude it was or wasn't as the case may be. It was a totally painless ; spank and I wasn't inclined to get up; and go get another one amid all the! The and wayward laughter. but relieved, daughvery unspanked, ter has been extremely good since; then about telling someone where she Gertrude died the other day of a broken neck. It was a clean break and the quick death and was followed by Different birds, a different time ever-prese- talking to Gertrude .Monday, 10 a.m. . .Monday, 10 a.m. . . Tuesday, 11 a.m. this cemetery and gave so much to preserve our way of government. Many compliments have been received concerning this monument. Two other cities have asked for help and ideas in the construction of veteran memorials they play to erect. Our memorial is not yet complete. Lehi City plans to erect new restrooms adjacent to the memorial. Plans are, when finances are available ,to add a wall containing the names of all veterans interred in the cemetery, a waterfall and a meditation pool. When com- pleted, our memorial will be the most outstanding in the state of Utah. In order to achieve this goal, further contributions will be required. Each Memorial Day a special ceremony will be held here at the memorial to give thanks to those who served their country and gave so much. All 85 members of Post 1 Carl Hani! Commanded Brian does good 'job Editor: v The NewUtah! Outdoors Corre spondent, Brian Brinkerhoff, does an excellent job. I am not a native UtahnJ I grew up in Colorado and enjoyed hiki ing in the Rockies. Brian's hikes ii your paper are very helpful to me. am enjoying getting to know th mountains on this side of the Rockies His detailed explanations and sum maries of the hiking routes are very informative so that my husband and I can plan great hikes appropriate fo our young family. Keep up the greaf work, Brian! KathyRussoi We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the author's name (printed AND signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, punctuation, taste and length. Letters are welcome on any topic. HOW TQ PEACH VS Bv Mail P.O. Box 7, American Fork, UT 84003 In Person 59 W. Main, American Fork j By Fax 756-527- 4 By editor newutah.com |