The 24th of July

It is imperative that the people of this community, of this state and of the entire West be reminded of the labors and the sacrifices of those who, at so great a cost, laid the foundations of that which we enjoy today. . . the migration to this valley before the coming of the railroad is of so vast a scope, involving so many people, and entailing so much of human suffering and sacrifice, that it must ever occupy a unique place in the annals of human history. It has all the elements of a great epic—persecution, flight into the wilderness, hope, vision, sickness, the unrelenting cruelty of the elements, deaths numbering in the thousands, and final triumph through unspeakable courage and labor. . . it is a story not only for members of the Church of which they were members; it is a story for all the world and for all generations. -President Gordon B. Hinckley, July 24, 1995 

 When we were little, on the 24th of July everyone on the Martin side (aunts, uncles, cousins, and Grandma and Grandpa) would gather at Aunt E’s house in Sugarhouse. I don’t remember if we would then have dinner or what, but we would eventually walk to Sugarhouse Park to watch the fireworks. This was always very exciting. Then Aunt E and her family moved to Centerville and so this tradition went down the drain. So now we all celebrate the 24th of July on our own. We as a family now wake up early and go sit on the corner of fourth south and Main Street, in Salt Lake City, right by Burger King to watch the Parade. This tradition started when Daddio was the scout master and he would take the boys in the troop and sell popcorn and soda pop to all the spectators. When we girls got old enough we got to help. Since we have stopped selling popcorn and soda pop, and have become the spectators our selves. This is one of those traditions that are continued completely for the sake of tradition. The parades seem to get more and more boring, it can’t be anyone’s favorite. After the parade is over we then go home. Often times we have picnics, with picnic cake. At night we set off our own fireworks, the little ones. I don’t know how we ever convinced Mom and Daddio to start doing this, Mom always said she would rather take a twenty dollar bill and set it on fire than to spend twenty dollars on fire works. The stupid little fireworks are Brother N, Brother D , and Brother C’s favorite part of both Independence Day and Pioneer Day. The little boys typically are the ones setting off the fireworks while the rest of the family sits back and watches. The tradition of ice cream has stuck; we as a family make homemade ice cream and snickerdoodles every 24th of July. Some how Daddio thinks it is sacrilegious to eat homemade ice cream without snickerdoodles, so we make snickerdoodles with our ice cream. Rosalie reminded me of a tradition that Daddio started a couple years back. We have gone and hiked the “Last Mile Hike,” for the past couple years. This is the last mile of the long trek west. It has given us a small appreciation for what the Pioneers went through, not really but kind of, a little bit of a better understanding.