If it smells like there's something fishy going on in Payson this weekend, don't be worried: It's part of a longstanding city tradition.
The annual Payson Salmon Supper will be held today between 5 and 7 p.m. in Payson City Park, 251 S. Main. For more than 30 years the dinner has held a spot on the city's summer calendar.Like last year's supper, the event is being sponsored by Payson City and the Payson Chamber of Commerce. It began in 1964, as an activity of the city's LDS Park Ward. Then-Bishop Roland Lindsay used the supper as a device to pull together members of an LDS stake. The first Payson Salmon Supper was held on the first Friday in August, one of many aspects of the supper that has become a tradition.
Lindsay's daughter, Barbara Roper (herself a past chairman of the supper), told the Deseret News the event continued after her father was called on a second mission and has been passed from bishop to bishop in the Park Ward.
From those humble beginnings (the first supper drew 300 people), the supper has grown significantly, drawing as many as 3,000 hungry mouths in past years. After 1989's supper, Payson City and its chamber of commerce took over the event, which had swelled beyond the proportions of a ward-sponsored activity.
Proceeds from the dinner go toward civic improvement as part of the city's capital improvements fund.
Though tickets ($8.50 per person) will be available at a booth in the park, organizers suggest that people get their tickets in advance, either from Betsy Brailsford (465-2989) or Klara Durrant (465-2038). In past years, as many as 200 people have been turned away, as provisions usually go fast.
Besides the Grade A Alaskan salmon, the meal includes a baked potato and locally grown corn, as well as cakes from passed-down family recipes and dinner rolls. Such delicacies, as well as the unique cooking method (the salmon are broiled over applewood), may account for the event's popularity, according to publicity spokesperson Annette Draper.