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Show Utah Press Association 1521 East 3900 South Suite 100 Salt Lake City, UT 84124 AN E D I T I O N O F P R I D E & PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID SPANISH FORK, UTAH PERMIT NO. 2 P R O G R E S S The Spanish Fork News 1 i, O C A L L Y O W N E D A VOL. 3 / NO. 16 N D O PWEDNESDAY, E R A APRIL T E 16,D 2008 50?f SPANISH FORK, UTAH NAL David Davis / Spanish Fork News AFTERMATH: Spanish Fork and Salem firefighters responded to a house fire in Spanish Fork on Thursday, April 10. SF house fire Namon Bills EDITOR Around 12:15 p.m. on Thursday, April 30, The Spanish Fork Fire Department responded to a car fire, which quickly became a house fire. The fire began in the garage of LaMar Brooks. The fire apparently started under a car in the garage. Once fire engulfed the car, it exploded, followed by the motorcycle in the garage, said Brooks. The fire then spread to other areas of the house. Brooks and his wife were the only ones in the home at the time, and were able to get out safely. '"My wife came in and said, 'There's a fire in the garage,'" he said. "We got out and called 911." Brooks was also able to warn his neighbor, Mike Hedgepeth, who lives in the other half of the duplex. Hedgepeth said there seemed to be little damage to his home. "There was some smoke in the upstairs, including the attic," he said. Fire Marshall Joe Jarvis said the damage to the Brooks' home was "quite extensive," and estimated the losses at $60,000-580,000. The crew responded quickly, but had some trouble accessing the area due to the narrow streets. Jarvis said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Brooks maintained a pragmatic outlook on the disaster. "You just live with it." he said. Town event 7 'fore education Dana Robinson ASSOCIATE EDITOR It's time once again for the Spanish Fork Rotary and Spanish Fork Salem Chamber of Commerce, Scholarship Pro-Am Celebrity Golf Tournament. (That has to be the longest title for a sporting event in history.) This tournament benefits deserving high school students in furthering their education. The tournament, scheduled for May 1, 2008, will be held at the Spanish Oaks Golf Course, and will be the 16th year that generous businesses and individual sponsors will tee up to provide scholarship money to those truly in need. Bill Summers of Maceys who has acted as the Chairman of the Pro-Am for the last five years shared a brief history of the tournament. Scouting Corner Be sure to check out our Scouting Corner special section, pages B7-11 in this week's Spanish Fork News. ., "Our goal was always to reach the $100,000 mark which would become an endowment. The Spanish Fork Rotary was fortunate to reach that goal four years ago and ever since we have been able to help provide even more scholarships from the interest off the endowment, plus the tournament which has enjoyed consistent support and our auction," he said. Summers is very pleased with the success of the Scholarship Pro-Am "Last year the Rotary was able to provide 21 scholarships totaling $23,000," he said. All the scholarships that come directly through the Nebo Foundation are not limited strictly to university See GOLF • A8 Courtesy photo / Stephen Frandsen JUBILATION: Members of Ambassadors celebrate winning the FAME Show Choir Cup in Branson, Mo. SFHS choir wins Show Choir Cup in Branson Namon Bills EDITOR On Wednesday, April 9, the SFHS Ambassadors and Premier show choirs traveled to Branson, Mo. to compete for the FAME Show Choir Cup, generally recognized as the national championship of high school show choirs. They returned to SF Monday, April 14 with Ambassadors as grand champions, and Premier as fourth runner up. The two SFHS choirs were among 12 choirs from 11 states competing at the invitation-only event. Preliminary competition took place on Friday, April 4. The top eight groups proceeded to semifinals on Saturday. Following prelims. Ambassadors were in third place and Premier was in seventh. 'lWe went in ... full of adrenaline and energy," said Gabe Lee, choir president. "We rushed most of it." "They just had jump-start jitters in the first performance," said Rick Lunt, SFHS choir director. Lunt said Friday night was a late one, going over notes and fine-tuning the performances. He worked with each group that night, going over the judges' written notes. He was up working until 4:30 a.m., and then was back meeting with the choirs at 7 a.m. "You just never know at these things," said Lunt. "I took every opportunity to work with them and it definitely paid off." The choirs performed in the semis on Saturday, with the top three continuing on to the finals. Premier, an all-female show choir, finished fifth in the semi-finals. They had originally planned to compete only against other women's choirs, but with only three in the competition, they were grouped with the mixed choirs. Assistant Principal Steve Dudley said for Premier to take fourth runner-up in this competition is no small feat. "This is quite an accomplishment," he said. "As an administration, we're extremely proud of both groups." With the adjustments made the previous night and that morning, Ambassadors moved into first place going into the finals. In the final performance, the year's worth of training and hard work came together with all the emotion of the event. "Our third show was all heart," said Lee. The theme of this year's Ambassasdors' show is "We Can Make a Difference." Choir booster Diana Applegate said they really communicated that theme during the final performance. "The third time they performed, they didn't just perform — they delivered a message," she said. Elise Williams, Ambassadors dance See CHOIR • A8 American Legion presents honors Namon Bills EDITOR On Wednesday, April 9, members of American Legion Post 68 met to honor some of their own for outstanding service. Post Commander John Williams, with First Vice Commander Glen Bradford and Second Vice Commander Steve Wilson, presented the medal of merit and a citation of meritorious service to Tim Moran and Shirley Wilson. Garth Hansen was also selected for the honor. He passed away on Sunday, April 6, so the medal and citation were presented to his widow, Carol Hansen, along with a special memorial tribute at Garth's viewing that same evening. Since the award was first given in August 2007, only seven Legionnaires from Post 68 have received the medal of merit and citation of meritorious service. Paul Hartley received the Legionnaire of the Year award for 2007, and Doris Burns, widow of Albert Burns, accepted a tribute in Namon Bills / Spanish Fork News HONOREES: American Legion Post 68 presented various honors on Wednesday, April 9. Pictured, left to right, are Glen Bradford, Shirley Wilson, Paul Hartley, Doris Burns, John Williams, Tim Moran and Thad Jensen. behalf of her husband, who passed away this year. In presenting the medal of merit and citation of meritorious service to Tim Moran, Williams cited Moran's World War II service, as well as his "countless hours" of volun- teer work in the 63 years he's been part of the American Legion. Moran joined the National Guard while still in junior high. As part of the US Army Air Corps, he flew 19 combat missions with the 96th Bomber Group over Germany and France. After his return from the war, he served as commander of Post 68 during the construction of the Veterans * Memorial Building. See HONORS • A8 4 |