OCR Text |
Show Bountiful Central Stake float proves big Days of '47 winner BOUNTIFUL Members of the Bountiful Central Stake of the LDS Church have reason to be particularly par-ticularly proud this week, as the stake's entry in the Days of '47 Parade Pa-rade in Salt Lake City Monday captured cap-tured two top honors. The stake's float, titled "Nauvoo Exodus," captured both the Sweepstakes Award for best overall entry, and first place in the Historical Division. Chairman of the stake's float committee is Doug Jordan. "The Church assigns floats to stakes in the area on a rotating asis," he explained. "We were iven the assignment of depicting he Saints leaving Nauvoo on their journey to the Salt Lake Valley, and we settled on the theme 'Nauvoo Exodus'." Doug, who is an artist, designed the float, while stake members Ron Stout and Ray Johnson took charge of construction. He also praised the efforts of Ben Patton, who recreated the Nauvoo Sunstone; Reed Harding, who built an exact replica of the Nauvoo Temple; Jim Jones and John Ingles, designers of the wagon; the 29th Ward for decorating decorat-ing the front of the float, and costume cos-tume designers and chairmen Ralph and LaVon Harrison, and Ruth Roland. Stake high council representative was Jay Ludwig. "We have to also give a special thanks to Pat Mason, who oversaw the entire project and was the creative crea-tive source and detail person. Pat worked many hours and gave of her service unselfishly , " he stated. About 100 stake members began building the float two months ago. The float depicts three phases of the Mormons' exodus from Nauvoo, according to Doug. "We tell three stories: first, of leaving homes and belongings behind be-hind as the handcart companies were formed; second, of loading those wagons and beginning the exodus ex-odus through the snows of winter; and third, of camping in the wilderness wilder-ness as the Pioneers made their way across the plains and Rockies." White and blue were chosen as colors of the float, symbolic of both the snows and blue skies which the Pioneers encountered on their journeys. The Central Stake float was 65 feet long, 14'2 feet wide and 14 feet high. It included replicas of the Nauvoo Temple and Sunstone, plus a covered wagon built to scale. When the float was shown on local television broadcasts of the parade, commentators praised it for its detail and craftsmanship. KTVX even did a short cutaway report on the float and its construction. |