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Show Volume II, Issue XIX THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 5 October 1, 2000 Strictly Sharin’ By Sharon Strickland About the only thing Martha Stewart and I have in common is the first two letters of our last names. That hasn’t always been the case. In the 70’s & 80’s, while I was raising my family, I was frequently found playing with the children, mowing the lawn, tending a prolific vegetable garden, cultivating ‘eye-candy’ flower beds, painting or wall papering a room, sharing my culinary skills with neighbors, and serving well-balanced meals to my family every night. My home boasted a reputation of floors clean enough to eat off. Case in point: one time a friend accidentally dropped a plate of cookies on my floor. She promptly scooped them up and served them at a neighborhood party that night. Going back to work full-time (in Salt Lake) has proven to be my undoing. My new mantra for cooking is, “dinner is ready when the smoke alarm goes off.” I am thankful to know that somewhere in the house there is a vacuum cleaner, that when plugged in, probably works. While I haven’t made peace with my pervasive lack of organization, I can kind of live with my domestic indiscretions since my teenage daughter keeps me running, and I rarely have time to notice the condition of my house anyway. I can’t say that my floors are clean enough to eat off, but I can tell you that when the dog bolts (uninvited) into the house, he has no problem lapping up anything edible that the tile floors have to offer. I often wonder why, with two chil- dren at home, who are not recalcitrant in any way, I cannot manage to elicit more enthusiasm from them when it comes to job-sharing. I am not complaining, they have turned out well in spite of me and, for the record, they do help more than I give them credit for. While their cursory efforts don’t always meet my expectations, I am grateful to say their attitudes are not perfunctory. After all, when the doorbell rings, it is they who grab and hide that piece of unmentionable clothing lying on the top of their pile of folded laundry. I do hope the nutrition police don’t knock on my door anytime soon. That is, unless a strawberry waffle (and I am talking Eggo’s here), and a glass of milk cover the essential dinnertime food groups. Half the battle of mealtime is deciding what to have. The other half is having it ready when I walk through the door lest we all settle for a plate of Oreo’s and a glass of milk. Every night I hope that something will inspire Ryan to give his premissionary cooking skills a jumpstart. Since that’s not likely to happen, I’m glad he isn’t afraid to load the dishwasher or bring his laundry up to the laundry room—for me to wash. When she’s available, Kristi doesn’t let me down. That’s the gift of having a daughter. There’s nothing like walking in the house at the end of the day to the aroma of a home cooked meal. Mm-m-m, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese! You know, some days life just kisses you on the lips! SLOC Announces Passage of Olympic Commemorative Coin Act Issuance of Coins begins on January 1, 2002 The Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 (SLOC) announced that the House of Representatives passed the “2002 Winter Olympic Commemorative Coin Act,” lead by Congressman Merrill Cook and Congressman Chris Cannon. “Congressman Cook was the first champion of our coin bill,” said Mitt Romney, President and CEO of SLOC. “He was critical to its success and to our obtaining $3 million in additional revenue.” The Act will now go to the Senate for passage. It is expected the Senate will move very quickly on the bill and then the legislation is due to be signed into law in October. Senator Bennett has an identical bill moving through the Senate and has secured commitments from over two-thirds of the Senate to support his bill when it comes to the floor. Once the Senate approves the bill, the next step is to select a design for the coin. The U.S. Mint will consult with SLOC, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Fine Arts Commission on the design of the coin. “As we came to the ten yard line on our coin bill we really needed a strong boost from Congress,” said Romney. “Congressman Cannon took the ball and drove home our program in Congress and was essential to achieving our coin bill.” Coin programs such as the “Winter Olympic Commemorative Coin Act” have been a part of every Olympics since 1952. Beginning in February 1997, the USOC and SLOC worked with the Citizen’s Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee (CCCAC) to determine what type of coin program would most appropriately commemorate the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. The USOC, SLOC and CCCAC also wanted to create a commemorative coin that appeals to collectors worldwide. This is the most limited issuance of U.S. Olympic coins in history. Due to the limited issuance, it is anticipated this program will sell out and the commemorative coins will become quite rare and valuable for the individual collectors. The 2002 Program authorizes 400,000 $1 silver coins and 80,000 $5 coins. The surcharges generated by these coin programs serve as an important source of revenue for the training and support of U.S Olympic athletes and SLOC. Congress only approves two coin programs per year. New York already secured one of the available slots for a program in 2002, several years ago. The House passage was critical to securing SLOCs spot in 2002. |