Thank you, North Ogden residents, for giving me the opportunity to serve our community. I believe North Ogden is the most wonderful place on Earth, primarily because of the caliber of people who make their home here. I truly love my fellow North Ogdenites and the more I get to know you, the more I love you.

I recently attended a family reunion for my dad’s family, and I felt a particular sense of belonging. This feeling originated from my grandmother’s philosophy of inclusion, which she concisely stated as “Where there’s heart room, there’s house room.” Despite limited resources, my grandparents reared 11 of their own children and an orphaned niece. This same grandmother was famous in the family for saying “I’d rather have two more than one less.” She always welcomed neighbors and friends, feeding all who crossed the threshold of her home, her invitation being, “Are you staying for dinner, or do you see what we’re having and wouldn’t care for any?”

This sense of belonging permeates the identity of our family through the generations. Because of this shared identity, our many diverse family members continue to love, serve, and show up for each other.

As I thought about what created this sense of belonging, I identified certain attitudes necessary for it to flourish. Each is an invitation to expand our hearts. I believe that we can live in peace and harmony with one another as we adopt the philosophy “Where there’s heart room, there’s community room.”

As members of the North Ogden Community, we:

• Create and share space with one another—physically, mentally, and emotionally.
• Serve each other with our strengths and compensate for each other’s weaknesses.
• We honor the past, but we have the courage to try new ideas and establish new traditions.
• Seek the good of the whole over self-interest, valuing life over lifestyle.
• Contribute our resources, both creative and material, to help others.
• Ask for and accept help when needed.
• Live by universal principles:
  • faith in a Higher Power and in each other
  • integrity
  • self-reliance with generosity
  • recognition of human dignity
  • wise management and investment of resources
  • gratitude and abundance
  • disagreement without contention

As I consider these attributes, I am aware of my own strengths and deficiencies. I am grateful to be a part of a community that values connection, which is the lifeblood of any thriving society. The connection has blessed me and my family, as I hope it has blessed you and yours. As we become One North Ogden, we can lead the way to a stronger community, state, nation, and world.

Councilmember Charlotte Ekstrom