Not Just A Hat Rack

Dave Checketts: Next LDS Prophet?

Several weeks ago, I asked my good friend Scot Woodbury to help me understand the LDS Church's transition from President Gordon B. Hinckley to Thomas Monson.

In the early days of RSL, in temporary offices across the street from Temple Square, Scot wore many hats for the club, including self-appointed welcoming committee to several of us who had very little experience in Utah. His contributions to the rise of RSL are often overlooked. Thank you, Scott!

Following are his unedited responses to my questions.

SW: Thank you for this opportunity to let me be a guest blogger on your outlet to the world. I appreciate your respect for my faith. I love taking about my faith and how ultimately I live it because it makes me happy and provides me with many answers to life’s important questions. Just a little background for your readers on me. I grew up a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (hereafter referred to as LDS). I was raised in Davis County, Utah and participated in all the youth programs the church offers. When I was 19 I was called to serve in London, England for two years as a missionary (I gained 30 pounds whilst I was there, that is weight not money). I got married 16 months after getting back from my mission in the Salt Lake Temple and have three wonderful kids, Emma, Ben and Lucy.

I decided that the best way for me to do this was to answer your questions as you posed them. I have nothing to hide and am happy to share my belief on my beloved prophet President Hinckley and his successor President Monson. Also for your readers I have included a few links at the end of this if people want to get more info then what I have provided. Also I would be happy to do other entries.

1) SP: How is the prophet dying different from the Pope?

SW: Obviously for me as a member of the LDS church, the prophet is much more significant then the Pope. He was my prophet. The one who speaks with my Heavenly Father and receives revelation and direction for the church and whose teachings will help me to be a better father, husband, employee and servant to my community. But both leaders are revered by their followers as Divinely-chosen leaders of their respective churches. So the emotions and thoughts I had surrounding the death of President Hinckley were probably very similar to the feelings of a devoted Catholic.

2) SP: What do you think of Mr. Monson? I am skeptical of anyone who has spent so much time overseeing media/media business. (It seems so contrary to) the respect I had for President Hinckley.

SW: President Monson is an amazing man. I have met him and was impressed by his great ability to make everyone feel special. He is one of those people that not only genuinely care about people he meets but makes them feel as if they are the most important person in the world. President Monson like President Hinckley understands the importance of all forms of media in furthering the work of the church. I have no doubt he will offer similar media availability as President Hinckley did. President Monson has long been one of my favorite leaders of the LDS church. He is an amazing orator and has a gift of taking everyday experiences and turning them in to teaching moments. I have heard it several times that President Monson is different from the average person in one respect. We all received little impressions or feelings that we should do something but often dismiss them for one reason or another. When President Monson feels impressed to do something he does it. He is a great example to me of not only being hearers of the word but doers also (James 1:22 KJV). I am confident and put my trust and faith in President Monson as my new prophet and spiritual leader. He will continue the work of President Hinckley and will I am sure have a similar attitude towards the media and other faiths.

3) SP: Tongue in cheek - why won't Dave Checketts ever be prophet?

SW: I know you said that this could be off the record but I have no problem answering this. The simple answer is this: in theory Dave could be the prophet. I could be the prophet. But in practicality and more importantly in the way the succession of the church works, we probably will not be. The succession as you may have read is based on seniority amongst the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the governing body of the church). If Dave or myself or any other male in the church was called to be in the Quorum and outlived the others then we would be prophet. It is most likely not going to happen because the path to leadership in the LDS church begins typically when one is younger. President Monson for example was a Bishop (leader of his local congregation) at age 22, a president of a church mission in Canada at age 32 and called to be an Apostle (Quorum of the Twelve) at age 36. He was groomed to be a leader in the worldwide church not just his local congregation. But the wonderful thing about the LDS church is we are given many opportunities to serve (there is no paid ministry) and with a church that is lead by continual revelation, one never quite knows what the Lord has in store. I personally have had many great opportunities to serve in the church and have seen great blessings as a result of my service. I think this is one of the greatest things about the church is that we serve in our various callings (opportunities) because we know of the great blessings that will come to us as individuals and as families and not because we are getting paid.

More informative links:
President Monson Biography

The Church Official Website

Here is , an official church site that answers more questions about the basic beliefs

The Woodbury Family Blog

Scot S. Woodbury.

How cool is that? Thank you again, Scot! I am sure Scot will answer any questions you have. Feel free to leave comments below.

If there's hypocrisy, it must be Utah.

One of the most televised and attended events in Utah's history takes place today, when Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the LDS Church, is buried at 11am. With no disrespect to Hinckley, whom I have great admiration for, or the significance of his passing, three stories in today's Salt Lake Tribune illustrate how those of us who don't practice the dominant religion find it perplexing to live alongside its fervent participants.

1) This BYU baseball star has, according to the paper, been kicked off the team for not attending church enough. If you read the article, he claims he's attended his Provo ward six of the past 11 Sundays, missing only when he attended another ward, came to SLC for General Conference or was ill. I'm sure there's more to the story, but if anything less than 75% attendance gets you kicked off the baseball team, isn't that a little strict? Can anyone tell me if the Jim McMahon's of BYU history attended church so diligently? On the other hand, a more cynical observer immediately thinks, "It's probably drug abuse or alcohol indiscretion, but they're covering it up and blaming it on church attendance." Which doesn't make it better, but smacks of a pervasive culture here to make things look nice on appearance, regardless of true circumstances. This frequently is raised in the much more serious realms of prescription drug abuse and rape.

2) Now this guy reflect the other side of the prism - non-Utahans who just can't come to grips with the dominant religion's influence on state institutions. He argues that we shouldn't fly the flag at half mast for Hinckley since he wasn't a veteran and never served in public office. Point taken, but such blurring or church and state is an unfortunate byproduct of life here at LDS World Headquarters. I had the same thought initially as the letter writer, but it's not likely to change any time soon. Don't agree? Move back to Oregon.

3) Finally, in the "yes, you have good intentions, but your business is ILLEGAL" department, there's this story rife with hypocrisy. Recently, a dude named Thompson was arrested for soliciting teen girls for sex. Turns out he was the manager of a video store that was shut down by the feds because it was cleaning up Hollywood films (deleting the sex and violence, dubbing over off-color language, etc.) and then renting them to clean-minded citizens. Too bad Hollywood thought that this was an egregious violation of their copyright, and the courts agreed. Anyways, the guy who launced the Clean Flicks brand and concept (and lost to Hollywood) is suing the sex offender for defaming his good name. He's trying to relaunch his video store with only G- and PG-rated movies (and no porn studios in the back). Whatever.

OK, off to buy skis for the boys while 30,000+ head to the funeral and millions more watch on FIVE different networks.

By the way, I get a break from shoveling. It didn't snow last night! But a "major" storm is due tomorrow.

I leave you with this, also from the Tribune:

Sun & Snow

Which of these is Utah... which is Los Angeles?

The power of the Purple (Go Northwestern!) comes to the front lines of the writer's strike... at least none of my friends look like their starving. How many months has it been? Solidarity!

At the other end of the weather spectrum, this from today's paper:

City snowplows have been working around the clock for weeks, and the snow removal budget was busted "quite a while ago," said Pace Erickson, operations manager. Crews are setting records for hauling snow out of Park City - there is no place left in town to pile all the white stuff.

I wasn't making it up. Six more inches forecast for SLC tonight. Where to put the stuff?

Also, click here to see my first column for ussoccerplayers.com... the official mouthpiece for the US Soccer Men's National Team Player's Association. They invited me to write after reading my first two columns for the Salt Lake Tribune. Also on the writing front, the 2008 Fodor's Guide to Yellowstone is in its final edits. Look for it this summer.

Gotta go sleep so I can get up and shovel snow for the seventh time this week in the morning.

Building Walls Against the Neighbors

9:30pm... 25 degrees outside... just came in from another half hour of snow shoveling.

The Himalayan range of snow between us and our neighbors to the west has now reached the height of my hips. Utah cities are reporting that they they have exhausted their street-cleaning budgets, or... run out of places to put the snow. Put the snow. Like, "we got such a good deal on potatoes we bought 30 pounds and we don't have a place to 'put the potatoes.'" Put the snow? You pile it up. You push it around. It melts! Nope, not here, not this winter.

I'm officially impressed. We haven't seen our grass since Thanksgiving weekend - that's nine straight weeks of snow on the ground. The ice is 2" thick in a couple spots in the driveway. I've tried to create a consistent snowplow path to move the trash cans from the garage to the sidewalk. Now, this is winter. I don't remember this much white stuff in Chicago in ten winters there. Sure, you'd get a foot here and there but it goes away. You don't have to come up with places to "put it."

Today's storm hit mid-morning with a wall of black clouds that looked like an oncoming tornado. It was 40 degrees when I took Lucca to school at 8:30 - yet the clouds brought 75mph wind, a precipitous drop in temperature and 4-6 inches of snow in less than three hours. It was cool. I saw a half dozen accidents and slide-offs in the four mile circuit from my office to Lucca's school to home. On my way back to work, I tried to play good samaritan and answered a woman's plea for a ride from a bus stop near my house to a pharmacy about a mile away. But the pharmacy was up a hill and the first road, (400 South which leads to the football stadium) was closed by police. 200 South was open, but I watched a Honda SUV make it half way up, start sliding backwards and narrowly miss a parked car. Fortunately a snow plow came by. I circled around the block to follow him up the hill. He made it halfway. And stopped. He couldn't make it either. After 15 minutes, my hitchhiking passenger decided to walk. Hope she made it.

The far more serious news here in the Beehive State today is the passing of 97-year-old LDS President, Seer, Prophet and Revelator, Gordon B. Hinckley. As much as I can be cynical about the "dominant religion" here, I have been impressed with this man, his work and his legacy. Every organized religion deserves a servant and leader so humble and with such conviction.

His 80-year-old apparent successor, Thomas Monson, seems a little creepy to me... he sold newspaper advertising... then managed and served as director of the Deseret News (LDS-owned) daily newspaper, and also oversaw KSL, the church's TV station... how many media sales people do you know that you'd have confidence in to direct your global religion with 13 million followers? Who am I to say... he's not my prophet, revelator and seer.

This and That...

Sir Edmund Hillary passed away yesterday. Ironically, I was working on a 2008 trekking preview for Snow Lion, including an ascent up the "Hillary Route" to Everest Base Camp, when I learned the news. It's safe to say that the company, and the Himalayan trekking industry, would not exist, at least in their present form, if it were not for the gentle 6'5" beekeeper whose humanitarian work on behalf of the Sherpas is immeasurable. "Nothing Venture, Nothing Win" was the book-length biography I read as a teenager and has inspired me to back down from no challenge ever since.

The current issue of Runner's World has a gripping series of stories on the 2007 Chicago and New York Marathons. Two of the largest races in the country, both were marked by tragedy. The magazine took a Newsweek style approach to understanding the factors that led to the cancellation of the Chicago race several hours in, due to extreme heat conditions. Then, editor Amby Burfoot spent several days following up on the death of U.S. marathoning star Ryan Shay at the Olympic Trials in New York City. Good stuff, whether you run or not. Speaking of running, it's Disney Marathon weekend in Orlando. Mrs. 'Hat Rack is going after another personal first. She'll run the Half Marathon on Saturday and the Full Marathon on Sunday (that's 39.3 miles in all) - all in pursuit of a medal shaped liked Goofy. That is goofy. But we love her!

Kevin Sites' In the Hot Zone is worth a read, folks. And not just because we both graduated from Medill, Northwestern's journalism school! He visited 20+ war zones in one calendar year including the obvious ones, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, etc. He also checked in on the Maoist insurgency in Nepal, the tenuous ceasefire in Congo, monks vs the military in Burma/Myanmar, the aftermath of war in Vietnam and Laos, etc. I'm in awe of his dedication to shed light (and hope) on some of the most depressing examples of humankind's dark side. I think I'd have post-traumatic stress disorder. I bought it in the Fall, which makes it's references to events from last July all the more remarkable. You don't get much more current than this in a widely published book these days!

I talked to RSL GM Garth Lagerwey this week in anticipation of my next Salt Lake Tribune column next week, which will be on the MLS SuperDraft... He should be in Florida by now at the Player Combine. Knowing the pressures of the chair in which he sits, its challenges, and the passion that you have to bring to it, I'm rooting for him.

I'm also rooting for the Red Rocks. Utah's nationally ranked women's gymnastics team takes on nemesis and defending NCAA champion Georgia tonight at Huntsman Center. I won't make it, but if you're in the neighborhood and have never attended a meet, don't miss it! Arrive early - this one might sell out. (That's right, 16,000 people at a gymnastics meet. Gotta love it!)

A Perplexing Lunch

Huh?!

So I had lunch with an old friend (strictly business!) who was able to put the meal on his University of Utah expense account credit card... which is clearly marked that he/it/our lunch is tax-exempt. He forgot to tell the waitress, so he had to send the bill back the first time. Now, if we'd had a beer, it's not tax-exempt, but food is.

I can't quite fathom why this meal should not be subject to the same 6-ish% tax that the rest of us pay when we have Salt Lake's best pizza at Settebella, but I'm not complaining. My tax money supports the U, but when they take me out to lunch, we don't pay sales tax and support the U.

Ok, lots to cover, we move on.

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How about those Seattle Dancing Pandas! In addition to reaching out to Asia and the world with a dodeca-lingual website, the new MLS team in Seattle is pushing all the right buttons.

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1) 3,000 season ticket deposits already.
2) A celeb owner in Drew Carey (who was very funny, and very serious on Monday Night Football when talking about the fans having the opportunity to vote out the GM every four years).
3) And a glib GM/minority owner in Adrian Hanauer who brought up the Dancing Panda idea when asked what he would name his team.

I like these guys. By the way, I wonder if I would have had a better shot if the fans were voting on my future at RSL...

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Michael Castner is out at KSL? That didn't take long. I wondered how long ultra-conservative (I'm sorry, is "off-the-charts, hate-filled, right-wing" taken?) KSL would put up with Castner and his band of hip, saracastic, dare-I-say-liberal evening talk hosts ... so I guess I'm not surprised. As much as I respect Ethan of SLC SPIN fame, I'm not sure he nor the rest of the ensemble has enough to carry the show. Maybe they'll import the guy who looks like Chris Elliott who stole the show at Plan-B Theatre's Exposed?

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Barry Bonds indicted for obstruction of justice? That's all they could come up with? Pathetic. I don't even like Bonds, but I think for all that MLB has gone through in the past 15 years, someone could produce an outcome with more excitement than this...

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My good friend Peter Wilt ended his somewhat Quixotic journey to bring Major League Soccer to Wisconsin. As expected, he said and did all the right things in his exit. Peter, the way you put your heart and soul into everything you do inspires many! I hope you live to see the "Green Bay Packers" of MLS in Wisconsin some day!

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Newsflash - Change on the horizon at RSL! Ok, that in itself, given the team's 37-month tenure is not news. After all, nothing can help that organization more than about 24 months of stability. The clock hasn't started yet.

It's Election Day in Utah

The local Emigration Grocery owner running for City Council to represent my neighborhood, JT Martin, has asked me 12 times to vote for him in person or via fliers on my door stop. Hey, JT - I will! Good luck! Now leave me alone and go make SLC more friendly for small business.

I jumped on the Ralph Becker bandwagon about two weeks before the primary. Although he leads comfortably, I am sure that his team is hoping that Utah democrats are not complacent, and show up in droves to give him a mandate to lead Salt Lake. I think that will happen... come this time tomorrow night, Mr. Becker is our mayor-elect.

What other place has a highly controversial REFERENDUM 1 on the ballot - adjacent to PROPOSITION 1? You think voters can keep them straight? I consider myself pretty well informed but didn't realize the "spend $190 million on police and fire stations" proposition had a number... and that it was the same number as "spend $400 million of general fund money to supplement schools money and give out vouchers to allow parents to take their kids to private schools." I'm for both... I'm guessing this notoriously CHEAP government in this state hasn't provided sufficient police and fire coverage (although we get a cop nailing speeders at least once a month on my block)... and since the same cheap government has notoriously underfunded public schools for decades (Utah is 51st in per pupil spending, behind public education magnates DC and Mississippi - but we're ahead of Puerto Rico?), the $400 million doesn't go to schools unless you pass vouchers (they'll spend it on silly soccer stadiums - that's sarcasm of course - I happen to think that's a fine use of public funds), so I say, "What the hell.. let's be the nation's petri dish and try a comprehensive voucher program."

My guess is Dave Buhler loses to Becker with 40-ish % of the vote, and vouchers get trounced (less than 35%).

Speaking of petri dishes, I can't wait to collect my thoughts on "EXPOSED" - a little play from KUED's Mary Dickson (a former Snow Lion traveler, I might add) which just sold out its world-premiere two-week run here in SLC and is headed to much, much bigger things. I predict Broadway. Seriously.

Day One of the Ralph Era is dawning... and only 364 days until Bush is ousted!

Snow Lion Expeditions adds two

(Salt Lake City, Utah – October 18, 2007). Snow Lion Expeditions, an award-winning purveyor of treks and cultural journeys to Asia, welcomes Steve Pastorino and Julie Hill to its staff today.

Steve Pastorino will serve as Snow Lion’s Vice President of Marketing, overseeing the company’s aggressive expansion plans via traditional advertising, targeted group sales, new markets and branding. He brings more than 16 years of sales, marketing and management experience, primarily in the professional sports and entertainment arenas. Pastorino previously served as General Manager of Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake franchise.

Pastorino, who was born in Caracas, Venezuela and raised in Latin America and Europe, brings a passion for creating memorable moments for guests.

“I have always tried to create memorable experiences and treat customers like friends,” Pastorino said. “Snow Lion does the same, except with Himalayan peaks, lush river deltas and meaningful cultural landscapes as the backdrop.”
Julie Hill will serve as Snow Lion’s Expedition Logistics & Guest Services Manager. Hill will collaborate with airlines, hotels, trip expedition leaders and a network of travel contacts around the world to ensure every detail of a journey is executed flawlessly.

Hill learned the travel business at Holland America Cruise Lines, working with reservations, group sales, travel agents and guests. She spent the last decade arranging group travel for executives and visiting representatives for a large, private financial brokerage firm in California.

“Asia is a thriving, vibrant place,” Hill said. “I look forward to working with all of our offices, partners and friends there. We all share the common goal of delivering world-class experiences for our guests.”

“Throughout Snow Lion’s history, I have been fortunate to surround myself with ambitious, talented people who care greatly about our destinations, our guests and their experiences,” says Snow Lion Expeditions founder and CEO Ron Barness. “As we enter the next exciting phase of our company’s growth, I am confident that Julie and Steve will help me achieve our goals.”

Since 1992, Snow Lion Expeditions has been a pioneer in Asian travel, creating enchanting itineraries for guests to more than a dozen Asian countries. Originally a Himalayan trekking company, Snow Lion now offers more than 40 different itineraries include World Heritage Sites like the Mekong Delta, Angkor, Great Wall and Silk Road; as well as less-traveled destinations like Burma, Mongolia and, for the first time in 2008, North Korea. Snow Lion’s trips have been repeatedly selected as the world’s greatest adventures by National Geographic Adventure and Outside magazines.

RSL Fan Doing Good Things

The RSL fan community is vast and diverse. I have had the wonderful fortune to interact with many of them in person and on line. I'm always curious what walks of life the raving, scarf-wearing, hard-earned-dollar-spending RSL fans come from.

That being said, I just want to throw a spotlight on one of them... Lindi S. and her husband, Roger, have been loyal fans through three tumultuous years (that's an understatement) in their family. Recently, she's done some yeoman's work helping to create a website for the Provo Health Department's WIC Clinic. Mrs. 'Hat Rack and I had another friend in Chicago who did very noble work for WIC, so I happen to know how great the need is.

If you're not familiar with WIC (Women, Infants & Children), it is a nutrition program for for low-income mothers and families. In the website's words:

WIC provides supplemental nutritious food, nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion, and referrals to other agencies. WIC is not an entitlement program. It is for low-income pregnant, post-partum, or breastfeeding women and their children, up to age five. Participants must have a nutrition risk. They must also be at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level. The program provides short term help to participants. WIC works with other health programs to better help participants. WIC’s help is important during critical times of growth and development. It works to decrease the risk of poor birth outcomes and to improve health.

As the luckiest parent in the world, with three kids ages 5-and-under, I can't think of a more worthy endeavor than ensuring adequate nutrition and safe breastfeeding for children. Lindi - great work on the WIC website.

Here's hoping a few more eyes are opened c/o the 'Hat Rack.

Lil Ol' Utah

Utah passed Vermont last Winter to become the third busiest state in the nation for skiing, trailing only Colorado and California. A half million or so of those skiers, including me once, went to The Canyons - a relatively new resort on the edge of Park City closest to I-80. The resorts are notoriously private about their "attendance" but the safe bet is that Park City, Deer Valley and Snowbird round out the top four.

I mention these because skiing (and the 2002 Winter Olympics) has finally put Utah on the map for something other than the state church, polygamy and the Golden Spike.

I've been talking to a lot of winter sports industry leaders for a series of stories I'm writing that will be published in various publications this Fall. (The Hat Rack will alert the world when they're available at your newstand or in your in-flight magazine. Everyone is bullish on Utah, where skiing, skating, sledding and jumping are more and more a vital part of the state's economy. (It's a billion dollars plus part of the economy!)

Anyways, this humble state with fewer people than Chicago had ZERO perception outside if the USA when the 2002 Salt Lake Bid Committee conducted an international survey in the 1980's during one of the state's many bids. Zero. Not good, not bad. No perception.

So, to attract 4,000,000 skier-days (the state's population is about 2.5 million) means the secret is out. Utah really has the "greatest snow on earth" with lots of science to back up that claim. There are 11 ski resorts within one hour's drive of Salt Lake City International airport. Nothing short of global warming or a national depression should stop this state's ski industry.

Which is good news, great news, actually.

Utah needs some good news. Because for the second time this year, the state is cloaked in sorrow. In February, it's was a renegade teenager killing six people in the shopping mall across from Real Salt Lake's offices. This week, it's the plight of six minors buried since Monday in a coal mine in central Utah. In crisis (which seems all too commonplace here for some reason), the state's residents seem to band together and support one another to an extent I don't recall seeing anywhere else. Hardly a night passes on the evening news without the establishment of some memorial fund at a local bank. Unfortunately, I think the funds are a reflection of the shallow social-service net to help this state's disadvantaged - and a deference to the state church which has significant welfare programs of its own for the 70+% of the state that adheres to it.

So, Utah copes and attempts a heroic rescue of its miners. The nation watches. Everyone prays for good news. More as the story develops, including thoughts on the two trapped Mexican nationals, whose plight has penetrated even the state's conservative, anti-immigration sentiment.

Photos: Lee Cohen/Ski Utah & Rick Bowmer/Salt Lake Tribune/The Associated Press