News & Press Coverage
Festival Creates Township Identity
Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 30, 2006, by Tammy Walquist
The great outdoors were the words of the day at the first Venture Outdoors Festival in Millcreek Township June 17.
More than 80 vendors were on hand to present information about outdoor recreation from rock climbing to cycling to fishing or hunting. A rock wall in the center of Canyon Rim Park, 3100 S. 2900 East, where the festival took place, gave youth the opportunity to try rock climbing.
A performing stage featured entertainment including the Paisley Sky Band, Incendiary Circus, Zerrubbabel Band and the Skymasters Birds of Prey show. Various clinics on recreational opportunities were also held throughout the day. They included basic bike tuning, kayaking, gardening, golfing and skateboarding.
The festival was designed to help establish an identity for Millcreek Township and let residents know about recreational opportunities in their own backyard.
"Millcreek Township is in an unincorporated area of Salt Lake County, and so what happens is there's no real identity," said Aimee McConkie, festival co-chair. "Why we chose Venture Outdoors is that down the road we would like to brand our community as a vibrant, active community and encourage people to get out there and enjoy outdoor recreation. This might be people's first exposure to new recreation."
The outdoors aspect of the festival drew Park City resident Toni Hansen, who brought her entire family to the event. "We're a big outdoors family," she said, pointing out that the family's repertoire of activities already includes climbing and paddling. "It made sense to see what this was about."
Melissa Parkin brought her children Taylor, 16, Rob, 14, Kaitlyn, 11, Jacob, 9, and Kourtnee, 6, to the festival after hearing all the hype surrounding it.
"It sounded interesting...It's a lot of fun for everyone," she said. "I'm interested in emergency preparedness and things like
the (Parley's) Trail master plan as it comes down I-80... It's always fun to come to the park for all kinds of activities."
Sisters Hannah and Sara Bezdjian, 14 and 15 respectively, came to the event with their parents, who are Millcreek residents. They enjoyed the extreme obstacle course and were eyeing the rock climbing wall with interest. Both felt the festival was beneficial for the Millcreek area.
"I think it's a good idea to see people in the area and do something together," Hannah said, and Sara added, "It's a fun way to bond with community members."
Cynthia Stone, festival co-chair, was amazed at the event's turnout. "I am so surprised," she said. "It's scary as a first-year event because you don't know if only five people will show up. We were worried, especially since we had so many vendors, if there were going to be enough people going around the park, but we're very happy with our turnout."
Stone said the event was also being held to provide residents with information for the 2008 election when Millcreek residents will vote on whether or not to stay as a township, become a city or select another governance model.
"I love the fact that people in the community are excited to be part of the township and knowing who they are in this area," she said. "We're building a township identity. It's about time Millcreek started building its own identity, so it's not lost in the middle. Other cities are eating up at the township. In 2008 when that election happens, we want people to have information and be informed."
-Peter Carroon, Mayor
Salt Lake County, Utah
