Eve Christensen has lived in Heber City since 2021 and, since she’s raising five kids there, wants to be involved in “making Heber as awesome as possible.” 

A freelance structural engineer, she thought maybe the best way to do that would be serving on the Planning Commission. But she quickly realized when she started watching public meetings that she “(didn’t) even have the vocabulary to get involved.” Despite her engineering expertise, she knew very little about the inner workings of city government. 

That changed after a friend told Christensen about the Heber Leadership Academy, a nine-month city program giving residents a behind-the-scenes look at public works, the police and fire departments, Heber Valley Tourism, the Intermountain Health Heber Valley Hospital, the Wasatch County School District and much more.

The program culminates in a project chosen and organized by students. Christensen’s class last year designed an America250-themed geocaching scavenger hunt around town, which is still being implemented before its public launch. Past class projects have included the splash pad outside of the city building and a historic walking tour.

Now that Christensen has participated in the program, she’s attended public meetings and voiced her opinions much more often. She’s also been a more informed voter, in no small part because her Heber Leadership Academy class organized a candidate forum with KPCW. 

The Heber Leadership Academy, Christensen said, bridges the gap between city and county administration and residents.

“There are no conspiracies. Everyone that lives here loves here,” she said. “It makes you proud of Heber and the care and effort that goes into keeping it running by good, down-to-earth people.”

With the Heber Leadership Academy now accepting applications for its sixth class, Christensen has texted all of her friends, urging them to get involved.

“The more informed that people are, the more aware they are of their city leadership and the leaders of the utilities and other public services, the better off we’d be,” she said.

Plus, there’s a lot of fun to be had in the program. In the class devoted to public works, Heber Light & Power Company brings out wire and creates searing electric arcs to cook hot dogs and marshmallows. Meanwhile, the city public works department lets participants operate a backhoe.

“We’ll actually go out into our yard and get a piece of pipe, bury it up with some road base and let the academy attendees get inside the backhoe and experience taking a scoop alongside of a pipe without actually touching the pipe,” said Public Works Director Matthew Kennard. “It’s a real-world demonstration of the skill that’s involved with operators.”

The Heber Leadership Academy, Kennard said, helps participants gain a greater appreciation for the little miracles of electricity, sewer and running water. He’s always impressed by “how much they want to learn and understand about how society actually works.” 

Heber City Police Chief Parker Sever said the same. He said there are always questions about “what we do to keep the officers sane.”

Sever explained that officers can also book therapy through BlomquistHale and are required to see a counselor once per year and after “serious events.”

“At my last agency (in Hanford, California), we had an officer that had to do CPR on a baby that had just had open heart surgery. Imagine doing compressions on a baby that has sutures all the way down its stomach. Horrible,” he said. “So, we made an appointment with him to see a counselor to talk.”

Beyond officers’ mental health, Sever has also taught Heber Leadership Academy students about everything from the Police Department’s SWAT team to youth mentorship opportunities. 

Students kick off the Heber Leadership Academy with an introductory lesson about leadership from former history and politics professor Matthew Heimburger. He focuses on all the various ways one can be a leader in one’s community. 

That’s a lesson he personally learned while lobbying against the construction of Heber City’s 105,000-square-foot Walmart in 2007. The city did not allow retail outlets larger than 60,000 square feet until the City Council changed zoning ordinances to approve the store. 

Seeking to overturn that decision, Heimburger organized a citizen group that put the issue on the ballot. But voters narrowly approved the new zoning, paving the way for the Walmart still standing today.

“There were a lot of weird feelings there,” Heimburger said. “But it was totally worth it for us because we think we helped the community understand that they had a right to be involved in decision-making, whether they’re in office or not in office, that they have a right to go to meetings and to express what they prefer, to be a part of vision boarding for the community.”

Heimburger loves the Heber Leadership Academy for its fostering of civic engagement.

“It seems like a lost art, but it’s not. It’s just that people are crazy busy. They want to leave the politicking to the politicians until the wrong decision gets made,” he said. “Then, they’re up in arms. Well, then it’s too late.”

Heimburger said informing residents about the inner workings of the city empowers them to guide their elected officials, not just react to the decisions they make.

“You’ll have a businesswoman next to a real estate developer next to a stay-at-home mom next to a construction management guy next to an environmentalist,” he said. “The fact that you can bring those people into a room and get them talking about cooperating and the building of a community, I think, is a tremendous concept.”

Applications for the Heber Leadership Academy close Aug. 17. The program runs Aug. 20 through May 20. Program tuition is $275. Learn more at envisionheber.com/leadership.

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Cody Martensen has had a saying written on his mirror for the past decade: “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.”

The motto fits for a man who overcame 21 years of substance abuse and regained custody of his children by joining Circles, a national poverty reduction program and support group run in Utah and Wasatch counties by Community Action Services and Food Bank. 

Martensen is now the director of the program and sole staff member after he was forced to lay off six employees. Community Action Services is significantly scaling back its Circles programs — including by shutting down the Wasatch County program — after losing federal funding.

Community Action Services has run Circles since 2010. It is available to those making less than 200% of the poverty threshold, or about $66,000 annually for a family of four based on federal guidelines.  

Participants complete a 12-week program to learn skills to help them toward financial stability. Then they are paired with mentors, or “allies,” who help them achieve their goals. 

Those goals are not restricted to financial ones. They could also be related to physical or mental health, substance abuse recovery, professional development or post-secondary education, as a few examples.

“We had a client that wanted to learn how to eat better and be more physically active, so the ally would walk a mile a day with them,” Martensen said. “We had an ally that would watch a girl’s kids so she could go get her CNA and get into the medical field. It’s just those intentional friendships, like, ‘Hey, I believe in you. How can I help you?’”

A participant ultimately completes the program by reaching 200% of the poverty threshold. On average, participants increase their incomes by $14,000, according to Jessica Miller, chief impact officer at Community Action Services.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grants almost entirely fund the Circles programs in Utah and Wasatch counties. The Utah Department of Workforce Services last funded Circles in July 2023 with a $1 million grant. That funding made it possible to expand to Wasatch County and add youth and Spanish-language classes to the Utah County program.

In anticipation of its three-year grant contract expiring, Community Action Services reapplied for a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grant, but the Utah Department of Workforce Services declined to fund the program.

Department of Workforce Services spokesman Jared Mendenhall said this year’s grant process was “very competitive” and that the majority of applicants did not receive funding. He did not share how many applicants there were, nor the total amount distributed, because grant contracts are still being finalized.

“We wish that there was no limit to any of our resources and we could fund all the good projects,” he said.

Community Action Services is seeking to fill Circles’ funding gap through local foundations and state and federal funding opportunities, Miller said.

“We remain hopeful that this important community resource will be brought back up to speed quickly so that families can continue their work forward out of poverty,” Miller said.

But for now, the nonprofit has laid off six of its seven Circles employees, closed its Wasatch County program and denied new applicants to the Utah County program, which is now being run entirely by Martensen.

In fiscal year 2026, the programs served 399 individuals in Utah County and 42 in Wasatch County.

Martensen said poverty typically looks different in Wasatch County than in Utah County.

“I have noticed that sometimes people are like, ‘I’m not in poverty.’ The ‘poverty’ word scares them,” he said. “I don’t see the real debt or the real finances until six months down the road. … Usually, the first six months we’re building rapport, and we’re building trust, like, ‘Hey, we’re not here to judge you. We’re just here to learn together.’”

Martensen’s biggest concern about Circles leaving Wasatch County is losing the relationships and trust he and other employees have built locally over the past three years. If the program were re-established in the area, it would be like starting over, he said.

The sight of his coworkers’ empty desks has also upset him.

“My staff were distraught. They loved what they did, and we had spent two years (since I became director) building this team and getting everybody trained,” he said. “The reason I picked these people and fought so hard to keep them was they really did care. They really had their own personal stories of triumph and had been through it and just wanted to help people.”

That’s why Martensen became director of the program. He was originally a participant himself eight years ago. He had struggled with drug addiction since he was 13, lost custody of his children and been in and out of jails and psych wards until his early 30s. 

Then, he joined Circles, surrounding himself with peers who would hold him accountable to his goals.

“When you hang out with doctors, chances are, you’re going to be a doctor. You hang out with investors, chances are, you’re going to be a really good investor,” he said. “I think it’s the same thing for Circles. If you’re hanging out with people who are working on their health and working on their finances and working on fixing their credit and working on achieving goals, then chances are, you’re going to do that stuff, too.”

In Circles, Martensen was no longer facing his problems on his own. One time, his car broke down, and within a few days, his peers had found him 10 cheap cars to replace it.

“Surrounding yourself with good people that want nothing but the best for you, it just does something for your mental stability, your emotional stability,” he said.

These days, Martensen can’t believe he’s built the life he has today. He recently welcomed his seventh child into the world. 

“I’ll have experiences with my baby, and I’ll call my older kids, and I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry for not being the best dad back then.’ They’re like, ‘I know, Dad. You don’t have to keep calling us and telling us sorry,’” Martensen said.

Though Martensen is sad about Circles losing funding, he’s choosing to approach the situation with optimism, just as the program taught him to do.

“This is nothing compared to what I’ve been through,” he said. “My addiction almost took me out a couple times. So, I’m grateful to be here. (Circles) takes what I’ve been through and gives a purpose. I didn’t go through all that pain and anguish for nothing. I can use what I’ve been through to … instill hope in people, like, ‘Hey, I was there too. I made it out. I live a good life today.’ If that’s all I can do with what I’ve been through, then I’m doing a good job.”

The loss of funding will not affect Community Action Services’ food banks, which will continue to operate in both Utah and Wasatch counties. The nonprofit accepts donations and is seeking committed Circles volunteers in Utah County. Learn more at communityactionprovo.org.

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Senior Kohler Rauzi wasn’t sure at first whether to attend Wasatch High School or the new Deer Creek High School, but the new school offered an opportunity impossible to pass up.

“There are no traditions, no stories that everyone tells, no expectations and no culture. But we get to create all of that,” he said at Deer Creek High School’s ribbon cutting ceremony and open house on Wednesday. 

The $169 million school is ready to welcome students on Aug. 18. Only a few finishing touches to the theater are left to do.

Former Wasatch School District Superintendent Paul Sweat noted at the ceremony that the building will soon turn into a “living organism” where students will build their futures. 

The first signs of life could be seen at the open house. Aspiring athletes mimed making shots on the basketball court. 

Students wandered into health sciences teacher Jordanne Davidson’s classroom for a demonstration of the new Anatomage table — used to dissect digitized cadavers — and left the room either green in the face or with a gleam in their eyes. 

Meanwhile, members of the student government were hard at work enlisting elementary schoolers to their cause, asking them to pledge to be a Deer Creek Riverhawk instead of a Wasatch Wasp when they grow up.

Rauzi, the student government’s vice president, wants to create a culture in which every student feels seen. He believes the easiest way to do that is by starting conversations. 

Rauzi started his high school experience somewhat isolated from his peers.

“When I was a freshman, I spent a lot of time in the front office, not because I was in trouble, but because my best friends were the ladies who worked there,” he said.

Eventually, a few seniors who frequented the office took him under their wings. Rauzi forged friendships with them that lasted even after they had graduated.

“They probably have no idea how much those simple conversations meant to me,” he said.

Now a senior himself, Rauzi hopes to start those conversations with other students. He’s done the math: If each of the student government’s 28 members befriended 47 of their peers, then every student at Deer Creek High School would have someone in their corner.

Ensuring that every teen gets care and attention is why the Wasatch County School District set out to build its second high school in the first place. 

Deer Creek High School Principal Justin Kelly, formerly principal of Wasatch High School, said, “It was sad to me at graduation that a student would come across the stage, and I would think, ‘I don’t know their name, and I can’t remember seeing them very much.’”

With more than 2,700 students enrolled at Wasatch High School last year, forgetting a few students’ names is inevitable. This upcoming academic year, that population has been halved, with the high schools’ enrollment numbers within only two students of each other, according to Superintendent Garrick Peterson.

Peterson added that at-risk students will be especially impacted by the second high school.

“We’re going to be able to have kids coming to school, and their names are going to be known better. Their struggles are going to be known better. We’re going to be able to react to them better,” he said. “If we can make a difference for just a few of those kids and change their lives forever and start to change their stories, there’s power to that.”

With smaller class and club sizes, students at Wasatch High School and Deer Creek High School have been eager this year to try new things, said school board member Breanne Dedrickson.

“I know kids in my own neighborhood who wouldn’t have gone out for student government before, but they thought, ‘Man, there’s extra spots. I don’t know if anyone’s going to try it at Deer Creek. I’m going to try it.’ And they got involved for the first time in something they never tried before,” she said. “That’s what this is about.”

Student government adviser Jessica Firth explained that the students have been planning the high school’s first year since May. They’ve designed merchandise, planned a spirit week and come up with cheers for football games that tease, “You wish you were a Riverhawk!”

Members of the student government hope there’s more to their relationship with Wasatch High School than a friendly rivalry on the football field.

“They were our people just a few months ago,” Firth said. “We have goals to do service projects with the Wasatch student government and keep connections so that we’re not just rivals, but we’re also collaborators.”

The motto the students came up with, “Together we soar,” was in line with the Riverhawk mascot.

“We don’t want anybody to feel like they’re doing this alone,” Firth said. 

Wasatch County has come a long way since its first Wasatch High School, a 20-by-40-foot building built in 1908, as former Superintendent Sweat pointed out. The school district has since moved the high school to new buildings twice — first in 1964, then again in 2009 — to meet the needs of the community. The opening of the Deer Creek High School continues the trend of cultivating the Heber Valley’s greatest resource: its children. 

To Sweat, the two high schools embody a quote from philosopher and educator John Dewey: “What the best and wisest parent wants for his child, that must we want for all the children of the community. Anything less is unlovely, and left unchecked, destroys our democracy.”

The post Wasatch County’s second high school opens appeared first on Park Record.

Midway resident Brent Kelly, a rodeo announcer of over 50 years, got his start in the sport by watching the Wasatch County Rodeo, now called the Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo, as a kid.

As a teenager, he’d sneak onto organizer Swanny Kirby’s property to ride his calves, but he never snuck into the event itself.

“The rodeo used to be put on by the Heber Valley Riding Club. And they would patrol the fences so that none of the kids would get in free,” he said. “(My friend) Tom (Whitaker) said, ‘Remember when we pushed over that snow fence, and all of us ran in and got in free?’ I said, ‘Tom, I don’t remember that. I don’t think I was there. I always paid my ticket.’”

Ahead of the Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo this weekend, Brent recounted its history at the Wasatch County Library during the latest in a series of local history lectures. 

The rodeo began as an outgrowth of the Wasatch County Fair, which began in 1913.

“In the 20th century, local farmers, ranchers, 4-H groups, they got together and they showed livestock, they showed crops, they showed produce,” Brent said. “The fair (was) both competitive and a community celebration reflecting the most important part of farming to Wasatch County.”

The rodeo began sometime in the 1920s as an amateur event for kids and families. It got an upgrade when Kirby took over, the first of several organizers to transform the rodeo into a professional event. 

The first local rodeo clown was Ellis Clyde. A photo of his goofy expression sent a wave of laughter through the audience of seniors who recognized him. 

“Ellis always had a float in the parade,” Brent said. “He would ride down Main Street dressed as a woman, bra on the outside, playing a saxophone. And he had a band, the Ellis Clyde Band, and they used to play every Friday and Saturday night at the old social hall.”

After several iterations of stock contractors running the rodeo, the county asked Brent, his wife, Mary, and local Bob McPhie to take the reins in the 1970s. 

“We’ve been involved in rodeo pretty much all of our married lives. So when Bob asked us to come work with him, it was really an honor,” Mary said. “We had the same vision. We wanted to make it one of the best.”

The trio renamed it the Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo, which has evolved into the three-day event today. 

The Wasatch County Event Complex opened in 2005, its 7,000-seat outdoor arena opened in 2009, and its warm-up arena and livestock stalls were added in 2011.

“Wasatch is second to none in facilities that we have,” Brent said.

There has also been growth in the amount of prize money given out. Wasatch County Event Complex Director Jon Provost took over the rodeo about 20 years ago. At that time, the winners received about $40,000 total. At the rodeo this weekend, the county will distribute more than $200,000 in awards, generated from ticket sales and sponsorships.

That’s in stark contrast to the prize money Wasatch County advertised in rodeo magazines from 1956 and 1957 — about $700, or roughly $8,700 when adjusted for inflation.

There are nearly 500 competitors at this year’s event. Brent and Mary said it is the prize money that attracts National Finals Rodeo athletes.

“When you get them here, you sell out your crowds,” Mary said.

Members of the crowd at the library chimed in that it is not the professional athletes, but the amateur, hometown heroes who inspired them the most.

Brent and Mary, who received Gov. Spencer Cox’s Utah Treasure award last year for their involvement in the rodeo, could be considered two of those heroes. 

Brent became a competitor in calf roping, bareback riding and bulldogging while he was a student at Brigham Young University. Brent and Mary spent their years as a newly married couple constantly on road trips so Brent could compete in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association events. 

They funneled their paychecks into entry fees, or what they called “donations,” because Brent wasn’t winning any competitions.

“I was donating every weekend. Finally, one time, she says, ‘I don’t care what you do, just catch the calf!’ It took me about 20 seconds that time, but I caught it,” Brent joked. 

Brent’s love for the sport but inability to make a living competing in it is what led him to become a rodeo announcer. 

“I drive into a rodeo in a white shirt. I go up to a box that’s air-conditioned. And when I leave, I have a check and a hamburger,” he said, a grin plastered on his face. 

He’s announced at various rodeos across the state over the past half-century, including 20 years at the Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo. There, he began his tradition of announcing on horseback in the arena. He and his 26-year-old horse, Cash, have since hung up their spurs after many close encounters with bulls and broncos. 

In one instance, a horse mistook Brent for a pickup rider — a horseback rider who helps a competitor dismount during a rough stock competition — and chased him.

“He reached out and grabbed my belt with his mouth,” Brent said, making a chomping motion with his hand. “I felt that, and I kicked old Cash, and we went really fast that time. Cash has saved my life more than anything else.”

Brent, whose kids and grandkids are also involved in the rodeo, said the sport is “just coming into its own.”

“We’ve had more national exposure from the Cowboy Channel than anything. … There’s more money now than there used to be, which gives you more cowboys,” he said. “Back at the National High School Finals (earlier this month), they were roping calves in eight seconds. That was unheard of. If you had a 12-second run in my day, you would get a check. I never did get one, but anyway, eight seconds!”

After Brent’s presentation, Courtland Nelson, a Midway resident of 50 years, shared what he loves most about the Heber Valley’s rodeo tradition.

“There’s nothing really fun about raising pigs. There’s nothing that’s really exciting about milking cows. You can’t have cow-milking contests and have people really want to pay you to see it. And I think rodeo was the one thing that came out of those cultures,” he said. “To me, that was always a great thing about Heber Valley … that sense of the best parts of the Old West.”

The Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo takes place Thursday through Saturday at the Wasatch County Event Complex. Learn more and purchase tickets at wasatchparksandrec.com.

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Seventeen-year-old Logan Whittier has acted in about 30 plays, mostly at Timpanogos Valley Theatre in Heber City — a small miracle, given how much he hated his first play nine years ago.

“It was this really awful production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ in North Carolina,” he said. “They took out all the music. They just did it as a straight play. I played one of the flowers. I hated it so much. I was like, ‘Mom, I’m never doing theater again.’”

But as soon as Whittier realized how entrancing a well-made production could be, he was auditioning for any role he could. He had that realization while watching Jeremy Jordan’s performance of lead Jack Kelly in the 2017 Broadway production of “Newsies.”

Whittier will be donning that newsboy’s role in Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s production of “Newsies Jr.” next weekend. The Disney play depicts the 1899 newspaper hawkers’ labor strike in New York City, which occurred after newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Heart raised distribution prices.

Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s production features about 60 actors aged 12 to 18 who will be performing after a nine-day theater “boot camp.” 

The hardest part of wrangling the kids has not been teaching them tap dancing — they picked that up within two days — but having patience with them when they’re goofing off, music and choreography director Will Andrus joked.

But more often, the kids come prepared and eager to learn. All but one of the actors have theater backgrounds, and even that one new actor, 13-year-old Andrew Severson, has a background in choir and dance and no jitters over being onstage.

Unlike Severson, some of the kids in Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s youth boot camps are on the shy side, explained marketing manager Bettina Giese. She teaches fifth grade at Soldier Hollow Charter School and is constantly recommending that parents enlist their children in the theater.

“They’re like, ‘I don’t know that he’ll be brave enough.’ I say, ‘That’s the whole point. They’re shy in school, but when you get a part in a play, they tell you what to say. They tell you where to stand,’” she said.

Whittier added that theater did wonders for his self-confidence and social skills while he was in middle school.

“I would go on stage, and they’re like, ‘Pretend you have so much confidence in what you’re saying.’ So, I just transferred that into my own life. I would be talking to somebody. I’m like, ‘I have no idea what I’m talking about. I have no confidence in myself, but I can pretend I do,’” he said.

Director Roy Buttermore, 20, has been participating in theater since childhood. Literally walking in another person’s shoes as an actor has made him a more empathetic person. He hopes that he can instill that quality in the actors he’s currently mentoring — especially since many of them are the same age as the newsies who went on strike 127 years ago.

“Some of them are just so tiny. I’ll look at them and be like, ‘Gosh, I can’t imagine you having to go through this. But, you know, there was someone who was a lot like you that did, and had the strength and determination to undergo fighting against these people of amazing influence and power,’” Buttermore said.

The director hopes the play inspires its young cast and crew to have the same fervor as the real-life newsies did and to adopt other qualities of their characters in their day-to-day lives.

For example, Leina Magalie, 18, hopes to gain the self-startedness of her character, journalist Katherine Plumber, as she enters the adult world.

Sarah Ray, director of Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s youth programs, said the best part of her job is seeing kids come of age.

“Most of these humans who I love have actually grown up doing shows in the program,” she said, referring to the young adult crew. “It’s fun to watch the kids grow from being tiny little things, basically standing on the stage and waving at their parents, to being able to carry a whole show.”

While the “Newsies Jr.” cast is young, and rehearsals happen in a very short window, Ray assures prospective audience members that the show is well worth the ticket. The kids doing flips and cartwheels during musical numbers will justify the price of admission.

But the biggest reason to see “Newsies Jr.” is to support a program that empowers kids during awkward adolescence. 

“It’s such a positive, accepting environment here. We don’t put up with any kind of bullying or cliques or anything,” Ray said. “For kids that have felt like, ‘I don’t really have somewhere to belong,’ this has kind of become their home.”

Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s “Newsies Jr.” runs Friday, July 31 and Saturday, Aug. 1. Learn more and buy tickets at timpvalleytheatre.com.

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Twenty-four young women competed in a gauntlet of talent, poise, modeling and community service in a pageant as old as World War II at the Wasatch High School auditorium on Saturday.

The Miss Wasatch County pageant has been held 76 times since 1939. It names a Miss Wasatch County, Miss Heber Valley, and, for the first time this year, a Miss Deer Creek, for teens, 14 to 18, and adults, up to 27. 

The three titles are not based on location and are in equal standing, explained organizer Aja Phillips. Three titles exist to send as many women as possible from Wasatch County to the Miss Utah and Miss Utah’s Teen competitions next year, the winner of which advances to Miss America and Miss America’s Teen. The only Miss Utah from the Wasatch Back was Midway-raised Christina Lowe in 2010. 

Ava Winterton was crowned Miss Wasatch County, in no small part thanks to her performance in the talent portion, which constituted 20% of her score. During an expertly choreographed stunt cheer routine to Aqua’s “Barbie Girl,” her partner, “Ken,” threw her around as if she were as light as a plastic doll, hoisting her above his head to gasps and cheers from the audience.

Winterton, 18, graduated from Wasatch High School a few weeks ago. She’d competed in the teen competition the previous year only because her friends were doing it, but this year, she said she put her all into it.

She said the pageant was a valuable experience to prepare her for the adult world.

“I know now how to interview and how to talk onstage, and those are important skills for life,” she said.

Winterton’s community service initiative, an issue she was passionate about and advocated for locally in the six weeks leading up to the competition, constituted 10% of her score. Winterton’s was promoting children’s oral hygiene, which she has done by distributing free dental care kits and tabling an educational booth at Heber Market on Main.

Winterton currently works as a dental assistant at Smiles By Design and plans to use the scholarship she won to fund her education in Utah Tech University’s dental hygiene program.

As a winner of the adult competition, Winterton won $2,500. Teen winners won $1,200. 

These scholarships were funded by local businesses, anonymous donors and Wasatch County Parks and Recreation. The department used the budget for the county fair — at which Miss titleholders are announcers — to fund $8,500 in scholarships. The county fair budget is funded by the county’s restaurant tax revenue, according to Parks and Recreation program director Taylor Baker. 

Miss America and the state and local competitions under it originally began in 1921 as solely based on looks but have since expanded to focus more on overall character.

However, two categories of the competition focus on modeling. 

The evening gown portion constituted 20% of competitors’ scores. Announcers explained this stage of the competition was focused on self-expression, grace and composure rather than the cost or look of the dress.

Another 20% of competitors’ scores came from modeling athletic wear like yoga sets and tennis skirts in the health and fitness category. 

Each contestant strutted onstage while Lady Gaga played over the loudspeakers, sometimes flexing or doing cartwheels. Announcers said beforehand that the section was focused on displaying each competitor’s stage presence, personality and energy.

The health and fitness category is a spiritual successor to Miss America’s controversial swimsuit competition, which the organization removed in 2018, along with any judgment of physical beauty. Miss America somewhat reversed that decision in 2023 by adding the health and fitness category. 

The final 30% of contestants’ scores came from a private interview with the judges, who, with one exception, were all women with backgrounds in pageants, event organizing, fashion and dance.

Anahi Villalobos was the first attendant, or runner up, in the adult competition. Her community service initiative was teen mental health. 

“I struggled personally through depression and anxiety. Therefore, I wanted to be able to share the ways that I got out of it,” she said. “Like one of my favorite artists (Colombian singer Karol G) says, ‘Mañana será bonito.’ That means, ‘Tomorrow will be beautiful,’ and that’s true.”

All competitors who did not win also earned scholarships, albeit smaller ones, from various donors.

Villalobos plans to use her $900 in scholarship money to help pay for her nursing studies at Utah Valley University this fall.

Expanding scholarship money was a key priority for co-directors Phillips and Giuliana Willis when they took over five years ago.

Phillips, who is a model, said pageants are not “girly and ditzy” but instead about virtue, dedication, selflessness and service to one’s community.

“A lot of young women struggle more than men, not all men, with body positivity and being included and bullying,” she said. “Building confidence really is a big thing, because that’s a very crucial age … where a lot of people can go down a wrong path … because they don’t have that right guidance or the confidence.”

Newly-crowned Miss Heber Valley Kayleigh Hofheins said maintaining confidence was the hardest part of the competition.

“Getting on the stage and putting yourself out there, in front of a group of a ton of people, and all these beautiful girls … it’s really hard to keep your confidence up,” she said. “But it’s an amazing group of girls. You all hype each other up.”

Villalobos echoed that sentiment.

“Sisterhood is so important here,” she said. “I think it’s the most beautiful part.”

Here are the winners of the pageant.

• Miss Deer Creek: Jadyn Johnson
• Miss Heber Valley: Kayleigh Hofheins
• Miss Wasatch County: Ava Winterton
• Miss Deer Creek’s Teen: Elizabeth Cluff
• Miss Heber Valley’s Teen: Clarissa Blain
• Miss Wasatch County’s Teen: Adalynn Probst

The post Wasatch County crowns its new pageant royalty appeared first on Park Record.

It was a silent, slow Friday afternoon in the lobby at Intermountain Health’s Heber Valley Hospital, aside from the occasional cooing from patients and employees alike as they came in contact with Pippi, a 6-year-old, gingerbread-colored goldendoodle hired as the hospital’s first therapy dog. 

Her handler, Kirsten Nilsson, usually breaks the ice with patients by asking them if they have any dogs. 

“I’m very careful not to ever be like, ‘So, what’s wrong?’ I just sort of ignore that they’re in the hospital. We talk about the weather, and whatever they want to do,” she said. “I’ll bring Pippi, and she’ll sit on the bed, and I’ll just stay as long as it feels like they need someone to talk to. Sometimes they’re lonely.”

As volunteers, Nilsson and Pippi have visited Intermountain Health’s Park City Hospital every Wednesday for the past four years. The pair started visiting the Heber Valley Hospital earlier this month and plans to continue doing so on the first Tuesday of each month.

Usually, the pair wanders in the lobby and visits the medical-surgical wing and emergency clinic to see if any patients might be interested in a visit from Pippi, usually by checking with the receptionist.

“Sometimes, Pippi will identify someone and start walking towards them, which I’ve learned to not ever ignore, because a lot of times, dogs can sense there’s something wrong or that they need somebody,” Nilsson said. “If Pippi picks someone out, then they’re always like, ‘This is just what I needed.’ It’s really rewarding.”

Nilsson often gives patients a card with Pippi’s “stats,” like her birthday and favorite sport: swimming with the ducks in the lake near Nilsson’s house.

Pippi learned everything she knows through the Salt Lake City organization, Intermountain Therapy Animals. Her certification test involved placing Pippi in a fake hospital environment, complete with crutches, a gurney and pills scattered on the floor that could potentially distract her. The goal was for her to jump onto a hospital bed and let a patient pet her. 

“She wanted to spend most of her time with the people who were just pretending to hang out at the hospital and didn’t really want to hang out with me,” Nilsson said. “She was overly friendly with everybody else, which is great.”

Nilsson, the children’s librarian for the Summit County Library, first adopted Pippi to certify her as a Reading Education Assistance Dog through Intermountain Therapy Animals. Those dogs attentively listen to kids read aloud to help them develop their fluency. 

Pippi was born just five months before the COVID-19 lockdown, so she wasn’t a fan of kids when she first met them in the wild. But now, she’s perfectly attentive as they read to her. If she ever gets overwhelmed, she’ll go to her “safe space,” the top of Nilsson’s storytime book cart, where the children’s little hands are mercifully out of reach. 

Pippi also visits the Salt Lake City International Airport about once a month to meet anxious flyers or people with delayed flights. That’s the most stimulating environment Pippi has been in. 

The pup is much more at home at the Heber Valley Hospital, which is generally even quieter than the Park City Hospital.

Pippi can handle visits of about an hour. When she’s feeling done, she lies on the floor, four legs splayed out like a taxidermy rug. Sometimes, though, that just means she’s enjoying the cool feeling of the tile floor against her fur.

Nilsson said three teams of Intermountain Therapy Animals handlers and therapy dogs visit the Park City Hospital. She hopes to convince some of them to volunteer at the Heber Valley Hospital, too, especially since a few live in Heber City.

She also encouraged anyone who may be interested to train a therapy dog. She said her experience with Pippi has made her more considerate of other people, more comfortable starting up conversations and a more inclusive individual.

“(Pippi) doesn’t care what you look like or how you’re dressed or what kind of piercings you have or tattoos,” Nilsson said. “The fun thing is everyone reacts to her the same way.”

Pippi clearly has a positive effect on the patients, too, as evidenced by a time someone spotted Pippi in the Park City Hospital cafeteria and asked Nilsson to visit his mom in the intensive care unit.

“His mom was in pretty bad shape and not really responsive, and looked uncomfortable. And we walked in, and she saw the dog, and everything changed. She just became much more relaxed,” Nilsson said. “Pippi put her head on top of the woman’s hand, and then, with her other hand, she could pet her on the head. It was amazing. Everyone in the room started crying. And she stayed there for minutes, like she knew, ‘This is something that I’m here for.’”

The post Meet Pippi, Heber Valley Hospital’s first goldendoodle therapist appeared first on Park Record.

Could the Heber Valley become a car-free destination for visitors when the 2034 Winter Games hit? Wasatch County leaders planning for the Olympics hope so. 

Walking, buses, biking — Olympic Games planners and organizers plan to utilize all modes of transportation to their advantage come 2034. Having that vision come to fruition, though, requires careful planning in Midway City, Heber City and Wasatch County.

Heber Valley Tourism Executive Director Dallin Koecher attended the Milano Cortina Winter Games and walked into Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, wondering what his hometown could learn from this year’s Olympics. 

His biggest takeaway was the impact productive transportation systems had on the event. Koecher witnessed more than 19,000 fans eager to watch Olympic competitions in Cortina d’Ampezzo. He said most got around by public transportation or simply by walking from place to place. 

But Koecher said that, because the Winter Games were spread across the Dolomites from Milan to Cortina d’Ampezzo and Livigno, transportation from one Olympic venue to another took hours at best. The drive from Milan to Cortina d’Ampezzo is approximately four hours by car and six hours by bus. It’s also about a four-hour drive from Cortina d’Ampezzo to Livigno. 

“Transportation was a little unclear, and I think we have an opportunity to prepare transportation for our community,” Koecher said. 

The 2034 Winter Games will be easier on travel times. The Olympic village will be located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City. Events will be centered around Salt Lake City. Additional competitions will take place in Park City, Snowbasin, Provo and at Midway’s Soldier Hollow Nordic Center. 

Part of planning for transportation includes getting creative with transportation options. Soldier Hollow Nordic Center manager Luke Bodensteiner attended this year’s Paralympic Games in Tesero, Italy. Bodensteiner said he was impressed with the number of individuals who would walk 30 minutes or more to access certain events or venues. 

Bodensteiner said that’s one thing that can be leveraged in Midway. There are plenty of walking and biking trails already in use, he said. But more can be added. 

Because, while there were 19,000 spectators when Koecher was in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Bodensteiner witnessed 15,000 spectators in Tesero. He said that Soldier Hollow Nordic Center will play host to both crowds in 2034. 

Bodensteiner said the necessary improvements that must be made should also have an “afterlife” in Wasatch County. He said that any upgrades to city and county transportation should be made with the long term in mind so that residents of the Heber Valley and beyond can continue utilizing those benefits. 

Bob Allen, the transportation program manager for the Mountainland Association of Governments, said his team has already begun a deep dive into the analysis of projects coming down the pipeline. 

“(We’re looking at) where are the best investments that we can make,” Allen said. “We want to make these investments last well beyond the Olympics.”

Allen said transportation planning is a huge portion of preparing for the Olympics. Utah Department of Transportation’s Carlos Braceras is chair of one planning group looking at long-range transportation projects and considering what needs to be sped up. 

However, Allen said there isn’t “a large bucket of money waiting for transportation projects” to be built. Allen said transportation planning must happen within the UDOT’s budget for regionally specific projects, even if there’s pressure to do more for 2034. 

“We’re trying to go above and beyond what we’d normally do,” Allen amended. 

Kelsey Berg is the director of government relations for the 2034 Winter Olympics. She said that Utah’s Games will be “very compact,” which is a benefit. But challenges come from the sheer size of a modern Olympics. 

“The Games are about 40% larger than they were in 2002,” Berg said. 

That’s when Utah last hosted the Winter Games. Berg said the Olympics organizing committee has a real interest in transportation planning, but she sought to dispel a few myths from 2002. 

“(Most people think) the federal government gave us a blank check. That’s not the case,” Berg said. “We want to do things on the cheap and put on a good Games.”

Completing operations with efficient spending, Berg said, includes avoiding the use of state or local tax dollars. 

Aside from transportation, Koecher said he hopes that Wasatch County residents will stay in town throughout the 2034 Olympics to capitalize on the celebratory atmosphere. It’s what he said he enjoyed the most in Italy. 

“It’s tempting for many of us to put up our houses on Airbnb or VRBO,” Koecher said. “That would be a very, very big miss for our community to see what the Olympic spirit is all about.”

Koecher said he would encourage residents to host visitors and indulge in Olympic parties and celebrations throughout the Heber Valley, instead of leaving town. He said creating those celebratory experiences falls on Heber City and Midway businesses. 

“What can we do to create activation spaces where people will want to go and participate?” Koecher asked. 

Koecher said he observed an equal number of individuals who attended the Games in Italy without tickets as people with tickets to competitions and events. 

Bodensteiner said he saw businesses in Italy with displays that welcomed visitors into the establishments. 

“People who went the extra mile were the businesses that got visited a lot. The businesses that did not do that did not get visited,” Bodensteiner said. 

He added that residents may have to plan for large crowds, traffic and difficulty finding reservations for dinner. Bodensteiner apparently found it difficult to locate restaurants to eat at in Italy due to the number of people trying to do the same thing. 

“A lot of teams will be seeking private accommodations up here. That’s the same for restaurants. It can make it a little tough for visitors without some planning,” Bodensteiner said. 

And the crowds will not cease with the end of the 2034 Winter Games because a little more than a week later, the 2034 Paralympic Games will begin. Bodensteiner said he was impressed with the number of people who attended the Paralympic Games in Tesero. 

“Those stands were full,” Bodensteiner said. “We’ll have the Olympics and then a 10-day break and then a competition that will draw just as many people.”

Bodensteiner, Berg, Allen and Koecher all said they are committed to working with Wasatch County, Heber City and Midway to put on a noteworthy 2034 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. In 2034, the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will take place from Feb. 10 to 26, then March 10-19, respectively.

The post Wasatch County could become a car-free destination for the 2034 Olympics appeared first on Park Record.

Almost four years ago, then-20-year-old wildland firefighter Rebekah Epperson was fighting a blaze in Idaho for the Utah County Fire Department when she lost her footing on a dirt road and tumbled 20 feet down the side of a sheer cliff. She landed wrong on her right leg, but she thought it was fine.

“I was able to jump back up, and I was like, ‘I’m OK. I’m good.’ I had some little burns across my stomach, but it wasn’t as bad as it should have been, because I could have been dead,” she said.

But she started to feel pain in her leg as soon as her crew got back to camp. Her chief told her to go home and rest. The next morning, Epperson realized she needed to go to the hospital.

They did an MRI scan, and the doctor came in, and he’s just like, ‘Did you walk in here?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I walked in.’ And he’s like, ‘How?’” Epperson recalled with a laugh.

The scan found that Epperson had torn almost every single muscle in her right leg. 

But the reality of her injury hadn’t hit her yet. She thought that after her leg healed, she would come back, invincible, and the whole ordeal would just become a legend in her long and storied firefighting career. Little did she know that her injury would instead serve as the origin story for her career as a musician.

Several scans, doctor’s appointments and physical therapy sessions later, a physician broke the news to Epperson that she would never fully recover from her injury.

“He walked in, and I was like, ‘So, are you going to have to chop the leg off?’ And he gave me this look of, ‘Now’s not the time to joke, because this is serious.’ That was when I was like, ‘Oh, crap,’” Epperson said.

She had lost about 30% of the connecting muscle and tendons in her leg. She was using a full leg brace and crutches at the time and was told that, even as she recovered, she would walk with a limp for the rest of her life.

Firefighting had been Epperson’s dream for years. Through Utah Valley University, she’d earned an associate’s degree in emergency medical services and was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in fire science. She was hoping to become a fire captain. But her injury forced her to face the fact that her career was over.

“It almost felt like a death sentence, like someone had let go of a guillotine string,” Epperson said.

That night, after breaking the news to her family and the fire chief, she picked up her guitar and started strumming. 

At that moment, she began writing a song called “Change My Mind,” a somber folk tune about the hopelessness she felt. Almost four years later, Epperson still sings it to herself on bad days. 

Under the stage name Rebekah Blaine, Epperson released the single a few weeks ago.

It took some time for Epperson to become Blaine. Epperson had always been into songwriting, but never thought she would play her music for anyone other than herself and her family.

Epperson started playing guitar and songwriting in middle school. She grew up “dirt poor” in a trailer park in Heber City and got a smoking deal on her first guitar.

“I was sitting there playing one of the guitars in the shop, and the guy felt bad because he’s like, ‘Oh, you can’t afford a guitar. Well, we’ll give you this one on a discount,’” she said. “I still have the guitar. It is the worst-sounding thing I’ve ever played.”

Epperson’s first attempt at songwriting was “very much middle school poetry, and (she) didn’t know how to rhyme,” but she kept at it, albeit in private.

After her firefighting injury, Epperson moved back in with her parents in Heber City and spent most of her days sitting on the couch and watching “Scooby Doo.” 

Epperson, who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also spent a lot of time praying, asking God what she was supposed to do now that she had lost everything.

“Every time I’d pray about it, I just kept getting the answer of, ‘Pursue music.’ And for me, I was like, ‘This is a stupid answer because what am I going to do with music?’” she laughed.

But she gave in, started playing more for family and friends and began recording music.

Epperson’s first recorded song, “The Story,” released last November, is a Christmas song about the birth of Christ sung in the country tones of Dave Stamey. 

“He was the son of a carpenter. He wasn’t anything big or special. … And I feel like I relate to that,” Epperson said. “When I wrote ‘The Story,’ I wrote the story of Christ, but I also felt like I was kind of writing my story as well.”

While faith informs Epperson’s songwriting, her music isn’t confined to one theme or genre. 

She’s currently recording her debut album. One song is inspired by Irish folk music with some bagpipes thrown in the mix. Another song’s lyrics focus on some of the “weird comments” she gets when she tells people about her injury.

“Since I’m so young, I get told all the time, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re so resilient,’” she said. “They’re just like, ‘Well, be grateful it happened when you were young. … You have your whole life ahead of you.” And you’re like, ‘Yeah, but it was still hard.’”

Epperson hopes that, as Rebekah Blaine, she can “make things a little bit lighter for people who are going through hell, like (she) was.” She’s already gotten comments on her TikTok posts from fellow wildland firefighters who were forced to retire.

“Being able to talk with them and be like, ‘You’re not alone in this,’ has been such a blessing,” Epperson said. “It was a horrifying accident, and I’m going to be affected by it for the rest of my life. But in an odd kind of way, I’m grateful for it.”

Epperson will be performing under the moniker Rebekah Blaine at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday at the Wasatch County Library. She will also perform at the Thursday Market on Main events at Main Street Park beginning in June.

The post Former firefighter heals through music after life-shattering injury appeared first on Park Record.

Horses clip-clop as they approach an equine visitor. A metallic clanging rings out as an employee adjusts horseshoes. A whistle cuts through the air as stable owner Margaret France-Culley reins in her rambunctious dogs. 

These noises break the silence at Northfield Stables, a business about three-quarters of a mile west of the Utah Department of Transportation’s preferred route for the Heber Valley bypass. This new highway would divert traffic from U.S. 40 off Heber City’s bustling Main Street. 

France-Culley purchased her 20 acres of “plain field with barbed wire and cow patties” in the North Fields in 2000. She was 30 at the time, transitioning from a career as a massage therapist after buying her first horse at 20 and studying with horse trainer Pat Parelli every summer since she was 25.

“I loved horses so much, I’d buy every horse magazine and read everything from cover to cover,” she said. 

These days, Northfield Stables is almost always full. Boarders come not just for France-Culley’s teaching, but to enjoy the serenity of nature.

If UDOT sticks with its preferred bypass route through the North Fields, a highway would be visible on the horizon once it’s built.

One of France-Culley’s greatest concerns is the noise. She said the area is usually so silent she can hear the Provo River and occasional traffic from River Road and Midway Lane. 

“For some of the horses, some aren’t going to mind the noise, but others are,” she said. “They’ll just balk and not want to go forward, get scared if you try to push them, and you can kind of push them into being more frightened. … We can train them out of it. But the joy of coming riding out here is enjoying the silence and the sounds of nature and the birds instead of listening to semitrucks.”

UDOT senior communications manager Wyatt Woolley said noise will be minimal at the stable.

“I’ll be frank, (it) is nowhere near Route B in the North Fields,” he said. “You’d be hard-pressed to say you could hear the traffic. I’m sure you could hear, like, cars honking their horns or super loud trucks with engine brakes from a distance, but you probably could in lots of places in the valley.”

Analyzing noise

Although Northfield Stables was not in the area of study, UDOT has analyzed the noise impacts of the Heber Valley bypass.

For a project that builds a new road, such as the bypass, UDOT categorizes land uses in the project area into seven categories created by the Federal Highway Administration to determine whether noise analysis is needed next to the corridor.

Northfield Stables is classified as category B, or residential, as are a few other homes in the North Fields. 

But the majority of the marshland area is classified as category F, which includes agricultural lands. The Federal Highway Administration classifies category F as not sensitive to traffic noise, meaning an analysis of noise is not required for land in that category.

“There’s nothing out there. It’s so far away from most businesses, residences and people that (analysis) just isn’t warranted currently,” Woolley said.

The Federal Highway Administration has determined a noise level for each land use category, measured in A-weighted decibels, or dBA, at which noise abatement must be considered. 

UDOT would have to consider noise abatement for the bypass if the future worst-case noise level is equal to or greater than the noise-abatement criterion for a land use category, or if the bypass would raise the noise level in an area at least 10 dBA over the current noise level.

Using a Larson Davis sound level meter, UDOT measured existing noise levels at 24 locations along the bypass route over four days in July 2022. Each location was monitored for 20 minutes. 

Using the Federal Highway Administration’s Traffic Noise Model, UDOT then projected traffic noise levels for both bypass alternatives: its preferred Alternative B, which would cut through the North Fields between Potters Lane and 900 North; and Alternative A, which would keep traffic on U.S. 40 between those two roads.

Of the noise-sensitive areas next to the bypass, referred to as receptors, UDOT predicted that 277 of 1,417 receptors would experience noise impacts if Alternative B was built. Alternative A would have about 5% fewer noise impacts, impacting 230 of 1,480 receptors. 

For both alternatives, nearly all noise impacts are to residential areas. 

Noise walls

Noise abatement must be feasible and reasonable for UDOT to consider implementing a noise barrier. 

UDOT defines feasibility and reasonability through a variety of factors, including cost-effectiveness and effectiveness at noise reduction. UDOT outlines how it measures those factors in the Heber Valley bypass draft environmental impact statement.

For both routes, UDOT considered 24 noise barriers. Of those barriers, UDOT classified three as feasible and reasonable for both routes. 

The first could be 383 feet long and 11 feet tall, located on the east side of the U.S. 40 frontage road near 3390 North. It could cost $84,260 and benefit eight receptors.

The second could be 1,499 feet long and 13 feet tall, located between 1000 West and Industrial Parkway. It could cost $389,740 and benefit 14 receptors.

The third could be 853 feet long and 9 feet tall, located between Industrial Parkway and 300 West. It could cost $153,540 and benefit 13 receptors.

UDOT recommends a fourth noise barrier if Alternative A is built. It could be 1,600 feet long and 17 feet tall, located between 250 and U.S. 40. It could cost $544,000 and benefit 26 receptors.

In other words, if Alternative B is built, 35 of 277 receptors that have anticipated noise impacts could receive noise mitigation. That’s 12.6%. 

If Alternative A is built, 61 of 230 receptors that have anticipated noise impacts could receive noise mitigation. That’s 26.5%.

While UDOT recommends these noise walls, it does not guarantee they will be built.

Woolley explained that in considering the barriers, UDOT would mail ballots to existing and planned property owners and residents who would benefit from the noise wall to ask whether they want to see it built.

He said that 70% of those ballots must be mailed back to UDOT, and of those ballots, another 70% must be in favor of the noise wall for it to be built.

“We’ve got to take into account that not everyone likes noise walls, because they can be quite high, … and depending on where they’re put, it kind of blocks your view. And some people don’t want their view blocked,” he said. “If enough people say no, or if not enough people respond, then we simply won’t do it.”

Woolley said the noise impact study in the draft environmental impact statement is preliminary, and another study would be performed as the bypass becomes an “actual project,” which Woolley doesn’t see happening until 2032 at the earliest.

Northfield Stables looks forward

Although UDOT does not classify Northfield Stables as experiencing noise impacts, Frances-Culley and her patrons still think the sights and sounds of the bypass will change the character of the area.

Diana Guay, who has boarded at the stable for five years, lives in Park City and calls Northfield Stables her happy place.

“I get out here, and I can look and not see traffic. I can look and not see apartments or housing developments. In Park City, everywhere, ‘Look, there’s somebody digging up something to put something in,’” she said. 

But, Guay noted, she would never board anywhere else — not only because she’s “fallen in love” with Frances-Culley, but also because many other horse stables are surrounded by development.

“We’ll always have a clientele. I’m not worried about that,” Frances-Culley said. “It’s such a slice of heaven out here.”

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