Salem Days instill a way to make people feel at home
Ruthann Wilberg and Myiah Christensen, right, play in the mud pits while mud volleyball players compete during Salem Days festivities Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016, in Salem. The weeklong festival running through Saturday, Aug. 13 features a rodeo, parades and other festivities. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Competitors enjoy some friendly sport as they play mud volleyball during Salem Days festivities Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016, in Salem. The weeklong festival running through Saturday, Aug. 13 features a rodeo, parades and other festivities. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Competitors enjoy some friendly sport as they play mud volleyball during Salem Days festivities Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016, in Salem. The weeklong festival running through Saturday, Aug. 13 features a rodeo, parades and other festivities. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Salem Days, which has run all week and ends Saturday, may at first appear to be just like every other city celebration.
But Salem Days, with its superhero theme and family friendly activities, are about bringing a community together.
Salem, along with much of the rest of Utah County, is growing quickly. Population projections show the town of more than 8,000 boasting a population of around 14,000 by 2020.
The annual Breakfast in the Park — which started when the town only had 800 residents — is expected to feed about 1,800 people this year, said Jennifer Wright, the city’s recreation program coordinator.
The week of activities known as Salem Days has a way of bringing people back to their hometown, and making those who are new there feel that they belong.
The city tries to accomplish that by ensuring that each of the events is family friendly, from the mud volleyball tournament to the tractor pull to the Friday night concert.
But besides having family friendly events, Salem Days seeks to honor families throughout the week. A “Family of the Year” and a “Volunteer of the Year” are chosen each year and honored at events throughout the week.
The people chosen embody the small-town community spirit that makes up Salem, from the Wright family, described as “quiet heroes,” to Marte and Marcie McKee, who invest themselves in community establishments such as youth council coaching.
“We hope we’re instilling the same pride (in newcomers) that the people who have lived here have,” Wright said. “So they don’t just say, ‘I moved to Salem,’ but ‘I’m from Salem.'”