Don Gale: We’ve come a long way in my short life. The next generation will go further still

I grew up near Liberty Park. My playground was the park, a nearby vacant lot, and the street. (Cars were scarce; gasoline was rationed.)

I almost drowned in the park lake. Twice. The merry-go-round was a rare and beautiful hand-carved treasure. The ride cost a dime. None of us had a dime. (The original carousel burned in a 20th century fire.)

The caretaker at the aviary (Cal) gave us sunflower seeds – bird food. What a treat! When the prize ostrich laid an egg, Cal distracted the big bird while one of us ran to grab the egg – bravery worth a handful of sunflower seeds. (Cal couldn’t have his prize exhibit sitting on an egg.) I learned to swim at Liberty Park – one pool for boys, one for girls.

In autumn, we raked leaves into piles to burn them. They smoldered all day. Sometimes, we buried a potato in the leaves. At day’s end, the potato skin was black, but the meat was fluffy and delicious – ice cream with steam.

We ice skated on Liberty Park pond four or five months a year. Ice skates and roller skates clamped onto our shoes – shoes re-soled two or three times by a nearby shoemaker, shoes discarded only when no one else in the family could squeeze into them.

The ice man came to leave big blocks of ice in the ice box on the back porch. We scrambled into his truck to find slivers of ice. Another treat.

Seventh East was a two-lane city street. Foresighted Dick Van Winkle convinced political leaders to transform it into a much-needed north-south expressway. Attorney Ed Clyde dreamed of a “Central Utah Project” to move and preserve water in the Colorado River Basin. Jack Gallivan focused on building a convention center and a county-owned theater downtown, and updating ancient liquor laws.

Izzi Wagner set wheels in motion to remove railroad tracks from his downtown childhood neighborhood. (He was denied membership in Fort Douglas Country Club. He later bought the facility and turned it into a Jewish Community Center.)

Roy Simmons set his sights on revitalizing downtown, including an historic bank building on First South. The Eccles family put their considerable influence to work on similar improvements.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encouraged church leaders to be involved with business organizations and other groups so they could keep abreast of attitudes and developments in the headquarters state.

I bring up these memories as examples of how much the city, state and citizens have accomplished during my short lifetime. Without question, similar progress – and more – will mark the lifetime of my latest great grandchild, number 14.

Today’s young people are just as smart, just as resourceful, just as forward-thinking as folks of my generation.

Right now, some influential dreamer is talking to political leaders about ways to refill Great Salt Lake. Another has a plan to bring more water to the Colorado River Basin, either by adding more at the top end or by identifying new sources to supplement irrigation water at the bottom (California and Mexico).

Another thoughtful business leader probably has a plan to deal with the homeless problem. Still another has an idea for providing affordable housing to the next generation of resourceful Utahns.

These irreplaceable problem-solvers don’t run for office. They certainly don’t march in demonstrations. They use the skills they learned from parents, or from business experience or from other leadership roles to get things done.

There is not much difference between the challenges facing my Liberty Park cohorts and the challenges facing today’s young people. And today’s problem-solvers have more “tools” to work with than did generations past.

Don Gale has watched and written about Utah problem solvers for 60-plus years – more than 7,500 commentaries.