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Show (E(WlMffl!ti(BfflIL - pa"2 History makes great leaders out of ordinary nothing. people s Even as we prepare to honor our nation's top executive with a holiday dedicated to the American presidents, a new group of candidates are clamoring for New Hampshire's attention in a bid to gain nation-wid- e favor that can be translated into their party's nomination later this year. All of them hope to become our nation's 40th president. Over the past 200 years since the position of national president was created with the U.S. Constitution, 39 men have held that title, with terms ranging from 31 days to over 12 years. Nevertheless, as we prepare to celebrate President's Day on Monday, our attention turns to two of the greatest, not just because George Washington and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays fall in February, but because they have shaped our country's history more than most of our other chief executives. There are times when it is hard to believe that our next president is one of the several men now making headlines for acting extraordinarily efand the candidates battle for votes m state pr man s the floor of the Senate party caucuses, and quarrel on over campaign tactics, it makes you wonder Also, the immediacy of broadcast news Reuses our unknown in attention on the candidates with an intensity years past. One wonders if the the Franklin Pureeshave the Benjamin Harrisons and the Warren G. come to hold the highest elective office in the land it tney had to campaign under today's standards. The point is, only rarely have great men been elected president of the United States. Instead, most presidents have been ordinary individuals with the drive, or the political machine, or the luck to become president. Sometimes events have conspired to make these ordinary men great presidents, other times events have done the opposite, and made good men appear to be mediocre chief executives. Still others will go down in history as doing little or Theodore Roosevelt assumed the presidency m d William McKinley died and went on to capture f imagination of the nation ; Harry Truman did the $2 sT when Franklin Roosevelt died, and is now gaining ! price claim as one of the great presidents. c' om By the same token, presidents such as Andj statf Johnson and Herbert Hoover inherited circumstance S?l that stamped their terms of office as failures. Our next president will be human, and the success 0 his term of office will be determined by how well his W individual chemistry will mix with the challenges out pri01 country will face over the next four or eight years. opt'011' The group of men now vying for the office of president rder are no better nor worse than those who usually have tnefil sought the position in the past History has shown we can t often hope to elect a great or leader. We simply choose a good man, and hope that history will make our nation's leader great. PGBlab We need Valentine's Day By MARCELLA WALKER Sunday is Valentines Day. I can hardly wait. Valentines is a very special time of year. The groups most effected are little children who give them in school to everyone, boys and girls alike, and lovers in the age 16 to 26 category. Of course, mothers are involved because they have to purchase the valentines for their children, help them get names on each one for their classmates and friends, and oft-tim-make a treat besides. Daddy's aren't too much into Valentines. They get one for their wife if she makes a big deal out of it or if he is a romantic, which is a rare quality for men. They don't do much to help get their kids valentines addressed unless it becomes a mandatory job passed on by the mother. Every teenage girl is wishing she will get a valentine from a secret admirer who will turn out to be the man of her dreams. A few teenage boys will actually think about getting a valentine for their girlfriend or a girl they kind of like. Of these few, even less will actually go so far as to send or give a girl a valentine. By the time a boy is in his twen-ties, he will be more likely to get a valentine for a special girl. This is mainly because he is in the courting stage of his life and he knows that a nice valentine will go along way in promoting his future success in this area. A newlywed fellow will also - remember a valentine for his sweetheart because he is still in the throes of romance which only really effects him at this particular time of his life. By the time the children have started to arrive, a young father can justify not getting a valentine for his wife because they are: one, too ' poor; and, two, too busy. After a man has been a father for a while, and he has not bought or made or given a valentine for quite some time, he is out of the habit and this is a good excuse thatjean tide him and his conscience over;,, rii another few years. When his daughters get to , teenagers they will challenge him Aci "get Mom a valentine." ' This can really throw him for 0nw loop because now his consciej-- . really starts to give him a baifci because now someone is notice; what he is doing. The kids knoi hasn't given Mom a valentine fj 9 many, many years. He now k that they know ' it and the "guilt are bad. Lon At this point in time, if the cast R( "guilts" is bad enough he maymst to) an effort to get a valentine ortar: 'P0 ask one of the daughters todoit!i brok him. k-iln the meantime, over the ye thet the wife has made sure that etc! Dj child has received a valentine frrj addi the parents, she has made sureaj V child had valentines to send to bj P peers, she has helped her souse, 01 a valentine for their special frj wer and has given approval to Ji daughters to give a big rate' son heart to a guy they particular wK like. j Sou' On one or two occasions it "us pid get a valentine herself, but she 'ju, was shrugs the thought off, knowing M 'lou he loves her anyway, ' even if s " ' doesn't show it very often. With the suggestion from E teenage daughters propelling It L forward, the father might actaSj i go to a store and buy a valenfcj Maybe he will bribe the daughter into doing it for him. Maybe, if he:j in the right mood, he will make;; valentine from scratch. ip This will be the best kind i valentine she will ever get, if hedoe. ?j it. The thought is from the bottom i( his heart, he used creativity m ! originality in making it himself, aK it took some time, a precis commodity to any man. A box of candy is nice, so is per fume or a date for dinner. But; homemade valentine is the best. T know because I have a couplet them. Think about it, guys. And a Happy Valentine's Day you all. May your sweetheart ti you that you are loved. We all nee: that, especially you! i The first kiss is one you never forget the editor's column By MARC HADDOCK Jjf Editor's note: The following story is true, as far as memory permits any event to remain true. However, some names have been changed to protect the The innocent doesn't need that protection - so I don't mind letting you know who I am. Ahhhh, that first kiss. That's the one you never forget. I was 14 and a freshman in high school, and still waiting for the first real kiss. There were no prospects in sight, However, the stage was set when my parents announced they weren't ij going to make me go to Sun Valley that summer. For as long as I can remember, my family would pack up for three days at Sun Valley for the yearly conventions of the Idaho Lions' Clubs. My father was a member of a novelty singing group called "The Lion's Trio," and their performance . was a tradition at the state con-vention. Each summer we would drive to Sun Valley, establish ourselves in one of the two hotels at the small winter resort town, and while Dad t played golf and Mom did whatever I moms do, all of the kids who had , been dragged along would try to find i, ways to keep busy. I. You could only swim for so long in ' those round pools before the delight couple who was going to the con-vention. She was a senior. She had a reputation. I'll call her Deanne. For some reason I couldn't fathom, my folks and her folks both thought this was a safe arrangement. The first night my parents were gone, Deanne picked up a couple of friends and went to "drag Main." I was stuck in the back seat, like a little brother or a piece of excess baggage. Except I wasn't alone. Sitting next to me - very next to me - was another senior girl. She had a reputation, too. I'll call her Margo. And when she found out I had no reputation whatsoever, she kept threatening to change that situation right then and there. I kept begging her not to, and hoping she would. Finally we drove out by Mont-peli- Creek, and then and there, with the girls in the front seat en-couraging her, Margo grabbed me, and she kissed me. I mean, she really kissed me. I mean, she kissed ,. me so much that I didn't know what she was doing, but I knew I wanted f her to keep doing it. - Then she pulled back with a sheepish look on her face, and took stock of the fact that she had been smooching a boy who looked like he was 12 and who clearly didn't know what was going on. The night wore on, and Margo kissed me two more times that night before we dropped her off. She left the car looking ashamed of herself, and confessed to her friends, "I feel like I've been robbing the cradle." She never kissed me again. But the door had been opened. Two nights later, another of Deanne's friends had come over to her house. She had no reputation whatsoever, but from the way she kept looking at me, it was clear I had acquired one, even if it was only a slightly tarnished one. I'll call her Suzanne. Suzanne kept trying to maneuver me into an empty room - and I kept trying to be maneuvered. After an hour of this dance, we found our-selves alone, and Suzanne grabbed me and kissed me.And I kissed her back. I mean, I really kissed her. I mean, I kissed her so much that she ' didn't know what I was doing - and she wasn't sure she wanted me to keep doing it. After that, she left me alone, too. They say you never forget the first person who kisses you.. That may be true. .. ,' . But I'll never forget the second " one, either, because it taught me that being older didn't necessarily mean being smarter. Happy Valentine's Day. turned to dreariness. By the time we went home, we knew every crack in all of Sun Valley's sidewalks. It was okay when I was 10. But now I was 14, and I didn't want to go. I was thrilled when my parents told me I didn't have to go. For some reason I couldn't fathom, they were thrilled about the prospects of leaving me home. . But they wouldn't let me stay alone. I was my mother's baby, and she was convinced I couldn't look out for myself. Instead, they left me in the care of the daughter of another People, Politics & Policy Forget the 'things' and really touch someone By E. MARK BEZZANT ' There are some things in this life that we just come to take as a given. The schools are always open, on time. The post person never misses a beat. Jack Pace's light is l always on at the printing office before the early birds go for coffee. Carter's has more go for less dough. Alice Simper's neighborhood always goes the extra mile in caring for their yards. Kay Jacobs keeps a real close eye on your hard-earne- d money you have deposited and, more than most will ever know, gives a helping hand to many things and people. Jane and Roland Robinson always seem to have things just so. Smith's Market has just the right piece of meat. Smith Drug has just the thing for a gift or cough. Don West has just the right cure for an ailing engine. With these and so many other things, we never give a second thought. Days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. Now it is just about Valentines Day again. Forget all the hub bub. Forget all the things that money can buy and think for a minute. When was the last time you just sat down on the couch or chair with a spouse or a child and focused on the positive. You might even want to try serving a little breakfast in bed. Call a halt to the cold war. Most likely the person will ask what is wrong or get really nervous wondering if you have a high fever. Maybe that child hasn't been all that you hoped he or she would be. Maybe the grades in school are not so good. Maybe there has been some "misbehavior." Maybe there has been some angry and un-pleasant exchanges. Consider setting these things aside for a few minutes and make someone "un-comfortable" with a few words of love. Some children see very little of it. The kids, and we are all kids in one way of thinking, might consider reaching out to a mom or dad and for once just focusing on the positive, the lovely, the good, the decent. Bury the old hatchet and look for the good. You see, love does not see less. It sees more and in seeing more chooses to see less. No, I'm not suggesting you go out and do anything crazy like buy flowers, candy, furs, cars, trucks, new houses or anything. I am suggesting that you maybe consider coming out from behind those things and really touching someone with the gift of love that comes in moments of tenderness when we forget all the other " things . " Now, lest I have the Utah candy makers, florists, car dealers and home builders breathing fire down my throat, go ahead and throw some of those things in for a bonus after you have done what really matters. You who know much about Pleasant Grove history know that the things mentioned at the. top of the article won't always be there. What can always be there is the circle of love that outlasts buildings, institutions and life itself. Have a delightful Valentines Day and many more. My vote is for the policy of unconditional love. Give teachers control Editor: Marianne Funk wrote in a recent article, "People don't want their taxes raised and they do want better education for their children. ..There is no way the legislature can hold the line on taxes and make any real im-provement in education." I think we can. My opinion about how schools should operate has been formed by 10 children, 46 grandchildren and 40 years as an educator. I've taught third grade and graduate school with years of teaching experience in other grade levels. I've been a principal and a university ad-ministrator. The most unacceptable situation in education is not the money or salaries paid, the books, buildings, the kind of program or the school boundaries. The most unacceptable situation in the school is the student who creates turmoil, and often the parents of such children who look for someone other than themselves to explain the behavior of their child. These few disruptive students are found in all grade levels of our public schools. They interfere with the learning of their classmates and require great effort from bus drivers, administrators, custodians, teachers, lunch workers and counselors. It is often said by educators that they spend a majority of their time on this very small group. If we are serious about improving education we must give educators more flexibility in removing children from the school that in-terfere with the learning of their classmates. Any improvement we make in our laws and policies to accomplish this goal will pay big dividends for ALL students, even the disruptive ones. Improve education without more money? yes, we can. Overcrowded classrooms? Not nearly the problem with misbehaving children removed. Satisfy educators without a pay raise? No. But if we will give them our respect and confidence, support them and become involved in our schools, it will help. H. Doxey Alpine letters to . the editor J I Lehi outraged, not 'tormented' f Editor: Every right thinking person abhors child abuse. I personally cannot conceive of anything worse, But if child abuse is the worst thing in the world, the second worst would have to be to be charged of it and be i innocent. I do not even know all of -.- the families that are charged but some of them are my closest, finest i friends. I have watched them suffer under the stress of this ongoing nightmare until I fear for their physical health. How well could any of us adjust to having our children taken from our home for two weeks and put in foster homes? The children were i returned of course, with an apology I and a statement that these were T exceptionally well-adjuste- d j' children, but did that make those two weeks any less a living hell? One young child in this family was told in an interview by the psychologist who was attempting to determine if abuse had taken place, "Your mother has already con-fessed to doing these things to you so you can tell me." It is a testament to the integrity of the child that even with this type of coercion she refused to say her mother had abused her-beca- use she had not! I resent the connotation that Lehi is a "town in torment." I do not feel tormented, I feel outraged that so many fine people have lived with this "falling ax" over their heads for so long. Surely we cannot rest until the truth is uncovered. --Judy Nattress Lehi Good Luck Viking Wrestlers! 3A State Wrestling Tournament at West High Friday & Saturday, February 12 and 13 Boys' Basketball: See you at Booster Night Payson at PG - Wed.. Feb. 10 Fri., Feb. 12 - Carbon at PG Sophomores - 3:30; Jr. Varsity - 5:30; Varsity 7:30 Girls' Basketball: Thurs. Feb .ll-PG- at Uintah Tues., Feb. 16 -- Payson at PG Jr. Varsity - 5:30; Varsity - 7:00 Let's Fill the Stands with Blue and White! ( |