Days of '47 Parade: Pioneer Spirit — Then and Now
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Thousands lined the streets of downtown Salt Lake City on the morning of July 24 to once again celebrate the Days of '47 Parade. This year's parade centered on the theme "Pioneer Spirit — Then and Now."
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, rode in the parade with his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, and grandson, Eric. The Uchtdorf family waved to those in the crowd while receiving a thunderous ovation.
Of the more than 100 entrants in the parade, many were floats sponsored by LDS stakes from all along Utah's Wasatch Front. Floats entered by BYU and LDS Business College also joined the parade. In all, nine LDS floats won awards. A youth parade float from the Salt Lake Granger East Stake was also featured as the winner of the youth parade's "Best Theme" award. The youth parade, which featured entries from many other LDS wards and stakes, occurred July 17.
The Sandy Utah Willow Creek Stake took home the Legacy Award for its float, "Fun Keeps Families Afloat Now." The float depicted a family having fun while sliding down the froth from a giant root beer float. Stake member Krista Kent said a focus on the family during the parade reflects what her stake has emphasized throughout the year.
"Our stake right now is focusing on 'The Family: A Proclamation to the World,' so we wanted something that had that message and would bring it to a new generation," Sister Kent said. She added that the stake chose to include the word "now" from the parade's theme in part to inspire a sense of urgency for families to have fun together.
Many LDS floats focused on how the evolution of technology has helped the Church to grow, especially with an ease of access to uplifting information. The float sponsored by the South Jordan Utah Highland Stake, titled "Pioneering Personal Guidance," reflected this idea with a giant Liahona in the back and a handheld GPS device in front with the design of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple prominently featured on its screen. Jon and Jen Fitt, avid GPS users themselves, said the placement of the temple was intentional.
"Our stake participated in the temple open house, so we felt we had to put [the temple] on the GPS as something it could guide us to," Sister Fitt said.
Some stakes took the technology theme and applied it to family history research, emphasizing the new FamilySearch.org website. The Salt Lake Millcreek Stake presented a float named "Pioneer Spirit: Paper to PC." The float depicted old-style books and family Bibles alongside teenagers doing research and name indexing on their laptops. Randy Rosencrantz said his stake's love of and experience with family history makes the float meaningful. "When you talk about pioneers and their spirit, those are our ancestors," he said.
Another float with a family history focus was the Sandy Utah Alta View Stake. Stan Lindaas, a professional genealogist, made his stake's float meaningful by including a blown-up copy of his own pedigree chart. He said he hopes the float will encourage others to take joy in research.
"Genealogy and family history are fun," he said. "Everybody has pioneers. My kids are pioneers. We're all pioneers."
Another stake member, Alice Pratt, said that one man carefully inspected the pedigree chart during a float preview party. The man, who said he was not a member of the Church, approached Sister Pratt and said many of the names on the chart matched names of his own ancestors from Norway.
"Since we've had the float here with the large pedigree chart, there has been quite an interest in it, more than we thought," she said.
The following is a list of all LDS floatsfeatured in the Days of '47 Parade:
Salt Lake Granger East Stake — Youth Parade Float Theme Winner
Riverton Utah Copperview Stake — "Holy Temples — Then and Now"
Salt Lake Central Stake — "Blanketing the World with Service"
Riverton Utah South Stake — "Spirit of Service"
Salt Lake Cannon Stake — "Pioneering New Ways to Preach His Gospel to All the World"
Brigham Young University —"A Legacy of Learning — Then and Now"
Salt Lake Wasatch Stake —"Canyon Water Sustains Life — Then and Now"
Murray Utah Parkway Stake —"Turning Trials Into Treats — Then and Now"
West Jordan Utah Westland Stake — "Trekking Now and Then"
West Jordan Utah Oquirrh Stake —"Rescuing God's Children — Then and Now"
South Jordan Utah River Ridge Stake — "Working Together"
Midvale Utah Union Fort Stake — "Now ... The Places We'll Go!"
Taylorsville Utah Valley Park Stake —"Best Crop Ever — Then and Now"
Salt Lake Winder West Stake — "Prepared — Then and Now"
South Jordan Utah Highland Stake —"Pioneering Personal Guidance"
Salt Lake Millcreek Stake — "Pioneer Spirit: Paper to PC"
Salt Lake Big Cottonwood Stake — "Harvest the Fun"
LDS Business College — "Spirit of Learning — Then and Now"
Salt Lake Monument Park North Stake —"Emigration Canyon: Then a Trail, Now a Treasure"
West Bountiful Utah Stake —"The Pioneer Spirit: Onward and Upward"
Sandy Utah Willow Creek Stake —"Fun Keeps Families Afloat Now"
Sandy Utah Hillcrest Stake — "Ink to Hyperlink"
Sandy Utah Alta View Stake — "Who's Your Family Pioneer?"
