Cache Valley Logan

The other day I was watching our dog’s crazy antics. I turned to him and called him a “Punky Monkey”. Now where did that come from? As I was pondering why I used the word Punky, it made me think of when I was a kid.

I grew up in a time when everyone was poor; we just didn’t know we were poor. We were rich in so many ways. We didn’t need fancy toys to make us happy. We didn’t have a TV, electronic games, cell phones, or computers. We spent the day outside until dinner time, sometimes playing school, or being pirates, or playing Army, building forts or riding our bikes.

I didn’t have much in the way of toys, but I had a teddy bear that was my favorite. He wasn’t very big, his button eyes had fallen off, and my brothers had tried to rip his head off. My inexperienced sewing had sewn his neck back together and he was mine, missing parts and all.

One day, my brother found a boy doll in the garbage. The doll was one of those with a cloth body, mattress ticking for arms and legs. The body had blue pants and a red shirt painted on. The thing that made the doll so enduring to my brother was that it had no face. The face had been torn or chewed off. The stuffing was sticking out. He named the doll Punky. Punky was like a security blanket to him. He loved that bizarre doll.

One day our mother came across a new doll very similar to Punky. It had the same shape body, the painted on clothes, and it had a face. The face was similar to Pinocchio, with a little painted cap on its head. She was so thrilled that she found this doll, because it meant that the old, smelly Punky could go into the garbage where it came from. Cost was no object when it came to getting rid of old Punky. She gave the new one to my brother, thinking that he would be happy to finally see a doll with a face. He looked at the doll, thanked her for it, and went on his way. The next day, she found the new Punky in the garbage and the old one still in its honored place on his bed.

My brother is in his mid-sixties now and I know that he still has Punky, maybe hidden away, but still a reminder of happier times. I lost my ragged teddy bear, but the memory is still alive.

In my short life, I have had the opportunity to work for 9 different companies in many different positions. I consider the last 4 positions/companies my 'professional career.' In my professional career, I have found that companies are a lot like people and especially like the people who own/run them - imagine any person, then imagine working for a company that personifies them - scary in some cases. While I have somewhat enjoyed each position that I've held, I have enjoyed working more for one company more than the rest. It turns out that I am not alone - people have been here for years...
My current employer is what a previous employer claimed to be: the Employer of Choice in Cache Valley.
What makes a company an Employer of Choice? Well, let me start off by stating what an Employer of Choice isn't. It isn't a mission statement that isn't adhered to. It isn't raising insurance co-pays because, "no one has a $15 co-pay anymore." It isn't telling some of your best employees, "You better fix this, 'cause I know I can, but if I have to do it then what do I need you for?" It isn't giving appropriate raises only when another offer is on the table. It isn't paying $0.23 cents per mile because you won't need new tires, windshield wipers or an oil change just because you drove 200 miles in your vehicle for the company.
So what makes a company an Employer of Choice? It's the CEO asking how you are and waiting for an answer when he passes out Christmas gifts and even when he isn't. It's your boss telling you that you're doing a good job when you're doing a good job. It's a the board of directors deciding to give an additional bonus (to everyone) because the company had a good year. It's having an opportunity to advance your career by getting better in your current position or by changing positions within the company. It's having the tools readily available to do your job.
Having the perception that you work for the Employer of Choice isn't about the dollars you make or the work that you do, it's about knowing that you are fairly compensated, your work is appreciated and you are valued as a person and an employee.

Established in Logan by several Utah State University (USU) graduates, Great Divide Media, L.L.C. launched Uncharted, the world’s first media agency dedicated wholly to geographic social journalism.

With yesterday’s launch of the new Uncharted at http://www.uncharted.net , the Logan team met its goal to launch a new platform in travel and geographic publishing, combining an editorial staff with participatory journalism and social media.

As the media industry continues to adapt to an increasingly wired public, Uncharted evolved from its initial concept two years ago of launching as a printed magazine to the newly launched “geo-social media” agency.

The new website invites and empowers web users to explore the world and share their discoveries with others through the use of web-based multi-media tools. This “geo-social journalism” approach allows Uncharted’s professional editorial staff to collaborate with the public as they explore the world together. Registered users not only surf content, but also upload their own stories, photos and videos for publishing.

By launching these capabilities, Uncharted became the first travel and geographic media agency that is wholly dedicated to geo-social journalism.

In addition to operating the website, the company also publishes printed photos and other digital media for purchase. Uncharted inspires its audience to explore the world, discover the uncharted, live an active lifestyle, and share the emotion and compelling stories from those experiences with friends and the public.

The parent company of Uncharted, Great Divide Media, L.L.C., was organized and established in Logan on March 27, 2006, by seven USU graduates who hope the project can help many people attain lasting friendships, exciting discoveries and memorable adventures across the world. The team now includes additional associates in Utah, Idaho, Michigan, and several developmental contributors in the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, India and Nepal.

Saturday was the annual Cache Valley Share Parents balloon release. Share Parents is a group of people who provide support to families who are going through the pain of losing children to miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death. Every year families from the area meet together to memorialize and send notes of love to their angel children who have passed on.

It's a bittersweet event. Part of you is sad from the events that you are remembering, and yet happy you had the chance to have that little person be a part of you even for a small moment. It's amazing to see the families there, who have their arms around each other and are obviously so happy to have each other. It's heart wrenching to see young couples there who lost their first baby and haven't had the joy of a little one yet.

We all have a great respect for each other, because we know we are among others who've felt our exact sorrow and have been in our shoes. We also know that having been through it, life does go on and you do get feeling better. It's nice to reassure others of that.

I'm so grateful for Share Parents. The best service they give is at the time of the loss. They have sweet women who put together a small box of mementos for the parents to keep to remember their baby. They take teeny tiny clothes they have specially made for the babies and dress the babies, sometimes providing the parents with a picture of the baby if wanted. They come at any hour of the day or night to the hospital to sit with these devastated parents and say, "I know what you're going through, I understand". They give advice, love and share tears. I am grateful for the 2 special ladies that came to our room the night we delivered our stillborn son. They tenderly shared in our grief and helped us take care of the arrangements. The care continues on with monthly support meetings or activities organized by Share Parents, as well as personal friendships with the founders that have been forged through the adversities of losing a baby.

When we found out we were going to be delivering a second stillborn son, as devastated as we were, I was grateful to know that Share Parents was going to be right there to get us through it. Once again two sweet women were there soon after the delivery, and tenderly dressed him and let us hold him wrapped in a tiny blanket made just for him.

I'll never forget those moments of holding my two little sons and telling them goodbye. Though very very sad, those moments are so special to my husband and I.

We go back every September to the balloon launch to send a balloon for each of the boys. It's a time to reflect on how far we've come since those sad times, and support others who are in the midst of their grief.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who lead and support Share Parents of Cache Valley. You are angels to so many families in this area.

There have been a variety of makeshift memorials near the lonely, windswept ravine along Interstate 84 where a USU van crashed in September of 2005, killing nine.
Since the state doesn’t allow the public to place memorials in highway right-of-way, The Utah Department of Transportation removed wreaths put up there shortly after the tragedy. But more memorials have gone up in the succeeding months, including the sign, plastic flowers and Teddy bear in the photograph here, which sit on private property near the crash scene.
I stopped along the highway there, probably illegally, to take a picture of the scene. I was very moved by it and thought other Cache Valley residents would want to see it. I am posting the photo here as an example of the kind of thing any local resident can do to participate in yourcachevalley.com. If you see something you want to share with others in the community, it's very easy to load up a digital photo and write a little something to go along with it.

Crowds gather to welcome home the lead elements of the 145th Field Artillery Battalion (Utah Army National Guard) return from Iraq. The unit has spent the last 10 months in Southern Iraq helping with security at a prisoner detainee facility. The Cache Valley contingent of this unit was activated once before and this was their second deployment, the last time with the National Guard units out of Idaho. The flags present were part of an honor guard of the local motorcycle group which has made it a point to honor veterans all over the state. These Soldiers have been in Texas for a few days to be debriefed and prepared to return to their normal civilian jobs. These ceremonies have become commonplace as many of Utah’s National Guard soldiers are deployed and return.

Two students from Cache County were awarded recently as winners in the 2008 Utah Arbor Day Poster Contest.

Megan Fallin was recognized as a state-level winner. She is a sixth grade student at the Cache Valley Learning Center.

Amelia Anderson was recognized as a regional-level winner. She is a second-grade student at Wellsville Elementary.