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Show Page 2 The Ogden Valley news Volume XXV Issue X January 15, 2019 The Ogden Valley news Staff: Shanna Francis Tel: 801-745-2688 Fax: 801-745-2688 Cell: 801-791-4387 E-Mail: slfrancis@digis.net Jeannie Wendell Tel: 801-745-2879 Fax: 801-745-2879 E-Mail: crwendell@digis.net crwendell@msn.com Opinions expressed by advertisers, columnists or letters to the editor are not necessarily the opinions of the owners and staff of The Ogden Valley news. guidelines for Letters to the Editor Letters should be 300 words or less. Letters must be signed and the address of the writer submitted. The Ogden Valley news reserves the right to edit or decline printing of any submissions. Announcements Sought As a community service, The Ogden V alley n ews will print local birth, wedding, obituary, anniversary and missionary farewell & homecoming and Eagle Scout announcements free of charge. We invite residents to send their announcements to: The Ogden Valley news PO BOX 130 EDEN UT 84310 If you would like your submitted items returned, please send a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. The Ogden Valley news , while respecting all property received, will take no responsibility for lost or misplaced items. Please remember to keep a copy for yourself. Invitation for Articles The staff of The Ogden Valley news welcomes the submission of articles by our readership. We invite you to submit local historical accounts or biographies, articles pertaining to contemporary issues, and/or other material that may be of interest to our readers. We also invite you to submit to the paper, or notify the staff of local events. Awards that have been earned by the reader, family members, neighbors or friends are also sought. While the staff of The Ogden Valley news invites the submittal of information and articles, we reserve the right to select which material will be considered for publication. All material, to be considered, must be submitted with the full name, address and telephone number of the person submitting the material. The OgdenValley news’liability on account of errors in, or omissions of, advertising shall in no event exceed the amount of charges for the advertising omitted or the space occupied by the error. The Ogden Valley news does not endorse, promote or encourage the purchase or sale of any product or service advertised in this newspaper. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. The Ogden Valley news hereby disclaims all liability for any damage suffered as the result of any advertisement in this newspaper. The Ogden Valley news is not responsible for any claims or representations made in advertisements in this newspaper. The Ogden Valley news has the sole authority to edit and locate any classified advertisement as deemed appropriate. It also reserves the right to refuse any advertising. Note: The contents of The Ogden Valley News are copyrighted. To protect this publication and its contributors from unlawful copying, written permission is required before any individual or company engages in the reproduction or distribution of its contents, by any means, without first obtaining written permission from the owners of this publication. The deadline for the OVN February 1 issue is January 15. Letters to the Editor Tear Down This Wall! In the recent Ogden Valley News’ letter to the editor titled “Who Couldn’t Love a Wall?” the writer asserts that walls are a matter of selfpreservation when “normal respect for borders doesn’t exist.” The writer goes on to cite the Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall and the Berlin Wall as examples of walls that have been constructed during history to protect borders. The writer of the letter is invited to recall that the three examples provided in his letter were all famously unsuccessful. Genghis Khan breached the Great Wall of China on numerous occasions; seemingly at will. A mere sixty years later, Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan, became ruler of China. Hadrian’s Wall in England also failed as Picts eventually pushed the Roman Empire from the British Isles with little regard for Hadrian’s Wall. Likewise, the oppressive Berlin Wall failed to extinguish the light of freedom in West Berlin. The Berlin Airlift kept supplies open and hope alive during one of the worst humanitarian crises of the Cold War from June 1948 until September 1949. The Berlin Wall finally crumbled November 9, 1989 under the weight of enlightened ideology following President Reagan’s iconic demand while speaking at the Brandenburg Gate, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Failure of walls isn’t limited to these three examples; they are merely the most spectacular historical failures. Static walls will always fail to suppress the ingenuity and genius of humankind. If anything, history teaches us that when cultures have hidden behind walls, their demise wasn’t far behind. Hal Lee, Ogden Canyon Who Couldn’t Love a Wall? Me . . . . I am writing to answer the question raised by John Reynolds in the January 1 edition of The Ogden Valley news “Who Couldn’t Love a Wall?” I’m not writing for a response; I want to honestly answer your question Mr. Reynolds. Who couldn’t love a wall? It depends on the wall, of course. In this instance, where you are talking about the border wall, the answer is “me.” I can only speak for me. I hope you will respect my feelings. I do not love the wall. I could not love a wall such as is being pushed by President Trump. Why? Because, to me, it is symbolic of fear, hatred, bigotry, separation, lack of respect, and the use of unrighteous power. As I read and listen to both sides of this debate, I honor the right of everyone to believe what they believe and to hold differing positions on this issue, as well as any other issue. I can only express to you the sorrow I feel when I see the manipulation, the propaganda, and the stirring of fear and hatred for others perceived as different, and, in this specific instance, per- ceived as “less than.” I sincerely pray daily for peace, love, and compassion in our world. As I live my life, I ask a simple question, “Does this promote peace, love and compassion, or does it promote separation, anger, fear, or hatred?” I go inward to know how my heart feels about it, rather than only my head (it’s a blend; not one or the other). What do I know to be truth? Not, what does someone tell me to believe. And I ask from within. Then I align my life, my words, and deeds with my inner truth. For me, the truth to your question is clear. I’ll be honest; I do not understand the motivation for those who could love such a wall and the treatment of another human being in what is being proposed and currently happening at our borders. I hold the intention to open my heart and mind to understand and to be truly open to other perspectives. Mr. Trump is asking for billions of dollars for this wall. I wonder, with the brilliance in this world, how could that kind of money be used to promote peace, love, compassion, and respect, and assuage the fear that is purposely being incited for unrighteous power. For me, the answer is to address and heal the narcissism, hatred, bigotry, lack of respect, and fear within oneself; and to, instead, nurture the love, respect and compassion that is our true nature. You know the story of which wolf do you feed? By doing so, this helps shift perspectives, to expand awareness, to align with inner truth, and allows solutions that are of a higher vibration based in love, empathy, and compassion to unfold and thrive—love of one’s fellow man; not just those of the same color and beliefs. I hope this helps you see another perspective, Mr. Reynolds. I appreciate the opportunity your question presents for readers to ponder their individual response to your question and their underlying reasoning. Respectfully, conservative, proclaiming he represented Utah values. Well, a leopard may conceal himself but he can’t change his spots. Isn’t Mitt doing the same thing he is admonishing Trump for: airing dirty laundry in public, attacking, and not being graceful about doing it? He should have forgone the media attention and worked quietly behind scenes with Trump to help him evolve and change his ways. That is what an Orin Hatch or Mike Lee would have done. Instead, Mitt is going out of his way to undermine the President, his conservative agenda, and us traditional conservative Americans. It is all about Mitt again; leading the resistance and putting himself in the spotlight. Is that Utah values? Where is the humility? He didn’t even have the decency to wait to be sworn in to become our “junior” Senator. Yes, Trump’s methods don’t always sit well and sometimes he makes me wince with some of his tweets. But Trump has delivered on the conservative agenda more than any American President in our life time. Trump has put America and Americans first ahead of the Washington establishment that sold us out long ago to other interests. We are all better off for what Trump has accomplished. And Trump and his family have paid a heavy price for their patriotism and action. Regardless, Mitt has fought Trump most of the way, more than he ever did when Barack Obama was in the White House. Mitt has had his chances to help in a big way but came up short. He lost the Presidential election in 2012, dooming us to another four years of Obama. And he could have helped expand the Republican majority in the Senate by running for Senate in Massachusetts, instead of taking a safe seat in Utah. What Mitt ought to do is play by Utah values and get with the program to advance the conservative agenda in a constructive, collaborative way. I hope for that, but won’t hold my breath. The best advice for Mitt comes out of the New Testament. As Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke, “Physician, heal yourself!” Romney ought to take that to heart and heal himself before casting more stones. Let’s hope he does; and, if he doesn’t, we have a chance as a state to wizen up to him, corral him, and vote him out at the first opportunity we get. Kristine Wilkerson, Huntsville Romney, “Heal Thy Self” Monday morning proved an embarrassing day for Utahans waking up to Romney’s op-ed in the Washington Post where he publicly attacked and undermined President Donald Trump. One text I got from a conservative friend out of State said it all…”you gotta be proud of that new Senator for Utah, what an….” Even his own niece, Ronna Romney McDaniel, who runs the Republican National Committee, admonished her uncle in reaction. For an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack @realdonaldtrump as their first act feeds into what the Democrats and media want, and is disappointing and unproductive.” And so it was all day privately and in the conservative press. Romney, again making a fool of himself and, with him, our fine state. To the 27% of us who did not vote for him in the primary, it is a disappointment but comes as no surprise. Yet again, Mitt threw in his lot with the Liberals, the Deep State, and the NeverTrumpers. The same Mitt Romney who would rather have Hillary Clinton in the Oval office right now instead of Trump. Mitt re-marketed himself last year from a Massachusetts liberal to an Intermountain State Jim Vetter, Liberty Twenty Years of The Ogden Valley News - No small feat! It was modestly mentioned in the last (Jan. 1, 2019) issue of The Ogden Valley news that our local, hometown paper had just reached its 20th year of operation. I would just like to make sure the significance of this accomplishment is not lightly passed over, and dispel any doubt as to the enormous value this newspaper has been to the Ogden Valley community. From the perspective of a longtime local reader, let me offer some insights and accolades on this team-oftwo researchers, journalists, editors, publishers, marketers, community activists, businesswomen, moms, grandmothers... just to name a few—Shanna Francis and Jeannie Wendell. In 20 years, at two publications per month, there would have been 2240 papers printed, saddled with their unavoidable, stressful deadlines. Try balancing the logistics of life with that looming over your shoulder every other week for 20 years! “Hmm.... Wonder if we can fit a family vacation in this year?” Not! “Suppose we could slip away for that family reunion, graduation, birth of our beautiful new grandchild...?” Are you kidding me! And yet, in the midst of this undertaking, these two ladies raised their families, accomplished advanced degrees, and served as members of multiple Ogden Valley community organizations. And these are just things I’ve heard through the grapevine. Interviewing them would surely reveal more noteworthy details of their day-today doings over these last years while juggling the responsibilities of the paper. I know them both enough to know they’d resist any such effort of putting themselves in the spotlight. They deserve our high-fives. Not to put any extra pressure on our humble valley media icons, I’d like to make a request and place one more small (I jest) pursuit on their plate. In our day of electronic and technological sophistication, many of the country’s newspapers, including our own Standard-Examiner, have created searchable digital archives, basically allowing anyone the ability to easily sleuth out past articles by way of author, topic, and/or date. This is such a tremendous research tool! That said, there’s a little known secret about The Ogden Valley news newspaper I’m going to make a little more known, and offer my apologies, if necessary, to Shanna and Jeannie for its disclosure. Word has it that digital copies of The Ogden Valley news already exist! All that is needed now is the funding and necessary resources to accomplish search engine. I am confident and hopeful this can be done sooner than later, particularly while these two ladies are at the helm—the Magnum opus of their Ogden Valley News odyssey! Here’s to 20 more years of The Ogden Valley news, along with (we hope), a searchable, digital archive! Thank you Shanna and Jeannie! Dave Martin, Eden |