Backstage at the Days of '47
You could have watched the Days of '47 Parade - Utah's annual celebration of its specialness - on TV, or from the sun-baked route from downtown Salt Lake City to Liberty Park.
But, as anybody knows, the real human drama is what's going on behind the scenes. So I spent the parade in the staging areas on South Temple and Main Street, snapping these shots of the people waiting for their turn in line.
Miss Orem Krystal Millard and her attendants, Graceann Jacobson and Kandice Carter, know the most important thing about being parade royalty: comfortable shoes.
Who's the most valuable player on Hyrum's Mountain Crest High School Mustangs Marching Band? The guy with the water bottle. (That would be Paul Wakefield, watering the members of the drumline outside Abravanel Hall.)
Excuse me, I have to hang up now - I'm being an anachronism.
Finishing touches: A parade volunteer pins a corsage on Bette Burton, president of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.
Parade floats are a good place to take a quick nap, as Miss Sandy and her attendants discovered ...
... as did the teens on this float, honoring the sister-city relationship between Salt Lake City and Matsumoto, Japan.
As I'm walking along Main, this man in a white shirt and red bowtie comes up to me and asks, "When do we go on?" Since his car - a 1947 Ford - was #102 out of 110 entries, I told him he'd be waiting awhile. Then he told me about his car.
Dale McAllister, the man in the bowtie, bought the Ford in 1959 and drove it for 20 years. "I used to drive it to Seminary and back," said Dale, 82. Then he parked it at his house, where it languished for almost three decades - the roof dented, the upholstery shot, and so on.
A couple of years ago, Dale's son Craig and his grandson Morgan got to work restoring the car, buying parts on eBay and yard sales. Now it's in mint condition and, according to the elder McAllister, runs like a dream.
But, as anybody knows, the real human drama is what's going on behind the scenes. So I spent the parade in the staging areas on South Temple and Main Street, snapping these shots of the people waiting for their turn in line.
Miss Orem Krystal Millard and her attendants, Graceann Jacobson and Kandice Carter, know the most important thing about being parade royalty: comfortable shoes.
Who's the most valuable player on Hyrum's Mountain Crest High School Mustangs Marching Band? The guy with the water bottle. (That would be Paul Wakefield, watering the members of the drumline outside Abravanel Hall.)
Excuse me, I have to hang up now - I'm being an anachronism.
Finishing touches: A parade volunteer pins a corsage on Bette Burton, president of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.
Parade floats are a good place to take a quick nap, as Miss Sandy and her attendants discovered ...
... as did the teens on this float, honoring the sister-city relationship between Salt Lake City and Matsumoto, Japan.
As I'm walking along Main, this man in a white shirt and red bowtie comes up to me and asks, "When do we go on?" Since his car - a 1947 Ford - was #102 out of 110 entries, I told him he'd be waiting awhile. Then he told me about his car.Dale McAllister, the man in the bowtie, bought the Ford in 1959 and drove it for 20 years. "I used to drive it to Seminary and back," said Dale, 82. Then he parked it at his house, where it languished for almost three decades - the roof dented, the upholstery shot, and so on.
A couple of years ago, Dale's son Craig and his grandson Morgan got to work restoring the car, buying parts on eBay and yard sales. Now it's in mint condition and, according to the elder McAllister, runs like a dream.
posted by Sean P. Means @ 10:26 AM |
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