Community Corner
'Pioneers' Converge on Altisima Park
Despite the heat, hundreds celebrate the Mormon arrival in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.
A little piece of Rancho Santa Margarita took a page out of history—and stepped back in time—over the weekend.
Despite the heat that beat down on Altisima Park on July 24, tank tops gave way to pioneer bonnets, aprons, cowboy hats and handkerchiefs. They might have looked out of place, but they were in perfect form for the free Mormon Pioneer Celebration.
The event attracted about 500 people and was sponsored by the Santa Margarita Stake from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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The afternoon included pioneer-type games, a simple dinner, a mini-trek with covered wagons, and even two messy pie eating contests.
Anyone who might have followed the cheering might have seen the three-legged race, the water balloon toss or jump the line in action.
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“It was hot but that didn’t seem to faze the children at all," said Pat Brokaw, the stake's Young Men General President. "By the time we had the 500 water balloons ready the adults were so ready to join the games. I think when the water balloons broke it was a welcome relief from the heat.”
After dinner and games, the mini-trek began. Margie Dayley, Santa Margarita Trek Chairman, was asked to plan and orchestrate it.
“I wanted every child in the trek to have a bonnet or handkerchief, so I found 10 teenagers and a handful of willing adults to help me sew 130 bonnets at the beginning of July, Daley said.
Every child walking did wear a bonnet or handkerchief while pulling homemade red “covered wagons” to walk the short distance to the playground.
The handcart trek was re-enacted to remind the children of the sacrifices that led up to the pioneers entering the Salt Lake Utah Valley on July 24, 1847. In 1847, after years of persecution, the Mormon pioneers would finally have a place of their own where they could live and practice their religion in peace. To this day, Pioneer Day is a Utah state holiday.
