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TheMesaTribune.com |
THE MESA TRIBUNE | MARCH 20, 2022
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Book pays homage to Mesa Temple’s Easter pageants BY PAUL MARYNIAK Tribune Executive Editor
A
s excitement begins to build over next month’s return of the Easter Pageant to the Mesa Arizona Temple after a three-year hiatus, a newly published book offers a detailed look at its evolution across eight decades. For nearly three years, writers Jill Adair, a Mesa resident and the Temple’s communications director, and Cecily Condie, a former Mesa resident and editor-owner of Inglestone Publishing, combed through hundreds of photos, interviewed scores of people and burrowed through microfilm to produce an homage to a production that draws over 100,000 people over the course of its multi-day presentation. Adair and Condie teamed up with Gilbert book designer Leslie Thompson to produce “The Mesa Easter Pageant – 80 Years of Sharing the Story of Jesus the Christ,” a 280-page hardcover book that
details both the pageant’s history and its community impact and historical significance. From a humble Easter sunrise service, it has evolved into a work that depicts the life of Jesus Christ with a cast of more than 400 people and another 400 other volunteers. The free pageant this year features a revised script, a new soundtrack specially recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and a massive stage with new props. It will be presented at 8 p.m. April 6-9 and 12-16, on the north lawn of the Mesa Arizona Temple, 101 South Lesueur. No tickets are needed. As Adair and Condie show, the colorful spectacle started in 1938 as a Easter sunrise service that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held on the Mesa Arizona Tempe lawn.
see PAGEANTS page 15
Co-authors Jill Adair, left and Cecily Condie, center, credit book designer Leslie Thompson, right, with the engaging look of their book, “The Mesa Easter Pageant - 80 Years of Sharing the Story of Jesus the Christ.” (Special to the Tribune)
Mesa hails hero who saved 2 kids from fire TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF
C Mesa Fire Chief Mary Cameli congratulates Jonathon Baez, who received a commendation for helping to save the lives of two children trapped in a burning house on Feb. 18. (City of Mesa)
ity officials formally recognized a local resident whose actions Feb. 18 helped save two children from a burning apartment. Jonathon Baez was formally recognized for his action in the fire in the 1900 block of E. Hampton Ave. by Mayor John Giles, Councilmember Mark Freeman, Councilmember David Luna, Assistant City Manager John Pombier, Fire Chief Mary Cameli and Police Chief Ken Cost for what they called Baez’s “extraordinary efforts and selfless acts of bravery.” The children, ages 2 and 6, suffered only minor injuries as the result of Baez’s quick action, authorities said. They had been trapped in the secondfloor apartment in a back bedroom and Baez climbed into it after a Mesa police officer threw rocks at it to break it. Baez “got inside the bedroom by pull-
ing out the frame of the window where he found the children inside,” according to a Fire Department report. “The citizen handed them out of the window to the officers. The officers stayed with the children while Fire personnel treated them for their injuries. Two of the officer’s rode with the children until they reached the hospital and were turned over to medical personnel. Four of the officers were treated at the hospital and released. “According to all who were there, if it wasn’t for the citizen who assisted, the outcome of this incident may have been different,” the report continued. “He saw the fire from a distance, jumped a wall to the apartment complex, and ran towards the fire to help. They all agreed that he went above and beyond to assist in getting these children to safety. He put his life on the line for these children.”
