Mayors and leaders of the Gila Valley unified with the community and various state officials on the morning of Oct. 12 to address the need for a community outpouring of prayer, volunteerism and friendship.

“The reason we have a strong army and a great country is because of our faith in God and a love of our country,” Keith Alexander, congressional liaison for Rick Renzi, said.

Although this concept has often been regarded as infringing upon the rights and freedoms of those who believe otherwise, Alexander said the time has come to profess one’s faith and encourage prayer and service in the community. State Senator Jake Flake said he was always taught to say his prayers each morning and night, but he often had trouble remembering the morning prayers in his weary state. He finally found a cure in the form of a colorful prayer rock.

“You place the rock on your pillow at night and when you clunk your head, it’s a reminder to say your prayers. Then you place the rock on the floor next to your bed, and when you clunk your foot on it in the morning, you are reminded to say your morning prayers,” Flake said.

Representative Bill Kono-pnicki quoted a prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Heber J. Grant, who said, “The minute a man stops supplicating with God, he becomes a stranger to God. . . just as two friends drift apart and become strangers.”

Konopnicki said when people pray anywhere in the world, they really are asking God’s spirit to be with them. He then listed the United States presidents known for their prayers, from George Washington to George W. Bush.

“As most of us know, President George W. Bush prays every day and asks for God’s help in making the important decisions of this country,” Konopnicki said.

Throughout the program, the community leaders and the political visitors made pleas to everyone in the Gila Valley. They asked those present to come together in unity to help their neighbors, to volunteer in hospitals, schools or nursing homes and to become unified in a spirit of cooperation and love towards one another.

“The Lord has challenged us to go out as one in the community,” Randy Clonts, a local youth group leader and pastor, said.

During the ceremony, a free breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits, gravy and sausages was also served with fresh coffee and other beverages made by Ralph Smith, Skelly Boyd, Carl Wheeler and several others of a local group of cooks.

“There’s a long history of this group of cooks that goes back for more than 30 years. It was first started in Duncan in the 1950s and then spread to this Valley in the ‘70s,” Smith said.

Smith said Lark Wilkins began the group that specialized in cooking for non-profit organizations and events, such as the morning prayer breakfast. They do not charge for their services, but the necessary food must be provided. Smith said that if Wilkins had not passed away in January, it would have been his 50th year in the group.

Another group known as the “Taste of Sound,” a choir from Safford High School, sang a patriotic medley of “America the Beautiful” and several other songs about peace during the breakfast.

Contact Steph Slater at 928-428-2560, ext. 248, or e-mail her at steph@eacourier.com