Month: July 2018

The Castle Valley Pageant held in early August

It’s hard to believe anymore that anything is free…but the Castle Valley Pageant, held on even years (this year being 2018) is and it is rewarding to attend.

It is a story of endurance, heart and tears, all firmed up by the belief by a people that they were going to succeed in building their community next to the San Rafael Desert.

Held each performance year in Castle Dale, in the heart of Emery County, on August 2-4 and August 7-11,. 2018, this pageant has been going on for forty years, the dream child of a man named Montell Seeley.

It’s about religion and how it held up a communities spirits and the story is told in an authentic rustic setting with tents, tumbleweeds and dugouts carved into the hillside against a spectacular backdrop of natural beauty in an amphitheater.

The story is related to a grandson from his grandfather while they ride horseback after the boy asks about the Mormons who settled the area. It is one story, filled by many tales of faith and courage.

It is a big event for those that come to see it, but it is even bigger for those that participate in putting it on. Much of Castle Dale and the surrounding communities have been working on pageant after pageant for years.

The music is well known to Latter Day Saints and much of the program is recorded as the actors play out their parts. The roles they perform involve playing parents who lost children, those who question whether the move to the bleak landscape was the right move, fights over water and the never ending search for sustenance and developing an economy based on agriculture and eventually coal mining.

It all takes place in a stage that is permanently set against the cliffs and lands of the county at 4785 Desbee Dove Road. Signs on Highway 10, which is the main route through the county, directs those who wish to attend, to the site.

It is performed between 8:30 and 10 p.m. on the performance days.

For those who don’t want to drive out to the venue, a shuttle is available to bring those who park at the Emery County Fairgrounds in Castle Dale to the site and bring them back when the performance is over.

And it is all, absolutely free.

Castle Country is a diverse place, both in geography and population. In the early days of the area it was settled for agriculture, but only a few years later the northern part of the area became a hotbed of coal and then railroad activity. With those industries came people from many different lands to work in the mines and on the trains.

Each year toward the end of July the area celebrates International Days, as a tribute to those that came from all over the world to settle in the area. It all begins on July 26 with a free swim day from noon to 8 p.m. at the Wave Pool in Price.

That evening Price will be abuzz with people and flags of countries from all over the world as the opening ceremonies take place at the Peace Garden at 6:30 p.m. next to the city hall and the USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum. An outdoor concert will follow along with fireworks.

On Friday the day begins at 9:30 a.m. with the Kids Parade as youngsters ride their bikes and walk from Mont Harmon Middle School toward Washington Park where the carnival and other events will be taking place. The day will be filled with tournaments of all kinds and entertainment including a Harley Davidson display and rock crawlers working their way through a course. At 7 p.m. a burnout contest will take place on Main Street near the Peace Garden. To end the day there is a Movie Under the Stars at Pioneer Park (The Sandlot) which is just north of Washington Park.

Saturday starts with the Lions Club Breakfast at the Pioneer Park Pavilion which will run from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. There is a 5k run as well as a golf tournament later that morning. AT 10 a.m. there is a Grand Parade down Main Street. The day also features a Kidsmobile Derby, horseshoe tournaments as well as a basketball tournament.

The evening will end with another Movie in the Park (Ferdinand the Bull) and the street carnival lighting up another glorious summer evening sky in Castle Country.

Wellington is a small town in the center of Carbon County in Castle Country. Each year coinciding with the state’s July 24th Celebration of Pioneer Days, Wellington holds its own celebration.

This year is no exception.

On Friday night (July 20) there will be entertainment in the Wellington Park as the Countdown Band plays as the local restaurant Cowboy Kitchen provides food to those who attend.

On Saturday morning, July 21 a parade will take place on Main Street, kicking of the days events.

The year events will take place on Saturday, July 21. They include such things as a 40 Foot Obstacle Course, a Bungee Run and Bumper Balls. There will be midway games, a large bounce house, a climbing wall, horseshoe tournaments, a Cornhole tournament and a fishing tournament as well.

This celebration is part of small town America at its best and will be something that people who come will remember for years to come.

Two important events will be happening the weekend of July 13 and 14 in Castle Country.

The first is Community Daze which will take place at Sunnyside Park in East Carbon. The event features a Saturday morning breakfast beginning at 7 a.m. in the park, then a parade down the towns Main Street at 9:30 a.m. One of the featured events goes on all day and it is the Bo Huff Car Show, where cars of all ages and kinds are displayed in the park. There is entertainment all day and that evening a rodeo will take place at the rodeo grounds.

The other event that weekend is the Greek Festival that takes place in Price at the Greek Assumption Church. The church is located at 61 South 200 East. Founded in 1916 by Greek miners and shepherds, the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is one of the oldest Greek Orthodox parishes in America. The church, with its Byzantine architecture, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was the 13th Greek Orthodox Church to be built-in the United States. The festival begins on Friday afternoon and stretches into Saturday night. An annual event for many, many years, it is steeped in Greek tradition with dance and chances to see the church in detail, as well as Greek food that is unsurpassed anywhere in Utah. The lines are often out the door because the food is so good.

Each year on Independence Day, Castle Country celebrates its energy heritage with an event called Energy Days. This year for the first time Energy Days will be incorporated into a bigger and longer celebration called Warrior Days.

Beginning on July 4 everyone is invited to attend a Patriotic Parade on Price’s Main Street at 3 p.m. Energy Days will then begin at 5 p.m. at the Carbon County Fairgrounds with events ranging from a coal shoveling contest to a tire flip contest. During this time there is a lot free food and fun as well as a free concert at dusk.

After that a huge fireworks display will take place.

On July 5 there will be a special lunch people can attend with Veterans at 1 p.m. The rest of the day will be filled with a carnival, a dunk tank and a Cornhole Competition. That evening there will be a free outdoor movie on the new Carbon County Soccer Fields.

On July 6 at 9 a.m. mounted shooters will perform at the rodeo arena at the Fairgrounds and the carnival will continue. That evening there is a bull blast and extreme bull riding. Again at dusk there will be fireworks as well as a dance.

To wrap things up on July 7 the carnival will still be taking place, along with a soccer tournament, barrel racing, a huge group of Harley Davidson riders showing off their bikes, a special Olympics rodeo, motocross races and a public concert that evening featuring three different artists. Fore more information and tickets go to www.castlecountryevents.com