This is part of an occasional series by the Sanpete Country Travel and Utah Heritage Highway 89 Alliance on the people and places along U.S. Highway 89.

Student’s Video Project Honors Local Veterans Will be shown
at July 4th Celebration

“I had no idea how many wonderful, interesting people we have living here,” Blackham says. “They all have so much love for their country and have such incredible stories to tell. Listening to what they have to say has made me want to be a better person, to be more patriotic.”

The video will be premiered July 4 during a Freedom Rally at North Sanpete High School. The 7 p.m. event is intended to bolster local patriotic pride and participation.

Blackham started making the video as a service project after being crowned Miss Mt. Pleasant in April. “I wanted to do something people would remember,” she says. Working with Central Utah Filmmaking, she interviewed more than a dozen veterans and families of veterans for the 15-minute video. Any proceeds from sales will go toward the restoration of the Veterans Memorial in downtown Mt. Pleasant.

Blackham, who will head to Snow College in the fall, says the best thing about the project was getting to meet veterans and their families. “As soon as they started talking, they would remember things, and then they would just keep talking and talking. It was a wonderful experience.”

One interview was particularly meaningful. A veteran talked about how wonderful it was so see people being more patriotic nowadays. “But he said that not too long ago, things were very different. He said that when the flag went past in a parade or something, only about one-third of the people would stand up or put their hands over their hearts. That made me more aware that we need to be patriotic all of the time, not just when there is a war.”

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