By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
Following another meeting of the Emery County Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Jordan Leonard joined the KOAL Newsroom to discuss new developments across the county.
Much like the commission meeting, Leonard emphasized education for students across the county, focusing on another donation to Emery High band students traveling to Washington, D.C., to perform at the Veteran’s Memorial. “We added a couple more members. We felt like we needed to support them. Not very often do we get our youth invited to Washington to play at the Veterans Memorial and other places in Washington, D.C., so we felt like we needed to support them on their trip. So we’re excited for them.”
Another exciting opportunity for an Emery High Student comes for Izzy Turner, who was selected to attend the Governor’s Honors Academy at Southern Utah University. To support this, the Commission approved a $250 donation to her cause. “They have to hold a certain GPA and be service-oriented in the community. We love it when our youth learn about government and community development. And we felt this was a good one to support Izzy on her invitation to attend that conference.”
Commissioner Leonard’s final education-based item touched on a donation to 13 Huntington Elementary Archery team members to travel to the World Archery Tournament in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “They attended different events and they’ve qualified for the world tournament. So we felt like it was another part of that youth development. It’s really expensive to go back there for the days that they’re going. And we were just a small donation for that, but we wanted to support that and those kids going to do that archery event.”
Combining these three topics into a singular message, the Commissioner explained the grander idea behind these donations,” I think the key to it is these after-school programs keep our youth out of trouble, building relationships and being a part of a team and community.”
Moving forward, Leonard gave a shoutout to the Emery County Office of Tourism for their work in preparing for the summer travel months. “We were focusing more on events and giving opportunities for our community and people outside to come to fishing tournaments and different events in the county. We have bike rides and ATVs, but we want to market in certain ways and make sure that we direct them into areas where we want them to go. Some areas are really sensitive to the county, and we need to be cognizant of those areas and not promote them as much. But we want to promote the areas we don’t mind people attending.”
He continued,” Their office is great. They work with us closely. We address our community’s concerns and try to do our best to support the office. But they’re fantastic.”
Our penultimate topic of conversation with the Commissioner was a series of upcoming events across Emery, starting with Orangeville Days on June 13 and 14. “These community events are great. There are lots of different activities, and I love the booths. And these community events really keep our communities together. Sometimes, we only see each other at these events in the community. So it’s a great way to rub shoulders.”
He also spoke about the Castle Country Classic Livestock Show, which will be held Starting Thursday, June 19. “Our history and heritage is farming and ranching, and we’re excited for these stock shows. It brings like-minded folks to our community. And it’s cool to see these animals that have been raised in our community and how they’re showing them off.” Leonard added,” And then we get folks from outside the area that we can glean information from and see their animals. So please come out and support the stock show when it happens.
Closing out our conversation, Commissioner Leonard stated,” We just want to give thanks to all those who have served and been a part of our community and just want to give a shoutout to those who have passed and made our community what it is today.”