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.

First Run, Walk & Roll Race Set for June 21

The race includes running, walking, assisted wheelchair (pushed or powered) and roller blades/skates categories, and is being held as part of the city s annual Danish Heritage Days celebration. The race will benefit the St. George Red Rock Center for Independence, one of six independent living centers across Utah. It s one of a series of races that will be held during the month of June to benefit Utah s independent living centers. This is the first time in 13 years that all of the centers across the state have held runs during the month of June, Christensen says.

I know firsthand that these kind of events help people to visualize a higher level of the human spirit, it’s very important. Christensen, who has run several 5-K races as part of her own recovery therapy, will take part in a June 14 race in Salt Lake City and will help coordinate the June 21 race in Elsinore. Proceeds from the Elsinore race will benefit consumers of the Red Rock Center.

The Elsinore race is for both serious competitors and for people of all physical ability levels who just want to have fun Christensen says. It is sanctioned by the Utah Runners Association, which means there will be counters available for runners collecting official times for race credits. We are also looking for sponsors for people to be in the race, so even if people don t want to participate, they can support the center by sponsoring a participant.

Pre-registration for the race is $15 (to register or sponsor a participant, phone 1-800-649-2340) or $20 on the day of the race. Race registration begins at 6 a.m. June 21 at the race start location, 200 North and Center Street. The race starts at 7 a.m.

We are very excited about the race and connecting it to Danish Heritage Days, says Christensen, who also sits on the committee that organizes the annual festival. In that once little corner of Utah Elsinore, Joseph and Monroe you have influence from the Danish, Irish, Scottish, English and Native American cultures. It’s neat to come into the area and run on land that is joined collectively by these different cultures. It’s a great way to celebrate that.

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502

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.

Elsinore Gears Up for Annual Danish Heritage Days Celebration

Elsinore, which has a population of less than 1,000 people, hopes to double or triple the city s size during the celebration. This year s festivities begin Tuesday, June 17 with a flag ceremony near the White Rock School House on Center Street, followed by a go-cart race at 5 p.m. and Karioke at 7 p.m. Wednesday, there will be a bike course set up for a 5 p.m. event and concessions, and Thursday s highlight is an ugly ducking race at the state canal.

Friday night the Green Valley Cloggers will put on a free show, followed by free cowboy poetry performances starting at 7 p.m. in the city park. The event will feature Buckaroo Folklorist Tom Sharpe from Grand Junction, Colorado, and local muleman Perry Payne. Mulemen are better thinkers than cowboys, that s the difference, jokes Woods, who is also a cowboy poet. Brenda Sam DeLeeuw will also perform her Hilda Stories. There will also be a special performance by Steve and Terri Taylor, the Utah Chapter of Western Music Association s Female Performer of the Year and Male Soloist of the Year, with David Anderson on the 12-string guitar. All three of them are great soloists, and they are even better as a group, Wood says.

Saturday is packed with activities, beginning with the Red Rock Run, Walk & Roll (see accompanying story) at 7 a.m., followed by a parade at 10 a.m. People interested in having an entry in the parade should contact Ken Jensen at (435) 527-3836.

Also beginning at 10 a.m. and running throughout the day are the mountain men rendezvous, car show, craft fair, quilt show, heritage tours and children s games. People interested in having a craft booth should contact Sharon McIntosh at (435) 527-4594. At 11 a.m., there will be a story hour and at 2 p.m., a Women s Social.

At 6 p.m., a benefit chuck wagon dinner will be held, along with a benefit concert featuring cowboy poetry and Western music at 7 p.m. in the city park The Skunk Herders, a group made up of Idaho performers Gene and Sandy Jones, are set to take the stage, along with Ogden s Don Kennington. He is a national treasure, Wood says of Kennington. He is in his 70s now and is the greatest pure cowboy I know. Local favorite JoLynne Kirkwood will also be featured, and Wood will also perform. The cowboy poetry will be followed by the Western musical trio Latigo.

Cost is $10 for both activities, or $6 for dinner and $5 for entertainment if purchased separately. All proceeds will go to the Danish Heritage Days committee to fund the construction of a permanent stage in the park. The event is also sponsored by the Bad Water Cattle Company and Smith and Edwards in Willard Bay. Saturday will conclude with a fireworks show at dark in the city park. Sunday, there will be an 8 a.m. Sunday morning service and free continental breakfast.

This is the third year that Elsinore had held the festival, which honours the traditions that were brought into the region by Danish settlers. Danish immigrants were attracted to Utah in the mid 19th century when there was an industrial revolution of sorts in Denmark. Traditional skill workers such as tailors, furniture makers, and potters were put out of business when villagers began shopping and buying supplies from larger cities and towns. Many of these villagers converted to Mormonism and moved to the West. When they arrived in Utah, they quickly discovered that much of the Salt Lake Valley was already called for. But the Sanpete and Sevier counties were still very open at that time, so Danes settled in the region in droves.

In 1876, dozens of these settlers packed their wagons and came across the bench of Cottonwood Creek in Richfield and came here, Wood says. Brigham Young s brother, Joseph, was touring the region and thought it reminded him of the Castle Elsinore in Denmark and that is how the city got its name. It s also known as Little Denmark.

Elsinore first celebrated its Danish roots in 1976, on the 100th anniversary of the settlers trek into the region. Some 25 years later, a group of local residents organized a trip to re-enact the settlers moving into the region was organized. We later decided that we should celebrate our history more often than every 25 or every 100 years, and the Heritage Days was born.

For more information on the festivities, call (435) 527-3306 or (435) 527-4391.

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

Triathlon in Richfield June 28^th

Entry forms can be obtained at: all local banks, Valley Vision, Jorgensen Honda, and Christensen’s Department Store. Or to obtain a form on line, send an email to: 1vvision@msn.com. You may also register at this website link: http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1044986  
The Fish Lake Triathlon will begin Saturday, June 28^th at 7:00 am, at the Richfield City Swimming Pool patio area. Participants should be there at 6:00 am to check in and get ready to have a great time. Be watching in the Richfield Reaper for triathlon training tips.

Registration Form Here for mail in registrations.

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

Memorial Quilt Highlight of Annual Panguitch Quilt Walk Days

The United in Memory quilt is dedicated to victims of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the passengers and crew members of American Airlines Flights 11 and 77, and United Airlines Flights 95 and 175. It is similar to the world-famous AIDS quilt, and consists of panels measuring 10-1/2′ x 10-1/2′, with each panel consisting of 25 blocks, with each block memorializing a victim of 9/11.

The quilt project was initially started by two Long Beach, Calif., residents in May 2002, and it grew in scope and size as word spread throughout the nation and world. In all, hundreds of volunteers from across the United States and 17 foreign countries contributed to the quilt.

A woman in town has a niece who worked on the quilt, and we were able to being it here through that connection, Fellows says. The quilt is more than 14,000 square feet in size. If it were laid out flat, it would take up three-quarters of a football field, Fellows says.

The quilt will be on display in Panguitch s Triple C arena all three days of the festival and be open to the public free of charge. Exact times are still pending, but Fellows says people may call (866) 590-4134 as the event nears or check the city s web page, www.panguitch.org, for a complete schedule.

The quilt will be set up on special stands or laid on the floor, with paths that allow spectators to walk and view the sections. There will also be videos, CDs and other materials on hand that talk about some of the people who are memorialized in the quilt, Fellows says.

This is the sixth year that Panguitch has held Quilt Walk Days, which celebrates the role the quilt played in the city s history. When the pioneers first came to Panguitch, they ran out of food. A party of seven men set out to travel more than 40 miles for supplies. But the snow was so deep, the wagon wheels got stuck in the snow when they were only 10 miles out of town. The men decided to pray and spread quilts out on the snow. They noticed when they were kneeling on the quilts that they didn’t t sink into the snow. So they took the quilts and spread them on the snow and slowly leap frogged their way to get supplies.

The festival will feature a play that reenacts the snowed-in quilt walk. It will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday as part of dessert or dinner theatre. The three-day event also includes quilting classes, quilt displays and quilt blocking demonstrations, and a quilt trunk show Friday and Saturday at noon. The show features women who bring their family s quilts in trunks and tell the stories behind the quilts, Fellows says. There are always some remarkable tales.

For more information about the event, contact the Panguitch Main Street Program at (866) 590-4134.

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

Family Bonding’ Opportunities Along U.S. Highway 89
to be Promoted at Family Expo

Barnes, 76, who runs the Utah Trails Resort in Kanab, has been working closely with other highway promoters to draw attention to the area. His focus is on developing seven “magnet” sites along the highway and bringing in groups from Las Vegas and other areas outside the state on a daily basis to tour the historic route. “But there are so many people from around the state and even in this region who don’t know what the highway has to offer them and their families. So we want to show them some of the places they can visit and some of the things they can do here as a family.”

Barnes says the highway attractions include adventures like ATV riding and horseback riding, to white water rafting, to visiting attractions such as the Big Rock Canyon Mountain and the Fairview Museum. To get the word out to families across the state, Barnes and others will be doing various promotion efforts, starting with having a booth at the Gung-ho Family Expo. Barns says the message of the expo is similar to the one highway enthusiasts hope to promote: that family is the cornerstone of society. “Learning and growing as a family creates a special bond that is strengthened with each new experience shared,” the Expo’s mission statement says. The two-day event will include family-oriented activities such as storytelling and musical performances, products and services, as well as learning opportunities, crafts and family workshops.

“We thought this was a good place to start promoting the region as a family bonding’ area,” Barnes says of the expo. He adds that with the reintroduction of a proposal in Congress to have the highway region designated as a National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area, there may be government funds available to expand and continue such promotional efforts.

The Gung-ho Family Expo runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, May 23, and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 24 at the South Town Exposition Center.

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

Mother-Daughter Team Press Love, Luck With Flower Business

What the two started was Pressed With Love, a business where they create pressed flower art. They take flowers they have picked and pressed themselves and create designs to complement a saying, poem or religious passage. They then matt and frame the passage and flowers, which are intended to be displayed or hung on walls. I m more of the artist and she is more of the organizer and book keeper, although my daughter is a good artist as well, Kleven says. We work well together in that way.

The pair started out making just enough pictures to sell in local shops, but word of mouth kicked in shortly thereafter and the business that was originally intended to help a young mother and her mother make some extra money started to grow. When Kleven moved to Mt. Pleasant with her husband, who was born in the area, Lanesem s family joined them two years ago. Their flower art now sells in stores all along U.S. Highway 89, and in shops and books stores such as Deseret Book across the state, nation and even in Canada.

Their works range in size from six inches by six inches to as large as 16 inches by 24 inches, and include more than 100 different kinds of flowers. We ve learned over the years which flowers are best to use, which flowers won t fade, Kleven says. We get flowers from everywhere, Lanesem adds. We grow a lot of them my mom has a huge garden and neighbors will call us and say we ve got the most beautiful flowers, you have to come and pick some of them. The two also spend one day a week in Manti, collecting and pressing flowers that grow on the Manti temple grounds. That arrangement began with Kleven contacted the grounds gardener and he invited them to press the flowers he pulls each week during his routine maintenance. Everything has just worked out for us, it s been a real blessing for both of us, Kleven says. Lanesem adds I never imagined it would grow into this, and it s really fun working with my mom, we have a great time together.

The two recently attended their first wholesale craft show. We had no idea what to expect, Lanesem says. We thought if we just got enough orders to pay for the booth space $500 it would be worth the learning experience. But they collected more than $12,000 worth of orders in only three days. That is more than enough to keep us busy until Christmas, Kleven says with a laugh.

Their flourishing business has them looking to hire some help and set up an office outside of their homes. Right now, I have my pressed flowers in an extra room that is supposed to be my dining room, Lanesem says with a laugh. Now that we are thinking about renting space, maybe I ll have a real dining room one day.

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

“Artists at Work” to stop at local furniture maker’s shop

The four-day tour will take people who write about the arts for newspapers, magazines, books and other publications on a tour of U.S. Highway 89. The group will stop at studios and museums along the historic route to allow participants to spend time with and observe artists at work.

In Peel’s shop, they are likely to see him working on a reproduction piece or a custom-made order. “One of our specialties is our Great Basin features — furniture built out of wood that is one to two inches thick and has exposed dove tails.”

Peel, who is from Mt. Pleasant, studied fine art painting and drawing in graduate school in Los Angeles. He also taught art in elementary school in Las Vegas before returning to his hometown some 12 years ago. “I have always been interested in wood working and making wooden furniture, so after I moved back to the area, I decided it was what I was going to do.”

Peel uses pine or local conifers in his creations. “I’m referring to white or red pine, spruce and Douglas fir,” he says. His most popular pieces tend to be tables, but he can build just about anything, from beds and couches to large armoires. “People will sometimes bring me pictures out of magazines, or designers will show me a drawing and ask me to build what they’ve drawn only twice as big.” He has also found a niche with home preservationists, who own old homes in the area and are interested in furnishing them with reproductions that are in keeping with the time period.

One of Peel’s most unusual reproductions is that of the “Mormon Sofa,” a sort of futon-before-its-time. “It’s basically a wooden couch that would have had a straw tick on it back then, with slats that allow the couch to be turned into a bed.” The straw tick has been upgraded and updated to a special-made cushion, of course.

Following their visit to Peel’s Furniture Works, the tour group will move on to Spring City, where they will stay overnight. Other overnight stops include Kanab and Escalate. The tours are funded by a grant received by the Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council from the U.S. Forest Service and National Endowment for the Arts.

Tour participants will also learn about the area’s history, including little-known facts about colonizer Brigham Young, the escapades of outlaw Butch Cassidy and the poignant story of Native American Chief Black Hawk.

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

Sanpete County to play host to Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) fund raising activities

The weekend event, which is being held at the end of April as part of National Child Abuse Prevention month, is being coordinated with assistance from Loretta Johnson, owner of the Wind Walker Guest Ranch, and Curt Hawkins, who has helped organize tours of U.S. Highway 89, the Heritage Highway. Hawkins says he became acquainted with BACA while covering a court trial in Utah County. “I’m not a biker, not even close, but I heard about what they do and I was drawn to it. The dedication of this group has simply blown me away.

“Every year, BACA sponsors events like this one to raise money for children, and I thought that Sanpete County and the Wind Walker Guest Ranch was the perfect venue for it, not to mention Highway 89.”

Hawkins points out that the historic highway 89 was named the No. 1 riding trail in the nation a couple of years ago by the American Motorcycle Association. “It has some of the most scenic riding trails around,” he says.

The fund raising “poker run” will be held on Saturday, with bikers riding through the participating communities. “We should have between 100 to 300 bikers, and they tend to attract a lot of attention wherever they go,” Hawkins says. Following the “run,” there will be a dance and other activities at the Wind Walker Guest Ranch, which will be open to the public. Sunday there will be games and other activities at the ranch. Some BACA members and other participants may also camp at the rodeo grounds in Mt. Pleasant throughout the weekend.

Monte Bona
Sanpete County Travel and Heritage Council
(435) 462-2502