Slogans for everybody
Last year the state of Utah spent a lot of time and money going around the state getting peoples ideas for a new state slogan; one that would catch the eye of tourists all over the world. They even brought a crew to Price and spent some time here. I went to that meeting along with about 50 other people and I thought that the group here came up with some very good slogans.
Utahns (or some at least) didnt think the old slogan Utah: A Pretty Great State was good enough so eventually they picked Utah: Life Elevated.
Yuck.
There were at least five suggested sayings from the crowd in Carbon County that were better than that.
For some reason everyone has to have some kind of brand to remind others how wonderful they are. At the meeting we discussed Virginia is for Lovers and Texas Its like a whole other country and how successful those slogans had been for those states tourism businesses. Of course there are other memorable ones like I love New York and New Hampshires Live Free or Die both of which have some questions to them. There are also some less than memorable ones like Delawares Its good being first and Visit Florida (boy thats a snappy one).
Recently eastern Utah has also come up with its own regional slogan; The other side of Utah. Actually it is a much better one than Utah officials picked for the entire state; maybe they should have taken our local suggestions more seriously.
After discussing this propensity to put a jingle on ones place of residence, a couple of my friends and I have come up with another idea. Instead of just giving regions slogans, why doesnt Utah let every county pick out their own slogans. Here are some ideas we came up with.
Box Elder- Life named after an insect.
Cache Couldnt be colder.
Rich Its better to live rich than poor.
Daggett Its not vanilla, its Manila.
Uintah The quarry is closed, but you can still see the bones.
Duchesne Life misspelled.
Wasatch We like wrestlers.
Summit Life yuppiefied.
Weber Life with only one b, not two.
Davis Life is a roller coaster.
Morgan Where life (and the houses) just slide by.
Salt Lake No lake stinks like it.
Tooele Life mispronounced.
Utah Life multiplied and replenished.
Juab Provos latest suburb.
Sanpete Life without the water they think they should have but dont own.
Carbon Where the dinosaurs once roamed, and Democrats still do.
Emery Life without stoplights.
Grand The Colorado of Utah.
Sevier Life in the middle isnt as bad as it sounds.
Piute Life would be boring without ATVs.
Millard We used to have the state capitol, but now we just Fillmore gas tanks along I-15.
Beaver Where everyones busy.
Iron Were not St. George, but we have a four year college.
Washington What stays in Washington County goes to Las Vegas.
Wayne Not named after John.
Garfield – Famous for cats.
Kane Home of the Bill Clinton Environmental fan club.
San Juan Monuments for all occasions.
Okay, I realize some of these are funny and some are lame. And unless you are in on some current happenings (or not so current) you may be left out as to what the meaning of each is.
But lets face it, Utah: Life Elevated sounds like an ad for an escalator company or some kind of medicine for men with a problem.
Yuck, again.
Holy Cow, I muttered in utter disgust. I just came back from SLOP (Salt Lake, Orem and Provo) and those folks on the Wasatch Front cant make up their minds. First they put a carpool lane on the freeway to encourage people to double up and cut down on freeway traffic, and then they sell stickers to let anyone drive in the carpool lane. What are they thinking?
Its an evil plot to make money and crowd poor people off the road, Uncle Spud said.
Get serious, I grumbled. Traffic on the Wasatch Front is becoming unbearable. Its an anthill over there. They really need to cut down on freeway traffic. Most cars on the freeway have only one occupant and the carpool lane is a great idea. Letting anyone drive there who buys a sticker is defeating the whole purpose.
Defeating whose purpose? Uncle Spud smiled.
Our purpose, I growled. The whole justification for widening the road and having a carpool lane was to cut down on traffic.
Thats how they sold the idea to taxpayers, Uncle Spud said. But theres a darker purpose too. Charging people to use the carpool lane is the camels nose under the tent. They are conditioning you to pay to drive on your own roads. There has been talk of setting up toll roads in Utah like they have in some states back east.
Dont tell me that, I groaned.
And it only gets worse, he said. Once you get used to buying a $30.00 sticker to drive in the carpool lane, you can be sure theyll be ready to charge you $20.00 for a sticker to drive in the fast lane.
Get out of here! I scoffed.
Think about it, he said. The best way to discourage use or consumption of anything is to raise the price. Thats why we are paying $3.00 for gas right now. Unfortunately, everyone is simply adjusting to the high price, so we will likely have $4.00 gas by next summer. They will simply keep raising the price until people cut back and quit buying. It works great for everyone but the consumer. The oil company can cut back on volume while still making the same high profits, and government can oversee the cutback without loosing any tax revenue. Its exactly the same thing they are doing with freeway overcrowding.
You had better explain this to me, I said.
It works like this, the Spudster said. Soon, every lane on the freeway will require a different, color-coded sticker. The carpool lane will cost you a $50.00 sticker, the fast lane $30.00, the middle lane $20.00, and the inside congestion lane $10.00. If you expect to switch lanes back and forth across the freeway like youve done in the past, youll be required to pay $110.00 for stickers plus a $15.00 handling fee.
You are out of your mind. I said.
Stay with me here, he insisted. This will be a great way to cut down on freeway congestion and make lots of money for the government too.
He continued.
Only rich people will be able to travel in the carpool lane. Those who work for the government or have company expense accounts might be able to use the fast lane. Those who make a more modest income can have the middle lane. And if you are one of those poor, miserable wretches who teach school or serves in the armed forces, you will all be bunched up together on the inside congestion lane. If you are just starting out in life, work for minimum wage, or are retired on a fixed income, you had better stay home, buy a bicycle, or learn to ride the Trax train.
That doesnt seem fair, I said.
Life is never fair, Uncle Spud nodded. This deal is social stratification at its best, big-brother mandated freeway congestion relief, and one heck of a money making deal for the state, all rolled into one.
Can you prove any of this? I asked.
No, I just make it up as I go along, he said with a big grin. But it could happen. And it looks like thats where were headed. When you have to pay to use the fast lane, could anything less be close behind?
Editor:
The mayor, city council and international days committee did a wonderful job putting the three day activity together. Carbon County and Price City can be proud that since its beginning every nationality in the world has been in Carbon County some time. The parade, floats and everyone who was part of the activities and fans were happy and satisfied 100 percent.
Editor:
What can I say to people that seem to have their heads in the sand? Wake up? Wake up?
Every tree on this planet that is dead or dying should be removed from the forest and taken to a mill to be processed into lumber for building houses, furniture or even a kids playhouse, not left in the forest to infect the healthy trees.
If the enviros were truly concerned about our forests, I am sure they would agree with this type of thinking, but sadly this doesnt seem to be the case, as every attempt to salvage this vast resource is blocked with injunction after injunction until the timber is not only worthless but all the trees are dead due to infestation or disease.
Doesnt it make more sense to harvest a crop for the good of the people and the forest, rather than to do nothing and watch it all go up in smoke?
In the near future, children will see forests in textbooks or on the computer, but not in the mountains.
The people who live, play, work in the forests should have the right to say what can or cannot be done to help the forest.
The people who sit around in the cities, in their coffee shops, or wherever and condemn others for this or that should instead be asking themselves, what have we done to help the forests?
After looking at the forests one can truly see just what great things the enviros have done for us.
Road closures. So no one can go into the forests (public land) unless they are fit enough. What about the grandparents and grandchildren, the old and crippled and the disabled? Are we not taxpayers with the same rights to visit our public lands?
I could go on and on and will later, but for now the sun is setting on the mountains and as I say good night to them from my back porch, I wonder what can I, one man do to help right this terrible wrong that is befalling our great forests? I need your help people; so please wake up and take a look for yourself what is happening to our forests from Mexico to Alaska.
It needs to be treated like the national emergency it is.
My qualifications for speaking out on this issue are that I grew up in the wooded northwest. Fishing, hunting, camping, gathering mushrooms (edible), berries, firewood, were a big part of my life. Kids today havent a clue what it was like before the great enviros made it so much better.
Back to the point. As a ranch hand, logger, and even tree planter, I learned more about mother nature than any classroom can teach, Ive lived and worked in some of the toughest jobs on the planet and loved it. Through the sun, wind, rain, snow, heat and cold. It was a great life until I was injured and weakened.
So now I feel I owe our forests something for the great memories I have of when I worked and played in a healthy, managed, prosperous, environment. Not the neglected, dying forests, I see before me now, so yes I am going to continue to be a voice, trying to give our once great forests a lot of CPR and TLC.
Who knows, maybe good ole common sense will get revived in the process.
Editor:
On behalf of most of the neighborhoods around Dimick Lane, I would like to say how much we appreciate the kind soul who gives up his sleep in order to spray for mosquitoes in the wee hours of the morning so that we can enjoy our evenings outside and without worry about West Nile Virus.
Editor:
If one wishes to view wanton destruction, what appears to be not one iota of an attempt for any meaningful salvage work, take a look at the remnants of East Carbon High School.
The heavy steel beams, brick, hardwood floors and many furnishings have literally been wiped out. Only a few lucky ones were able to access the building and salvage some items that can be used elsewhere.
This is the third time since I have lived in Carbon County that I have witnessed the complete destruction of valuable material by our school district. Public education and taxpayers deserve better than that.
What an irresponsible waste.
Weve just been school shopping and Im watching my six year old granddaughter prancing around the house in her new school shoes even though I told her to take them off and put them in the closet until the first day of school. She has whirled and swirled as she has modeled all her new fashions.
Right now she feels special and on top of the world. The sparkle in her eyes as she admires herself in the mirror is a treasure money cant buy. I wish that every child had many moments in their lives like these. But sadly we know that that isnt meant to be.
We have been hit with many stories in the past weeks that have involved children that have not had a lot of sparkling moments. This week alone there were two children who were killed at the hands of adults who should have been caring for them and about them.
The other death was by a neighbor who took the child and allegedly killed her. The sad thing is that there will probably be more people who showed up to support the child who died at the hands of strangers than for the two who died by the hands of their own care givers.
I am not sure why this will be so. Destinys death was tragic and touched us all. But so are the deaths of the children whose family lost control and killed them. Those children deserve the same outpouring of grief from our communities as Destiny.
Our community is going through its own grief process in support of the Seal family who have lost two of their children in a tragic accident. Many of us did not know the family, but are hurting with them.
We cannot conceive of the loss they are dealing with.
I hope that we can step up and provide all the support the family will need as they deal with the tragedy. I also hope that we continue to look out for those kids in our community that are in situations that are not the best for them.
Reach out to a family that may need help with school clothes for their kids this year. Remember what it was like to put that special new outfit on to go to school the very first day. Think of what it must be to go to school in someone elses hand me downs.
Well I have to go to rescue my two year old. She stepped on a spider in her new shoes and now is crying because the spider is stuck to the bottom.
Life is pretty good when that is the worst moment in your day.