Locally based lecturer Deborah Jennings will brew up her new free presentation titled “The History of Tea” on Thursday in the Park City Library’s Community Room.

The hour-long event will feature a slide show that will whisk up traditions and trends that surround tea, as well as how it is grown and processed.

“I have enjoyed tea as a casual drinker, and I have been a drinker of what Americans call ‘herbal tea,’” she said. “People who come to the lecture will learn that herbal tea is not actually tea because it is not made from a tea plant.”

Jennings didn’t know that bit of information until she started her research for next week’s lecture.

“I’ve been offering people in my home herbal tea, which is how it’s labeled when you buy it in the supermarket in Park City,” she said with a laugh. “Technically I should be offering them ‘an infusion’ or a ‘tisan.’”

Jennings didn’t know too much about tea before she started preparing for the lecture back in June.

“I was a casual drinker and knew nothing about the history except the Boston Tea Party, which I will mention in the lecture,” she said with a laugh. “I didn’t know about the processing, the oxidation and the differences among the types of tea plants and tea leaves.”

In order to learn about those tidbits, Jennings gathered all the sources she could about tea.

“This is how I prepare for all of my lectures,” she said. “I do this rather than reading one source and going onto the next.”

Jennings also tries to remember that her lectures aren’t for academic audiences.

“I want to give them some background, but I want to balance history with geography and culture,” she said. “For example, because  we’re in Utah, I will talk about the (Church of Jesus Christ of) Latter-day Saints’ rule of tea drinking. And I will talk about people who are well known in the history of tea.”

Jennings will also discuss rare, expensive and unusual teas.

“Then I will talk a little bit about the health benefits and a couple of tea ceremonies and things that are tangentially related to tea,” she said. “I’m a linguist by training, so I will get some linguistics in there.”

Jennings will also add an interactive element in the presentation.

“I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll stop at that,” she said with a laugh. “And I will end with links so people can do some follow up and learn more about tea.”

Jennings, who moved to Park City with her husband a year ago, enjoys lecturing.

“I started regularly giving lectures during the summer of 2023,” she said. “In the two years after that, I gave more than 200 lectures at libraries, community centers and 55-and-older communities and in people’s private homes for clubs.”

In her career as a high school educator, Jennings’ traveled the country to discuss everything from the college application process to standardized testing and grading to parenting and character education.

These events attracted Jennings, who is a self-proclaimed extrovert, and edified her personal life.

“Lecturing, especially after moving to a new place, is a way to connect with and meet new people,” she said. 

Jennings also enjoys the prospect of learning new things.

“I’m over 65, and I don’t want to feel like I’m stagnating,” she said. “I do believe as we age, we tend to get stuck in our ways.”

To remedy that situation, Jennings always asks her audiences what they would like her to discuss during her next lecture.

“‘The History of Tea’ was selected by the audience of my June library lecture that I gave about Tibet,” she said.

The June audience also suggested the topics for the library lectures Jennings will give in October, January and February.

“The October lecture will be about the Salem witch trials, and January’s lecture will be about Buddhism,” she said. “February’s will be about Genghis Khan.”

Jennings was familiar with the witch trials and Buddhism but knew “absolutely nothing about Genghis Khan,” she said. 

“So, I’m about halfway through my research on him,” she said.

‘The History of Tea’ by Deborah Jennings

• When: 5 p.m. Thursday
• Where: Park City Library’s Community Room, 1255 Park Ave.
• Cost: Free
• Web: parkcitylibrary.org
• Email: djennings57@yahoo.com

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The annual Monster Drawing Rally will roll into town on Sept. 19 to raise funds for the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County and the Kimball Art Center.

The fast-paced event, which runs from 3-6 p.m. in the Art Center’s outdoor back lot, will feature 35 local and regional artists who will create original works in 50-minute intervals, said Jocelyn Scudder, Arts Council of Park City & Summit County executive director.

“We have three live rounds of art making,” she said. “First runs from 3:10-4 p.m. The second runs from 4:10-5 p.m., and the last one runs from 5:10-6 p.m., and it ends.”

Once artists finish their work, they put it up for sale, Scudder said. (See accompanying list of artists.)

“It becomes a race to see who will get the work first, and if two or more people want the same piece, they draw a card, and the high-card wins,” she said. “There’s a wide range of styles, and it’s pretty stunning to behold.”

The money benefits both the Arts Council and the Kimball Art Center, according to Scudder.

“The Monster Drawing Rally is a partnership between us, and we both operate in visual-art spaces in different ways,” she said. “The Kimball Art Center puts up exhibitions and arts-education classes, while the Arts Council focuses on uplifting local artists and making sure arts and culture survives in our community.”

The money raised from ticket sales and artwork sales will be divided between the organizations, but the artists, who donate their time to the event, will also have a chance to make money, Scudder said.

“There is a silent auction that takes place throughout the event where the artists can sell work that they have already finished in their studios,” she said. “The artists receive 60% of the proceeds, and the Arts Council and Kimball Art Center split the other 40%.”

The Monster Drawing Rally is 10 years old, Scudder said.

“We’ve done this event since 2016, and it’s been a community favorite, which is why, I think, it keeps coming back,” she said. “And we also want to make sure the format remains the same. That way it will be familiar to people who have attended before, and it will be a fun way for new attendees to get to know the creative community. The public can come in and kind of spy on the creative process, and the personal connections between the attendees and artists runs throughout the day.”

Scudder enjoys seeing attendees interact with the artists and learn about their creative processes. 

“Some attendees have discovered their favorite artists at this event, and they have become friends,” she said. “The event has also become a springboard for many attendees to start collecting art. It levels the playing field for collecting art, and we’ve had people of all ages from different socio-economic backgrounds begin their art-collecting journey here. When you think about it, $50 for an original work is accessible.”

The Monster Drawing Rally is also a way for artists to network and give back to the community.

“We had a ton of artists who wanted to participate lined up this year, and it’s wonderful to see all of these visual artists come to the table,” she said. “This event has the best creative energy. It’s also a way for them to share their skills and talents with the public.”

The Monster Drawing Rally also showcases the importance and power of human-made art that includes graphite, ink, charcoal, painting, digital art and collage, according to Scudder.

“In this era and age of AI, people crave hands-on experiences,” she said. “This is a way to celebrate that.”

2026 Monster Drawing Rally

• When: 3-6 p.m. Sept. 19
• Where: Kimball Art Center, 1251 Kearns Blvd.
• Cost: $25 for adults, $10 for kids ages 6-17 and free for children ages 5 and under.
  Registration: pcscarts.org/monster-drawing-rally and tinyurl.com/5f4pzcek
• Web: pcscarts.org and kimballartcenter.org

The 2026 Monster Drawing Rally artists

• Blake Bellet
• Angie Bizon
• Luis Canelon
• Ava Christiansen
• Elle Donovan
• Isabel Duncan
• Lizza Fellow
• Ian Greenwood
• Alyssa Hartman
• Sarah Hoare
• Lindalee Holmes
• Lily Howell
• Alexandra Jicol
• Alicia Joos
• Katie Kurchinski
• Caden Mangum
• Mark Maziarz
• Morgan McCue
• Kylie Millward
• Emily Miquelon
• Renee Mox Hall
• Anna Nizhoni
• Tori Olson
• Camille Prestwich
• Jade Rugh
• James Saarela
• Elissa Sabbö
• Chloe Sawyer
• Rickie A. Sny
• Grace Swears-Johnson
• Lavinia Toderici
• Marley Wright
• Jan Vola
• Ida Yoked
• Kent Youngstrom
• Kristine Zanno

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Author Josh Weil is ready to show Utah “What Came West.”

That’s the title of his new historic fiction work that he will sign on Tuesday at Dolly’s Bookstore in Park City and on Wednesday at King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City.

“I’ve been to Utah for skiing with my kid but never got to the bookstores,” he said. “So, I’m looking forward to seeing that side of things.”

“What Came West” sees a different side of the American West pre- and post-Gold Rush. It follows Silas Hall, a complex man who left everything, including his family and 3-year-old son, to live alone in the Sierra Nevada wilderness, according to Weil.

“My characters always come out in some part of me and people I know and love and the struggles I see,” he said. “More than anything, (it was about) finding a character that had somewhat of an understanding about the dramatic change and loss that he felt fully as a human being.”

That’s how Weil wound up writing a character who is neurodivergent.

“I didn’t necessarily think of Silas that way,” he said. “I just thought he would need to be in the wilderness away from people and have comfort in isolation and being around animals, rather than humans.”

Weil grew up reading journals written by trappers and explorers, and knew he wanted to write about these people in one way or another.

“It occurred to me as I was preparing to write this book that there must have been something up with these guys,” he said. “To want to spend a year alone out in the wilderness is not your typical urge. So, it was fascinating to think that I haven’t seen much written about the psychology of the early trappers or explorers who have gone out west. You see a lot written about characters who are lauded, but digging into the interior of what was going on in their minds was really interesting.”

The name Silas Hall stems from a couple of different sources and isn’t based on any particular historic figure, Weil said.

“Silas was a name that was drawn as I was doing my research into the novel,” he said. “I have a notebook, and I’ll write down interesting first names that I wanted to use in the book. When I stumbled onto a character (I was going to write,) that name just felt like him.”

The surname Hall actually comes from a family who lives in Nevada City, Weil said.

“Oakley Hall was a writer of primarily Westerns, and his offspring are here,” he said. “He was kind of well known during the 1970s but a little overlooked now. He wrote one of my favorite Westerns, called ‘Warlock,’ and so it was kind of homage to him to name the character.”

Silas Hall faces his biggest challenges, externally and internally, when his peaceful life in the wilderness is invaded by the Gold Rush between 1848 and 1855, Weil said.

“There’s all this mythology and lore around the Gold Rush, and it’s almost a fableized and dramatic and lauded moment in American history,” he said. “I was interested in not just the dark side of that, but the dramatic element of how fast everything changed. And it felt to me that no one really wrote much about the world before the Gold Rush, which was really my main interest.” 

A majority of the 300,000 fortune seekers arrived in the area in 1849, thus the nickname — “The 49ers” — and they changed more than just the landscape, Weil said.

“The environmental degradation and destruction and cultural change was so rapid, maybe among the most rapid moments in American history,” he said. “You have almost no non-native people in the mountains, and then thousands upon thousands arrive.”

These prospectors physically changed the mountains and the river valleys, Weil said.

“To me that was an inherently dramatic story, and Silas came about as a character who would feel that loss as strongly as anybody I could imagine, except for the Native population, which I didn’t feel was my right or within ability to write from that perspective,” he said. “That’s how the story came about.”

Still, Weil, while doing research for the book, learned he needed perspectives from the area’s Indigenous residents.

“I started with anthropological works written mostly in the 1870s and 1880s, and although those books were sometimes slanted with racism and stuff like that, they were gold mines, no pun intended, of observations,” he said. “It was then I very quickly realized I needed to talk to the Native communities that still exist.”

Weil developed a close relationship with Shelly Covert, executive director and tribal spokesperson of the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan.

“I would meet with her every six months while I was writing the book, which was about six years of work,” he said. “We would talk about questions I had and then questions she had. A lot of times during my digging I would find stuff that she didn’t know and things that would clarify things she had questions about.”

Weil also worked with Dr. Sheri Tatsch, one of the world’s foremost linguists of the Nisenan language. 

“I wanted to get the language as valid as I could,” he said. “There’s a fair amount of Nisenan, Konkow and Mountain Maidu and other different tribe languages in the book, and that was the result of working with people who were experts of those dialects.”

“What Came West” is an epistolary novel, Weil said.

“I knew it would be a letter Silas wrote to his son,” he said. “Once I knew the book would be a letter, it became clear to me that drawings would be an important part of how Silas coped with the world around him.”

Weil did his own drawings for the book.

“I spent six months doing illustrations with a dip pen in the style of the time period, and the illustrations are meant to be drawn by Silas,” he said. “The book or letters are meant to be kind of written on the backs of these drawings like a field guide.”

One of the challenges Weil faced while writing the book was to separate myth from reality.

“I grew up reading Westerns and developed a romantic view of the mythology of the West,” he said. “That’s not to say that the mythology isn’t built upon wonderful and lauded things in American history. Those things don’t go away just because they are complicated by a lot of terrible things. I think to love the American West in a real and honest way is to love the complexity of it.”

Weil’s father first sparked his interest in the West.

“I grew up in the East in Appalachia and Maryland and Massachusetts, but I would go on car trips with my dad,” he said. “He was a professor, and we’d always head west and get to the western mountains during the summer. It was always a goal to get out there and go backpacking.”

Weil moved to the Sierras 2011 to be with his wife, and that’s when he fell in love with the landscape.

“There’s the Heber River Valley in particular, and River Canyon and the mountains around it — the high Sierras,” he said.

Ever since he was a pre-teen, Weil wanted to write Westerns.

“The first series of short stories I ever wrote was a Western,” he said. “It was about a cowboy named Buck who got caught cheating at cards and got hanged from a cottonwood tree. So I was writing dark and dramatic stuff even as a kid.”

Weil still enjoys the process of creating worlds, even though his adult brain takes time to tap into his imagination.

“There still isn’t a time when I’m fully in awe of the world and embraced by the world and deeply in the world than when I’m in that active creation,” he said. “When it’s really working well, it doesn’t feel like (the stories are) wholly coming from me, and there’s an unparalleled magic in that.”

Josh Weil Book Signings

• When: 5 p.m. Tuesday
• Where: Dolly’s Bookstore, 510 Main St.
• Cost: Free
• Web: dollysbookstore.com and joshweil.com

Also

• When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
• Where: King’s English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East, Salt Lake City
• Cost: Free
• Web: kingsenglish.com and joshweil.com

The post Nevada City-based author explores ‘What Came West’ appeared first on Park Record.

The historic Echo Church, which is closed for the season, will reopen Saturday for a special image-fueled lecture by Lyuba Basin, rare books librarian of the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah.

Basin will present “From Field Sketch to Photograph: An Illustrative Journey of Echo Canyon”

4 p.m., and she will use historic illustrations and other visuals to examine the changes in Echo Canyon over the course of the 19th century.

The storyline took shape as Basin pulled up the library’s images and documents.

“I’m lucky because a lot of these things are accessible to me,” she said. “I have been familiar with some of the expeditions that have passed through the Salt Lake Valley, like the Donner Party and the Mormon pioneers. So I knew we had materials that were available, but I didn’t know if those materials would be able to tell the story I wanted to tell.”

The more Basin looked into it, the more she realized the story of traveling through Echo Canyon changes from the mid-19th century toward the later part of the century.

“Initially the canyon was something to be surveyed, kind of explored and measured,” she said. “We start off with the Stansbury Expedition, helmed by Maj. Howard Stansbury of the United States Army’s corps of topographical engineers, and the book that was published in 1852.”

From there the canyon’s history starts being told through the lens of pioneer trials, according to Basin.

“So we shift our focus from measurements and surveys to narratives that tell readers what to expect along the way — whether there would be water available or if there would be steep cliffs that they will have to navigate around.”

As more people head out west, the narrative shifts again, Basin said.

“Echo Canyon, like other places in Utah, becomes more of a tourist destination, especially once the Transcontinental Railroad is completed,” she said. “More people who travel by train or stagecoach can stop at Echo Canyon, not only to pick up supplies, but to explore the landscape and places like the Witches Bluffs, Sentinel Rock and Hanging Rock.”

During that time, the public saw an increase of published tourist guide books, Basin said.

“Later, actual photographs of the landscape, taken by people like A.J. Russell and C.R. Savage, accompanied these books,” she said. “So we see the area is coming to life, not just through written description, but visuals as well.”

Basin’s audience will see some changes in technology throughout the lecture.

“We go through woodcut engravings to lithography and chromolithography to photographs,” she said. “All the materials I use are all available at the Marriott Library. So people can come see these things as well.”

The audience will also see landscape changes, according to Basin.

“This comes in as more people settle into the area,” she said. “The photographs show buildings, settlements, railroad and power lines. So you start seeing this relationship between humans and the land develop quite quickly.”

Basin caps off the presentation at the beginning of the 20th century, due to logistics.

“It’s because rare books age out,” she said with a laugh.

Saturday isn’t the first time Basin has presented a lecture at the Echo Church.

She’s friends with Echo Community Historical Organization treasurer Sandra Morrison, whom she met through Utah Westerners, another historical organization and social club that focuses on fact-based and well-researched history of the American West.

“I did a presentation two years ago at the Echo Church about the Donner Party, and it was such a great success,” Basin said. “So Sandra and I wanted to do something again that was a little different. For my last lecture, I presented images that went along with my talk about some of the ways Echo Canyon had been presented visually with expedition routes and pioneer trails. So, we wanted to focus on the illustrated history of Echo Canyon and what that looked like over the course of the 19th century.”

Basin enjoys giving lectures because she feels being a librarian is all about telling stories.

“I love books, and I love telling their history,” she said. “I’m so in love with the geology of Utah and spending time in the mountains, and I’m also fascinated by our own relationship with that history. So the best way I can best tell these stories is by thinking about a book or a photograph as physical objects and how we encounter them.”

‘From Field Sketch to Photograph: An Illustrative Journey of Echo Canyon’ by Lyuba Basin

• When: 4 p.m. Saturday
• Where: Historic Echo Church, 60 Temple Ln. in Echo
• Cost: Free
• Web: tinyurl.com/2zb3t5ta

The post Echo Church opens for ‘An Illustrative Journey of Echo Canyon’ appeared first on Park Record.

Artist Needed for Public Art Installations

The Summit County Public Art Advisory Board seeks artists to design eight benches for the exterior of the Silver Summit Services building that commemorate the ideas of unity, community, justice, service and law and order in Park City and Summit County. Application deadline is Sept. 25. Canyons Village Management Association and Historic Park City Alliance seek Utah-based artists or artist teams to decorate the interior of a series of interactive gondolas and life-size snow globes. Application deadline is Oct. 1. For information, visit pcscarts.org/opportunities.

Christian Center of Park City’s 2026 Hike for Hunger

The Christian Center of Park City will host its annual Hike for Hunger from noon-6 p.m. on Saturday at Utah Olympic Park, 3419 Olympic Pkwy. The event raises awareness of food insecurity in Summit and Wasatch counties. Registration is $25 for individuals and $75 for families, and registration allows attendees to participate in most of the park’s activities. For information and registration, visit ccofpc.org/hike-for-hunger.

Sunday Craft at the Swaner EcoCenter

Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter, 1258 Center Drive at Kimball Junction, offers Sunday Craft every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event features an upcycled nature-themed craft. All ages are welcome to this drop-in formatted event. For information, visit swanerecocenter.org. 

Guided Walking Tours on Main Street 

Park City Museum hosts historic Main Street guided walking tours from 2-3:15 p.m. Mondays through Fridays through Sept. 18, and from 1:30-11:45 a.m. on Sept. 19. Tours run about 75 minutes and are appropriate for ages 13 and older. The cost is $15 per person. To register, call 435-216-9693 or visit parkcityhistory.org.

The Park City Farmers Market Continues

The Park City Farmers Market runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Wednesday through Sept. 30 at Park City Mountain’s First Time chair lift lot. The weekly market features fresh, GMO-free produce, local meats, breads and crafts. Admission is free. For information, visit parkcityfarmersmarket.com.

The post Scene Happenings: Sept. 12 and beyond appeared first on Park Record.

The judges have voted and announced the winners of this year’s Miners Day Parade.

The winners are:

• Best Performance: Park City High School Cheerleaders
• Most Creative: Serve Park City
• Best Mining Theme: Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History
• Best Overall: The Egyptian Theatre

“The competition was fierce,” said Miners Day Parade Coordinator Michelle Rankin. “From the mining hats and revving engines to the pounding drums and even a camel, the enthusiasm celebrating Park City Miners Day was incredible. Our three judges mentioned this was their most difficult decision yet and sent their sincere thanks to such an enthusiastic group of entries.”

The Miners Day Parade was a highlight of Monday’s celebration and started around 11 a.m. with a procession down historic Main Street.

This year’s parade boasted more than 40 entries, including the Corvette Club of Utah and the Egyptian Theatre’s manager, Randy Barton, riding a live camel to celebrate the theater’s 100th anniversary.

For information, visit parkcityminersday.org.

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Mountain Mediation helps members of the community resolve issues through unity and peace before the conflicts enter the court system.

So it is fitting the nonprofit titled its upcoming fundraiser “Voices in Harmony,” said Associate Director Nicole E. “NED” Droitsch.

“At our base we are the mediation and conflict resolution center for the community, which is something we’ve been doing for the 20 years we’ve been around,” she said. “During our timeframe we’ve found that doing those upstream pieces is so essential.”
The fundraiser, scheduled for Thursday at the Rooftop at Pendry Park City, will help maintain those programs, including the signature Let’s Talk training, according to Maydeline “Mayde” Casiano, Mountain Mediation’s marketing and engagement coordinator.

“(We) focus a lot on conflict resolution and upstream education, and we have different tiers with Let’s Talk,” she said. 

The first level is Let’s Talk Essentials that Mountain Mediation provides for free, Casiano said.

“We like to bring in the community to show what we can do to better communicate and resolve conflicts before they arise or at the moment they arise,” she said.

Let’s Talk Building Trust Through Communication builds on the Essentials program, while Let’s Talk Managing Difficult Conversations helps people navigate high-stakes interactions, according to Casiano.

“What’s so great about fundraisers like this is that they allow us to provide these programs at a much affordable price,” she said. “That way, if someone has an issue with a landlord and can’t pay rent for whatever reason, we will try to bring them both in and look for the best way to go forward.”

Mountain Mediation will work to do almost anything to stop a dispute from getting out of hand, Droitsch said.

“We don’t want to get to a place where people go to court or where family members stop speaking to each other or where politicians aren’t able to interact with the people they are representing,” she said. “We also are proud of the upstream education we give to landlords and tenets.”

Those sessions started in 2020, around the time COVID hit, Droitsch said.

“Evictions are the most destabilizing pieces in a community for both tenants and landlords,” she said. “Upstream education partners with institutions to reach people, both sides, where they’re at and shows them rights and responsibilities and pathways that don’t involve the court system. We do believe that getting two people at the table is the best way to solve their problems. We’re just there to facilitate open communication.”

While Casiano usually doesn’t participate in the mediation process, she is one of the staff members who refer people to Mountain Mediation services.

“It’s very rewarding to me to be able to provide these types of resources for those who, for example, may not be able to pay rent for whatever reason,” she said. “These issues don’t just affect people (financially). They affect people’s mental health and other aspects of their lives. So it’s rewarding to provide these opportunities for people to find middle ground and move forward.”

“Voices in Harmony” will start at 6 p.m., Droitsch said.

“It’s a very casual event, so some people will come straight from work, while others may go home to freshen up before they arrive,” she said. “The evening will start with a heavy buffet or hor d’oeuvres type of foods, wine and a cash bar.”

Paul Hochman, known for his work with the Park City Follies and his band, the Antibodies, will provide the entertainment, Droitsch said.

“He is so funny and talented and usually plays these amazing tunes, but he’s working on a special surprise to emulate what Mountain Mediation is and what the event is,” she said. “Since our event is called ‘Voices in Harmony,’ he is going to give us a little musical program that shows what it means when we work together and create something beautiful.”
Attendees will have the chance to bid on silent auction items, Droitsch said.

“We will have some amazing silent auction tickets — Utah Jazz tickets, Utah Mammoth items that include a signed hockey stick, a cooler and a jersey,” she said. “We also have a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and a sponsorship for the Egyptian Theatre’s Pharaoh Club.”

Droitsch is grateful for community members and businesses who donated the silent auction items.

“Our hearts bubble over with the support from this community,” she said. “It just shows everyone wants to help build a more peaceful community.” 

Pendry Park City is the perfect place to host “Voices in Harmony”, Droitsch said.

“They are such a fantastic partner for us and have been so generous,” she said. “We started this fundraiser as a small Pizza at the Pendry gathering in the lower area, and for the past two years they’ve offered to host our event up on their full house deck.”

Droitsch enjoys the Rooftop’s ambiance.

“It’s a gorgeous magical space at the end of the summer, and it shows us where we live and what kind of mountain town we are,” she said. “It’s in the mountains and a little chilly so the fireplace is going. It upgraded our event and allows us to have that end-of-the-summer celebration.”

Mountain Mediation’s ‘Voices in Harmony’ fundraiser

• When: 6 p.m. Thursday
• Where: Rooftop at Pendry Park City, 2417 W. High Mountain Rd.
• Registration: tinyurl.com/3wwbayz2
• Web: mountainmediationcenter.org

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Park City High School junior Zoey Stender will open the curtain on the inaugural Spotlight for Joy gala fundraiser next week.

The event, hosted by Dr. Arron Stockham and scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Hale Centre Theatre Legacy Room in Sandy, will raise money for her nonprofit, Spotlight for Joy Opportunity Fund, which will benefit theater programs in public schools.

“Our theme is Pure Joy, and this is not a stuffy fundraiser,” she said. “Our mission is to help fund performance education in underfunded public schools, and it’s going to be a fun night.”

The festivities will begin with a mocktail hour, because the event is youth-forward and youth run, said Stender, an Egyptian Theatre YouTheatre alum.

“All of our volunteers are friends of mine and teenagers,” she said.

In addition to the soda bar, attendees will be treated to some live entertainment by other talented friends.

“Chloe Sawyer, who is in college for art and is so mega talented, will draw caricatures of everyone in their beautiful evening wear,” Stender said. “We’ll also have a live violinist, Ella Sanyal, perform, because I am very lucky to have a friend who has played in Russia and China.”

The night will continue after the mocktail hour with a sit-down, full-course meal by Magelby’s, according to Stender.

“It’s going to be very yummy,” she said.

An after-dinner program will start with a few speeches by Stender and David Smith, Hale Centre Theatre’s director of education and resident director.

“Then we’ll have a performance by local teens,” Stender said. “I think our youngest performer is 11 or 12, and our oldest is 19.”

The 45-minute showcase will spotlight different aspects of theater including songs, dance and monologues, Stender said.

“At one point two kids will dance and say they want to dance with somebody and get people on their feet,” she said. “I’m lucky to have some of the best performers in Utah step up and say they wanted to be a part of this.”

A live and silent auction will serve as the main fundraising, Stender said.

“Steakhouses and restaurants have donated dinner packages, and another item will (feature) a professional chef who will come to your house and cook dinner for 10,” she said. “We also have skis and goggles donated by Cole Sport, a week stay at a luxury mansion for 12 in Park City, and Utah Mammoth tickets and s’mores packages.”

The money raised during the gala will specifically support Granger High School and Granite Park Middle School theater programs, Stender said.

“We chose those schools after looking at demographics and the students’ loves,” she said. “We looked at the number of students who were on free lunch programs and talked with teachers and saw what sparks their students’ passions.”

In February, Stender founded the Spotlight for Joy Opportunity Fund because she wanted to share her love of the performing arts. She also wanted to give back to the community who made it possible for her to participate in this profession.

“I have been very lucky to be blessed with so much theater education in my life, and there were two events that served as an inspiration to found Spotlight for Joy Opportunity Fund,” she said.

One was a donation to the Egyptian Theatre’s YouTheater program.

“A donor gave a grant to the YouTheatre, which made all the classes accessible right when I wanted to really start training,” she said. “I was able to take at least one class a day and was in that basement until 8:30 p.m. every night. I loved it, and it’s how I found myself as a performer and as a person.”

The second event also included a donation.

“Someone gave a grant to my school’s theater program, and we got microphones and tap shoes,” she said. “It was like rainbows and unicorns, and all of a sudden we could do all of these really cool things.”

So, Stender began thinking of how she could do what others have done for her.

“I wanted to find a way to make an impact on people’s lives like the ones that have changed mine,” she said. “So, I decided to form a nonprofit.”

Stender has loved theater ever since she portrayed the Green Bird Girl in an all-school version of “Seussical the Musical” when she was 6.

“That was my first play and we were living in Texas,” she said. “I was thrown into ballet when we moved to Utah because my mom said, ‘Zoey, you need friends.’”

While Stender loved ballet, she had to choose between that and theater, and she decided to focus on acting.

“I’m on my school’s dance team, so I’m still connected with the dance side of things,” she said.

Stender first worked with Egyptian Theatre’s YouTheatre as a visitor in 2019.

“We moved here fulltime in 2020, and that’s when I started doing more with them during the COVID era,” she said. 

Spotlight for Joy Opportunity Fund’s overarching philosophy is about how theater edifies children holistically, according to Stender.

“It’s so much more than singing and dancing,” she said. “We believe it fosters belonging. We believe it fosters creativity. We also believe it fosters communication, which is sometimes brushed over in public schools.”

Theater also helps kids become better adults, Stender said.

“We have done our research and found that performing arts keeps kids in school, a place where they can learn and be kids,” she said. “It also increases test scores and makes it possible for young people to more likely get jobs.”

Spotlight for Joy gala

• When: 6 p.m. Sept. 12
• Where: Hale Centre Theatre Legacy Room, 9900 S. Monroe St., Sandy
• Registration:  thespotlightforjoy.max.gives/tickets
• Web: thespotlightforjoy.max.gives

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The Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter and the Utah Native Plant Society invite nature and art lovers to experience the wild side of Utah native plants.

The two organizations have partnered for an art exhibit titled “Ephemeral,” which opens Sept. 12 and features 90 works of art depicting these plants, said Hunter Klingensmith, the EcoCenter’s director of visitor experience and exhibits.

“We will have a free opening event that runs from 5-7 p.m., and quite a few of the artists will be there so people can meet them,” she said. “We’ll also have refreshments and bites.” 

The idea for “Ephemeral” came as the EcoCenter staff tried to figure out what to do for its autumn exhibit, Klingensmith said.

“The Utah Native Plant Society reached out and asked if we wanted to do a one-day show of art,” she said. “I was like, ‘What if we did a whole three-month show?’”

The exhibit runs through Nov. 29 and includes watercolors, oil paintings, embroidery and quilts, according to Klingensmith.

“There is some three-dimensional art as well,” she said. “One of my favorites in the show is a Utah-native poppy that is done in glass.”

The exhibit is less interpretive and more about the art, Klingensmith said.

“Each artist wrote a little description about the work, and a lot of them feature information about the specific native plant they depicted and why they were inspired to,” she said. “There are some plants that I didn’t know about that grow in the deserts in Utah that I got to learn about.”

Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter and the Utah Native Plant Society sent out a call for artists in early June, with a July 10 deadline, Klingensmith said.

“We had a ton of applications, and we were bummed that we couldn’t get everyone into the show,” she said.

Most of the artists are Utah based, but all are regionally based and live close to the Utah border, Klingensmith said.

“We had a jury of Swaner EcoCenter staff and the Utah Native Plant Society board, and it was so cool to be on the call when we were jurying the exhibit,” she said. “The Utah Native Plant Society team is so knowledgeable, and they have such a passion for native plants.” 

Klingensmith named the American bistort and the Baltic rush as a couple of her favorite flowering native plants that are on the preserve.

“American bistort is a cool wetland plant, and from afar they almost look like a Q-tip,” she said. “They have these little white flowers all around a centralized top. It’s fun when you get a full field of those.”

The Baltic rush looks like a grass and it grows in the wetter areas of the preserve, according to Klingensmith. 

“They have these rusty, dark-brown tops, and when you look out onto the preserve they are those dark patches that almost look like they are burned,” she said. “If people want to learn more about the native plant species on the preserve, we have some great brochures at the EcoCenter. Or they can come join our Saturday morning guided nature walks.”

The exhibit opens during a time when the EcoCenter staff is preparing to reseed its native vegetation, Klingensmith said.

“Margaux (Klingensmith) and Rea (Cone) of our conservation team were out Wednesday morning collecting native plant seeds,” she said. “I think they did Great Basin wild rye, which is a tall native grass that grows in our exhibit.”

The exhibit also serves as the kickoff to the EcoCenter’s Native Seed Library. 

“We’ll have a fun library card catalogue that will be full of different Utah native seeds that are mostly regionally from northern Utah where we’re located,” she said. “There will be a process where people can donate native seeds, and we’re taking those donations now. We’ll ask you a couple of questions, and you can fill out a little form.”

People will be able to take home up to three packets of seeds with them from the library per visit, Klingensmith said.

“They will fill out a checkout form so we can see which seeds have been taken,” she said. “We have collected most of the seeds for the library, but we also supplement seeds from a local, native-plant nursery.”

Klingensmith enjoys the collaboration with the Utah Native Plant Society.

“They are doing so many cool things to provide education and resources as to where you can buy native plants,” she said. “They also do surveying about rare native plants in the area. So, getting to partner with them allows us to highlight the great diversity of native plants in Utah.”

The Utah Native Plant Society is currently preparing for its annual Native Plant Festival that is coming up in October at Conservation Garden Park, Klingensmith said.

“So this is a lead-up to it,” she said.

In addition, the EcoCenter will host a “Rooted in Fun: Family Plant Day” from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20, Klingensmith said.

“We’ll have sensory-play opportunities,” she said. “People will be able to build a plant-inspired craft to take home, and one of the artists will lead one of the activities. We are also working on a few art workshops geared toward adults. The schedule will be released soon.”

‘Ephemeral’ Art Exhibit

• When Sept. 12-Nov. 29
• Where: Swarner Preserve & EcoCenter, 1258 Center Drive
• Information: tinyurl.com/5fu85frd
• Web: swanerecocenter.org and unps.org

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Since 2011 the Christian Center of Park City has hosted its Hike for Hunger community celebration.

The event has shifted over the years from a fundraiser for programs that help those who experience food insecurity to an awareness raiser to show food insecurity touches all walks of life.

“We realized the real goal is to raise awareness about food insecurity,” said Steve Richardson, Christian Center of Park City executive director. “So we want to form partnerships with this event. We want our customers and people who really care about others having food security to  interact with each other. We want to see kids playing together.”

That goal should be easy when the 2026 Hike for Hunger returns from noon-6 p.m. on Saturday to Utah Olympic Park, Richardson said.

“The biggest thing is we’re renting out the entire park to make it special for the community,” he said. “Everyone will be able to ride the alpine slide and zip lines and do the ropes courses and climbing activities and trail activities where you can ride the ski lift and hike down the mountain.”

The event will feature a DJ and an array of food and drink vendors, according to Richardson. 

“There will be a lot of things like soft pretzels, mixed sodas and coffee,” he said. “We’ll also have some nice meals.”

Registration is now open, and prices range from $25 for individuals and $75 for families.

“We keep admission low because we want everyone in the community to attend,” Richardson said. “Luckily we have an underwriter, Dick Marriott, because the price of the tickets don’t pay for what we’re doing. And that’s wonderful.”

Christian Center clients also can attend for lower prices or for free, Richardson said.

“The goal is to not make money. It’s to get the community together,” he said.

All who register will get a 2026 Hike for Hunger T-shirt. 

“Jake Carter of our marketing team loves designing the shirts every year,” Richardson said. “Since this is the Hike for Hunger, he put some healthy foods on the design.”

Healthy food is one of the ways that separates the Christian Center’s food pantries in Park City and Heber City from other food pantries.

“I talked with someone who has experiences with other food pantries around the country, and they said most food pantries aren’t open five days a week,” Richardson said. “They also said most food pantries don’t have fresh fruits and vegetables, cheeses and eggs.”

Many food pantries are filled with processed food and canned food, according to Richardson.

“We do have canned food, but we mostly try to get healthy foods to people who want to live a healthy life and be food secure,” he said.

Healthy-food donations are one of the things that make Park City special, Richardson said.

“People came here to live that healthy lifestyle — to get out and exercise and experience the mountains,” he said. “We’re not trying to make gourmet meals, but we do want to make the healthy basics available for everyone. We want to make people feel valued and empowered.”

The No. 1 cause of poverty is not just economic availability. It’s a sense of shame, Richardson said.

“If someone feels ashamed to get help or walk into a food pantry or ask for help with mental health, it will keep them in that poverty,” he said. “So, our goal is not to just provide services. It’s to eliminate shame. And that’s why the Hike for Hunger is in this beautiful spot.”

Hike for Hunger will also shed light on the Christian Center’s other programming, Richardson said.

“Yes, we call it Hike for Hunger, but it’s not just about food-security programs,” he said. “We want to make sure our customers are food secure, but we also want to make sure they feel a sense of hope. That’s why we have Operation Hope and Back-to-School Basics.”

Operation Hope is the Christian Center’s equivalent to Sub for Santa, where parents are able to participate in an empowering experience of selecting toys for their children in a Christmas-store setting.

Back-to-School Basics is the nonprofit’s program that provides school supplies for underserved students in Summit County, Wasatch County and the students who live on the Goshute Reservation. 

“Of course, mental health is also so vital in what we do,” Richardson said. “So, we are inviting everyone to be a part of this.”

The Christian Center also invites other locally based nonprofits to set up kiosks and participate in Hike for Hunger.

“We want people to see that his community cares for those who are struggling and will work with them to be more successful and feel more hopeful and empowered to live the life they want to live,” Richardson said. “There are so many people today who are living with anxiety or in fear. It’s real. We can’t just argue it away, but we can try to make things better one step at a time.”

Richardson also emphasized Christian Center programs are available to everyone who needs them.

“We aren’t tied to a church or denomination or religious practice,” he said. “We don’t have a statement of faith, and people who use our services don’t have to be religious. We call ourselves the Christian Center because we feel Christian values are about love and that God loves people. That’s as far as it goes. We’re all in this together to serve everyone in our community.”

Christian Center of Park City’s 2026 Hike for Hunger

• When: noon-6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12
• Where: Utah Olympic Park, 3419 Olympic Pkwy.
• Registration: $25 for individuals and $75 for families
• Web: ccofpc.org/hike-for-hunger

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