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Mormon Law Society Presents Adventist Public Affairs-Religious Liberty Director a Religious Freedom Award (News Shorts)

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Mormon Law Society Presents Adventist Public Affairs-Religious Liberty Director a Religious Freedom Award. Director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church Ganoune Diop was given the Thomas L. Kane Religious Freedom Award by the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (Brigham Young University) recently during its annual conference in Philadelphia. In presenting the award, Lance B. Wickman, general counsel for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and emeritus member of the Seventy, thanked Diop for being a friend of the Church like Thomas L. Kane was a friend to the Church. Diop said it is an honor to receive the award named after an individual who stood for religious freedom and uplifted the downtrodden who were not of his own faith. The J. Reuben Clark Law Society named its annual Religious Freedom Award after Thomas L. Kane, a Philadelphia lawyer who assisted the early LDS Church in the migration to Utah and establishing the state of Utah. The award is presented to an individual who exemplifies the character and traits of Thomas L. Kane in upholding and defending religious freedom. From BYUI Scroll, “LDS Church gives religious freedom award to Seventh-day Adventist.”

Chattanooga Community Remembers Desmond Doss. A few Chattanooga-area residents are remembering their fellow citizen Desmond Doss,  prompted by the release of the movie Hacksaw Ridge. Former Chattanooga city treasurer and Hamilton County trustee Carl Levi remembers Doss as "a very humble Christian man."  Mr. Levi, an Army veteran who became acquainted with Doss through the Summers-Whitehead American Legion Post No. 14. said, “I knew Desmond really well. I’ve been a member (of the post) for 62 years, and he was there before me.” Retired State Farm insurance agent Bob Lahiere, also an Army veteran, became acquainted with Doss through the post, too, and his involvement with the Armed Forces Parade in Chattanooga every May. He also has memories of a soft-spoken man. “He was very quiet, very reserved,” Lahiere recalled. “He didn’t boast about his military days. He was a very humble man. And he never talked against anybody else. He didn’t even talk about the (wartime) enemy negatively.” From The Chattanoogan, “John Shearer: Area Residents Recall Desmond Doss, Sr. Of Movie Fame As Humble Man.”

Pacific Union College Retirees Now Lead Howell Mountain Hikes. Napa Valley Land Trust guides Bruce Ivey and Janet Ivey, local residents both retired from Pacific Union College, regularly volunteer as guides, leading hikes through the Land Trust of Napa County, a nonprofit that now owns and maintains the Linda Falls Preserve on Howell Mountain. The preserve, once owned by Pacific Union College, offers a taste of a lesser-seen side of this world-famous wine region: wild and quiet, without a winery-bound tour bus in sight. As part of its mission to preserve the character of the county, the Land Trust has protected more than 100 square miles of Napa County, twice the area of San Francisco. Nearly every weekend, the Land Trust leads field trips into the land members help preserve, providing access to waterfalls, redwood forests, deep canyons, and high peaks—places, in many cases, not normally open to the public. From San Francisco Chronicle, “Sample the landscape, not the wine, in Napa Valley.”

Florida Adventist Coach Granted Alternate Game Time. Northeast girls’ basketball coach Zach Gillion, Seventh-day Adventist, a has been notified by the Florida High School Athletic Association that his Hurricanes’ Region 4-7A final at Doral Academy has been moved to Saturday night at 7:30 p.m., allowing him to coach his team. Gillioin was unable to coach Northeast’s team when it made its first-ever appearance in a state championship game last season since the game was scheduled for an early Saturday afternoon start. This year, Northeast needs only one more victory to advance to state for the second season in a row.  And if the Hurricanes make it back to the final round, his players are confident coach Gillion will be with them. From Miami Herald, “Northeast basketball game moved so coach can attend.”

Montemorelos University Students Win Film Prize. Montemorelos University students placed second in the 9th national university "Hazlo en Cortometraje" or "Do It in Short" film, contest held in Mexico City, Mexico. The project was among the 1,130 short films submitted under fiction, documentary, animation, and experimental categories.  The short film submitted by the students, titled “El arbol de la Poesía” or “The Tree of Poetry,” deals with a professor who teaches that everyone is surrounded by people full of dreams and ideas, and everyone needs to be willing to listen and share together, said Jorge Sosa. Sosa is the creator, director, and editor of the short film. The film needed to focus on the 2016 “Creative Citizenship” contest theme. From Inter-American Division, “Montemorelos University students take second place in national short film competition.”

 

 

Image Courtesy Mormon Newsroom.

Pam Dietrich taught English at Loma Linda Academy for 26 years and served there eight more years as the 7-12 librarian. She lives in Redlands, California.

 

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