Courtesy Mike Mendenhall

Thank you for a great Fiesta Days, Spanish Fork and all of Utah County that came down to join in the greatest Pioneer Day celebration! What a busy couple of weeks that’s only possible through countless hours of work, both by volunteers and Spanish Fork City employees. Thank you, to all of those who helped make it happen.

Specifically, I want to say thank you to some of the people at the Fiesta Days Rodeo on Patriot Night. Thank you to the teacher who sang the National Anthem, and to her mom who cheered her on through tears.

Thank you to the professional cowboys and cowgirls taking a risk to entertain us.

Thank you to the 8,400 in attendance with collective heads bowed in prayer, and hands on hearts.

And to the bearded guy in section D for flipping us off as we rode by in the arena — when my 6 yr old saw that gesture, he was confused, but he’s not now. I told him there’s more going on in your life that must be pretty tough for the double birds to come out at a rodeo. I reminded him that the flag we salute protects your right to express yourself. He included you in his prayers after the rodeo and that’s good company, brother. His Grandma and dog passed away last year, and they are still in his prayers every night, maybe you will be for a while too. God Bless.

Courtesy Mike Mendenhall

As we head into another political season, remember if you’re a candidate or a constituent, local politics are not what we are yelling at on cable news channels. Those politics are about power, preoccupation, and pathetic blaming for the “mess,” all while our credit rating as a country is downgraded.

For municipal elections, we will physically see each other in the grocery stores, parks, schools and churches during and after the election. How we each act, speak and type online can certainly damage our individual relationships and reputations. After a decade into local politics, I promise you that politics aren’t worth that.