COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Butler Elementary opened its doors in 1923 in what was then known as Butlerville, when Fort Union Boulevard was a rutted wagon road and schoolchildren got their after-recess drink from a dipper dunked in a nearby stream.
The Butler Elementary community is preparing to celebrate its students and leaders, past and present, at a 90th birthday party and fall carnival. The public event is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 24, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at the school, 2700 E. 7000 South. The event will include an old-fashioned cake walk, sack races, carnival games and more modern bounce rides, face painting and the Salt Lake Moose hockey team, as well as food vendors.
The event will also include a history table, stocked with historic photographs of students and the school, PTA books dating from the mid-20th Century, and a look at the original school's bell, hanging in the gazebo of the church just across the street after a resident discovered it in the ground.
"When we have an event like this, it brings the community together, both longtime community members and young families," Butler Principal Christy Waddell said. "It's a great celebration of history and community pride."