Visitors at Montage Deer Valley this Easter weekend have the opportunity to experience the full range of its pastry department, which spares no effort when the infamous bunny hops into town.

On this sweets-filled holiday, Executive Pastry Chef Romie Fisher is in her element. Does it help that she’s donned an Easter bunny suit once or twice before? Maybe. But what really gets her excited for the season is the colors.

“When we started planning this one, my head always goes to, ‘OK, (it’s) the changing seasons. What represents Easter and spring for us?’ It’s when you can actually bring all the colors at once,” Fisher said.

Her chocolate creations are rarely brown, and each year for Easter, she challenges herself to create a colorful display for the annual Sunday brunch that’s almost entirely edible. Two years ago, the Easter bunny’s treehouse was the centerpiece, decked in pastel teals, yellows and greens. Last year, her team recreated the Park City shoe tree in chocolate, with rainbow-colored shoes hanging from its branches.

For this year’s display, Fisher said she found herself thinking back on her childhood in Argentina: a rusted blue wagon full of flowers harking back to springtime memories.

It was actually a wheelbarrow, Fisher admitted, that she used to sit in as a child, pretending she was riding a spaceship with an umbrella held above her head as the roof. Over time, with the help of Argentina’s fertile soil, the wheelbarrow became overgrown with wildflowers.

“When I was thinking about Easter and the meaning of Easter, I thought about that memory,” Fisher said. “We left it alone, and it just became something beautiful on its own.”

The cart, made with about 70 pounds of chocolate, is painstakingly painted to look weathered, down to its rusted screws.

Pinwheels placed around the table are another homage to Fisher’s Argentinian roots.

“In Argentina, when the warm weather starts, usually we go to the zoo, and at the zoo it’s very common to walk around with pinwheels,” she explained with a laugh. “There is a lot of love in this display.”

Hanging above the display are paper hot air balloons, a small nod to Fisher’s spring morning dog walks in the Heber Valley.

“We always challenge ourselves to bring a little bit of Utah into it,” she said. “Every morning I see the hot air balloons, and it just makes me smile because it makes me feel like, OK, warm weather is here.”

For the buffet, Easter-themed treats reflect the creativity of Fisher’s pastry team. Bonbons, tarts, cupcakes and cookies shaped like chicks, sheep, bees, butterflies, carrots, strawberries or lemons are part of the spread, along with macaroons, brownies, Rice Krispies treats and tres leches, all decorated in pastel rainbow colors.

The Easter brunch at Montage will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday following an Easter egg hunt at 10 a.m. that morning. Both events are open to the public, and reservations can be made on their website.

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The community joined together on Saturday to support the annual Shop with a Cop program that connects police with local children to shop at Walmart for the holidays. 

This year, the program included over 140 kids from the area, and though the Park City Police Department spearheads the program, the Summit County Sheriff’s office, Utah Highway Patrol and other civil volunteers also made themselves available to help take on the large volume of participants. 

Each child received $200 to spend on items they needed for winter, gifts for their families or things for themselves. 

The funding comes primarily from the donations of Berkshire Hathaway Utah Properties, whose team members also donated their time to form the gift-wrapping brigade. After every transaction, Berkshire Hathaway volunteers would wrap each and every item to ensure every kid left Walmart with a cart stacked with brightly wrapped presents. 

It’s been in Park City for well over 22 years,” said Lt. Jay Randall. “We can’t say the exact first day because, well, nobody has been here longer than that.” 

Kids and parents arrived at The Yarrow, Double-Tree by Hilton at 7 a.m. on Saturday to meet with their officer and eat breakfast provided by the hotel. By 8 a.m., the kids joined the police procession in squad cars with sirens blaring and lights flashing down Highway 224 to the Walmart. 

The children chosen this year were from Park City and surrounding county school districts and were recommended to participate in the event based on their backgrounds and status of need. 

“We work through the schools. We work through the Health Department. We have other folks that will generate names for us,” said Randall. “The biggest thing for us is just to try to identify those who are truly in need and try to target those folks and help those folks.”

As the Police horses led the brigade into the Walmart parking lot, parents and Walmart staff gathered in the cold and waved as their children drove by in the vehicles, many echoing the sentiment proposed by one cashier: “It’s the best day of the year.”

Mia Perez is a single mother of three living in Park City, and this was the family’s second time participating in Shop with a Cop. Her daughters, Jaretzi and Jareli, 14 and 7 respectively, ran right up to pet the horses before entering Walmart. 

“They have been waiting for this all year,” said Mia. “They are just so excited.” 

Jaretzi and Jareli spent the morning with Chaplain Alicia Lennon. The first thing in the cart? A bright pink cotton candy maker. By the end of the day, the cart was filled with a personal TV for Jareli, a record player and some vinyls for Jaretzi, and presents for the family. 

“It’s just hard because they’re going to pick out things that I have never been able to buy for them,” said Mia. “I’m just glad. They really needed this. Something great.” 

“I just get to be here and have fun with it,” said Lennon. 

Officer Jones has participated in Shop with a Cop many times over the years, though this was his first with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. “I just love it. I love the kids. The kids are what its all about,” said Jones. “I’m just trying to keep up with her. She’s on a mission here.” Jones was assisting Carolina, who was determined to fill the cart with as many toys as she could, after the required items on her list including pajamas and socks. 

Sophia Azzaro and Sophia Mueller are volunteers from the Interact Club at Park City High School. They come every year to facilitate interactions between officers with more than one child in their care. 

“It’s my favorite thing I think I’ve ever done, just community service-wise,” said Azzaro. “The kids are excited. Everyone’s so fun. It’s the coolest environment.”

“Also, for some of the groups where the kids don’t speak English, being able to translate for them has been really nice. It’s nice to see that these kids are gonna get what they want,” said Mueller. 

“So many Barbies. Just so many Barbies,” said an officer down the aisle. 

Captain Rob McKinney has been participating in Shop with a Cop for his whole career, marking his 17th year working with the kids for the holidays. 

“It’s the best day of the year for me. It’s an opportunity to have a good time with the kids and hopefully make their day,” said McKinney. 

“What actually blows me away every year is how selfless these kids are. We’re here to get things they need and some things they want, but a lot of times I have to remind them to even get things for themselves,” said McKinney. 

“It’s just a good example of community coming together. We couldn’t do all this on our own,” said McKinney. 

“We want to treat our mother well,” said a pair of brothers. “So we got her flower Legos.

“We got our baby sister this drum toy because she loves to smash stuff.” 

The pair jetted off with their officer running the cart behind them as they chanted, “We need a Spider-Man watch! I gotta tell the time!” 

Ramon Gomez Jr. is a sales associate at Berkshire Hathaway, and he and his wife, Judy, have been participating in Shop with a Cop for more than 12 years. This year, the pair led the charge on gift wrapping, ensuring the lines moved smoothly and every present was counted. 

“Every year, we collect more people and funds to make this happen,” said Judy. “Ramon always says to the team, ‘You should see these kids’, and he just gets so emotional when he’s talking about Shop with a Cop. We’ve watched these kids get things for families, their moms, but also for themselves that they otherwise just wouldn’t have.”

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The Park City Nursery continues to sell Christmas trees to locals even on Christmas Eve’s eve, Dec. 23, 2016. Employees helped to trim the tree and tie to to your car. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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In this week’s collection of portraits from For The Record, we asked people Canyons Village what their favorite holiday tradition is. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

The post PHOTOS: For The Record | Dec. 22, 2016 appeared first on Park Record.

The Park City Singers celebrated their 21st year as a non-profit organization with their annual Festival of Christmas concert Thursday evening, Dec. 15, 2016, at St. Mary’s Church. The group performed 14 songs and two sing-alongs. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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In this week’s collection of portraits from For The Record, we asked people at Hugo Coffee who the toughest person to buy for is on their holiday shopping list. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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Coalville hosted their annual Lights Festival Parade down Main Street Saturday evening, Dec. 3, 2016. The town turned off it’s lights and crowded around Main Street, watching as Santa and Mrs. Claus waved from the back of a pick-up truck, and as vehicles passed decorated to the max with Christmas lights. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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In this week’s collection of portraits from For The Record, we asked people at Starbucks on Park Ave. if they still send out Christmas cards. (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

The post PHOTOS: For The Record | Dec. 2, 2016 appeared first on Park Record.

In this week’s collection of portraits from For The Record, we asked people who were Black Friday shopping at the Tanger Outlet Mall when they were planning to start with their holiday shopping (if they haven’t started already). (Tanzi Propst/Park Record)

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