Park City Mayor Nann Worel and local Olympian Billy Demong were interviewed on air - while surrounded by a gingerbread man and dozens of spectators bundled up for the 18-degree weather.
The segment was part of the “Today” show’s “Merriest Main Streets in America” series, which highlights some of the country’s most picturesque small towns during the holiday season. It’s the first time the hallmark morning news show has been in Park City since the 2002 Olympics.
We visited a winter wonderland in Utah as part of our “Merriest Main Street” series! @KSL5TV ❄️🎄 pic.twitter.com/eyRtyhvyZJ
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 13, 2022
“Mayor Nann, you asked Park City to show up and Park City shows up,” host Casey Scott of Salt Lake NBC affiliate KSL said.
“At six o’clock in the morning,” Worel said. “What a great crowd we have out here today.”
The mayor highlighted the city’s mining heritage and lauded the strong start to the ski season.
“We are so glad that Mother Nature gave us an early start to the season,” she said. “Our lifts are turning, people are smiling, it’s just an amazing time of year.”
Scott asked Demong what makes Park City so special, and the Olympian used the national spotlight to do a bit of lobbying for a future Games.
“When I moved here, really running into the 2002 Olympics to compete in my second Games here, I just fell in love with the place, the city, the beauty," Demong said.
"And I mean all this outdoor recreation that we have in our backyard. There’s not a people and a place that can put on a better Olympics or winter sporting festival than Park City, Utah and Salt Lake City.
"And so it’s just been an amazing place for me to live, to train for the five Olympics I’ve competed in, and now to raise my kids.”
There were audible “nos” in the crowd when the host asked the mayor why people should visit Park City (it could not be heard on the TV broadcast).
Scott and Shandell Sutherland just arrived from Nevada to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They said they spontaneously decided to check out the filming when they heard that “Today” was visiting.
“We were just like you never get to do these once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and here it is our wedding anniversary, and what a way to start,” Shandell said.
The two and a half minute segment ran live on NBC at 8:20 a.m. MT. The “Today” show averages around 3 million viewers daily.
