Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

As 2024 winds down, Lindon city officials and members of the Historical Preservation Commission are looking to cap off the year by continuing to commemorate the city’s centennial milestone.

March 24, 2024 marked Lindon’s 100th anniversary, and the city has been celebrating throughout the year with events with historical flair, giving residents and visitors a sense of Lindon’s past while recognizing what’s yet to come.

On Monday, city officials will continue a tradition that is nearly a century old as the Lindon Historic Preservation Commission hosts the annual Historic Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony. The event will start at 6 p.m.

The event dates back to 1934, during the Great Depression, according to an article written by Lyle Lamoreaux, a member of the Historical Preservation Commission, in the December 2020 edition of the Lindon City Newsletter.

The tight-knit community with a population of less than 300 people at the time had also been plagued by several deaths, sorrow and heavy hearts, the newsletter noted.

Courtesy Lindon City

As Lamoreaux recounted, residents wanted to figure out a way to celebrate the holiday season and uplift people’s spirits.

So, they found a way to gather over a dozen lights and other items for the inaugural tree lighting near 400 North and Main Street.

“The community members would come together and always light a tree together to symbolize the hope and togetherness of the community,” Mayor Carolyn Lundberg explained.

Present day, the ceremony is held annually at the Lindon Community Center.

Community members are invited to learn more about how Lindon celebrated Christmas throughout its time as a city with some hot chocolate and music from the Lindon Elementary students.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

Following the tree lighting, the festivities continue with the unveiling of the newly remodeled Historic Museum inside the Community Center.

The facility has always had a dedicated room that served as a museum, but it wasn’t completely accessible to the public.

According to Lundberg, the city amassed donations and funding for the Historic Preservation Commission to purchase protective display cabinets so the memorabilia can be available to the public at all times when the center is open.

“There’s been cumulative efforts collecting and preserving things that now can really properly be displayed securely, along with some new things in commemoration of the centennial,” Lundberg told the Daily Herald.

Continuing the centennial theme, on Dec. 13, the annual holiday light parade will be held, a tradition born amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting around 6 p.m., the route will travel along Center Street from Oak Canyon Jr. High to the Community Center.

Businesses, residents and groups who wish to participate are encouraged to decorate their vehicle or float to display in the parade.

People are also welcomed to dress up their lawn mower, tractor, semitrucks, flat beds, bikes, golf carts, side-by-sides and essentially anything with wheels to compete for awards to be distributed for the best entries.

“Our parks and rec department wanted to bring some cheer to the community during COVID lockdowns and things, and it just really took off and became just a highlight and so popular,” Lundberg said.

Lindon will also unveil a centennial mosaic before the year comes to an end.

“So we’re just inviting people to send in photos of their family or their vacations or landscapes or historic photos,” Lundberg said.

Currently, photos are still being collected via the city’s website.

Lindon has come a long way since its days of being known as Stringtown, as it bubbles with growth along with most of Utah County.

Looking toward the future, Lundberg said there are plans to create an identifiable downtown area in Lindon, with a Gateway entrance along 700 North.

“We have a downtown village plan that is unfolding and hopefully will be unveiled and announced sometime in the next year, with a whole bunch of great things, a lot of restaurants and retail and kind of a mixed use,” she told the Daily Herald.

As previously reported, plans are in the infancy stages to develop the Utah Lake Nature Center next to the Lindon harbor.

But even with the growth and future developments, Lundberg also highlighted the importance of maintaining Lindon’s small-town feel and neighborly atmosphere.

For the thousands who attended one of several of the yearlong events during Lindon’s centennial celebration, the mayor hopes residents and visitors came away with a little piece of history about the city’s heritage.

“We hope that people have found meaning and a sense of appreciation for the great community we get to live in, and for all the people that really came before us to make it … a great place to live and work or own a business,” she said.