OCTOBER 2004

A community newspaper serving residents and businesses on the west side of Salt Lake City

Issue No. 13

THE WESTVIEWTHE WESTVIEW

By Charlotte Fife-Jepperson

In a time of war and globalchaos, a diverse group of peo-ple demonstrated their commit-ment and hope for peace bygathering in Jordan Park onSalt Lake City’s West Side toplant a grove of 11 GiantSequoia trees.

Organized by TreeUtah, theSept. 21 event was a combina-tion of their volunteer apprecia-tion celebration with this year’sInternational Day of Peace,which was celebrated in 98countries last year. Therecouldn’t have been a more fit-ting place to celebrate bothoccasions than the beautifulInternational Peace Gardens inJordan Park.

TreeUtah is a non-profitorganization dedicated toimproving the quality of life forpresent and future Utahnsthrough tree planting, steward-ship, and education. They relyon volunteers for their treeplantings, and aspire tostrengthen surrounding com-

munities in the process. TreeUtah wanted to thank

the many volunteers who havehelped them plant over 250,000trees in Utah since 1990.TreeUtah’s tree planting coor-dinator, Vaughn Lovejoy, sug-gested getting interfaith repre-sentatives together to help cele-brate, and leaders from manydifferent faiths and culturalgroups in Salt Lake City wereinvited.

Representatives from theBuddhist, Quaker, Jewish,LDS, Catholic, Episcopalian,Unitarian, Muslim, Baha’i, andNative American religiousorganizations participated inthe tree planting.Representatives from the stateHispanic and Asian culturaloffices were also in attendance.

Christians, Jews, Buddhists,Muslims, Native Americansand agnostics, alike, workedside by side that crisp afternoonto plant the grove of youngsequoia trees, purchased in part

By Kyle LaMalfa and MelissaSillitoe

It’ s Sunday morning at St.Patrick’s Church and every pewis filled. A smiling 3-year oldgirl with corn-rowed hair and ared and white taffeta dressbounces between her motherand sister. Well-scrubbed kidsof different ages poke eachother into giggly quiet.

At the prompt of a Koreanwoman, the singing starts.There isn’t room for an organ inthe small church, but the musicswells just the same. Lightstreams through the stainedglass window, donated byItalian and Irish familiesdecades ago in memory of theirloved ones. At the front of theChurch, Father David Bittmennsmiles at his congregation.

The 115-year history of theSt. Patrick parish continues tobuild character on the WestSide. The current pastor of St.Patrick’s takes pride in itsdiversity. “[People have] a vari-ety of backgrounds and a will-ingness to help. People takeownership of our church,”

Father Bittmenn said proudly. Ethnic diversity has always

had a home at the St. Patrickparish. In 1889, Irish railroadworkers built a church wherean I-15 overpass stands today.Later, during the early part ofthe 20th century, the firstchurch burned down and a sec-ond one was built. ItalianCatholics then became the pre-dominant part of the church’smembership.

During the 1920’s, the firstHispanic members were wel-comed to the church and creat-ed the Our Lady of Guadalupemission. Presently, churchmembership includes peoplefrom every continent exceptAntarctica and Australia.

Rev. Bittmenn is mostimpressed that all the groupsget along. Impressed but notsurprised, “there is an expecta-tion of diversity among thegroups,” said Rev. Bittmenn.He also acknowledges that peo-ple of this neighborhooddemonstrate heartfelt respectfor one another. Having trans-ferred from the Sugarhouseparish two years ago, Rev.

Bittmenn recognizes that thisneighborhood contains moreworking-class people and heenjoys the more casual atmos-phere.

Ellen Colonno agrees. Shehas been a member of St.Patrick’s Church for 41 yearsand has raised her own familyin it and participated in manyof the activities including mostrecently, the Altar Society. Hersister-in-law, Catherine Hyde,has been a member of thisparish since birth. Both womenstill live in Poplar Grove,although there are families whohave left the geographic restric-tions of the Parish and stillattend.

Hyde has attended otherchurches in the valley andnotices a different spirit at herown church. “There’s moreheart here. How can you notfeel you’re amongst the peopleof God - you get to see howwell all these different peoplemingle and get along.”

There are many ways to getinvolved at the church includ-

People of Many Faiths Plant Trees for Peace

St. Patrick’s Church Provides ComfortableHaven for West Side Parishioners

Representatives from many different religious faiths gathered around a Giant Sequoia treethat they helped plant in a grassy area next to Jordan Park’s International Peace Gardens. Photo courtesy of TreeUtah

St Patrick’s Church at 1040 West 400 South is a familar andsoothing sight on Salt Lake City’s West Side. Photo byCharlotte Fife-Jepperson

See Peace on page 2

See Church on page 2

Page 2 The West View

The West View is a community-based newspaper, providing avoice and informational resource for residents and businesses onthe west side of Salt Lake City. We welcome community involve-ment and appreciate story and photo contributions. We reserve theright to edit all submissions for style and space, and will not pub-lish anything that is defamatory or slanderous in nature.

Please email submissions to the editor and include your fullname, city or community, and telephone number. You may alsodeliver your submissions to us on a compact, floppy or zip disc.

As an insert in the Salt Lake West Journal, The West View hasa circulation of around 24,500 copies delivered monthly to everyhousehold and business on the West Side. It is also available onnewsstands in local recreation centers, senior centers, shoppingcenters, libraries, and on the web at www.thewestview.org.Please contact us if you live outside the distribution area andwould like to be added to our mailing list or to submit:

editor@thewestview.orgThe West View 1094 Garn Way SLC, UT 84104 Ph# 801-355-9572

TTHEHE WWESTEST VVIEIEWW

Publisher / Editor Charlotte Fife-JeppersonLayout / Design Chad JeppersonAdvertising Salt Lake West Journal Staff -

Dale Young, Brandon Rawlings, Boyd Petersen

Subscriptions Kate RubalcavaDistribution Salt Lake West JournalConsultant / Advisor James A. Fisher

Charlotte Fife-JeppersonRyan Engar

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Ryan EngarCharlotte Fife-Jepperson

Kyle LaMalfaBilly Palmer

Kate RubalcavaMelissa Sillitoe Edie Trimmer

PEACE continued from page 1

STAFF

ing involvement through prayer, liturgy, andbereavement faith building groups. Also, St.Patrick’s maintains a long list of social groups,like Girl Scouts, youth activities, communityservice, and even a golf group.

Though many residents may not have beeninside St. Patrick’s, most everyone on the WestSide knows about their Street Fair. Hosted thefirst Friday and Saturday in August, the churchputs on a celebration for the whole family.Father Bittmenn admits that, “communityactivities around here are really a lot of fun.”

Attending church is becoming more popu-lar. Right now, the Salt Lake Catholic church isexperiencing high growth in people comingfrom Mexico. In 10-15 years, St. Patrick’s willbe full and they will build another facility. “Idon’t know why it happens but every time webuild a new church, it just fills with people,”said Rev. Bittmenn.

To find the current schedule ofservices offered at St. Patrick’s church, go towww.utahcatholicdiocese.org

through a fund set up in honor of communityactivist Gayen Wharton, who passed away lastyear. Salt Lake City Parks and Recreationoffered the plot of land and were instrumental inassisting with the logistics of the tree planting.

After the trees were in the ground, everyonejoined hands in a circle around the trees to offerprayers and thoughts about peace and what itmeant to them to participate in the tree planting.Nearly all the faiths represented there had somereference to trees in their religious doctrine. Itbecame apparent that trees are a universal sym-bol of life, good health, and hope.

First Unitarian Church’s Reverend Tom

Goldsmith spoke about the stark contrastbetween people “coming together to plant treesin the name of peace on that little piece of landin Jordan Park,” while at the very same time inother parts of the world people were engaging inthe dark business of “planting land mines andseeds of hatred and destruction.”

As an organizer and a practicing Buddhist,Lovejoy said, “It was grace that brought all ofthis together.” Perhaps when people of differentbackgrounds come together in this manner to lis-ten and learn about each other, we are one stepcloser toward achieving mutual respect andrespect for the earth that we all share.

Vaughn Lovejoy, better known as “The Mad Tree Planter”, lives in a nearby co-housing com-munity and loves living near the Jordan River, the International Peace Gardens, and the out-door environmental classroom, called the Bend-in-the-River Urban Tree House. He has devot-ed his life to doing what he does best, to the best of his ability – tree planting, with a spiri-tual emphasis. Photo by Charlotte Fife-Jepperson

Students from the Universityof Utah’s College of Architectureand Planning are interested in dis-covering meaningful communitylandmarks on the West Side andare requesting your input.

Architecture students are gath-ering information to create a com-munity landmark map, which willbe on display, readily accessible,at the West Side Community

History Center, located in theUniversity/Neighborhood Partnersoffice in Jordan Park.

To nominate a landmark: 1)Identify a place that you think isimportant or special to your neigh-borhood, or 2) Identify a building,a field, a rock, or a place that nolonger exists, like a church that’sbeen torn down, for example. 3)Describe why this place should be

a landmark. What happened there?What did it look like? Did a spe-cial person live or visit this place?Is there a special story that is con-nected to this place? 4) Turn yournomination in by email tobradley@arch.utah.edu or callMartha at 278-5693 or send it toUniversity Neighborhood Partnersat 1060 South 900 West, SLC UT,84104.

Father Bittmenn stands proudly in front of StPatrick’s Church where he is Parish Priest.Photo by Charlotte Fife-Jepperson

Nominate a Meaningful Place forCommunity Landmark Map

THE WEST VIEW November 2004Issue Submission Deadline:

Wednesday, October 26We welcome your stories, photos, and opinions. Pleasenotify us if you know of something in the community

that deserves coverage. Email us at editor@thewestview.orgor call (801)355-9572

OOPPINIONINIONThe West View Page 3

OCTOBER 2004

This opinion section is an open forum for community issues. Editorial columns and opinion articles are strictly the opinion of the author. Letters of an indecent or demeaning nature will not be published. Letters will be edited for style and space.

From the EditorJust like the changing colors of the leaves

outside, The West View is going through someadaptations. As you probably noticed, thisissue looks quite different from our past issues.It’s a lot smaller and it’s tucked inside a newcommunity newspaper, the Salt Lake WestJournal.

We have established a good relationshipwith the Journal folks, and have found that wehave a common mission. Instead of competingand duplicating efforts, we have decided towork together to offer you both The West Viewand the Salt Lake West Journal every month inyour mailbox.

Despite these changes, the original integri-ty of The West View will remain the same. Wewill still feature in depth stories about peopleand places on the West Side, highlighting ourcommunity’s rich diversity and history. We stillwelcome your story and photo contributions,and encourage you to voice your opinion onissues that matter to you.

A positive result of this new partnershipwith The Salt Lake West Journal is that our cir-culation has instantly increased from 8,000copies to 24,000 copies and it will be mailedout monthly to every resident and business onthe West Side. We hope you will enjoy moretimely access to news and stories about yourcommunity in both papers.

About this issue: As the Nov. 2 electionapproaches fast, we have included a couple ofstories about the power we hold as con-stituents. We hope this year will bring a hugeturnout at the polls. The West Side has tradi-tionally been very politically active, and wehope that our community’s level of civicinvolvement will only continue to grow.

We also believe that if all of the diversegroups in our community could come togetherto learn about one another and collectivelycome up with solutions to the challenges weface, our community improvement effortswould be much more consequential. And, ifThe West View could contribute to that end,our efforts will have been worth it.

- Charlotte Fife-Jepperson

By Kate Rubalcava

Election years bring about changes in the lives of people– political changes that will affect aspects of all our lives,such as health care, immigration, education, gun laws andsafety. These are good reasons to get out and vote for candi-dates you feel will best represent your interests and views.Yet surprisingly, even though an election could change ourquality of life, many people are not registered voters andmany who are, don’t exercise their right to vote.

Putting their political preferences aside, a few west sideresidents, acting as Community Ambassadors withUniversity Neighborhood Partners (UNP), decided toaddress this problem with a voter registration drive.Sponsored by UNP, the Community Ambassador Program ismade up of West Side residents, whose purpose is to helppeople gain a better understanding of their community. Theyalso take on community service projects every year.

This year the Community Ambassadors aimed to register100 voters with their voter registration project. They dedicat-

ed a lot of time and energy in getting the word out about theimportance of voting, registering those eligible and encour-aging people to vote.

Irene Fisher, Director of UNP, said, “I have been verypleased with the process that the Ambassadors used toresearch various project possibilities and to select this one.They have taken individual leadership roles in carrying outthe project.”

In order to get the word out, the Ambassadors wentthrough training on the process, learned about the history ofvoting laws, and then created a brochure. All of that hardwork and dedication paid off. They exceeded their goal ofregistering 100 people.

Ambassador Carolynn Hoskins’ favorite aspect was “get-ting the word out about the importance of being a registeredvoter and that one voice can make a difference.” Hoskins, alongtime community advocate, urges residents to vote. “Toomany people have sacrificed their lives, blood, sweat andtears for us. This shouldn’t be taken with a grain of salt,” shesaid.

I would like to respond to Dale J. Neilson’s letter to theeditor “Gay Marriage Erodes our Nation’s Foundation” (TheWest View, Summer 2004), in which he wrote that surveysfrom a website claim that children thrive better in heterosex-ual-marriage homes.

First of all, a survey is only a poll of opinions, most ofwhich lack the credibility of actual knowledge of a gay rela-tionship with children. I have seen such situations first hand,as I am an elementary school teacher and have taught at myschool for over 20 years. I have personally seen the heartacheof children who do not have a perfect father and mother (het-erosexual) home situation.

On the other hand, I have also seen how the love of acommitted relationship can make such a difference in the sta-bility and confidence of a child. This can come from a singleparent family that is extremely supportive or even from asame sex couple that is very supportive. As long as the childis the number one priority, such situations only add to thewelfare and stability of the child. The kind of support that thechild receives at home is really a more important factor thanthe type of family he/she lives with.

What bothered me the most about Mr. Neilson’s opinion,

is that a "piece of paper" was the difference in the commit-ment of a couple. I have personally been with my partner for19 years. Our relationship has been full of the same relation-ship challenges that married couples experience. This gaymarriage issue is not so much about gay marriage, as it isabout equal rights. Because this constitutional amendmentseeks to take away rights, it is discriminatory and unneces-sarily hurtful.

Mr. Neilson relied heavily on the Bible and our foundingfathers to support his views. But, if you look at our foundingfathers in a realistic way, they were a group of rebels whowere fighting the status quo in the name of religious andfinancial freedom. And remember, the Bible was used as atool to fight against the African American Movement and isstill used today within the KKK.

Most any gay person that you meet has some sort of reli-gious commitment, but still puts up with discrimination. Idecided that I should finally leave the silent majority of thegay community to speak out against this form of discrimina-tion.

- Jerry Monson, Fairpark

By Edie Trimmer and Billy Palmer

One of our privileges as U.S. citizens is ourright to choose those who will make decisions onour behalf at all levels of government. Theseinclude choosing the President of the United Statesor the Governor of Utah or giving approval to allowan appointed judge to continue to serve. Thesechoices are very difficult ones to make, and dependon citizens who inform themselves about the worldthey live in and the candidates who are running foroffice.

Understanding the nuts and bolts of the votingprocess is sometimes difficult. Finding where youshould go to vote or keeping track of the politicalcalendar of events can be confusing. Fortunately,there are two great websites available on how tovote. The first is www.voteutah.org. This website issponsored by KUED TV, KUER FM90, CommonCause Utah, Hinckley Institute of Politics, Leagueof Women Voters, Utah Foundation and UtahEducation Network. This is a non-partisan siteintended to provide answers to voters' questionsabout the process of voting. The other site is the SaltLake County Clerk’s Office at www.clerk.slco.org.At this site, you can find your voting precinct num-

ber, locate your polling place, and find out who ison the ballot.

In this year’s general election, Utahns willdecide on 88 elected officials. These are the peoplewho will make important decisions that affect ourdaily lives. In the years to come, the candidates weelect will shape the world we live in. If we choosenot to vote, our decision is clear: we want those whoare elected to make our decisions for us. In otherwords, we trust them that much. You can make a lotof big decisions with one short visit to your votingpoll.

Getting Started—Voter RegistrationTo register to vote in Utah you must be a citizen

of the United States of America, have resided inUtah for at least 30 days immediately before theelection, and must be 18 years old on or before theelection. Although the last day to mail in voter reg-istration forms was October 13, you may still regis-ter in person at the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office,located at 2001 South State Street in Salt Lake City,UT.

For questions about voting, you can call SaltLake County Clerk's Office, 468-3427.

Community Ambassadors ConductSuccessful Voter Registration Drive

Voting Primer

Marriage Amendment Discriminates Against Committed Gay Couples

Date Event

October 13Final date for mail-in voter reg-istration.

October 25Final date to register to vote inperson at the Salt Lake CountyClerk's office.

October 29Final date to submit an applica-tion for absentee voting.

Tuesday,November 2

Vote!

Calendar of Important Election Events

In the last issue of The West View (Summer 2004), a clinician work-ing with a patient at the Fourth Street Clinic was mistakenly identifiedas Dr. Adi Gundalapalli in the photo caption. The person shown wasPatrick Lang, a volunteer physician's assistant.

CORRECTION

RRESOURESOURCESCESPage 4 The West View

OCTOBER 2004

Wasatch CommonsCohousing

A great place to Live in Glendale

Where neighbors sharemore, waste less and

build enriching relationships through

consensus, compassionand working hard

together - the heart ofa good community.

Tours every 2nd Saturday,10:00 am in the summer,1:00 pm the rest of the

year, and every 4thWednesday at 5:00 pm.

Call Vicky at 801-908-0388www.cohousing.org

By Ryan Engar

People of all ages volun-teered many hours this pastsummer to help senior citizensin their own neighborhoods onthe West Side.

The volunteer projects wereput together by NeighborsHelping Neighbors (NHN), anorganization committed toimproving the quality of life ofcommunity-dwelling seniors byenabling them to reside inde-pendently in their own homesfor as long as possible. NHNoriginated in 1997 as a demon-stration project and has sincegrown into a fully structured,non-profit service organizationoperating out of the College ofSocial Work. NHN works withlow, middle, or fixed-incomeindividuals aged 65 and olderwith limited social supports(e.g., family, friends, church)who live in the area between1700 West and 1300 East, 900South and 2700 South.

The summer service proj-ects focused on making signifi-cant improvements to programparticipants’ homes. The volun-teers helped out in a variety ofways, such as painting entirekitchens, trimming trees, cut-

ting grass and pulling weeds.Gardens and rose bushes werebeautified as well as the interiorof many homes. The adultswere busy with minor repairs toclosets and stairways, whilesome joined the youth in gettingto know the seniors they wereserving.

The youth experiencedsomething very positive whileproviding this service. In onehouse, volunteers danced toElvis playing on the eight-track.While most of the youth wereserving with their hands, there

were others who served just asimportantly by visiting with theparticipants and listening tomany stories. Inside one home,a group of intrigued youth gath-ered around about six photoalbums that were spread out onthe coffee table. Others simplysat in front of a fan and chattedwith seniors over cold sodas.

Although a common sigh ofrelief and gratification washeard from all of the partici-pants, the volunteers will nevertruly know how greatly appreci-ated they were. Their hours of

service will continue to lift thespirits of the seniors for monthsand years to come.

Other NHN projects includepartnering with Zions Bank inrepairing and painting the exte-rior of a local senior’s homenear 700 West and Freemont.Along with service projects,volunteers assist seniors withtransportation to doctor visits,light housekeeping, and friend-ly visiting with a listening ear.

Neighbors HelpingNeighbors would like to thankthe Sorenson MulticulturalCenter for allowing them toshare office space at their siteon the west side of Salt LakeCity. They look forward to get-ting to know the community asthey strive to keep the seniors’spirits alive through friendlyservice.

If you know of any seniorneighbors who might benefitfrom these services, please passthis information on. To learnmore about Neighbors HelpingNeighbors, please visit theirwebsite athttp://www.socwk.utah.edu/neighbors or call Nancy Kelley-Gillespie at 581-5162.

Volunteers Help Their Elderly Neighbors

What: Students of the University of Utah SJ QuinneyCollege of Law will provide free legal information to thecommunity on a variety of topics.

Where: Neighborhood House, 1050 West 500 South, inthe gym

When: Wednesdays 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., free dinner from5:30 - 6:00 p.m. on a first come first served basis, classfrom 6:00 - 7:00 p.m., daycare provided

Classes:October 20 - Consumer Law - Debts, Bankruptcy and

Collection PracticesOctober 27 - Education Law - Special Education,

School DisciplineNovember3 - Criminal Law/Juvenile DelinquencyNovember 10 - Immigration Law - Refugees and

Undocumented AliensNovember 17 - Employment Law - Wage Claims,

Unemployment, Workers CompensationDecember 1 - Public Benefits and Tax Tips - Food

Stamps, TANF, SSI, SSDI, Earned Income Credit

Participants are welcome to come to as many class ses-sions as they wish.

The People’s Law School

A youth group from Neighbors Helping Neighbors gather onthe program participant’s front porch after completion oftheir service project. Photo by Ryan Engar