QUINCY, Ill. -- On July 24 -- exactly 152 years after Brigham Young and the pioneers found refuge in the Salt Lake Valley -- an earlier occasion when Latter-day Saints found refuge was celebrated in this city on the Mississippi River, south of Nauvoo.

Quincy, in fact, is called the "City of Refuge." Throughout its history, various groups have been received into its protective arms: Potawatamie Indians, German immigrants, slaves from the Underground Railway.Latter-day Saints received assistance when it was desperately needed.

The Quincy Heritage Celebration was planned under the direction of Mayor Chuck Sholz. His motto is "Our future is built upon the past." The day began with a re-enactment of the Mormons' entry into the city in the winter of 1839.

In that bitter winter, Church members struggled through mud, rain, snow and cold. They were destitute of warmth, shelter, clothing, food and the necessities of life.

In this state of utter deprivation, the 5,600 religious refugees began their trek from Missouri, fleeing for their lives under threat from Gov. Lilburn Boggs' extermination order.

In the absence of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was being held captive in the jail at Liberty, Mo., Brigham Young assumed leadership of the Church and the Missouri exodus. At one point in their flight, hundreds of downtrodden people waited on the west bank of the river in mud and cold for an opportunity to cross over into Quincy. The city opened its doors and welcomed the destitute people.

Through the years, it will long be remembered as the city that rescued the Saints in their greatest state of suffering and want.

For the celebration, in the early hours of the day, re-enactors began to gather in Missouri on the west bank of the Mississippi River, waiting to cross the mile-long Memorial Bridge, which was closed to vehicle traffic for the occasion. The procession was organized into groups with "captains of fifty." Some 20 family surnames were highlighted, enabling the participants to gather as families for the trek into Illinois.

After each family group said a prayer, the procession of more than 1,000 began across the bridge, which saw pedestrian traffic for the first time.

The re-enactment was led by the descendants of the leaders: Michael Ken-nedy, a descendant of the Prophet Joseph Smith; Mary Lou Doxey (with her husband, Graham), a descendant of Brigham Young; Chris Frogley, a descendant of Hyrum Smith; and Mark Watson, a descendant of Heber C. Kimball.

Hymns could be heard across the water as each company joined their voices together.

Ages of the participants varied from babes in arms to 93-year-old Cornelia Butterfield, who had listened to her grandfather tell stories about crossing the plains. She was part of the Butterfield Family Reunion that had gathered for the celebration.

Among participants walking in the trek was Richard Allen of Quincy, who is a direct descendant of James Brown, sheriff of Quincy during the winter of 1839.

People gathered from across the United States to participate in the event. The procession spanned the entire mile-long bridge and extended another seven blocks into downtown Quincy. One family had converted a baby stroller into a small, pioneer wagon.

With temperatures over 100 degrees, it was as hot on July 24 as it was cold in the winter 1839.

Two members of the Seventy, Elder Hugh W. Pinnock, North America Central Area president, and Elder John M. Madsen attended the celebration as did Elders Bruce Bingham and Kay Christensen, Area Authority Seventies.

Following the re-enactment, thousands of people gathered in Washington Park, where the 1839 refugees were received. A ceremony, written by Nauvoo historian Michael Trapp, was presented. Mayor Scholz took the role of John Wood, an advocate of the Saints.

Others in the ceremony were actual descendants of the early LDS leaders: Reed Benson of Provo, Utah, took the role of his great-great-grandfather, Ezra T. Benson, who lived in Quincy in 1839 and later served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve during the presidency of Brigham Young. Brother Kennedy, of Alpine, Utah, played the part of Joseph Smith. Julia Hopkinson from St. Louis, Mo., took the role of Lucy Mack Smith, and Sister Doxey from Manti, Utah, played the part of Mary Ann Young.

Acknowledged as a guest was Roy Ufkus, an attorney from Carthage, Ill., who has been a friend to the Church.

During the ceremony, Mayor Scholz presented Elder Pinnock with the "key to the city." Elder Pinnock in turn gave the mayor a statuette of Brigham Young.

Speaking to the audience, Elder Pinnock brought greetings from President Gordon B. Hinckley. He then said: "It is conceivable that many of the people who have traveled here to Quincy at this time of celebration of all that Quincy did for us would not be here were it not for the kindnesses shown to the Latter-day Saints by citizens of Quincy on two different occasions."

The occasions he referred to were the time when Church members were driven from Missouri in 1839, after which they traveled north and founded Nauvoo, and the time in 1846 when they were forced to abandon Nauvoo and head west to the Rocky Mountains. On the latter occasion, a number of the Saints went to Quincy to prepare for the westward journey.

Elder Pinnock continued, "We, along with German immigrants, blacks traveling from the South, and Potawatamie Indians, were all assisted [by Quincy] in a search for freedom.

"It is acts of kindness throughout one's life that seem to make the difference."

As part of the ceremony program, a 120-voice choir sang "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor." Directed by Phyllis Robertson, it was made up of members of the Quincy Symphonic Chorus, the Historic Nauvoo Missionary Choir and choirs from the Nauvoo Stake.

Festivities continued at the waterfront. The Nauvoo Family History Center, temporarily set up in Quincy, was a popular place as interested persons waited their turn to search for family names.

Another popular activity was the "Family Picnic in the Park," where people could gather and meet some of their relatives while receiving family information.

Concluding the day were concerts in the park featuring the Hughes Brothers, an LDS family that performs at the entertainment resort town of Branson, Mo. They are descendants of the Joseph and Newell Knight families that were received into Quincy.

Also performing at the park was the Heart of America Mormon Choir from Kansas City, Mo. The evening's climax came as the choir thrilled the audience with "Battle Hymn of the Republic," followed by fireworks.

Pervading the day's festivities was a consciousness of the statement of the Prophet Joseph Smith, printed in the Times and Seasons in Nauvoo in 1841, expressing his desire that "the citizens of Quincy be held in everlasting remembrance for their unparalleled liberality and marked kindness to our people when in their greatest state of suffering and want."