The past few years have been a challenge around the country with the lockdowns and conflicts and upheavals. I made an observation at one point when everyone was wearing masks. I realized that no one was even making eye contact. I think the resulting dehumanizing of people when we couldn’t see faces, has not been fully resolved. 

I would love to see us come back together and be reminded about neighborhood barbeques, and picnics in the park, and neighborhood games. To remember how to build community, celebrating our successes, talking about issues through discussions and seeking to find understanding and solutions, even if we see things through different lenses. It’s good to have different opinions, otherwise all of us would be wearing the same outfits and sporting the same hairstyles. Variety and differences make us beautiful. 

I love all the efforts I’ve seen by our current Orem administration in spotlighting Orem businesses, and in supporting Family City USA. I love seeing the posts about new restaurants and Grand Openings. It’s fun to see our police reading with kids in the parks, and all the wonderful free events at our library. I love that our city is sponsoring free concerts in the park and supporting our local vendors at the weekly Farmer’s Market. 

I like that our current administration is looking ahead and have preserved the few public spaces we have left in our city through rezoning, so we will have schools and parks and open spaces for the future. I like that the city is doubling the number of people on our Neighborhood Commissions to get more residents involved and make sure issues in each neighborhood are addressed. I love that they support the arts, and efforts to beautify our city. I also understand the city has saved over $1 million dollars by streamlining executive management to be more cost-effective, responsive and efficient, and are now able to build a seismically safe new administration building without raising any taxes. 

Our group of volunteers (StandforOrem.org) is also focused on celebrating the good in Orem. Our “What’s Happening in Orem” Facebook group is open for all residents and we are showcasing upcoming events, concerts, plays, classes, deals at Orem businesses, and yummy restaurants we can support. We also will spotlight candidates and help voters get more information about upcoming elections and opportunities to meet the candidates. We invite all of Orem to join us. Let’s make Orem more united than ever before and celebrate the good. 

Tara Catmull, Orem

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