Mark My Words: Pioneer Day Professional

I have a lot I want to talk about this week, so I'm going to break it into different parts.

Pioneer Day Festivities

I didn't add Pioneer Day to my canon of holidays until 2015. Nine years later, I am the world's foremost expert on the topic. And that's not hyperbolic: I literally think I know more than anyone else about Pioneer Day. This is my first Pioneer Day season since my article was published last December, and I'm glad to put my expertise to use.

On Monday evening, my ward had an activity where people could just get up and share random pioneer stories. Yes, it was as interesting as it sounds. I tried to spice it up a little bit by sharing how we have changed the way we think of and discuss pioneers: how the original designation of Mormon "pioneer" only referred to July 1847, meaning that handcarts were excluded; then anyone who arrived before the railroad in 1869 was a pioneer; then we should try to be like pioneers; then anyone could be a pioneer by exhibiting pioneer qualities; then refugees and immigrants are seen as pioneers.

Wednesday was the big day! I discussed the history of Pioneer Day on a Zoom panel for the Utah Historical Society. I'm really pleased that I got to share the information I began researching six years ago. It was recorded and will be posted to YouTube, hopefully this week. I didn't see who all the attendees were, but I saw there were more than forty people. I know I had a few friends watch it—thanks for your support!

That afternoon, I realized that the Bountiful History Museum was open (it's only open twice a week), and I had never been, so I decided to go take a look, even though it meant I would have to work late. There was a volunteer docent who showed me around. I feel like I know a lot about Utah history broadly but less about local history. I thought it was a good museum for being staffed by volunteers, but it could be more interesting. The coolest part was a train diorama of Bountiful.

There were also some things devoted to Ivy Baker Priest, a US treasurer who was the mother of Pat Priest, who played the second Marilyn on The Munsters. The docent asked me, "Have you ever seen the movie The Munsters?" Of course, I said, "I'm a big fan of The Munsters." But it was clear to me she really didn't know the show, especially since she called it a movie.

On Friday, I helped someone move before we went to Bountiful Park for the Handcart Days concert with Peter Breinholt. I disliked his voice in high school, but he's fun to hear live. I think this is the third time I've heard him live: I went to a joint concert of him and Cherie Call back when I was at BYU, and in February last year he performed at a fireside with a man who's under the trans umbrella.

The banner they had for him misspelled his name

Then on Saturday morning, my dad and I watched the Handcart Days parade, which is the second-biggest Pioneer Day parade. I guess I have more of an academic interest in parades than I care about the parade itself. Various stakes provide floats, and I like most of them, but the ones devoted to worldwide temples make me uncomfortable in a civic parade, because that has little to do with Utah or pioneers. But there were also lots of commercial entries, such as this one for a Halloween attraction.

My stake was asked to help out with the Handcart Days fair in the park, and members of my ward helped with the fishing pond, which meant we stood behind wood panels and put toys on "fishing lines." The executive secretary of my ward came in and decided to put more than one toy on each. We pushed back against it, because it wasn't fair for kids to have inconsistent toy amounts, but he insisted. So then kids noticed that some holes gave more toys than others, so I had to start giving away more toys too. At the end, someone from my ward told one of the people in charge, "We tried to burn through the toys," and the guy in charge said, "We actually don't want to burn through them." This situation left me very frustrated, and it makes me not want to help out next year.

Then in the evening, I had another concert to attend. My mom wanted to go to Deseret Book's third annual Pioneer Day concert at This Is the Place. But she is stuck in California because of all the airline problems, so I just took my niece. Two years ago they did one devoted to Black pioneers, last year was devoted to Indigenous peoples, and this year was focused on Polynesians, especially the Hawaiian ghost town of Iosepa. I really am happy to see Pioneer Day have this more expansive and inclusive rhetoric—I want the holiday to survive, but I don't think it's sustainable to keep focusing on the 1847/handcart narrative (even though handcarts weren't used in 1847). This year's concert also included the Black and Indigenous performers of previous years, and they even had a land acknowledgment. This is surprisingly (and wonderfully) progressive for Deseret Book. The songs were very devotional, and it seemed like a strange setting for that—but it makes sense for a Deseret Book concert, and I find it remarkable that a Deseret Book concert would have gospel singers and even include a rap verse. And of course it's lovely to have an outdoor concert. I would go again.

It was a very busy week! But I'm glad to have fun things going on in July.

Pioneer Day Foods

Even though I'm the world's expert on Pioneer Day, I'm still figuring out what foods are suitable for the day. It's been a while since I've put a food dump on this blog, so here are some of the foods I'm associating with the holiday:

Lemonade has long been used in Twenty-Fourth of July celebrations since the nineteenth century, and it was also an iconic Fourth of July treat. So not only can I drink lemonade, but I can also have lemonade-inspired things.

Crumbl's raspberry lemonade cookie

So Cupcake's lavender lemonade cupcake

7-Eleven's strawberry lemonade donut

Ice cream is the longstanding counterpart of lemonade for both the Fourth and the Twenty-Fourth. But for the Twenty-Fourth, I only have ice cream made in Utah, such as Red Button, Farr's, Fat Boy, and of course local ice cream shops.
Orange cream and grilled pineapple ice cream from Blacksmith
Fry sauce, a Utah favorite, and pastrami burgers, another Utah favorite

RJ Grill

Arctic Circle

Sunflowers and sagebrush were a common pioneer decoration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, so I would love to see us embrace more sunflowers at this time of year.
Honey is symbolic, even though I don't think Utah really has a strong honey tradition (at least not more than other states)

I like that this packaging uses hexagonal beehives, which is part of Utah's flag motif. I took one bite and was instantly overpowered by the sweetness
Red, white, and blue is suitable for Pioneer Day, especially now that Utah's flag is red, white, and blue
Thirst beignets
IHOP
Saltwater taffy. We have at least two major taffy companies in Utah, and the candy is a staple of Pioneer Day parades
Utah scones, fried dough. I read a book on July 3 called Utah English, and it claims that this definition of "scone" is the only truly unique linguistic trait of Utah.
I got this at the Handcart Days fair, not knowing that they gave us tickets for helping out
Watermelon is a summertime staple and has been part of July 24 celebrations since the earliest days

Thanks for letting me geek out about my fatness!

To Be Young Again

This week the Church announced that they changed the definition of YSA, young single adult. It is no longer eighteen to thirty but is now eighteen to thirty-five. That means I'm young again! But I don't really anticipate any changes for me. I turn thirty-six in two months anyway, so I'd be back where I started at the end of the year. Also, I feel like the YSA setting is more likely to emphasize the heteronormative "go get married" rhetoric. I heard BYU recently did a massive dating event, and I recently saw a billboard for next month's YSA conference saying people can meet lots of YSAs or maybe "the one." If I meet "the one," I will get punished for it.

I aged out of the YSA ward less than five years ago, but since that time, I have gone through a pandemic, grad school, an existential crisis, PRK, coming out, and new career opportunities.

Speaking of the last five years—back in 2020, I bought this Biden Harris t-shirt. I wore it a few times and had people compliment it. In more recent times, I fear for my safety.

And now I am relieved that Biden is dropping out of the race. I will never vote for Trump, but I have had serious concerns about Biden's age and cognitive ability. He recently said "Vice President Trump" when he meant "Vice President Harris." Mixing up your running mate and your opponent is a colossal goof! I know he's been digging in his heels over the last few weeks, so I'm glad he finally did what's best for the nation.

Dreams

I have had several people tell me they enjoy my AI dream images, so here's this week's installment. I have significant concerns about AI replacing actual art, and I'm even more concerned about AI being used to deceive people. But I think these AI images are funny, and hopefully I can help people recognize AI.

(Also, everyone has dreams about being inadequately dressed in public. I have had a lot of them lately, but I try not to post them.)