From Deseret News archives:
Mayor shares sorrows, triumphs
Huntington is a close-knit family, says Mayor Hilary Gordon, who officiated Saturday at Danielle's wedding.
Mayor Gordon is the town's only florist, so even before the events of the past month she has given a lot of thought to the way life is an endless series of beginning and endings. Funerals, weddings, new babies, the death of a new baby a florist becomes enmeshed in a town's cycle of tragedies and triumphs.
Huntington's very public tragedy took another sad turn Friday when an official from the Mine Safety and Health Administration announced to families that the search had been indefinitely stopped, and four weeks of bore holes and hope were officially over.
Two hours earlier, several dozen family members and friends of the lost miners stood on a ridge in the Manti-La Sal Forest and released a golden eagle, each feather representing a prayer. Sandwiching that event, Gordon received two phone calls: one from a friend whose infant grandson had just died, the other about the birth of Gordon's latest great-grandson.
In Huntington and the surrounding communities, the light poles are still wrapped in yellow ribbons, and signs still say "Never Lose Hope." The flag in front of City Hall on Main St. has been at half-mast since the death on Aug. 16 of three miners trying to rescue their buddies.
The flag could also be for the trapped miners, of course, but even when MSHA announced the search was over, no one used the word "dead."
Gordon had been mayor for just three weeks when the mine collapsed, but has emerged as a straight-shooting, eloquent, lilting voice.
She never intended to be mayor, she says. And then one day, sitting on the City Council, she had what she describes as a "funny feeling." The council was looking for someone to replace the former mayor, who was resigning for health reasons, and the funny feeling told Gordon she was "supposed to sign up."
Still, Gordon resisted. Then she'd be doing the laundry, and the voice would say "you haven't signed up for mayor yet," and she would say "Would you stop? I'm not going to."
Comments
- Officer fatally shot near Pittsburgh 9:35 a.m.
- Herzog, Harvey elected baseball HOF 9:32 a.m.
- Stocks steady in early trading 9:30 a.m.
- U.K. paper: U.S. in lead over England 9:29 a.m.
- AOL ends ties with Time Warner 9:25 a.m.
- Senate to confront abortion in debate 9:10 a.m.
- EPA: Greenhouse gases harmful 9:08 a.m.
- 'Openness' workshop closed to public 9:00 a.m.
- Thousands protest in Iran 8:47 a.m.
- Messy Monday morning commute 8:22 a.m.
- BYU and Utah's bowl games
- BYU professor remembered
- Cougars going back to Vegas
- Y., U. to learn bowl destinations
- TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
- Utah/BYU rivalry can be more civil
- The forgotten ship: USS Utah
- Utes excited to go to San Diego
- Bring the true spirit of Christmas
- Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
- Letters: Liberal because LDS
259 - Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
224 - Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
189 - Aggies shoot past Cougars
179 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
146 - N.Y. Senate rejects gay marriage
131 - George lost in rivalry hatefest
114 - Ed Smart 'appalled' at testimony
98 - Harpring's NBA career is over
95 - Cougars going back to Vegas
92
Trolley Square's annual Holiday Open House will feature visits with...
That does it — I'm having an affair! Thanks to Tiger Woods, David...
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask...
Name me one other organization, at any level, that allows their National...
Don't know who you think you are fooling. I would ask why do you think you...
"Civility does not matter if you are a Republican." That was meant to...
Boise 2 bcs appearances BYU 0 bcs appearances Face it, the WAC is head...
If this bill is going to passed on the backs of the elderly, the AARP would...
This is evidence that journalism in the world and the U.S. is in the tank...
Who ever said they were spokesmen for the LDS Church, that would be like...
Again global cooling in the 70's and global warming now, (now named climate...
"Next year is going to be worse. So much for higher standards." actually...
This whole conversation reminds me so much of what President Gordon B....




You can be the first to comment on this story.