HomeMy WebLinkAboutNewsletter City_March 2014Mayor’s Message
M AR K YO U R
C AL E N D AR
M A R C H 2 0 1 4
City Council Meeting
March 5 & 19 @ 7pm
in the council cham-
bers at city hall
Upper Valley Idol
Bar J Wranglers
Romance Theater
Movies
Chronic Disease Self-
Management Program
Recycling Program
Changes
When I think back to all of the fine people who have contributed so much to our lifestyle here in this area, I
am very impressed with their generosity, their striving to persevere, and their dedication to the future genera-
tions. They were builders. Just think of all that they accomplished. Getting here in wagons was tough in it-
self. Grubbing sagebrush, building irrigation systems, a mill that would grind wheat for flour, a mill that
would provide sawed lumber. Places of worship and places that would educate the future generation. Wow!
They built the Tabernacle; hand worked the stone without the modern tools of today. That magnificent build-
ing was completed in about a year. Where did the money come from? They raised it themselves and then
raised the funds to furnish it. Two significant stone buildings on campus were also hand quarried and hand
dressed. The money? From right here in the community. Did it stop there? No! They were builders. There
was an attempt to get the State of Idaho to take over those buildings and the school. It did not happen. Yet,
undaunted these builders put their shoulders to the wheel and created an excellent college. The money? It was
often financed out of their own pockets. There was an attempt to move Ricks College to Idaho Falls. It did
not happen. The institution, like the community and its people endured! They were builders! The flood came
and destroyed much of Rexburg and other communities. Undaunted they rebuilt! They were builders! It has
ever been the way of the Upper Valley and her residents. They saved the Tabernacle. It was not wanted any-
more by the LDS church but the builders wanted it and they saved it.
Were there naysayers? Were there people who felt disenfranchised? I’m sure there were, but their names are
lost in history. The only names that remain and are revered are those who were builders!
We seem to face a time within the City of Rexburg and Madison County where nay saying has become a pop-
ular sport or tool of a radical fringe that seems to be encouraged by an out of state newspaper. The Rexburg
Standard Journal was at one time a locally owned and valuable asset to this community, however the current
out of state owners have assumed that “ginned up” controversies might sell more newspapers. Instead of be-
ing a builder it has become an adversary to the good people of this community. There has been such a dia-
tribe against local officials that make them
wonder why they bother to serve. Yet they
do so, because they are builders. The
naysayers are not builders! Some of them
have been defeated in their attempts at
becoming elected. They will not endure!
Their names will be forgotten! Only the
names of builders are remembered.
I have traveled about a good many years. I
have driven into a lot of farm and ranch
yards. The dogs would run out barking
and biting at the tires. Oh! They made a
lot of noise and at times were a little an-
noying, but I never had a flat tire from a
dog bite and my truck just kept on rolling,
and I never remembered any of their
names.
-Richard S. Woodland
The Builder
I saw them tearing a building down
A team of men in my hometown.
With a heave and a ho and a yes, yes yell,
they swung a beam and a sidewall fell.
And I said to the foreman, "Are these men skilled?"
"Like the ones you'd use if you had to build?"
And he laughed and said, "Oh no, indeed...
the most common labor is all I need...
for I can destroy in a day or two
what takes a builder ten years to do."
So I thought to myself as I went on my way...
Which one of these roles am I willing to play?
Am I one who is tearing down as I carelessly make my way
around?
Or am I one who builds with care, in order to make the world a
little better... because I was there? - unknown
35 N 1st E Rexburg, Idaho 83440
208.359.3020 / fax 208.359.3022
customerservices@rexburg.org
Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Arts and Recreation signups
start mid April
http://rexburg.org/pages/rec