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Show o Swtili CeetM Wtoli Supplement To: Gunnison Valley News The Salina Sun Garfield County News - The Richfield Reaper VOLUME 2 NUMBER 28 THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1981 'Mormon Miracle' Pageant Opens Tonight in Manti By Pat Mellor MANTI Tonight at 9:15 p.m. a trumpets strident notes will echo from the top of the silver spires of the Manti Temple, and once again the Mormon Miracle Pageant will summon more than 100,000 people to reflect on the tides of history and heroics which brought so many pioneers to this area. the Mormon Miracle which is presented on eight Pageant, nights in July, has traced the history of this continent as presented in the Book of Mormon, and the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints as seen through the eyes of a fictional young couple representaive of the many who converted to the Church in its beginnings and endured the trials of belonging to an upopular sect on a vast and dangerous frontier. Since After all the practicing, the hundreds of hours of rehearsing and putting it all blue jeans together comes performance night and these dancers shed their and don warpaint for a scene featuring Lamanites during Mormon Miracle Pageant. Utah Notes 83 Completion of Interstate Building on 25th Anniversary of Program On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. gaps which were are aggressively Eisenhower signed the law to fund the trying to complete, said William D. The two Interstate Highway System, dubbed Hurley, UDOT Director. in southern Utah are The Worlds Greatest Public Works sections on through Project. major concerns along with ' Sevier Valley. Now, 25 years later, more than 94 The longest single section of highway percent of the system (40,061 miles) is 83 In of the Utah, remaining to begin construction is in complete. percent Sevier Valley, from Belnap to Salina, a system (774 miles) is substantially complete and open to traffic, another 58 stretch of 38 miles. That section of miles is under construction and 97 roadway is under design at the current We could speed up our commiles is being designed by the Utah time. of pletion schedules statewide if we had Department Transportation. he funding, said Mr. Hurley, but the There are a number of essential Federal Highway Trust Fund and our Panoramaland is Vast Area of Spectacular Beauty in South Utah By Zell Gibbs NOTE: To those residents of Utah who are still asking Whats Panoramaland? then, in response to the answer, say, Well, that has nothing to do with me. The following is respectfully submitted. Panoramaland is a well organized unit of citizen representatives from South-Centr- al Piute, Wayne, Sevier, Sanpete, Juab,' and Millard counties, working in conjunction with the Utah Travel Council and local county bureaus to promote tourism in Utah. This answers the what question, and now comes the What it really has to do with you, every person in these six counties, as well as the entire state of Utah. Please bear with us through a few possibly boring, but vital statistics. Tourism in Utah provides almost twice as many jobs as the Federal Government, U.S. Steel, Kennecott Corp., and Hill Air Force Base combined, Federal Government employs 36,000; Hill Air Force Base employes 19,000; Kennecott Corp. employs 7,000; U.S. Steel employs 5,000. Total 67,500. Tourism employs 112,320. jaw-buste- r: . Directly or indirectly, with a payroll in excess of 792 million dollars, which puts around 60 million annually into tax .revenues. Last year 5Vi million vacationers, conventi oners, and business travelers visited Utah, and spent $275 million, adding another estimated 33 million to state transportation fund are under great strain due to double-digi- t inflation over the last several years. own costs construction Highway nationwide have increased while highway revenues have remained stable or actually decreaed in the past eight years. Nephi, 3.7 miles, South Nephi to North Nephi, 6.3 miles. Shingle Creek to Belnap, 9.6 miles; Elgin to Floy, 12.5 miles. Saltair to Redwood Road, 10.7 Knudsens Cor- 1967 The pageant presents, for many who view it, a new concept of the Americas and their settlement. The story begins with the regligious fervor of early nineteenth-centur- y New England, then the frontier of the nation. It flashes back to a lost civilization of ancient South, and Central America led into extinction through wars and religious conflicts. These groups, who disappeared long before the discovery of America by Columbus, left recorded which were, according to Mormon belief, translated by Joseph Smith, Jr. They were first published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon. The pageant shows how those who accepted the message of the Book of Mormon soon after its publication were driven from the settled parts of the United States. Though driven from the boundaries States in 1846, the Mormon pioneers of the frontier of the Great Plains willingly sent their irien to defend the United States territory in the Mexican-America- n War. The departure of the men of the Mormon Battalion to defend the country which had just expelled them, as their women and children huddle in ride shelters on the wintry plains, is only one of many unforgettable scenes. of the United Those who survived persecution, the elements and illness continued their journey across the great plains through hundreds came with the mountains handcarts similar to those used in to build new lives in Pageant scenes the harsh Great Basin country. It was, as the narrative explains, a land as foreign to them, as die moon is to us." The climactic scene in which the young couple is reunited and rewarded for the hardships they have endured is one which still brings even the temples neighboring families, who have lived with the pageant performances for over 10 years, to their porches and windows. One tiny resident informed a visitor last year, I love the pageant. I dont have to go to bed until the angels are over! pageants humble beginnings in gave little indication of progressing to the monumental spectacle which sweeps across Temple The 1967 Hill in 1981. The infant production was staged in the fairgorunds, across Highway 89 from the Temple. Bleachers and grandstand certainly are not inspiring recalls author Grace atmosphere, Johnson. The cast was and for the most part still is all local. Then as now, everyone involved with the production volunteered their time and talents. Pageant author Grace Johnson reminisced about that first production. Townsmen, farmers, storekeepers, (Who, me? An actor?) clerks, housewives, transformed into early New Englanders, prophets, angels, pioneers, a college lad to be (young the editor of The Joseph Smith) Manti Messenger the ancient ... to-b- e warrior-prophe- All t Moroni . . . music and narration was handled live in the early productions. An or- chestra and choir provided the background music. An actual mob bent on the murder of the LDS prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum (Continued on Page 8) miles. 4500 South to ner, 2.0 miles. Interstate Progess in Utah: Under Construction 700 East to 300 East at 6500 South, .5 miles. Sevier River to Mills Junction of Nephi to South 7.3 miles, South 1800 miles. South northerly to 2200 North, 6.1 Forests Ideal for Vacationing By Mary Ann Peterson Spotlight Staff Writer Containing more than one and a half mountains million acres of saw-toot-h that is stark contrast to the rising sun and sunset, Fishlake National Monument stands as a sentinal to residents of Sevier County and annually to the thousands of visitors to Utah. annual tax revenues. This means that It is a land where there are no in dollars and cents we would all have billboards, marring the landscape, and to (fig much deeper to come up with that where the sagebrush of the grassland kind of money for the maintenance of grows in abundance. It is a family of our state financed institutions and trees, the pinyon, juniper, ponderosa services. pine, Douglas fir, quaking aspen and So you see, it really does have mountain brush. something to do with every last one of In its craggy cliffs, there are some us, and hopefully we will come to 240 species including mammals, birds, recognize, appreciate, and reptiles and amphibians. Some of the with the people who are working to species are full time residents, while promote this industry. others are migrants that spend their summers in this mountain retreat. Very little is asked of you individually; only that you be amiable Part of the wWlife family are black and courteous, that you dont look and grizzly bear, ringtail cat, weasels through or around a tourist as if he and skunks, river otter, marten, mink, n were a just because you badger, coyotes and foxes, mountain dont know him. lion, cougar, puma and bobcats. to It is not hard recognize a tourist. Of course along with these come the Tourists are usually very curious squirrels, chipmunks, Utah prarie people and often would like to ask dogs, kangaroo mice, brush and deer questions of a local person, but simply mouse to name only a few of the cannot if that person refuses to make varieties found. The deer and elk are eye contact, or in any way indicates also companions of the hares and that they see him. rabbits that occupy their own unlimtied territory. and restaurateurs Innkeepers throughout the area are geared to a The bald eagle, our national park high level of hospitality and customer symbol, is large in dimension in service, but the tone, the ambiance of a comparison to other North American community is set by the general public. birds. It is also on the endangered Hopefully, each of us will do what we wolf found mostly in mans inhumane can to assure that our visitors stay treatment by shooting and harassing. longer and come back more often. The falcon is also found in Utah and is Sometimes all it takes is a smile, so located in the rugged, inacessible cliff smile, smile BIG, smile REAL BIG. formations near bodies of water. It too, This is BIG Coutnry and YOU LIVE is on the endangered list In the same HERE. Youre in category is the gray wolf found mostly in Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and Utah and makes its home in Fishlake. Fish Lake itself covers some 2,600 acres of water and is some 120 feet deep. The lake is six miles long and approximately one and miles wide at an altitude of 8,800 feet. Standing above the lake is the scenic 11,300 ft. Thousand Lake Mountain and adjacent to the mountains east of Koosharem. The Mackinaw is the favorite fish found in the sparkling blue waters of Fish Lake some reaching 36 '2 pounds with the most catches around 22 pounds. Boating and trolling one-four- th (Continued on Page 2) Over 10,000 chairs line the lower slopes of the Manti LDS Temple lawn in preparation for this years crowds expected to attend the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti. Some 120,000 are anticipated . non-perso- '1 (. - Dancers practice, practice, practice, on Temple Hill in Manti on slope that most agree makes dancing a real adventure. Dancing, singing, unique lighting and sound characterize the pageant which is now world renown. i ! |