Tuesday, May 26, 2009

MAY MINUTES

United Women’s Forum Minutes

May 13, 2009 - Bella Vida Clubhouse, North Salt Lake, Utah.

Our new president, Kris Kimball welcomed us and outlined the format of today’s meeting. She thanked the Bella Vida people for allowing us the use of their beautiful facility. She recognized our hostess, Annette for preparing things for us. An opening prayer was offered by Barbra Spuhler and we were led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Jyl Marsden.

Given the current political climate, Vicki Harbertson presented the timely Principle of Freedom to us. It is Principle #19 from Cleon Skousen’s book, “The 5000 Year Leap”. The subject is “Only Limited and Carefully Defined Powers should be Delegated to Government, all Others Being Retained in the People.” She said that the limiting power of the federal government was one of the most hotly contested issues among the founding fathers. The writers of the Constitution carefully crafted the writing of it to protect the rights of states and the rights of citizens. The adversary of these protected rights has always been the love of power by an individual or groups of individuals. Thankfully, these writers of our Constitution included an elaborate system of checks and balances; however, as citizens we must watch closely those who would try to destroy these protections.

Dalane England then presented a couple of announcements. Her first was her idea of starting a “Constitution Day” to be held in Bountiful on or around September 17th, which was the day the U.S. Constitution was signed. This is a mandated subject of instruction in the public schools, but is often given insufficient attention. Her concept is to have a community ‘festival’ patterned after the successful Colonial Days held in the summer in Provo, Utah. She would want to include people from our forum and the surrounding community as a whole, as well as the youth from the local schools, first-person dramatizations, costumes, speakers, etc. She is looking for interest level and volunteers right now. She also has a quote from President Brigham Young, second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the first Governor of Utah which is still timely concerning our stewardship over the earth that we live on. She has a few copies available and will email it to anyone who is interested in reading it.

Laura Bunker of United Families International gave some brief comments about a local issue. She made us aware again of an experience at a public hearing in Bountiful some months ago concerning an alcohol variance for a restaurant. A group of citizens were treated with inappropriate disrespect by city leaders as they raised their voice of opposition on this variance; it was later made known that the granting of this variance was a “deal behind closed doors”. In any case, there is a high level of interest among many citizens for a change in public officials. There are already two candidates, Jeff Novak and Phil Wright. She encouraged members of our forum to be actively involved in being involved in this in any way that they can give support. She made us aware of a public meeting to be held the evening of June 18 at the Bountiful Library for any citizens of this city.

Kris Kimball made two quick announcements before beginning the DVD presentation. First, she made us aware of a news conference at noon on Wednesday, May 20 at the Capitol building in conjunction with the Patrick Henry Caucus (States’ Rights). Secondly, she referenced something to watch for this October—a film called “Not Evil, Just Wrong” based on scientific evidence of climate change. This was a good lead-in to the DVD of a speech presented by Dr. John R. Christy, a climatologist from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. This talk contained his scientific evidence of normal cyclical climate change which is an attempt to challenge the current “gloom & doom” frenzy of so-called ‘Global Warming’ that is dominating the media right now. He began by offering a quote that says, ‘Some people will do anything to save the earth, except take a science course!’ He continued by pointing out that we simply cannot change climate and that many things we see occurring are consistent with the variations seen in world climate patterns when followed for extended periods of time. He posed the question then, ‘Why is climate alarmism succeeding?’ He then answered that it is the politicians, bureaucrats, celebrities and others with economic agendas that are using this hysteria to their advantage. His talk showed interesting climatic scientific evidence to oppose the idea of “global warming”; in addition, he showed much evidence of the importance of energy growth on improved quality of life, improved health, and longevity of life. He strongly supports proper stewardship of the earth and its resources. It was a valuable viewpoint to be exposed to for all of those in attendance.

Our next Forum Meeting will be September 9th at 10:00-12:00PM at Bella Vida in North Salt Lake. The next Interim Session up at The Capitol is June 17th, put that on your calendars so you can come up and watch. Have a great summer and we’ll see you in the fall. Be sure to visit www.unitedwomensforumblogspot.com and become a fan of our Forum on Facebook. It’s a great way to stay informed with important events that happen during the summer.

Salads

Eileen Gardner

Becky Nelson

Kris Kimball