Founder's Day -- A Celebration

The 24th of July for me has always been special. It is Utah's "other" July holiday and was my Aunt Georgia's birthday (before her brother killed her, but that is a post for another time). It is Utah's celebration recognizing the Mormon Pioneers 1847 arrival in the Salt Lake valley after trekking across the plains. Because the founding of this valley and subsequently, the holiday, are inextricably linked to the LDS church, many of my co-workers refTheuse to celebrate. Instead, they trudge along at work--without me, because I'm enjoying pancakes in the park, a nice jaunt to the cool mountains and watching a parade go by. Some who know the Church's stance on homosexuals urge me to leave the church officially (at this point they have only asked me not to return, but they keep coming around asking for fast offerings, so I know I'm still on the records) or at least stop enjoying myself on the 24th of July. Nonsense. Although I was once "the best little Mormon boy" around, I can not reconcile their discrimination of me and people like me because of something we have no control over. When did they decide to be straight? But, this doesn't get in my way of taking the day off work and having a party like so many others in town. Let me explain. Despite the ties this holiday has to the LDS church, I view the day as a founder's day celebration. Every small town in America has enjoyed a founder's day for many decades (meaning I saw one on Little House on the Prairie). For other towns, it means a time when people of all faiths come together and "party hearty" for a day. They celebrate for formation of their community even though they do not always agree religiously or politically. Why should Utah be any different? The pioneers had a hard life and their journey should be congratulated by Mormon and non-Mormon alike. Tuacahn once reminded us that there were non-members who made the journey. Their story often (or always) gets forgotten. Were there gay pioneers? Survey says: probably. Were they out as much as I am? Probably not. Today, there are gays in every corner of society now from rich to poor, skinny to fat and from every ethnicity and cultural background. Why would that have changed? So, I celebrate the 24th for the gay pioneers who probably just needed a date. I'm here, just 161 years late. Hell, I'd still go out with them after they had a shower and a breath mint. As hard as life can be for a fat, bald gay man, can you imagine how much more so it would have been back then? Closet cases. But, if you get two closeted gays in a closet, watch out. =) That being said, I have included a few pictures of this year's celebration. Hope you enjoy. If you don't, or don't like my philosophy with the Church or how I celebrate as a gay man, I'm not going to cry. This is my blog. Get your own. =)

The holiday has certain prescribed events that my family just does (within a range of variance, of course). The 24th of July parade is a huge production number, ranking right up there with the Rose Bowl and Disney's Christmas parade. Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is in a league of its own. That happens any time you add balloons to the mix. My family (meaning Mom, Michelle, Rebecca and I) like to visit the float preview party. We can get up close and personal (touching is not allowed, unless you are named Steven and have a certain curiosity to fulfill) with the floats without necessarily venturing out into the typically 100 degree (Fahrenheit) weather if we don't want to. Before going in, Rebecca and I exchanged funny faces to make sure the camera still worked.

At the preview party, we met Mom's friend from work, Kathleen. She has been Mom's friend for a long time, enjoying lunch together on Mondays. Kathleen was in charge of building a float for her local LDS stake. They chose a Noah's Ark theme and had some very cute animals poking out the windows. At the Bountiful Handcart Days parade (another Founder's Day celebration worth taking part in), we saw this float in action. The elephants (one on each side) sprayed water into the crowd and the hippopotamus blew bubbles. Cool. Noah waved from the front, but people in costume freak me out, so I didn't get a picture of him.

The Polynesian community in Salt Lake is quite large and while viewing the floats, several of them performed a hula dance. In 1998 while in Hawaii, I learned that hula dancing started with the men, not the women. To my delight (I'm gay after all, hello!), men played a very prominent role in this display. A few of them gave me odd looks as I took my 23 and 24th pictures, but so? They must have known people would look at them and take pictures of the hot guys when they agreed to strip down to nearly nothing and jiggle their hips around.

As mentioned above, we always go to the Bountiful Handcart Days celebration the night before the 24th (usually the 23rd unless a Sunday gets in the way) for the parade. I'd tell you where we always park and where the perfect spot to watch the parade (yes, in the shade) is, but then I'd have to share--and I really don't like to share. Sorry. It was fun to see Kathleen's float in its full glory. Afterwards, we went for Cowboy burgers and a root beer freeze at Pace's (again, I'd tell you where, but there were already SO many people in front of me-including two mean lesbians-that I had to wait much longer than I'd prefer. Fireworks end the night off right. We are clever and quite pleased with ourselves about the parking for said fireworks, but again, I don't like to share. Selfish? Yes. My best and worst qualities, some say.

The morning of the 24th is an early one, though not as early as Mom would prefer. We start the morning off with pancakes in the park (I LOVE pancakes in the park--so down home special). We will sometimes go swimming (free from 8:00 - 10:00), but this year we didn't. Mom and I went back to her house and watched the end of the big parade (sometimes we will go from the breakfast and swimming down to the parade in Salt Lake, but we enjoyed the KSL televised effort this year). We were just in time to see Kathleen and her float be highlighted on the screen. The hippopotamus was blowing bubbles proudly as Kathleen marched along side to help navigate. The float really looked good on television and when it boils down to it, that's what matters.

My parents and I went for an afternoon jaunt to the cool mountains as it was 97 degrees Fahrenheit in the valley today. With gas prices what they are and everyone busy in Salt Lake, we decided to visit Mirror Lake in the Uintah mountains. In past years, we have gone to the Salt Lake canyons, but they are too crowded on holidays for anything but generating a stress headache. The trip was costly ($.99 each for string cheese. Can you imagine anything more outrageous? I know!) The ride through the mountains was so beautiful. Words can't really describe the peace and beauty of nature. We stopped at the Provo river falls overlook and Mom learned how to take my picture without including my huge belly. Incidentally, these falls were where my good friend Jared and I amazed other visitors by speaking what we call German as they passed by. It wasn't German, of course, but it definitely sounded European to the Utah tourists. Today, nearly 20 years later, I know only a little more German than I did back then. It is unfortunate that intention can't match skill. The trip to Mirror Lake was really nice. Beautiful wildflowers and a peaceful lake. I'd love to go back and camp, but have a hard time sleeping in a tent since the recent bear attacks. I'm much more a fan of camping at the Holiday Inn and driving to the mountains.

We ended the day with a barbecue at Michelle's house where she made homemade ice cream (yum) and I pretended to be strong on Dave's weight machine. I'm still sore. That was the first time I ever ate ribs (due to the mess factor). They were very yummy and not really messy. As I drove home, the nearby Rocky Mountain Raceway was just starting the finale of their fireworks show. In past years I have watched them from my back balcony--sometimes without underwear, but always without pants. =) What? Yup, you read it right. Don't judge me. You try being 400 pounds, then tell me how comfortable clothes are. Clothes for fat people are meant to be ugly, uncomfortable and, yes, expensive. But don't worry, I'm usually not naked. I wear a shirt or at the least my leg things. I don't want to scare the neighbors too badly. Doesn't this just make you want to run right over and sit on my couches? Anyway, if the neighbors didn't like the show, they wouldn't keep watching. And that's all I have to say about that. =)

For those of you who were out of town, I'd love to take you along next year. Celebrating Founder's Day is much more fun with other people, despite my reluctance to share. Thanks for reading, or at least enjoying the pictures.