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Pioneer Day in St. Anthony, Lava
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Location: Blogs Jim's Blog |
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| Posted by: Jim Hansen |
7/25/2006 |
Pioneer Day is an integral part of many communities in Southern Idaho and I had fun walking in two parades last Saturday. St. Anthony and Lava Hot Springs put on two very different types of parades but they showcase some great talent in their communities. I had the honor or walking next to Jana Jones in both parades.
When I was growing up, we used to have big parades for the 4th of July and Pioneer Day on July 24. It became too challenging for community, school and church groups to try to prepare for both. So a few decades ago, each town tried to focus on one or the other. In the Upper Snake River region of Idaho, one of the biggest 4th of July parades takes place in Idaho Falls and there are several other great smaller ones, too. This year, since the 24th fell on a Monday, the communities of St. Anthony and Lava Hot Springs celebrated Pioneer Day on Saturday the 22nd.
Pioneer Day commemorates the arrival of Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley over 150 years ago. Settlers then fanned out in all directions to form new communities in the Intermountain West, including north into Idaho. My great-great grandfather Hans Hansen journeyed to Utah in 1857 as part of the 7th Hand Cart Company. His son, Hans Peter, came to Shelley in 1896. Pioneer Day is an opportunity for all of us to remember all early pioneers, whether we are related or not, and to remember how central the idea of religious freedom is in our country.
Jana Jones – candidate for Idaho’s Superintendent of Public Schools – was also in both parades. Rickie Brady, wife of gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brady, was a few places behind us in St. Anthony and Larry LaRocco, candidate for Lieutenant Governor, was just ahead of us in Lava. I was amazed that none of the Republican statewide or federal candidates chose to participate in the parades. In fact, they have not participated in any of the parades I have been in so far except the big Idaho Falls 4th of July parade. I guess they take communities like St. Anthony and Lava for granted. Since Bannock County (where Lava is located) has candidates competing from both parties for legislative and county offices, there was a strong showing from all the local candidates. The lesson is clear: when there is healthy competition, people actually get to see their candidates.
Every parade is a unique way for the community to showcase its best. There is always good music, horses, usually some impressive floats. In the St. Anthony parade, each LDS church ward in the area created some meticulously crafted floats. They must have taken hundreds of hours of work. Two places in front of Jana and I in the parade was a band from Ashton and right in front of us were three South Fremont Junior Miss winners in the back of a bright red convertible. Needless to say, when folks watching the parade finished tapping their toes to the band and waving to the Junior Miss winners, they probably felt a little disappointed to see a couple of politicians. Nevertheless, many people continued waving and seemed genuinely pleased to see real people behind the campaign banners.
In Lava, which started at the hottest time of the day, around 5 p.m., the parade went through town, turned around and came right back down Main Street so everyone could see both sides of us. This was a much more informal parade but it also had a lot of folks from out-of-state (I estimate about a third of the spectators were from Utah). Since I had gone door-to-door in both towns earlier in the summer, I saw folks during the parade whom I had met and took the time to reconnect.
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