Evan Cobb, Daily Herald

Pleasant Grove was founded on Sept. 13, 1850, and residents will be celebrating the city’s 171st birthday at this year’s Heritage Festival. The festival, which will be held on Monday from 5 p.m. until dark, will be expanded this year, with more locations and different activities.

“There will be something for everyone at this free event. So much so, that we will be in three parks and the cemetery,” said Stacy Martineau, festival chairperson. “I think we are ready to gather and celebrate good times together. Events will be spread out to help with social distancing. Hand sanitizer will be available. Opportunities to talk, remember, laugh and learn together will fill the night. We live in a special town, founded by good and caring people. Their legacy lives on in the lives of those that live here now.”

Last year’s Heritage Festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, the celebration had been an annual tradition. Past Heritage Festivals were held at the city’s Downtown Park, with buggy rides to the cemetery for stories of the city founders. This year, two more locations will be added with events and activities — Pioneer Park and the Rose Garden Park, both across the street from Downtown Park at 200 S. Main.

Trent Haskell, known as The Rugged Rockhound, will be coming with a display of rocks and minerals from this area. Miss Pleasant Grove Haylie Howe and her court will have board games from the 1850s.

“You might be surprised to see what they are. Some games have been around for a very long time,” Martineau said. “You can challenge someone to a game and learn about Haylie’s literacy platform.”

Evan Cobb, Daily Herald

A local gift store, GingerElla’s, will have a display of common items from the 1850s, along with a craft for the kids. There will also be classic games to play, stilts to try, horseshoes to throw and stories to hear. To help keep track of it all, guests can pick up a passport with a map to help them figure out where everything is and what they want to do.

A Wild West Show will be held at 5:30 and again at 7 p.m. The show will highlight the type of performances that would have been part of life in the 1800s. Live music will kick off the festival, with Pleasant Grove Police Department detective Chris Ruiz singing the National Anthem at 5 p.m. There will also be performances by local groups Hunt and Ry, Walker Brothers and The Shane Lee Band.

According to Laurel Cunningham, the Historic Preservation Commission vice-chair, the most popular event every year is the log branding. “Some people have come every year for 10-15 years. You get a slice of log with a brand. Some kids have like ten in their bedrooms,” she said.

There will be catered food for sale. Also, the local Lions Club will be selling doughnuts as a fundraiser for their service opportunities that are held throughout the year. Birthday cake will also be served.

“The Heritage Festival celebrates the citizens of the past and the citizens of the present. We’re all having fun celebrating the citizens of the past,” Cunningham said. “It’s a good-natured, fun celebration.”

For more information, people can go to the Pleasant Grove Heritage Festival Facebook page.

Newsletter