Days like this, I'm so glad to be from a small town. We have a tradition every Pioneer Day of having a primary parade, pioneer carnival, barbecue, and a pageant. All of these activities are free. It's sponsored by the two stakes in Grantsville, and it's such a blast. My kids are all too old to be in the parade, but they all came to watch their cousins and Aunt Erin show what the pioneers had to go through.
Erin and Corban walked along the parade route, and Gabby got to pull a handcart. She's the one in the bonnet.
During the carnival, the kids got to make rag dolls, hammer horse shoes, lasso a steer, shoot a rubber band gun, get their face painted, spit watermelon seeds as far as they could, make homemade ice cream, pull handcarts, and several other fun pioneer activities. We had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner, along with chips, cookies, watermelon, and a drink. Steve said that we had over a thousand people come, more than last year. There was entertainment too. We had groups come play fiddles and banjos, other groups sang, and still others danced. Then it was time for the pageant. We had quite a crowd show up.
My sister Erin and her family were in the pageant, along with Conner from my family. It was really fun to have my brother Lee and his family show up to watch it with us. They had all been out of town for the week, and Lee was literally just off an airplane. What a treat to have cousins to hang out with.
During the pageant there is a scene where the "Stripling Warriors" from the Book of Mormon come out and show their faith in the Lord. I was proud to have a stripling warrior of my own to watch.
They all did the hakka (I don't know how you spell it.) And then they had a war with the Lamanites. Conner had an amazing fight scene that I got a video of. It's on my facebook page. I'll try to upload it here, but I'm not sure if it will work.
Later in the pageant they show scenes from our pioneer heritage. My brother in law, Brayden was playing the part of Willard Richards, who was in carthage jail with our prophet Joseph Smith. A mob came and killed the prophet and his brother, Hyrum. This is a scene of their wives, when they find out what has happened. Erin is in the blue checkered dress.
Then it's back to singing and dancing as the pioneers travel West to the Salt Lake Valley. I love watching Conner dance. He worked really hard for a couple of months, and I was thrilled to see him perform. His dance partner was a cutie!
The next scene steals the show every year. The pioneers are in the Salt Lake Valley and have just planted their crops when the crickets come. The crickets are played by the children ages 2-5. They hop around pestering all the pioneers. They stop and rub their hands and feet together to make cricket chirps, and then hop around some more. My nieces and nephew were crickets, and I must say they were the "cricketiest" crickets in the whole show!
Pretty soon the seagulls come dancing in, in all their glory. They are so beautiful! The pioneers are so relieved to see them.
And they gather up the crickets and carry them away. Once the crickets were all gone, the seagulls flew away. It was quite funny, one little cricket was left behind, he came walking out from behind some pioneers, and looked around; he started crying and ran off the stage because the seagulls had left him behind. Steve and I got such a kick out of that.
It might just be a small town production, but it was a lot of fun. There were some touching moments in the pageant, and I think all in all they did a great job. I just might be a little prejudice, Grantsville is the greatest town around!
Hope you all had a great Pioneer Day! I sure did!
Days like this, I'm so glad to be from a small town. We have a tradition every Pioneer Day of having a primary parade, pioneer carnival, barbecue, and a pageant. All of these activities are free. It's sponsored by the two stakes in Grantsville, and it's such a blast. My kids are all too old to be in the parade, but they all came to watch their cousins and Aunt Erin show what the pioneers had to go through.
Erin and Corban walked along the parade route, and Gabby got to pull a handcart. She's the one in the bonnet.
During the carnival, the kids got to make rag dolls, hammer horse shoes, lasso a steer, shoot a rubber band gun, get their face painted, spit watermelon seeds as far as they could, make homemade ice cream, pull handcarts, and several other fun pioneer activities. We had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner, along with chips, cookies, watermelon, and a drink. Steve said that we had over a thousand people come, more than last year. There was entertainment too. We had groups come play fiddles and banjos, other groups sang, and still others danced. Then it was time for the pageant. We had quite a crowd show up.
My sister Erin and her family were in the pageant, along with Conner from my family. It was really fun to have my brother Lee and his family show up to watch it with us. They had all been out of town for the week, and Lee was literally just off an airplane. What a treat to have cousins to hang out with.
During the pageant there is a scene where the "Stripling Warriors" from the Book of Mormon come out and show their faith in the Lord. I was proud to have a stripling warrior of my own to watch.
They all did the hakka (I don't know how you spell it.) And then they had a war with the Lamanites. Conner had an amazing fight scene that I got a video of. It's on my facebook page. I'll try to upload it here, but I'm not sure if it will work.
Later in the pageant they show scenes from our pioneer heritage. My brother in law, Brayden was playing the part of Willard Richards, who was in carthage jail with our prophet Joseph Smith. A mob came and killed the prophet and his brother, Hyrum. This is a scene of their wives, when they find out what has happened. Erin is in the blue checkered dress.
Then it's back to singing and dancing as the pioneers travel West to the Salt Lake Valley. I love watching Conner dance. He worked really hard for a couple of months, and I was thrilled to see him perform. His dance partner was a cutie!
The next scene steals the show every year. The pioneers are in the Salt Lake Valley and have just planted their crops when the crickets come. The crickets are played by the children ages 2-5. They hop around pestering all the pioneers. They stop and rub their hands and feet together to make cricket chirps, and then hop around some more. My nieces and nephew were crickets, and I must say they were the "cricketiest" crickets in the whole show!
Pretty soon the seagulls come dancing in, in all their glory. They are so beautiful! The pioneers are so relieved to see them.
And they gather up the crickets and carry them away. Once the crickets were all gone, the seagulls flew away. It was quite funny, one little cricket was left behind, he came walking out from behind some pioneers, and looked around; he started crying and ran off the stage because the seagulls had left him behind. Steve and I got such a kick out of that.
It might just be a small town production, but it was a lot of fun. There were some touching moments in the pageant, and I think all in all they did a great job. I just might be a little prejudice, Grantsville is the greatest town around!
Hope you all had a great Pioneer Day! I sure did!
