Despite a hot, dry day with temperatures reaching 103 degrees, some 4,800 youth, children and others turned out Saturday, July 22, for the Days of '47 Youth Parade. Every year, young people from along the Wasatch Front and other areas of Utah turn out for this traditional activity on the Saturday before the official Pioneer Day.
And this year was no different, with 55 entries marching to the theme, "Pioneer Dreams — Stepping Stones for Generations."
"I hope the children can feel a kinship with the pioneers of 1847 and feel they can be a pioneer in their own life," said parade committee chairwoman Becky Edwards. "They need to learn how to be a pioneer in values."
Holding up positive values and dreams seemed to be the focus of many floats this year. The Salt Lake Granite Park Stake's float featured a blue rocket ship with children flying to another world represented by a large globe. The stake's theme, "Our Rising Generation," represented the "rising generation of pioneers who will shape life in the coming years," said the parade's narrator.
A colorful float from the Farmington Utah South Stake was decorated with more than 1,500 live flowers grown in the Utah region. Amidst pink, purple and violet petunias was a pioneer family dressed in white, with faces painted white. They stood still, as if statues. The father was holding on to the handles of a pioneer plow, the boy stood by his father. The mother knelt with a book in her hand, representing education and religious freedom, with a young daughter beside her.
Some 100 Primary children walked behind with signs around their necks with the words, "I dream of being a . . . ." One young girl wore a sign, "I dream of a being a teacher," while a boy's sign read, "I dream of being a basketball player."
Singing "We'll Bring the World His Truth" were Primary children of the Grantsville Utah West Stake, following a float with a handcart, garden and a replica of the Salt Lake Temple. The handcart represented hope, the garden with seagulls flying overhead represented faith, and the temple represented testimony. The children wore yellow hard hats and carried signs, "I'm building a testimony."
Youth and children come out every year for many reasons, some for fun, some because it's tradition. For Caroline Wagner of the Midvale Utah North Stake, pushing 4-year-old William and 2-year-old Charlie in a stroller on this hot day was to give them a chance to feel like "they were a star."
During the four-block walk in downtown Salt Lake City, William and Charlie and several thousand other children were stars for a morning.
E-mail to: julied@desnews.com