March 28 2022 Update

Happy Monday!  What a beautiful weekend to be outside!  My garden is starting to take shape, I finished stripping and painting the outside door on my backyard deck, and I got to enjoy just being outside in an unseasonably warm March weekend.  I hope you enjoyed some time off this weekend as well.  

Some of you know I love college basketball, but I didn’t get to watch much of the Elite 8 competition this weekend.  The Saint Peter's University men’s team got eliminated by North Carolina over the weekend, ending their Cinderella Run.  So we have a pretty elite Final Four now, including Duke University in Coach K’s final season.  

Finally, we were saddened to hear this weekend about the passing of Dave Graves.  Dave worked for Provo for 31 years, and his last 10 years were as our city engineer.  As I was visiting with some of this family this weekend, I mentioned how I look around Provo and see his fingerprints on so many projects that have made Provo what it is today.  Our condolences go out to Dave’s family, and to those in our Provo family who worked with him.  Here is a link to Dave’s obituary for those who would like to reach out to his family and/or attend a visitation or his funeral.  

UPCOMING CITY EVENTS

Lifehouse Performing Arts Academy presents: Earth Bound I March 30 - March 31

Ukulele for Teens I March 31 7:00 pm

Bee Gees Gold: The Tribute I April 1 7:30 pm

Teen Volunteer Board I April 7 6:30 pm

An Evening of Music with the CAN-AM Trio I April 4 7:00 pm

Utah Metropolitan Ballet presents: A Midsummer Night's Dream I April 8 - April 9

Not War by Music - UVYSO I April 11 7:30 pm

CSYP's Suessical Jr. I April 19 7:00 pm

Steel Magnolias I May 5 - May 28

YOUR VOICE

Your highlights are the highlights of our week!

UPLOAD PICTURES HERE!

NEWS YOU CAN USE

• Utah has officially declared Juneteenth a holiday.
• Last night at the Oscars, Will Smith punched comedian Chris Rock for making fun of Jada Pinkett. There is a lot of speculation on whether it was staged to boost falling ratings, or if it was spontaneous.
• Ukraine accused Moscow on Thursday of forcibly taking hundreds of thousands of civilians from shattered Ukrainian cities to Russia, Russia claims that they came willingly. The U.S. plans to welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
• The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (DABC) is making numerous adjustments that will go into effect on June 1 of 2022

PROVO SOCIAL MEDIA

HOT-BUTTON ITEMS IN PROVO

Let’s talk about the Freedom Festival today, and Provo’s long relationship with the Freedom Festival Foundation.  It seems timely after the announcement that Tim McGraw was returning as the headliner for the Stadium of Fire.

Some of our long-timers might remember when Provo City ran the early stage Freedom Festival.  Gina Robie has told me lots of stories of the Mayor’s Office being responsible for the Freedom Awards Gala in the early days.  But even before that - dating into the early 1970’s, the Festival was a project of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The City took over the festival in 1972.  Stadium of Fire was the brainchild of the Osmond Family, and began to be a community event in 1980.  The City sponsored and operated the Freedom Festival until 1994, when America’s Freedom Festival, Inc. entered into an agreement with the City to take over the Festival events.  

The City has a contract with America’s Freedom Festival, Inc. today in which we define the roles of the two parties.  The Festival provides a specific list of services and events, and the City provides cash and in-kind services to support the Festival.  The City commits to $75,000 in cash and another $5,500 in support for the Miss Provo Scholarship pageant that is now run by the Festival.  We also provide approximately $75,000 in in-kind services to the Festival including police and fire services, use of our parks facilities, support for the Grand Parade, and more.  In return, the City receives advertising space in Festival programs and at Stadium of Fire, event tickets, sponsorship of the Miss Provo pageant, and more.  Every year, an economic analysis is done demonstrating the financial impact to the city and the community.  Direct and indirect tax revenues from the Festival events and participants has exceeded the City’s contractual costs.

America’s Freedom Festival at Provo has been a great partner with the City over the years, providing family fun while helping reinforce the community’s strong value of patriotism and its desire to celebrate freedom.  While there have occasionally been controversies from time to time, we have found ways to work through the issues and questions and found solutions that work well. After 19 summers of working with the Festival organizers and their hundreds of volunteers, I have seen the amazing synergy that happens when the City, the Festival organizers and volunteers all bring their best efforts to host a wonderful event that sparks community engagement and civic pride. 

FUN STUFF

You all know I love flash mobs.  This one in a university cafeteria is one of my all time favorites.  Enjoy a quick listen and watch the reactions (or lack thereof) from the kids eating lunch that day!

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I hope your Monday is going well.  Thanks for all you do!

Wayne