Pappa Hardy's Musings on Life.

I have been part of the Chamber Board of Directors for 8 years. It has been a sometime long road. Last night I saw the board operating in a fashion that makes me proud. It isn’t because of anything I have done. Over the last couple of years a number of people have really taken their responsibilities by the horn and have been working hard on making the Chamber of Commerce a better organization. It is amazing what people can do when they put their hearts and their minds to work in behalf of an organization.

Today was a beautiful day. You would have never guessed it based on the weather. You would never have guessed it by whether the sun was shining or not. It was beautiful in a much different way.

Today was the groundbreaking service for the Payson Utah Temple. It rained all day Thursday, and even more and harder on Friday. One could hope that the heavens would have dried out after two days of soaking rain, but when I got up on Saturday morning the streets were wet and the skies were not blue. We had clouds, and rain, and not very nice weather for a groundbreaking ceremony that was to take place on a former wheat field.

We arrived at the site of the ground breaking and the rain kept on coming. In fact, I would swear that the rain was increasing rather than decreasing. The weather didn’t dampen our spirits however and we all waited patiently for the service to begin, knowing that in at least 26 Stake Centers in the central part of the state the majority of the members of the church had the opportunity to watch the service in dryness.

During the prayer, the supplicant pleaded with the Lord to temper the elements, and at that time, the rain stopped and only consisted of an occasional drizzle. It was a miracle. The service itself warmed the hearts of us all. The thought of a temple of the Lord being erected on this site was hear warming in the extreme.

Elder Oaks of the Twelve delivered an excellent talk and then used his Priesthood to dedicate and consecrate the ground to the building of a temple to the Lord. It was a spiritual feast for all of us that were in attendance. After his prayer, then the meeting ended and the breaking of the ground started to occur. First, the 4 general authorities in attendance turned over shovels of earth. That was followed by 26 Stake Presidents in attendance. My dear friend and associate President Wayne Pullan, whom I served with as a counselor when he was Bishop of the Page Ward that participated.

A personal experience of delight came when Elder Oaks invited the city officials, one of which I am, to come up and turn shovels of dirt and participate in the ground breaking. It was a neat experience to be able to participate in such a sacred ceremony, and do it as an official of Payson City. This will be a highlight of my service on the Payson City Council and as a member of the church. I look forward to the time, in 2.5 years, when the temple is finished and dedicated and I can walk its hallowed halls and participate in ordinances for the dead.

Finally, deacons were asked to come up and we also had many others, including my daughter Julie, who took the opportunity to get up and turn a shovel full of earth. It was a day to remember. It was a beautiful day.

It has been an interesting election season in Payson. We started with a field of six candidates that has been winnowed down to a field of four candidates due to the withdrawal of two candidates from the contest. You would think nothing is happening here. I am hoping that the electorate will demand that the candidates state what they believe and ask them to outline what they plan to do for Payson.

The citizens don’t realize just how much these candidates will impact what happens in Payson, at least you wouldn’t think that they care given no demands that we meet the candidates. Well, we shall just have to see what happens.

Several weeks ago the debt rating of the United States, once considered to be the standard by which all other nations were measured, was decreased from AAA to AA+ by Standard and Poors, one of the debt rating institutions in the United States. This action took place after months of partisan bickering had taken place which resulted at the 11th hour, in a compromise by the House, Senate, and White House on raising the debt ceiling of the United States Government.

Republican right wing Senators and Congressman, often called Tea Party members, were sure that unless we passed a constitutional amendment calling for a balanced budget, that we should allow the debt of the United States to go into default. Likewise, Liberal Democrats called these “Tea Party Members” extremists who had hijacked the heart and soul of the Republican party and who were going to put the elderly, the poor, and the sick out on the streets without any means of support.

Can I say that all of this partisanship is going to be the downfall of our government! The founders of this nation had hoped that the government of this nation would get above the petty bickering, posturing, and the desire to rule over our fellow man. Well, it lasted all but a few months in the history of this nation, and it has just become worse and worse in recent 20 or 30 years.

I have been fascinated my whole life by the history of an individual who promised to deliver the people of a foreign nation from all of their problems. I have been fascinated by the willingness of the people and their representatives to give up their freedoms for safety and stability. That leader was Adolf Hitler, who promised the German people that he would solve their economic problems in the Great Depression. He would put people back to work. He would restore national pride. He would right national wrongs. He would rebuild their military and take back parts of the county that was rightfully the property of the German people. He delivered on his promises, and also delivered World War II with its 50 million in war dead. He delivered the horrors of the Holocaust and the loss of life of 6-9 million Jews. Could it happen in the United States? I fear that it could.

Where is my heart? My heart is in a nation where those who represent the people actually care about and represent the people. Their first priority is the health and well being of this nation, not their own personal aggrandizement and lining their pockets at the expense of the tax payers. Their first priority is in making our government work, not in being right and the other side wrong. Their first priority is ensuring the fiscal well being of this nation. Their first priority is making sure that the government serves the people, and not the other way around. Their first priority is strengthening the form of government we have, not making the government stronger and more intrusive. There is a difference.

I have lived in a nation that was once considered the preeminent nation of the face of the earth, the model by which many other nations measured themselves. We have squandered our legacy as a nation, and our representatives have forgotten why they were elected. Where is my heart? I hope my heart is residing in a country that can overcome our problems and restore our greatness and honor.

Payson once a year puts on a big feed for the rest of the valley. This event is called the Payson Salmon Supper. We have corn on the cob, a roll, a baked potato with sour cream and butter, Cole Slaw, and a cookie. A lot of these items alone could make a sumptuous meal. However, the star of the show is a huge slab of salmon cooked over apple wood fire.

The salmon is flown in fresh and taken care of by the fire department, which does the cooking. This year and last, I was involved in cutting the salmon up and serving it to the public. I did that for two hours and the smell of the salmon was driving me crazy with hunger. Then, I was relieved and I went and found my mom and dad and the rest of my family. We had the chance to sit down and eat together. It was a huge event, using 4400 pounds of Salmon and the city probably feed 4000 people.

The salmon supper is a wonderful activity. It draws a community together and is a great opportunity to showcase Payson. I am glad that I was involved this year.

If not for modern medicine, would I still be alive? That is a good question. At times it is amazing that people ever lived to be more than 30. There are so many diseases that could have done you in and so many things that go wrong with these bodies of ours.

Smallpox, mumps, diphtheria, whopping cough, were just a few of the diseases that might kill someone in their youth. Polio and measles could also bring complications and cause a major problem. However, vaccines made it so I didn’t have to deal with many of those sicknesses. I did have to deal with the common cold, broken bones, and a whole list of other things.

However, today we live in a marvelous world. For those of us with weak knees, we can have our knees replaced. With those of us who have a heart that beats out of tune, we can have ablation that will correct the naughty nerves that cause us problems. We have medications that can help us control various maladies caused when the body malfunctions. It is just amazing that we live beyond 30, but then maybe beyond 60 will even better.

We live in a land of a noble experiment. Can man rule himself through a representative government and for long remain free? We continue to see that drama unfold each and every day. We now live in a very perilous time in the history of that nation. We are facing a significant challenge to our financial independence. Can we navigate out of the deadly financial waters that now encompass this nation? So many forces pull at us. So many concerns. So many people who say, give me the power and I will make it better for all. Can we continue to walk a tight rope? I pray that we will have the wisdom as a nation to not hand the power over to those that promise an easy solution to our problems. I see too many lessons in history of free peoples who gave power to those that promised easy solutions. Instead, that only lead to ruin.

Well, serving in Public Office is an interesting experience. It takes a mind shift away from what you personally want to see done, to making sure that you are working for the public good of everyone that you represent. This makes the choices difficult because sometimes there are lots of gray areas and no clear cut directions that should be taken. For instance, if you approve a certain type of development for an area, how is that going to impact the city and it’s citizens in 10-15 years, not just tomorrow.

Everyone of course has ideas about the right way to do things as well, and you quickly learn that you can’t always vote the way someone else suggests that you vote. It takes separating your desire to be liked from the public good. Everyone at some time or the other should have this opportunity.

I hadn’t really posted about what has been happening in Payson, but back in July I filed to run for the Payson City Council. A lot happened along the way, but on November 3 I was elected to the council, finishing second out of four that ran. Now, I am in the process of transitioning onto the council. There, is so much to learn and so much to do. There is just a lot of work. What have I got myself into. We shall find out.

Earlier this week I filed as a candidate for the Payson City Council. I must be crazy. That is in direct contradiction of my desires to grow old and retire to a nice quiet place in the suburbs. However, I feel passionately about some things, and my desire for public service seems to have been awaken later in my life rather than when I was more vibrant and younger. Despite my geriatric leanings, I do have a desire to make a difference and to serve my community. We will see how this campaign goes.