Strawberry Days, Yappy Hour, Desert RATS Kokopelli 150 Stage Trail Race and Utah Theater

June is the perfect time to get out and explore Utah. From summer theater to Arts in the Park there is something for everyone.

Utah Stories

June 9, 2017

June thru July: 4-H Summer STEM Camps. Two day camps feature everything from robotics to lotions and potions. Click here for more information and registration.

June 2nd thru August 25th: Brigham Young Historic Park outdoor concerts every Tuesday and Friday evening excluding July 4th and July 14th. Concerts begin at 7:30pm at the park, 100 North State Street, Salt Lake City. The free concerts typically last one hour. Call 1-801-240-3323 for more information.

June 10th: Murray Arts in the Park. The Murray arts program kicks off with Americana band Joshua Creek. Performances are at the Murray Park Amphitheater, 495 E 5300 S. Productions of Fiddler on the Roof and Music Man will be scheduled throughout the summer along with other musical performances. Visit their website for the full lineup and prices.

June 10th thru 18th: Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days. The “longest running celebration in Utah” features a parade, food, a carnival, sporting events and a concert. For a list of all events and venues click here.

June 11th: Blues, Brews and BBQ at Snowbasin Resort, 3925 Snowbasin Road, Huntsville, Utah. The summer concert series offers free concerts every Sunday from June 11th through September 24th. Three bands will perform each week with everything from blues to rock and roll. Concerts are from 12:30pm to 5:30pm on the lawn at Earl’s Lodge. Visit here for more information.

June 13th: Yappy Hour Sponsored by The Gallivan Center. Bring your dog to Liberty Park, 600 E 900 S, from 6 to 9pm to play in fenced-off-leash areas, while food and drink from the FoodTruck League and beer from Proper Brewing Co. is offered for the humans. Live music and booths provided. The event is also featured at Fairmont Park, 1040 E Sugarmont Dr. on July 20th, Pioneer Park, 350 S 300 W on August 14th, and Liberty Park again on September 13th from 5 to 8pm.

June 18th thru 24th: Desert RATS Kokopelli 150 Stage Trail Race. Runners will race from Grand Junction, Colorado to Moab, along the 148-mile Kokopelli Trail. This is a 6-day, fully-supported stage race with distances ranging between 9 and 50 miles per day. Go here or call 303-249-1112 for more information.

June 21st thru 24th: Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival. Activities include stargazing and astronomy lectures. Seth Jarvis, director of Clark Planetarium, will be the keynote speaker. See the national park website for more information.

June 23rd and 24th: Red Butte Garden Campout. Bring your own gear and a picnic dinner for a night camping in the garden. The event will include games, crafts and s’mores along with a catered breakfast Saturday morning. Cost is $32 per person for garden members and $40 per person for the general public. Starting time is 5:30 pm on Friday and lasts until 8:30am on Saturday.

Theater Listings:

Family Friendly

Hale Centre Theater: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, June 2nd to August 12, 2017. 3333 Decker Lake Dr., West Valley City.

Hale Center Theater: Tarzan (Musical), June 8th to August 5th, 2017. 225 W 400 N, Orem.

Off Broadway Theatre: The Marx Brothers in A Night at the Imperial, June 23rd to July 29th, 2017. 272 S Main Street, Salt Lake City.

Desert Star Playhouse: The 3 Amigos – Showdown at the Del Taco Ranch, March 23rd to June 8th to August 19th, 2017. 4861 S State Street, Murray.

Utah Symphony: Imagine with the Utah Symphony at Taylorsville Dayzz, June 22, 2017. Taylorsville Regional Park, 5100 S 2700 W, Salt Lake City.

Ballet West: Ballet West Academy 2017 Spring Performance, June 1st to June 3rd, 2017. Capitol Theatre, 50 W 200 S, Salt Lake City.

Repertory Dance Theatre: Dancing the Bears Ears, May 7th to June 23rd, 2017. Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W 300 S, Salt Lake City.

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company: Utah Arts Festival Performance, June 22, 2017.

Eccles Theater: Dirty Dancing, June 20th to June 25th, 2017. 131 S Main Street, Salt Lake City.

Kingsbury Hall: Utah Dance Artists Presents: Between the Pages, June 9th to June 10th, 2017. 1395 E Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City.

Date Night

Salt Lake Acting Company: Saturday’s Voyeur, June 21st to August 28th. 168 W 500 N, Salt Lake City.

Egyptian Theatre: Cabaret, June 30th to July 23rd, 2017. 328 Main Street, Park City.

Plan-B Theatre Company: (in)divisible, June 8th to June 18th, 2017. Studio Theatre at the Rose Wagner Center, 138 W 300 S, Salt Lake City.

Excellence in the Community: SLC Sax Summit Plays Gershwin, June 29, 2017. Gallivan Center, 239 S Main Street, Salt Lake City.

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Moab Races, Snowbasin, Utah Theater

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Whiskey, Bullets & a Buried Town: Archaeologists Reveal Alta’s Wild Past

Before Alta was known for powder days and lift lines, it was a silver mining town clinging to the side of a narrow canyon. In the late 1800s, men lived at 8,000 feet, went underground each day, and endured winters that regularly buried buildings in snow. This past summer, that mining town resurfaced — literally — during construction at the Alta Ski Area.

To understand what Alta really looked like, you don’t begin with legend. You begin with its trash — and this time, that happened almost by accident.

Alta Ski Area was installing underground water reservoirs to support snowmaking. Because the project sits on Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest land, an archaeologist was required to monitor the excavation. No one expected the trench to produce much.

But, It did.

Artifacts began surfacing almost immediately. Enough that the Forest Service contacted the Utah State Historic Preservation Office for help. Lexi Little, who coordinates the Utah Cultural Site Stewardship Program, helped mobilize nearly 30 volunteers to assist with what quickly became a focused two-week excavation.

Winter deadlines were approaching. The pipes for the reservoirs had to go in the ground. There wasn’t time for a slow, extended dig.

“It was two weeks of digging in the dirt and helping figure out exactly what we were looking at,” Little said.

Most of the people screening soil weren’t professional archaeologists. They were trained stewards from around Utah — part of a statewide volunteer network that now approaches 500 people. They poured dirt through shaker screens, scanning for fragments that could piece together a town long buried.

“Archaeology is human trash,” Little explained. “Archaeologists are very into trash.”

Alta had left plenty behind.

https://youtu.be/hzIHzx3OGoo?si=dKcl2CEz-t6FZzYw

Victorian-style ceramics appeared first — the kind typically used in hotels. Medicine bottles followed. Ink bottles. Hand-blown glass. A porcelain doll’s foot surfaced from the soil, a small detail that shifted the mental image of the town. Families were here. Children were here. This wasn’t only a camp of miners.

The bottles helped establish time. Manufacturing details — whether glass was hand-blown or mold-made, whether a maker’s mark appeared on the base — allowed archaeologists to date many of the artifacts to the 1870s through the 1890s, when Alta was booming as a silver mining town.

“That gives you that range of dates for when Alta was really booming,” Little said.

One reusable soda bottle clearly stamped “Salt Lake City” connected the canyon to the valley economy below.

Then something unusual rolled out of a dirt pile.

A corked bottle. Intact. Liquid still inside.

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