Is This An Exciting Day For LaVerkin Or What?

La Verkin                                                              Zion Canyon Corridor

About eight years ago, we held a series of well attended community meetings where citizens were asked what they liked about LaVerkin and what they would like to see happen in the future.  A recurring theme mentioned was to beautify and improve State Street, particularly around the main intersection where the state highways  leading to Zion Park meet.

 At 5 pm today we held a ribbon cutting to celebrate a little park/monument we've built at that intersection.  It is something that means a lot to me, and I hope you'll enjoy this photo journal of it!

Mayor, City Council, Beautification Committee leaders,
and LaVerkin Royalty seated as program is about to begin

After a prayer, flag ceremony, and an introduction by city administrator
 Kyle Gubler, I was invited to speak for 5 minutes to give a little history ...
and a lot of thanks!

Starting with thanks to Willyne for taking these pictures :-)

After a musical number by the city royalty and some remarks
from Mayor Wilson, we lined up to cut the ribbon.  

Eight years and a flood of emotions lead up to one simple snip

And the park is open!

I served with Ray Justice on City Council for six years, he became a good friend.
I was thankful he, and many friends, came to the ribbon cutting!

 Here's what I had to say ...

Is this an exciting day for LaVerkin or what?  I'm so thankful for the spectacular weather we've been blessed with this afternoon!

I'm very touched that you would take time to come here today and be a part of this ribbon cutting.  I'm humbled to be asked to tell a little of the story of this special place we are now gathered at.

Before I do, I would like to take a moment to thank our Mayor, Karl Wilson, who you will hear from shortly.

We just elected a new mayor yesterday, and we owe tremendous thanks to Mayor Karl Wilson, and his wife Melanie, who served us tirelessly at great personal sacrifice.  For almost two years of his term, he worked nearly full-time without pay.  Today the city is in good shape, well prepared for a new Mayor and Council to take over.

Please join me in a round of applause in appreciation to Mayor Wilson!

Today we celebrate one of the fruits of the work done these past several years, this LaVerkin Crescent Park.

As I think about this park, I am reminded of Spencer Woolley Kimball, a former Rotary president of our neighboring state of Arizona, who many of you will also remember as a former President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

One of his hallmarks was his call to:

"Keep in good repair and beautify your homes, your yards, farms, and businesses.  Repair the fences.  Clean up and paint where needed.  Keep your lawns and gardens well-groomed.  Whatever your circumstance, let your premises reflect orderliness, beauty, and happiness.  Plan well and carry out your plan in an orderly and systematic manner."  (See:  http://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/05/family-preparedness)

We have worked together as a team to do just that with this Crescent Park.  I believe Spencer Woolley Kimball would be well pleased with that effort and with what you see here today.

There have been many in and out of our city who have been part of this team that have made this park a reality, starting with the citizens who asked us to clean this spot up in the community planning meetings hundreds of us participated in several years ago.

Please forgive me in advance for not remembering all who helped, such as all who have served on the Beautification Committee since its beginning, including Maurine Roberts, Judy Schultz, Elaine Gubler, Allen Bice, Dick and Linda Prince, Ken Hooten, Paula Beatty, just to get started mentioning names.  You've heard from thanks from Kyle Gubler for the design work Terry Watson helped with.  We also had design help from Professor Bell and several of his Utah State University students.

I thank Scott Snow, of Utah Department of Transportation Region 4, on whose land this park sits, for working with us to change "it can't be done" to "maybe we can".

I thank Celtic Bank and Maverik Market for being early donors at a critical time in the beginning of this project when we needed money to keep this project going.

I thank Kyle Gubler and those who worked with him, particularly Jim Crisp, in obtaining the grant from the Scenic Byway Committee that funded 80% of the cost of this park and monument.

I especially thank the city staff who did much of the work here and enabled us to pay our 20% share in kind so that there was no out of pocket cash cost to our city.

It will inspire all who pass though our city, as it will inspire those who build out our community to do it just a little nicer.

Thank you all!