Made with ‘so much love’: One reporter’s guide to surviving and savoring Swiss Days

Midway Swiss Days was in full swing on Friday, with thousands of people descending on the small, charming town to enjoy the annual festival.

This was my second year attending Swiss Days as a journalist for The Wasatch Record. My goal? Let the volunteers guide me through the must-see stops and must-eat flavors Swiss Days has to offer. 

I started with what I knew. Last year, I learned that Swiss bread and bratzlies are Swiss Days staples. That’s not only because it’s traditional fare, but also because of the volunteers behind the baked goods. 

I headed to Midway Town Hall to check out what was happening behind the scenes of the baked goods booth. I found a room stocked with hundreds of loaves of bread, too many bags of bratzlies to count and a team of dedicated volunteers — women who have spent months baking more than 2,000 loaves of Swiss bread in preparation for the annual festival. 

Christena Larney led the day-of operations. She’s been participating in Swiss Days almost since she moved to Midway 11 years ago, and she’s worked the baked goods booth for about five years. 

It’s not the buzzing operation that draws Larney in. It’s the community. It’s the women behind the scenes who make volunteering for Swiss Days special to Larney. 

“It’s the best of the best women,” Larney said. “It’s a privilege to be a part of this group, to be friends with these ladies.”

Candyce Nowers agrees.

Nowers has been volunteering for Swiss Days since she was 12 years old, when the festival was five booths in Midway Town Hall. Her dad was the one who initiated the Swiss tacos booth. That’s where she started, but she always gravitated toward baking. 

The excited, energized community is what makes Midway feel different, Nowers said. She has witnessed acts of kindness where strangers pay for another’s Swiss taco. That’s something you’ll always find in Midway, she said. That kindness and sense of “home.”

I paid for a loaf of Swiss bread and a bag of bratzlies, which are almost pressed waffle-like cookies, to bring back to The Park Record newsroom.

Then I asked Nowers: Where to next? 

Obviously, she said, I should visit the Swiss taco stand. That’s where I found cousins Kade Decker, 9, and Christian Decker, 8, volunteering. 

This year is Christian’s first Swiss Days as a volunteer. He said it’s a fun activity to do with friends and family members. He likes helping people and enjoying the entertaining atmosphere Swiss Days offers. 

Kade agreed. Crazy and fun were descriptors the Deckers applied to the Swiss Days feel. Both said a Swiss taco is a must-eat item. They recommended beans, lettuce, cheese and tomato for toppings. 

Tess Crump, who has been volunteering at the Swiss taco booth for two years, said the tacos and treats are great fun. But it’s serving her community that Crump likes best. 

That’s what has made her two years of volunteering unique. 

With my hands full of a reporter’s notebook, phone, pen and Swiss-themed baked goods, I passed on the taco. I needed a handheld treat. With community service and fundraising top of mind, Crump suggested I visit the Midway Elementary School snow cone booth next. There, I could purchase a lemon yodel. 

I set off with snow cones and sour, sweet lemon treats on the brain. That’s when I found Trish Lay, a special education teacher at Midway Elementary School. 

Lay said her booth is also a fundraiser, raising money for educators and classroom necessities. While the snow cones are a special, snowy snack, the lemon yodels are a long-standing tradition at Swiss Days. 

She explained them as refreshing, sour and sweet. It’s essentially a juicy lemon cut in half with a candy stick stuck in the middle acting as a straw. As the candy stick melts into the lemon, the juice and candy combine for an almost overwhelming sugary, lip-puckering flavor. 

Blaire Council, 7, is a student at Midway Elementary School. She prefers blue snow cones. Lay said it’s because that’s the Midway Elementary School color, but Council said it’s just because she loves blue. 

The youngster’s favorite part? All of the booths. There are too many to count now, with vendors occupying every available space in Midway Town Square and beyond the Midway Town Hall. Council said, besides Swiss tacos, her favorite part of Swiss Days is snacking on a Utah scone. 

The scones booth had what Anna Heimburger called a “Disney line” — an endless stream of visitors waiting for a doughy, fried, elephant-ear-style scone. 

Heimburger explained booth operations excitedly. The dough sits and rises before it’s rolled out. Then, it’s dropped into a small vat of hot oil to be fried. 

Heimburger’s volunteering group is called Fort Midway. 

“Fort Midway is the best!” She cheered to the group at large. 

Clapping and hooting ensued. 

She passed me a Utah scone, and I took a bite of the melt-in-your-mouth, doughy, dessert-like treat. But Heimburger told me I acted too soon. I’d have to go and add toppings — jam, cinnamon sugar, honey — to really enjoy the fried scone. 

“Everything is done with so much love,” Heimburger said. “It tastes even better that way.” 

Full to bursting with sugar, I finally felt like I cracked the Swiss Days nut. Yes, Swiss Days is about enjoying every booth and eating your way through Utah-based Swiss treats and snacks. But it’s also about getting to know your neighbor. 

No matter who I turned to on Friday, every volunteer had the same message: Be kind, serve your community and come back to Swiss Days every year.