By Zach Petersen
- Tue, 05/31/2011 - 19:30
Hammering metal in the blacksmith shop, churning butter by hand and weaving baskets weren’t done by machines in 1776 — they were done by hand. When the nation was born, life was much different for an American.
From July 1–4 teachers from the Alpine School District and artisans at SCERA Park will take guests back in time to when bread was baked fresh and letters were written with feathered quills.
Teachers and professionals will be dressed in time period clothing according to Raelle Cunningham, an account executive at The Walton Group Inc., the public relations agency promoting the event.
“People travel around the country doing this,” Cunningham said. “I know we have a lot of people that do this for a living that are coming. They are going to actually have a blacksmith making stuff so people can see how it was made back in the day. They are also going to have a school. Teachers will be helping with that and showing how school was run.”
This will be Orem’s second annual Utah’s Colonial Heritage Festival. Chairman Gregg Hardy said he looks forward to this years success.
“Last year’s attendance was around 10,000 people,” Hardy said in a news release. “We anticipate more visitors for this year’s event.”
SCERA has been working with the city of Orem to make this years celebration bigger and better.
“Last year it was a minimum of advertising, virtually none in fact,” Hardy said. “This year we’ve done local advertising and we’ve done a variety of other events besides that. We’d like to see attendance double.”
There will be a Patriotic Observance with a keynote speaker on July 3 in preparation to celebrate the nation’s independence and the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, according to a news release. The event will also feature the newly organized Orem Chorale.
The events will start at 9 a.m. at SCERA Park, and colonial movies will be shown at night. All events are free and open to the public. Food will be available for purchase.
The entire weekend will be full of events featured for families. Children can participate in colonial games, see a debate or have their picture taken in the stocks.
Linda P. Walton, president of the public relations agency promoting the event, said the festival will be a combination of an educational and enjoyable experience.
“It’s going to be a living museum,” Walton said. “People can see how things were in those days. It’s just going to be fun being out in the park over the holiday and enjoying friends and food.”
That's the opinion of Lincoln Steed, editor of Liberty magazine, a publication founded more than 100 years ago by the Seventh Day Adventist Church to promote the separation of church and state.
"There is security in keeping the state out of the religion business," Steed said. "They should make an environment that allows religion to flourish, but they should not fund, promote or be the big brother for any form of religiosity."
"The Freedom of Prayer" will be the theme for Steed's keynote speech at the annual Utah Valley National Day of Prayer service at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Provo Tabernacle, 100 S. University Ave. It's one of several prayer events planned throughout the state.
In addition to Steed's remarks, the Provo event will feature prayers from four religious traditions — evangelical Christian, Navajo, Hari Krishna and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Linda Walton, who owns a public relations firm in addition to her activities as a Seventh Day Adventist minister, has organized the Utah County event for more than a decade. Walton says the eclectic mix of religions invited to pray at the event is designed to demonstrate there are many ways people talk to their deity.
"I really like to pray," she said. "And I like to find ways we can agree once in a while with other people instead of fighting with each other. A lot of people have not been exposed to unusual, to them, kinds of prayer. We want to try to make it as comfortable as possible for everyone. It's educational, and it's inclusive."
Prayers at the event, sponsored by the Utah Valley Ministerial Association and Utah Valley University Interfaith Student Association, will be offered by Jim Powell of the CenterPoint Church; Gladyee Begay of the Navajo tribe; Caru Das of the Hari Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork; and Tami Harris, an LDS chaplain. Provo Mayor John Curtis will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
This year's National Day of Prayer is generating an unusual amount of interest because of two events. One is a viral e-mail campaign based on a false report that President Barak Obama was canceling the National Day of Prayer. At about the same time, the Obama administration was named as the defendant in a Wisconsin suit in which an April 15 ruling by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb declared that government support of the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
Disregarding the ruling, Obama issued a proclamation Friday setting aside May 6 as a day to "give thanks for the many blessings God has bestowed upon our nation."
READ MORE
Several events to mark National Day of Prayer
Editor likes separation of church and state but appreciates event
By Marc Haddock, Deseret News
PROVO — Government should stay out of religion, but its support for the National Day of Prayer does more good than harm.That's the opinion of Lincoln Steed, editor of Liberty magazine, a publication founded more than 100 years ago by the Seventh Day Adventist Church to promote the separation of church and state.
"There is security in keeping the state out of the religion business," Steed said. "They should make an environment that allows religion to flourish, but they should not fund, promote or be the big brother for any form of religiosity."
"The Freedom of Prayer" will be the theme for Steed's keynote speech at the annual Utah Valley National Day of Prayer service at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Provo Tabernacle, 100 S. University Ave. It's one of several prayer events planned throughout the state.
In addition to Steed's remarks, the Provo event will feature prayers from four religious traditions — evangelical Christian, Navajo, Hari Krishna and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Linda Walton, who owns a public relations firm in addition to her activities as a Seventh Day Adventist minister, has organized the Utah County event for more than a decade. Walton says the eclectic mix of religions invited to pray at the event is designed to demonstrate there are many ways people talk to their deity.
"I really like to pray," she said. "And I like to find ways we can agree once in a while with other people instead of fighting with each other. A lot of people have not been exposed to unusual, to them, kinds of prayer. We want to try to make it as comfortable as possible for everyone. It's educational, and it's inclusive."
Prayers at the event, sponsored by the Utah Valley Ministerial Association and Utah Valley University Interfaith Student Association, will be offered by Jim Powell of the CenterPoint Church; Gladyee Begay of the Navajo tribe; Caru Das of the Hari Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork; and Tami Harris, an LDS chaplain. Provo Mayor John Curtis will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
This year's National Day of Prayer is generating an unusual amount of interest because of two events. One is a viral e-mail campaign based on a false report that President Barak Obama was canceling the National Day of Prayer. At about the same time, the Obama administration was named as the defendant in a Wisconsin suit in which an April 15 ruling by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb declared that government support of the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.
Disregarding the ruling, Obama issued a proclamation Friday setting aside May 6 as a day to "give thanks for the many blessings God has bestowed upon our nation."
READ MORE
