The Sweetest Valentine

Last week I got some of the best valentines I'd ever received. They were from Bennion Elementary students. Mrs. Hartman, Bennion's librarian, and her students made valentines to thank me for the book donations I delivered to their school in late January. Each valentine tells of each child's love of books and reading. They still bring tears to my eyes.

Really, they should have been sent to all of you who bought books from our holiday Angel Tree and at the January Be $ensible gathering. I donated a couple of titles I loved. But mostly I was the courier for the titles you bought for the school.

Thank you generous customers for allowing me to deliver books to kids who love and need them. You really came through.

Catherine

Be $ensible: An Update

If you missed the first Be $ensible event on January 22nd, you missed two hours (it seemed shorter!) of intelligent, non-inflammatory political discussion courtesy of Pat Shea, Rod Decker, and Paul Rolly. You also missed some dynamite bagels courtesy of Black Market Bagels and coffee courtesy of Sam Weller's and the Coffee Garden.

I'm also pleased to report that many books were bought for the Bennion Elementary School library. In fact, it looked like a plague of locusts had swept over the table displaying the books that Bennion needed. The best kind of locusts of course: the reading, giving kind. Delivering the books was the highlight of my week. The librarian went through the box ooohing and aaahing over every title. She's already got plans for many of the books. Thank you all.

Don't feel bad, dear readers, if you missed January's Be $ensible event. There are still ways to get involved. First of all, visit the Be $ensible web site and nominate your favorite legislative actions for the most sensible, least sensible, and the best alternative to legislative actions this Session. You can also nominate the Pat Bagley cartoon that best captures the 2011 Legislative Session. We will award prizes—books of course!—to the nominees whose suggestions win in their respective categories. Awards will be given at the Session wrap up.

Yes, we'll be meeting again. On Saturday, March 12th at 4:00 p.m. we'll review the General Session of the 59th Utah State Legislature with the same wonderful panelists. Come prepared to discuss, celebrate, commiserate, and do whatever it takes to put the Leg to bed. As previously mentioned, we'll award the Be $ensible prizes at that time. We'll also have another table of books for donation to the Bennion Elementary School library.

Oh and don't forget to wear your Be $ensible button to the store during the time the Legislature meets. If you do, you'll get a 10% discount when you buy a book.

Hey Angel!

You’ve no doubt seen the edge of the M. Lynn Bennion Elementary School as you’ve driven up 400 S. or perhaps stopped for their students crossing 900 E. in Salt Lake City. Located at 429 S. 800 E., Bennion is a Title 1 School in which 86% of the students are economically disadvantaged. That’s not the whole story: Students at Bennion speak over 19 languages and represent cultures around the globe, and their teachers have an average of 20 years experience accompanied by a deep commitment to the academic and personal progress of each child. But let’s face it, in these tough economic times, schools like Bennion and its students need help more than ever.

That’s why Sam Wellers Books has chosen to mount an Angel Tree for Bennion Elementary. Beginning in early December and running through the holidays, customers of Wellers will be able to support the educational mission of Bennion by choosing a star from the Angel Tree conveniently located on the Main Floor and buying the school a book (or two!). Each title on the Angel Tree will be a title requested by the librarian, teachers, staff, and students of Bennion. So you know the book you chose will not be a duplicate or go to waste. To make the experience as easy as possible for you and for Bennion, Sam Wellers will deliver all of the donated books to the school in the first week of January. And to make the buying as painless as possible, Wellers will discount all Angel Tree donations 20%.

Join us in supporting a worthy school full of students eager to read. Then, when someone asks you, “Is heaven missing an angel?” you’ll know it’s not just a cheesy pick-up line