Park City’s Miners Day – celebrated on Labor Day – will feature a variety of activities and events for all ages.
Miners Day events chair and Rotarian Kristin Wright said the day starts with breakfast in City Park hosted by St. Mary’s Catholic Church from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.
At 8 a.m., the Twilight Rotary Club hosts the Bark City 5k with proceeds benefiting their club and local animal organizations. There is no registration fee, but donations are accepted.
At 10:30 a.m., Running with the Balls returns to Main Street. About 15,000 golf balls will be released from a ramp and race down a 3-block track. The first balls to reach the landing chutes win prizes, including a Deer Valley season pass, skis and golf, restaurant and spa certificates.
“This year alone, Park City Rotary has given $150,000 back to the community, and our primary fundraiser is the running of the balls,” Wright said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour,” Sept. 2. “In the past we have cleared $100,000, and of course, we always hope to build on what we've done previously. Unfortunately, rain – that hinders our ball sales. But you know what? We will be out there with a smile, and I hope folks will buy. And you can always buy online right now.”
Depending on the weather, fighter jets from Hills Air Force Base will make a flyover of Main Street. The Miners Day parade featuring about 40 entries is scheduled to begin after 11 a.m.
Following the parade, everyone is invited to City Park for food, drinks, live music and children’s games. Live music runs from noon to 4 p.m. and includes the Brazuca Band, performing a mix of reggae, rock and funk followed by Memphis-rooted soul blues artist, Tony Holiday.
At 12:30, a bit of Park City’s past will be recreated with the mucking and drilling competition.
The drilling competition requires contestants to lift a heavy drill and bore a dynamite-sized hole into an 8-ton rock. In the mucking competition, miners use a small bulldozer to scoop up mining debris and dump it into an ore cart to be hauled away.
History presentations will also be held during an open house at Miner’s Hospital from noon and 4 p.m.
The Friends of the Park City Library will host a used book sale on Sunday and Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the third floor of the Park City Library.
Friends board member Rachel Sahlman said even though the organization hosted a sale in July, the Kimball Junction Library isn’t accepting donations ahead of its move to a new location. As a result, those books have been brought to the Park City Library for this sale.
Friends members will get an early shopping opportunity Sunday from 8 to 10 a.m. Membership fees start at $25.
“Then the general public can come in at 10 a.m.,” Sahlman said. “Then on the final day on Monday, September 7, we will have the tote bag happy hours, which is from 2 – 4 p.m., and that's for folks to fill a tote bag for $15, which we provide, and then they can fill it with as many books as they can fit. They are large tote bags, so they fit a lot of books.”
Money raised during the book sale pays for nonbudgeted library needs, including staff professional development, the One Book One Community annual event and a Memory Station that will soon be installed at the library. The station will allow patrons to digitize memories and family history documents and recordings.
