S E W S W E E T

Welcome to Mapleton City’s Pioneer Days celebration! We look forward to a great week of family fun. This year’s theme is our new city motto, “Small Town. Big Heart,” and celebrates our community’s core values: small-town feeling, connection, active lifestyle, open space, service and heritage.

Our city staff and Pioneer Days Committee have put in many hours over the past few months to ensure this celebration runs smoothly and achieves its purpose of creating community connections. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes, and I want to publicly thank them for their efforts.

A few weeks ago, we were reminded of what Pioneer Days is all about. The Utah League of Cities and Towns holds an annual essay contest for students across the state. This year’s theme was “Why I Like My Community,” and Logan Miner, a local seventh- grader and Mapleton resident, received first place in the state.

His reason for liking Mapleton is Pioneer Day. In his words, “everything about this day is why I love my community. We celebrate every year together as family friends, and neighbors. It’s like one big party all day!”

I was able to accompany a team of city officials, administration from Logan’s school, and a ULCT representative to surprise Logan during class and present this award to him. When he was asked to read his essay out loud to his classmates, it was touching to see his classmates’ agreement with his sentiment towards Pioneer Days.

Congratulations, Logan, on