Utah Heritage Foundation

Do you like cycling?  Love old barns?  Want to know why there’s an angel on this barn?  Planning is underway for the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area Bicycle Barnstorming tour June 2012.

The purpose of the event is to update and extend a barn guide done in conjunction with the national Barn Again! program in 1998.  Photos and text will be posted to a Facebook page on the fly to create a dynamic barn guide that will be made into a smartphone app and a printable PDF.

The Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area (MPNHA) isn’t just about Mormon heritage.  Oh, sure, there are all of those New Urbanist Mormon colonial villages based on Joseph Smith’s Plat of Zion, and the Manti Temple (far left), and several Mormon Heritage centers are in the works.  (Historian Jerry Roundy displays concepts for the Escalante Heritage Center, right). 

UHF is helping connect people along Highway 89 with new ideas and cooperative marketing opportunities.  We believe this will result in more engagement by the public and businesses along the route, more visitation, and increased opportunities to preserve the heritage area’s important landmarks and communities.

One of the few opportunities you have to tour Utah's fabulous pioneer era structures is coming up on Memorial Day weekend.  The Friends of Spring City is hosting their annual weekend event full of art, antiques, and great architecture that is worth the trip to Sanpete County.  It's a centerpiece of the county's Scandinavian Days Festival so its an occasion  rich with Utah history passed down to generations that you can pass down as well.

Look for plenty of action at the historic Casino Star Theatre in Gunnison this spring.  With outstanding audiences for previous concerts this season, the Casino Star is preparing for its second not-quite-annual (because of the gasoline leak) World-Class Local Talent event on March 11.  Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. at 78 South Main, Gunnison, and the concert is billed as a benefit fundraiser.

Performers who currently live in South Sanpete or whose roots are here, and who have garnered acclaim or awards from outside the area, will offer their talents to benefit the restoration and ongoing programming at the Theatre.  Among these performers are Cantus, Gunnison High School’s perennially award-winning girls’ chorus; Tim Christenson, noted local classical guitarist; and Mary Kaye, outstanding singer/song-writer from Manti.  Watch for future updates.

Tickets for the fundraiser will be available at Rasmussen’s Ace Hardware in Gunnison, the Sanpete Messenger Office in Manti, and Kopy Kat Printers in Ephraim.  Suggested donations are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students.  All proceeds are dedicated to restoration of the façade and future programming.