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C M Y K �� C M Y K Dr. Steven Bench & staff Fairview 427-3322 MERRY CHRISTMAS! Thanks for all your support during this last year! 435-445-3454 and Beck's 435-445-3840 Ephraim - 283-4033 As your home is filled with fine furniture, we also hope your homes are full of Christmas Spirit - giving, sharing, and caring. We thank you all for your patronage the past year, and wish you the brightest future for the coming New Year! Happy Holidays, from all of us at 14 W Main * Mt. Pleasant * 462-2698 Homes (Continued from A1) Put in a desperate situation, many children make choices they see as necessary for survival but are ultimately unacceptable in society. Sanpete County’s group homes offer programs for such troubled youth. Heather Wright, executive director of the YWEC’s House Number One, says, “Ephraim has been a wonderful place to be. We’ve been welcome here. The police department has been so good to come and process through things. That hasn’t been the case with a lot of places.” The residents of YWEC are placed through the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) and receive 24-hour intense supervision as they learn new life skills. “It’s different than what they’re used to,” says Jensen, who is the director of YWEC’s House Number Two. “When they come from no supervision to what we have to do, it’s hard for them. We do skills-development so they can learn the things they should have learned prior to coming here so they can become productive citizens.” Besides the life skills integrated into group-home pro- Blow in to see us for all your automotive and small engine repair! Thanks to everyone for your support throughout this year. We wish everyone a wonderful New Year! Ker’s Automotive & Small Engines 109 N. Main, Ephraim 283-6997 grams, many of them also strive toward flexible educational opportunities, says Todd Pay, owner of two group homes for boys. “In society we try to put everybody in one category,” Pay says. “We do it in our schools and our daily lives. We all have different ways of learning, different thoughts and beliefs. To try to make everybody learn one thing, I think you lose a few kids that way.” Pay’s program offers family therapy as well as individual counseling. “The therapist teaches both parents and child how to deal with certain issues that they’re struggling with as far as their relationship,” Pay says. Besides therapy and education with accredited teachers, group home residents receive hands-on training in various daily living skills such as laundry and other household tasks, handling insurance, banking, managing finances, building credit, getting into college, and �� YWEC residents even bake their own bread once a week. “Since they have to eat it, they’re learning how to make it really good,” says Wright. While YWEC is under the jurisdiction of the South Sanpete School District, Pay’s residents receive their education through North Sanpete School District. “Some of the kids have played athletics for the high school, like football and basketball and wrestling,” Pay says. “We send staff with them when they go do those things.” Some people are wary of group home residents, but don’t consider what life would be like without the programs that gather these young people in. “We all have a past,” Pay says. “There are so many different family backgrounds, teachings and lack of teaching in families. Those who get to know these kids see how they’re just normal kids that made a bad decision. A lot of them never return to the system when they go home.” Without the intervention of group homes, it’s most likely that the youths would be locked up in a secure facility without ��ronment or examples of another way to live. This could lead to repeat offenses and a lifetime behind bars. “If they had family mem- C M Y K Warm Holiday Greetings from Centerfield City! We’re happy to belong to a wonderful Sanpete community! Mayor: Thomas Sorensen BRYAN STRAIN / MESSENGER PHOTO �� bers willing to take responsibility, a lot of them wouldn’t be here,” Wright says. “In the 10 years I’ve worked here, I’ve found them mostly to be good kids, just confused. You see a lot of heartache, so it makes you thankful when people decide to keep moving forward. They stay �� are really resilient. Our goal is to teach them life skills so they can live a happy, productive life.” At YWEC, that involves the “Virtue Project,” which has been so successful that one YWEC graduate even posts the values on her Facebook page. “They learn how to be caring,” Wright says. “They learn that the world is give and take.” The Virtue Project consists of 58 values such as honesty, justice, kindness, and consid- �� page essay,” Jensen says. Added to lessons are handson community-service experiences. YWEC residents are experienced sod layers from working on Ephraim’s Canyon View Thanks for your friendship and support this year! Merry Christmas from (See “Homes” on A5) Councilmembers: Nancy Jensen Travis Leatherwood Keith Garff Mardy Jensen �� C M Y K
C M Y K �� Homes (Continued from A4) �� Park. They plant flowers for Manti City’s Main Street, pull weeds, take care of elderly people’s yards, clean vehicles, serve food and deliver prizes �� and make cards and goodies for Ephraim’s assisted living center. The residents of House Number One even participated in a community hula demonstration last summer. “We make a lot of blankets for Schriner’s Hospital,” says Wright. “The girls feel really good when they give something back.” Pay’s residents help at the county fairgrounds picking up garbage, mowing lawns, and painting bleachers. “We clean highways,” Pay says. “There’s a lot of farmers around that we help with their turkeys.” Besides community service, group homes boost the economy by buying supplies at area businesses and providing jobs for local residents. There are entry-level positions as well C M Y K �� Internet speed up to 50Mbps Introducing Internet speeds of 6, 12, 20 and 50 Mbps in the Sanpete area — Free installation — www.centracom.com | 427-3331 as professionally paid management, teacher and therapist positions. YWEC even donated $1,000 to the Christmas season’s Shop with a Cop program. Christmas holidays at a group home can be bittersweet. “Some of them have places to go,” Wright says, “but there are those who have not one family member.” Wright’s father, Ellis Peterson, takes the residents into the mountains to cut their own Christmas tree. Wright’s mother, Merlene, does a lot of creative things with the girls such as painting. “They did the window decorations,” Wright says, “and they made their own aprons.” The girls also get to participate in the age-old Christmas tradition of caroling. Santa Claus even makes an appear- �� in the some of the girls’ lives. At the boys’ home, Pay provides Christmas dinner. “The ones who can’t go home, we do SHIRLEY BAHLMANN / MESSENGER PHOTO a dinner and invite their families so they can have dinner with their families. We decorate and have Christmas trees.” Christmas provides a holiday to break up routine, but it doesn’t make everything all better. Pay recalls one young man who sat on a couch and cried for three weeks, refusing to do anything until Pay got him involved in the home’s automotive program, run by a mechanic who helps boys with job placement. The young man left Pay’s program a year ago. “I heard from him today,” Pay says. “He’s working in a gold mine and saving money so he can go to Vegas and get in a band. He’s clean and sober. It’s neat to see that kind of success and know that you have a part in that. It’s worth more than any money you could ever make doing a job.” The young man’s positive choices resulted in good consequences, a lesson that is hard to learn but important to Get a Tablet computer Free when you sign up for new Internet service or upgrade an existing account. know. Those who don’t learn it get themselves in negative situations that sometimes require police assistance. But, says Ephraim Police Chief Ron Rasumussen, “We try to do it in a way so they can understand we’re trying to help them get back on a positive track so that they can be a contributing part of society. A lot of times they don’t understand that one day, like all of us, we have to grow up and be accountable for the decisions we make.” � �� new lessons too hard and want to quit, the staff won’t let them. Wright and Jensen have seen many girls who would have been lost without intervention. “The hardest girl I ever had turned out to be one of the most successful,” Jensen says. “I even had one girl call me and say she’s going to medical school.” In Pay’s program, about 50 percent of the boys who are old enough decide to go to college. “A lot of my staff keep contact with kids so they’re an additional support after they leave,” Pay says. “When they call, we help them know how to handle certain situations.” At the YWEC, “The staff and girls become kind of like family” Wright says. “They add us on Facebook. The girls become like sisters.” Even though a lot of the resi- �� homes are angry and broken, the group home owners credit their staff and the community for helping with lifestyle repairs. “If you don’t quit, you never fail,” Jensen says. The support of those unwilling to quit on the “throwaway” members of society is what polishes them up, mends their hearts and shapes them with a new outlook to become unique, happy and productive citizens of society. Connection speeds are based on sync rates. Download speeds may vary due to network requirements and other reasons such as customer location, websites accessed, Internet congestion and customer equipment. Activation fee may apply. 12-month service contract and credit approval required for free installation. Requires compatible modem. Subject to additional restrictions and subscriber agreement. Free tablet available while supplies last, limit one per account. Tablet promotion expires 1/31/2013. Not available in all areas, at least not yet. Call for details. Burglar (Continued from A2) Heating, AC & Appliance Our warmest wishes for you and your family! C M Y K We wish you a very Happy Holiday Season All of us at the Manti Family Dental Clinic wish to express our sincere appreciation to our loyal and dedicated patients. We feel blessed to be your friends and dental health care provider. Sincerely, Dr. Aste, Mickie, Melinda & Nichole Service & Repair on all Major Brands Installation Services Available Countywide Service Honest, Professional, Reliable C M Y K �� in cash. He also had an orange pill in his pocket that police later �� to treat heroin and other opioid addictions. Upon searching his residence, police found Hatch’s sunglasses and electronic accessories, a used glass pipe and a bag of marijuana. Others in Manti have said they were victims of similar crimes on the night of Nov. 30. Gerald and Jen Christiansen had about $300 worth of property stolen from their vehicles, but some valuables were left untouched. “He reached over my pistol that was stuffed between the seats to take a bag of change,” said Gerald Christainsen. Scott Olsen said some change was taken from his daughter’s car as well. “Everything else was locked up,” he said. Katrina Madsen said her car was burglarized that night, and she lost a brand-new computer. According to witnesses, a vehicle owned by Laurie Miller was also burglarized that night. Richard Olsen said his home wasn’t burglarized, but some- �� the other burglaries. “My daughter saw him, and he took off and ran,” Richard Olsen said. His 17-year-old daughter heard the door open. She was in an adjacent room and leaned back to see who was there. She didn’t see his face, but Olsen said, “He matched the height and description of everything else that was going on around that time.” Hansen’s charges in Juab County, which stem from an August arrest, are similar to what he’s facing here in Sanpete. He allegedly entered several unlocked cars and homes without permission—often when residents were at home—and took anything of value that he could escape with. Hansen also faces drug-related charges in Juab. He is charged with distribution or arranging to distribute a controlled substance (third-degree felony) for allegedly stealing prescription drugs from vehicles in Nephi. He also faces four counts each of vehicle burglary and theft, which all allegedly occurred in Nephi. Hansen is scheduled to appear tomorrow for a preliminary hearing in 4th District Court in Nephi. His preliminary hearing in Sanpete was originally scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 12, but it has been continued until January 9, so his attorney, public defender Larry Hunt, can sort out the details of the many charges.
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