From the Utah Peace Officer, Issue 83/1

What is better than being in college and having spring break? It’s getting away to UPOA Convention in February in St. George. It doesn’t get any better than that. Great weather, good food, good training and great friendships; and for those of you who couldn’t make it to convention you were missed. Thanks again to Dennis Bailey for setting things up for us and except for the ladies beer shoot, everything ran smoothly.
At the opening session on Thursday, the names of deceased officers were displayed on easels and our Chaplain, Aaron Rosen, paid tribute to them by reading their names and departments. Thanks to Toni Gillett for making the posters with the names.
The ladies met together for a session on strengthening relationships and the family. It was an excellent class, enjoyed by all. We thank Kathy for helping us to understand the need to communicate our feelings and emotions to our families in a better way.
Our Christmas charity this year went to the Christmas Box House, a shelter for foster children. The staff at the Christmas Box House explained that the older children (teens) do not get much for Christmas and gave us some hints as to help fill their wishes and needs as teens. We bought Toys and clothing for the children in foster care or those who were currently living at the house waiting for placement either with foster parents or their own parents when the time is right. During convention, the ladies auxiliary voted to give $500.00 each to two officers and their families who are struggling with very sick children and huge doctor bills. It is a great honor to be able to help these families cope with the strain the financial bind medical bills can create.
Our auxiliary fund raiser was again well supported at winter convention. Over $400.00 was raised with the generous donation of items. Thanks to Larry Gillett for his crafted bowl, Kelly Larson for his beautiful pictures, and Toni for the afghan and all of you for your support in buying tickets. You enable us to continue the auxiliary’s most important function, giving a helping hand to our law enforcement families and communities.
The ladies were unable to have their beer shoot because of some scheduling problems but thanks to Larry Wehrli for bringing down the beer. Now it’s in my basement waiting for summer convention.
Ladies, two dates to remember. The first is May 4th. That is the fallen officer’s memorial at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. We will be setting up the flags on the morning of May 3rd. Please plan to come help us and I will let you know the time as we get closer to May.
The second is Summer Convention, Aug 2-5 in Cedar City. It is scheduled this year to try to not conflict with children still in school, graduations etc. More information will be coming later as to convention center location and motel information. For the board members, the theme is “Fall Colors” (hard to think about now!), please plan on one table decoration and one door prize for the business meeting.
I am looking forward to seeing you in May and in August.

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From the Utah Peace Officer, Issue 82/4

Happy Holidays to All:
The holiday season is fast approaching and it is good time to be thankful for all the blessings we enjoy and also a time to remember and help those in our communities that may need some assistance. As you go about your busy Holiday schedules please remember our auxiliary Christmas charity that is always ready to help UPOA members and families that may need a boost at this time of year. If you know of anyone that could use a helping hand (they won’t ask, so you are their angel’s voice) please let the auxiliary know. You can reach me through the UPOA office.
A big thank you to Toni and Larry Gillette for their great work in the UPOA/Auxiliary hurricane relief project and their willingness to serve and turn their garage and home into a supply warehouse is a tribute to their commitment to UPOA. Their efforts were greatly appreciated by the officers and families in Madison County, LA who lost everything in hurricane Katrina. Things like this are what make our country the envy of the rest of the world. We also thank the unsung heroes that stepped forward to assist Toni and Larry gather the supplies and arrange the transportation of the goods to Madison County.
Plans are being made now for Winter Convention February 2nd and 3rd in St George. Please plan to attend. We are preparing activities that should result in everyone having a good time. We will be sending out a newsletter in January with the schedule of the events. Please keep in mind items for our auxiliary raffle. Anything you would like to donate will be greatly appreciated. This helps keep the funds available to help those in need a helping hand.
After many years behind the computer as Editor of our magazine, Brigitte Dawson has retired. At this time I would like to thank Brigitte for her hard work and dedication to UPOA and the Auxiliary. A good number of UPOA Past Presidents will testify to the fact that they would have been lost without her help. It only took a phone call and she had it done. We will miss Brigitte but know that she will not miss trying to get us to get our articles in on time. We welcome aboard Les Langford as the new editor. We wish Les a speedy recovery from his motorcycle accident and look forward to the new look as he puts his touch on the magazine.
As we celebrate the coming Holidays and give thanks for our many blessings, remember to ask for Devine protection of our public safety officers and our nations soldiers wherever their assignment may be. Happy Holidays!

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The Utah Peace Officer, Issue 82-3

Time is really flying. It’s hard to believe that three months have passed since we were at summer convention in Cedar City. For those of you who were unable to attend summer convention, you were greatly missed. Now is a good time to mark the calendar and reserving the time to be at next years convention. Encourage your spouses to put in early with their agency to attend next year.
A big thanks goes to those who planned the convention activities and secured the venues to meet in. Thanks to Cedar City for hosting UPOA in their lovely city and the businesses that extended a gracious welcome to us.
The range was a great facility for the shooters and thanks to the ladies that keep the registration and scores straight. I hope everyone was able to get to the K-9 Competition held at SUU. It was amazing to watch the dogs and handlers work together. After being in the sun at the range and at the K-9 Competition it was time to cool off at the BBQ. And mother nature did cool us off with a good rain storm that had us running for indoors but then passed by in time for dinner.
At the banquet we had good food, good company and great door prizes. Congratulations to Brent Merchant for winning the grand prize Television. It was then time to honor Toni Gillett for all the hard work and dedication as president last year. Larry pinned on her past presidents badge and didn’t even stick himself or Toni. She was presented a Bracelet and Ring as a gift of appreciation for a job well done. Also many thanks go to her board for their work and devotion to the auxiliary. The table decorations at convention were a tribute to Toni. Every table was a sea of purple, making Toni really happy because we all know her favorite color is purple!
The auxiliary raffle brought a good return for our bank account. This year we were especially grateful for the donation of a competition PPC pistol which we raffled separately. Linda Nielson was the winner of the drawing for the pistol. Way to go Linda! Being a shooter she will enjoy this fine gun.
At the business meeting it was decided to put together a quilt made up of department patches from as many agencies as we can get. Janet Lee has accepted the challenge to collect the patches and try to make the quilt top so we can quilt it at winter convention and then raffle it off at next summer convention. Please get your spouse and together contact the agencies in your region to obtain their department patch and send them to Janet ASAP. Her address is P.O. Box 510073, Mt Home, Ut 84051
We are also looking into selling those popular wrist bands as a fund raiser for the UPOA Auxiliary. Jill Shefer is looking into cost for us. We will keep you posted on this project.
Our theme for winter convention in St. George is a patriotic theme - Red, White, and Blue. Please be thinking about your table decorations and plan on bringing two of them for the winter convention banquet.
Thanks to all of you who have accepted positions on my board for the coming year. I really appreciate your willingness to serve. Let’s try to get more ladies involved in the UPOA Auxiliary during the coming year. It is great fun! Hope to see you in St. George!
If you have any questions or problems in your region you can contact me at GSMHaney@aol.com