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Show Utahns Celebrate Great 'Days of '47 The celebration that is truly Utah's own, The Days of '47, burst upon the Salt Lake scene last weekend and began a full week of festivities commemorating the arrival ar-rival of the Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake valley. The pageantry opened with pops concerts Wednesday and Thursday, moved through the Pioneer park celebration and the Pioneer dance, then took on a young aspect with the Youth Parade Tuesday morning. morn-ing. The horse parade Tuesday afternoon af-ternoon gave Salt Lakers a look at 1500 examples of fine horseflesh, and left some Western odors lingering ling-ering along North Temple. From Tuesday through Saturday the Hi-Noon Hi-Noon Hilarities hold forth in front of the Tribune Building on Main Street with lots of laughs and free prizes for young people. TUESDAY NIGHT the Days of '47 Rodeo began packing them in. For city slickers who rarely if ever see livestock, it is a particular ' thrill to watch working cowboys, some of the best in the nation, showing off their skills. Six world's champions are among the wranglers wran-glers competing for top prizes. The rodeo begins at eight each night. Friday, Saturday and Monday the Days of '47 Pageant, a traditional tradi-tional tableau which portrays in song, story and costume the arrival ar-rival of the Pioneers in the valley and their early history, will be presented pre-sented in the Tabernacle. Titled "Tall Shadows," this spectacular will certainly be a high point of the celebration. . With a cast of hundreds, it ranks with some of the movie epics as a real extravaganza. extrava-ganza. ON MONDAY the full-dress Days of '47 Parade will march through downtown Salt Lake. In previous years this parade has averaged about three hours from start to finish and according to those planning plan-ning the parade it promises to be even bieeer and better this year. be inducted into the U.S. Marine Corps. They will march in the parade pa-rade as a unit, will take the oath together, and will undergo basic training as an integral platoon. Similar units are being formed from other states. QUEEN OF the Days of '47 is lovely Dorothy Stratton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Warren L. Stratton of Orem. Her attendants are Janis Lind and Vicki Hurst. The standards stand-ards of eligibility for this crown are keyed to the event. Queen candidates can-didates must be descendants of Mormon Pioneers. After meeting this prerequisite, the girls are screened on their character, talent, intelligence, ambitions, and other attributes. Dorothy, v then, is certainly cer-tainly no dumb blonde! Old-time train rides have also been arranged for by the local Chamber of Commerce in cooperation coopera-tion with the Salt Lake Garfield and Western Railway. An engine, two open cars and two closed cars decorated in plush late Victorian style will lead an old-style caboose on frequent runs to the Great Salt Lake beaches. Departure times are noon, 2, 4 and 6 p.m. July 20 to 25. THE RODEO, certainly an exciting excit-ing part of the celebration, features fea-tures some of America's top cowboys. cow-boys. It is understating the fact to say that it is thrilling, since the rodeo stars are matching wits and lives with rodeo stock specially trained to give them a rough time. Hardly a rodeo takes place in which someone is not injured in this dangerous sport, and the professional pro-fessional life of a rodeo cowboy is not long. Many retired stars have literally dozens of scars and broken bones as souvenirs, and many never live to retire. But they keep trying for the brass ring. It is their way of life, and they take great pride in their skills. All events in the Days of '47 celebration are free to the public except the rodeo. ; f . vri , -AS v V'-- : . - - ' . I . ' ' . ' "S ' ' " ' j ' - ; ''- " : I -v- ' " ' ' J ,i ' " ; ; v , . .... : . THIS GIANT Pioneer Day parade pa-rade is THE parade in Salt Lake each year, far outstripping any other celebration. It features more than 100 floats, a dozen bands, riding clubs and numerous other attractions led by Fess Parker, famed for his television tele-vision roles as Daniel Boone and Davey Crockett. It is the third largest parade in the United States. Preparation for the celebration begin several months before the actual presentation. presenta-tion. MONDAY EVENING the entire celebration will end on a note that may not seem consistent with straight pioneer tradition, but is certainly reminiscent of the past. The Salt Lake Municipal Band will present a concert at the Liberty Park bandstand. Time was when every city had a municipal band which serenaded the citizens every Saturday night during the summer. No more. But the 4 p.m. concert will bring back memories for many Salt Lake citizens of long pleasant summer evenings. One of the lesser-known events is The Utah Platoon, which consists con-sists of 80 young men from Salt Lake County who on Monday will is Dorothy Stratton, Orem, First Attendant Janis Lind, left and Vick Hurst, Second Attendant. Utah's Days of '47 royalty smile brightly as they prepare for the days of celebration head. Queen |