Temperatures in the upper 90s didn’t deter Utahns from celebrating their heritage with all-day festivities in the Heber Valley Wednesday.
Residents of Wallsburg, a town of 300 people east of Deer Creek Reservoir, lined the streets early Wednesday morning for a holiday parade.
Led by the national and state flags, dozens of people processed from the center of town to the park on roller skates, bicycles, four-by-fours, tractors and horses.
Anne Nabaum waited along the road to spot her grandson in the parade. Her granddaughter performed as a dancer later in the day too.
Colin Kingsbury sat with her. He said his ancestors were among the pioneers who arrived in Utah in the 1840s.
“One of my great-great-grand-somethings, he came over with the pioneers,” he said.
For Anna Cox, who spent the holiday in nearby Charleston, the history feels very recent.
“Brigham Young said, ‘This is the place,’ and they decided to settle it and they decided to work hard to make it work here in this really hard, hostile environment,” she said. “I just got to go on a pioneer trek this summer, where I walked with 100 teenagers for four days and pulled a handcart and learned a lot about the pioneers and their sacrifices and their struggles and how much faith they had to find a place where they wouldn’t be persecuted and wouldn’t be driven out.”
Wallsburg locals Ray and Lorie Birch said they have a personal connection to the holiday too. Their ancestors pulled handcarts and helped settle the town.
“This is the thing we’ve been coming to for 40+ years,” Lorie said.
There were games for children in the town park, like a dunk tank, a ring toss and a mini train ride for the holiday’s youngest celebrants.
Southwest of Heber in Charleston, population 400, celebrations continued into the evening with a fireworks show. Residents enjoyed an antique car show, a cornhole tournament and a root beer chugging contest.
The holiday is full of fun for the whole family. Cox said it’s an important reminder of the community’s history too.
“It’s an incredible day to remember our roots, our heritage, the sacrifices of the people that helped develop this state,” she said.
People from Wasatch County and across the state spent Pioneer Day doing just that.
