Cherishing Their Heritage

Park Valley residents celebrate Pioneer Day with parade, rodeo, games

By Dianna Troyer

For generations, Park Valley residents, scattered on remote ranches, have looked forward to coming together to celebrate their heritage on Pioneer Day.

“Our first (Pioneer Day) was celebrated in a grove of trees in the field just south of the James Palmer home,” local historian Bruce Pugsley says. “They hauled up an organ in the back of a wagon so there could be live music for dancing.”

A dance floor was built so it could be taken apart and stored during winter.

He says older people recalled “a lemonade barrel that was a part of every celebration, the ballgames, tug-of-wars, kangaroo courts and races for all.”

Dancing after supper is still a highlight of the celebration, with local band Roughstock playing.

“Some of our funnier dancing traditions are doing the chicken dance and limbo,” Bruce says.

The sense of hard work, camaraderie and celebratory mindset has never waned in Park Valley, founded in 1869 by ranchers who named it for its parklike scenery along creeks. Their descendants continue to run the family ranches.

Organized by volunteers with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Pioneer Day commemorates Brigham Young and his followers arriving in the Great Salt Lake Valley. Church leaders celebrated the first Pioneer Day, a state holiday in Utah, on July 24, 1849.

In Park Valley, residents plan it the Friday and Saturday before July 24.

For many, Pioneer Day is when people also plan their family reunions in Park Valley, longtime volunteer Shelly Kunzler says.

“Our celebration has grown and become a little bigger as the years have gone by because kids who moved away as adults come back with their kids,” she says. “Our daughters always come back for it and bring their family.”

Shelly has helped organize Pioneer Day activities for 46 years, ever since she and Burt were married.

“When I moved out here, I wanted to get involved,” she says. “Since then, I’ve helped with just about every event. Whatever event people participate in, they have a great time. Some of the children’s games are ones their pioneering ancestors would have done, like the three-legged race and the chicken chase. Then we have some modern ones with a water balloon toss.”

The Saturday-morning parade from the school parking lot to the church parking lot is a chance for participants to ride in style.

“Most families make a float for the parade,” Shelly says. “We have fire trucks misting people with water. We have antique cars, too, and others riding their bicycles.”

A special program at the beginning of the rodeo Saturday night features young riders carrying the American flag on their horses and performing a choreographed riding pattern to a patriotic song. After completing their patterns, the riders stop in the arena with the flags waving in the wind while the national anthem is played.

Shelly says volunteers will ensure Pioneer Day continues for generations.

“It will always be an opportunity for everyone in the valley to gather,” she says.