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Show • N E W S - Spanish Fork Santa's secret Encore! gears up for new season Coveting what matters most A8 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2008 Author Christy Hardman and long-time Salem resident, Phil Porter, have collaborated to put together a Christmas book, "Santa's Secret," now available in bookstores everywhere. Porter absolutely loves Christmas time. As soon as Thanksgiving comes, he dons his Santa Claus hat and suit, and does family parties, work parties, city parties and has sat thousands of children on his lap in various stores and malls. Whenever Porter puts on the Santa suit, he finds a very real magic in the opportunity to share the magic of Christmas with others. His experiences as Santa Claus are both touching and heartwar m i n g as he turns people's . hearts to the true meaning of Christmas. Porter said that people react differently to Santa Claus than they would to an ordinary person. For one thing, they have a hard time telling him no. He has brought in Christmas to hundreds of families throughout the years, families that otherwise would not have had much, if anything for the holidays. But giving presents is not the only way Porter has brought joy to people at during the Christmas season. "At Christmas time, people's lives continue to bombard them with hard things," Hardman said. "People go through a lot of trials that seem amplified by the holiday season when everyone is supposed to be happy. As Santa Claus, Phil has a unique opportunity to offer counsel and comfort to both children and adults." As Santa Claus, Porter has offered help and comfort in time of death, divorce, loss of employment, abuse and poverty. "I've had some remarkable experiences in that suit," Porter said. During the Christmas season in> 2006, Hardman called Phil Porter by assignment from the Spanish Fork News, to do a story on his experiences as Santa Claus. She was so touched by his stories, that she approached him about doing a novel with him. "Santa's Secret" is the result of their collaborative effort, a timeless story for all ages. Porter has wanted to put his stories together into a book for a long time. "People tell me all the time, 'We need to get your stories into a book,'" Porter said. "But Christy was the one that persisted and pushed it through." Porter said when the first copies of "Santa's Secret" arrived in the publisher's warehouse, and he was able to look through the finished project, he got very emotional, and his eyes teared up. For Porter, the novel has been a culmination of 27 years of love, heartache, joy and service. "I can't explain to you what I'm feeling," he said, after he brought home the finished novel. Hardman said the experience of writing the book with Porter was a joy from beginning to end. "What I tried to do," she said, "is capture Phil as Santa Claus, and as a regular guy. I took the stories he told me, and wove them together into a fictional story line that happens through a single Christmas season. The story includes his own struggles with his family, his young son, Andrew, who was old enough to wonder where his dad went all the time, but too young to break the magic of Christmas by 'telling' him who Santa Claus really is." Hardman just had another title published earlier this year, "Against the Giant," the fictionalized historical novel of David and Goliath from the Old Testament. Home away from Home As the summer draws to a close and children head back to school, the Encore! Youth Chamber Orchestra is gearing up.for a new season with exciting musical opportunities for youth ages 8-18. Encore! will be holding auditions for violin, viola, cello and bass players for their 2008-2009 season on Monday, Aug. 25 in Spanish Fork. Encore! consists of a junior orchestra for children ages 8-13 and senior ensemble groups ages 13-18, where students are grouped by level of play. Students learn ensemble playing skills, improve their sight-reading abili- ties, create friendships with other music-loving youth, and perform at a variety of venues throughout South Utah County. This year's performances will include the Covey Center for the Arts before Utah Valley Symphony concerts, the Springville Art Museum, Provo Towne Center Mall and several elementary school assemblies. Encore ensemble groups will also play at the Utah Valley Symphony's Christmas home show. "It is such a wonderful opportunity for students to perform at these venues," said Junior Orchestra conductor Denise Jamsa. " I love seeing students* faces light up as they transform notes on a page into musical harmonies. It is so rewarding!" Jamsa is a private Suzuki teacher of violin, viola and piano. She performs with the Utah Valley Symphony and is an experienced violinist and former school teacher. She is joined by Marcel Bowman, who will conduct the Encore! Senior Ensemble Groups. Bowman is the Director of Orchestras at American Leadership Academy, and also teaches music part-time at BYU. He performs regularly with the Utah Symphony, Courtesy photo ENCORE! The Youth Chamber Orchestra known as Encore! is holding auditions Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. WH firefighters help Spring Lake Hilarie Orman STAFF WRITER As the Spring Lake fire bore down on Payson the night of Aug. 1, 2008 one home stood between the wall of flames and the relative safety of the city streets. The firetruck and the four member crew assigned to that defense were part of a massive south county response, and they were from Woodland Hills. Assistant fire chief Marcy Adams told us that Woodland Hills volunteered to help even before they got the call. The fire, thought to have been tamed at 7:30 p.m., roared to life around 9 p.m., driven by the evening downhills winds. From 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Adams and her crew exer- cised all of their wildfire training. "It got a little close," said Adams. At 3 a.m. another four person crew from Woodland Hills took over their lines. The home was saved, the fire died down and the excellent aerial support crews began their work once daylight appeared. Adams was amazed at the size of the fire, but even more so by selfless firefighters who responded. "We've got friends; we are not alone when it comes to fire," she told us. "Our presence that night cemented our friendship, and we know that we have firefighters to count on." Desert winds reduced humidity to single digit levels preceding and during the fire, and the fire's heat blew over Elk Ridge and down the hill, drying grasses and brush ahead of it, even sending a storm of grasshoppers flying across 11200 South. At night, flames were visible in Elk Ridge, and although the fire never crossed Canyon Road in Payson, more than one family loaded up their cars and prepared for evacuation. The nervousness extended to Woodland Hills, where worried residents dropped by the fire station throughout the day, asking for advice. Adams said that all residents must think through their evacuation plan well ahead of a wildfire emergency. "Know your outs," she emphasized. Woodland Hills has Obituary Loafer Canyon A bedroom home. Incredible scenery with mature trees, pond and community horse corral. Only ten minutes from Salem. Fully furnished and Immaculaii:. Gated community offers Heaven on earth. Only S400.000. Call 798-681G. Mary Afton Beck Healey ADVERTISE IN THE BUSINESS INDEX Only $10/week Call The Spanish Fork News 794-4964 Ballet West and various other orchestras. Encore! rehearses once a week, on Monday afternoons beginning Sept. 8, 2008. Junior orchestra members should at least be able to identify and play all the notes in first position and all the bowings and rhythms in Suzuki Book 1. Senior ensemble members should be at an intermediate-advanced level, and will be grouped according to play. Auditions will be Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 at American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork. To schedule an audition time, please call Melinda Oldham at 423-1976. Our Beloved Mary Afton Beck Healey, 85, of Alpine, passed away at her daughter's home in Spanish Fork on Aug. 3, 2008. Afton was born on March 11, 1923 in Spanish Fork to Taylor and Eva Pearl Elder Beck. She was the granddaughter of Joseph Ellison and Margaret Beck. She married her sweetheart, EIroy Eugene Healey on Jan. 11,1941 in Farmington. Eugene and Afton were later sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on Jan. 19,1942, Afton was a talented musician who taught piano lessons for years and served her community and church all of her life. She served the Lord for many years as a missionary, a teacher and a temple ordinance worker. Her life revolved around her family. She is survived by her husband, Eugene; six children: Freda K. (Mark) Leifson; Paul (Colleen) Healey, both of Spanish Fork; Mary Jean (Kim) Thomas <J of Swan Lake, Idaho; Becky (Bion) Hall of Dublin, Ohio; Mona (Phillip) Miller of Pahrump, Nev.; and Clark (Tena) Healey of Alpine; 31 grandchildren and 50 great grandchildren with two more great-great grandchildren on the way. She was preceded in death by her parents, two granddaughters and a much loved brother, J. Paul Beck. Graveside services were held on Aug. 6, 2008 at the Alpine City Cemetery. emergency fire exits around the city perimeter, and everyone should know how to find them. As for decisions about what to take and knowing what will fit in a car, Adams said that those decisions, too, are for days well removed from the tension of seeing smoke and flames on the hill. The 40 foot leaping fire surges are hypnotic, the path of a fire is unpredictable, and firefighters need the roads to reach their defensive positions. Citizens need to prepare, and the Spring Lake fire brought that lesson home to many in Woodland Hills. The united response of the area's fire departments was impressive and assuring, but that did not remove the need for vigilance. |