![[FILE] Land in the Heber Valley North Fields is eligible for agricultural protections. That could conflict with plans to potentially build a highway bypass road there.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0382f21/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7387x4925+0+0/resize/840x560!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F54%2Fa6%2F7469a76e4a9b8f7986511c824c4d%2Fadobestock-196190999.jpeg)
Wasatch County Councilmember Mark Nelson has pitched a new event he said will bring the Heber Valley together.
Heritage Days would be an annual event in late September focused on the community’s pioneer and cowboy roots, as he described to the county council Wednesday, Feb. 14.
Nelson, who’s also the executive director of the Heber Valley Historic Railroad, said this fall marks 125 years since the first train arrived in Heber, an opportune moment to launch the event.
“The weather’s usually still good enough to do things outside without cover,” he said. “And the end of September is a very historical thing – when the first train came to Heber was the end of September in 1899.”
Activities would include a re-enactment of the train’s arrival, an old-fashioned community feast, storytelling with Heber Valley “old-timers,” barn dancing and a fishing competition in the Provo River.
He hopes the volunteer-run event would also receive support from local governments and organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and the Heber Valley Heritage Foundation.
“We don’t have very many historic buildings left, but we do have a whole bunch of historic heritage stories that [are] well worth preserving,” Michael Moulton, the CEO of the Heritage Foundation, said. “We’re happy to have all the new people come, but we would like to have them build upon our foundation so that it doesn’t change. This idea of Mark’s is a marvelous idea.”
Councilmember Steve Farrell asked that any event be focused on locals rather than tourists. He gave the example of a similar festival in Emery County that featured a reenactment of local history.
“It’s a kind of a play,” he said. “You know, they had people pass away, and it was quite a heart-wrenching story. But then when it was over you felt good because those that survived made a go of it.”
He proposed using the funds that previously went to Cowboy Poetry to start up the event.
Heber Valley Chamber executive director Dallin Koecher said he’ll research options to make Nelson’s idea a reality. The county council will discuss Heritage Days again during its March work meeting.
