OPINION
44 • AUGUST 2013
The Splash
Be purposeful about extending gratitude Brian Tracy said it so well: “Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” As a boy, my “current situation” was on the east side of London during World War II. Even my school was bombed; fortunately for us, it was at 5:30 a.m. We witnessed overhead dog fights as Spitfire fighter planes shot down Nazi V-1 rockets. Today, I am still full of gratitude for all the GIs who came through our village on their way to France to fight for freedom. As an immigrant, I’m thankful for a
By Ian Robertson
SPLASH GUEST COLUMN
Scottish employer, John Fergusson, who loaned me the money to come to the United States to continue my education. Imagine that! Loaning someone money to buy a one-way ticket to another continent. And I’m thankful to Dennis Ogle, a grocery store manager in Kansas City, who provided my first job within 12 hours of
Letters to the Editor GMS PTA says thank you It has been an amazing two years for Greenacres Middle School and the GMS PTA. We wanted to thank the families and businesses of this amazing community for their support and to let them know what we did with their monetary donations. In 2011-2012, $15,845 was provided to GMS through the PTA. This helped update two labs with brand new Multipoint Servers, providing 60 workstations. This money also helped purchase five SMART boards. In 2012-2013, $47,000 was provided to GMS through the PTA. This allowed for the purchase of 18 additional SMART boards and four SMART Response systems (two math and two general). To the hundreds of families and businesses who donated over the past two years, thank you for your support in changing the educational opportunities for our GMS students.
Michelle German, President Laura Wampler, Co-Vice President Stephanie James, Co-Vice President Christine Ohlsen, Secretary Kelli Gardner, Treasurer
GMS PTA Executive Board
Thanks for making the Relay a success The 2013 Liberty Lake Relay for Life was a great success, raising more than $26,000 in preliminary totals — with Team F-5 raising more than $9,000 alone! The teams decorated their sites with themes from various decades, and it was really fun to see the costumes. Again, F-5 really knocked it out of the park
being in this country. The attitude of gratitude — and the list goes on and on! Thanks + Action = Gratitude. It’s something we do. This month, show an attitude of gratitude once a day. It’ll make your day, and others will be grateful to you. Lost at sea, in the dark, and alone Round my neck was a heavy millstone. You threw a lifeline And it came just in time To face issues I'd tried to postpone. As I celebrated my 76th birthday last month, I am so grateful that I have a church and community that still provides
Editorial Cartoons
with their three-tent setup representing the “Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back” theme of Relay for Life. Thanks to Mirabeau Park Hotel and Cindy Esch for organizing a special catered dinner for our honored survivors. They really made it very special for our special guests and their caregivers. And, of course, our wonderful Kiwanis friends provided breakfast again. They do so much for our community. Along with breakfast, we had the Ryan Larsen Band, a favorite in the local area, and I am grateful they came to entertain us so early in the morning as they had a show until 2 a.m. the night before, and three shows including us on Saturday. Thanks also to Tony Townsend and family for their help. Thanks to Home Depot for the fun kids crafts. The Stateline Speedway is also very helpful by having a Relay NIght at the Speedway, where a 50-50 raffle helped raise money for this cause. There are more to thank, so please also see the advertisement in this issue. Thanks in general to all the entertainment, helpers, committee people and friends and family who jumped in to help out. But we need more help to put on this grand of an event. Come and find out what we are doing. There are many ways to help, teams to raise money, individual donations, volunteers to set up or take down — plan with us. You can contact Jennifer Kronvall, our ACS staff partner, at 242-8303 or jennifer.kronvall@cancer. org. I know that almost everyone has had some kind of experience with this disease, and I know we all want to fight it!
Jean Simpson
Co-organizer, 2013 Liberty Lake Relay for Life
the opportunity to serve others. So, this month, make a list, a list of people. Ian Robertson is pastor of Central United Methodist Church in Spokane, executive director of Shalom Ministries, and founder of Change for the Better Spokane. He received “Community Caring” and “Citizen of the Year” awards from the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce. The focus of his present ministry is providing skills training and creating jobs for the homeless and disadvantaged. He wrote this column as part of a series highlighting the PACE (Partners Advancing Character Education) trait of the month. The trait for August is gratitude.