This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
This letter announces the establishment of the Fighting Utah Tiddlywinks (FUT) team, and our intention to join the North American Tiddlywinks Association (NATwA).
In order to represent Utah in style, compensate the organizers of FUT and jump on the bandwagon of state and local government welfare for the rich, we are proposing a quarter-cent sales tax increase on ice cream and candy sales to finance construction of a state-of-the-art tiddlywinks indoor arena.
We estimate a 15,000 seat arena with widescreen TVs to catch all the action can be built with public subsidies of $20-$25 million. We will put up the land for the venture and, of course, take title to the arena. World class winkers will bring their squidgers and winks to Utah and show our youth how to pot out with the best of them. The sales tax increase will be limited to ice cream and candy sales over the next 20 years. Only those folks risking diabetes and excess weight will be affected by the tax.
If government can help finance facilities for soccer teams and an aquarium in the middle of a desert, why not the exciting sport of tiddlywinks? If Salt Lake or Utah counties are not interested in providing government welfare for our venture, remember Kanab is always an alternative. Kanab's local government will buy anything. We prefer to have our cake and eat it too in the cultural center of Utah - with easy access to the airport.
So lean on your city, county and state representatives to help us obtain government welfare through tax subsidies and bring the exciting game of tiddlywinks to Utah.
John J. Flynn
Salt Lake City