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Jen Hill

Former Salt Lake Magazine Associate Editor Jen Hill is a SLC transplant from Bloomington, Ind. As a blogger and feature writer, Jen follows the pulse of the community with interests in urban agriculture, business, fitness & beauty and anything that allows her to get out of the office and into the mountains.

Apr 08
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Help Rebuild the Green Team Farm

By Community

Last week, a fire destroyed the Green Team Farm’s Operational Center at Wasatch Community Gardens (WCG). The Green Team Farm is a job training program teaching urban gardening skills to women struggling with homelessness. Why does it seem that the most worthy and deserving always get hit the hardest?

Donate to WCG

The fire’s cause is still under investigation, but resulted in the complete loss of valuable storage containers and tools integral to the Green Team’s efforts. With WCG’s Annual Plant Sale fundraiser just around the corner on May 11, 2019, it’s a real problem. The Green Team plays a significant role in this by starting over 20,000 plants at their farm—just think about all those heirloom tomatoes!

Community members have stepped up with donations of two mini office space containers but WCG needs those who value healthy, organic and local food, to donate. So click that button, please.

See all of our community coverage here.

Apr 02
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Climber-photographer Mark Twight Shows His Stuff at Gallery Night

By Arts & Culture

Yeah, he looks more like a punk rocker than a world class athlete. We suspect he likes it that way. But in 1988, Mark Twight climbed to the top of a 3,000-foot high frozen waterfall in the Canadian Rockies. That feat has never been equaled. His athletic prowess is legendary—Twight made first ascents in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For 20 years, his life was climbing.

Mark Twight

Photo courtesy Mark Twight

Well, and music. The punk look isn’t an act—Mark Twight loves punk music—and a yellow Walkman always accompanied him on his journeys.

Along with the ecstasy, comes the extreme agony from years of perilous climbs and Twight decided to stop climbing, leaving a potentially huge void in his life which he immediate filled with other adventures like writing and instructing Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, his post-alpine life even led to professionally train actors like Jason Momoa, while filming “Aquaman.”

But Twight reached another peak with his photography. You can take a peek (haha) this weekend in Salt Lake City.

The Salt Lake Gallery Stroll announces a one-night gallery reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, April 5, 2019, at Wildwood Productions, 972 South 300 West featuring photographs from Mark Twight newest book, REFUGE, along with a multi-media (expect some punk tunes) presentation from the man himself at 7 p.m.

See all of our A&E coverage here.
Apr 01
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How to Build a Robot

By Community

The all-American FIRST Robotics team from Cottonwood High School included refugees from countries including Brazil, Haiti, Iraq, Myanmar, Nepal, Somalia and Afghanistan. Tagged the “Underdogs,” many of these students have only lived in the U.S. for a matter of months. English is definitely a second language.

The Underdogs were one of 50 high school teams at the annual FIRST Robotics Competition Utah Regional, held at the Maverik Center in West Valley last weekend. The teens received a $6,000 scholarship from Utah First Robotics to fund their project and worked with mentors from AMES, a STEM-based school.

Their goal: To design, build and program a robot that (who?) can collect planetary samples.

OK, not an immediate need—let’s put spacesuits for women on the list first—but one that required scientific curiosity, technical knowledge, imagination, determination and—maybe most importantly—working together.

Something that most of the world seems unable to do. That deserves an award in itself.

Now the Underdogs, awarded Top Rookie Team, are on to the next round.

The FIRST Robotics competition is co-organized with the University of Utah’s College of Engineering and includes teams from all over the world.

For more about STEM programs in Utah schools, click here.

See all of our community coverage here.

Mar 27
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Cheese Lovers and Chocolate Lovers Unite

By Eat & Drink

Aspiring cheesemongers and chocolate lovers will unite this weekend at the Natural History Museum of Utah for the museum’s annual Chocolate and Cheese Festival. For cheeseheads, the festival will offer classes and exhibits on the finer points of cheesemaking. Selecting the type of milk, adding in strains of bacteria, and separating curds from whey, will delight any aspiring cheesemaker. Or just lover of cheese.

For chocoholics, the festival will explore the astounding and complex world of chocolate. Utah chocolate makers have been building worldwide connections with cacao-growing regions and are at the forefront of the bean-to-bar movement.

And you can enjoy both, this weekend on March 30 and 31, 2019. Classes and exhibitions are offered both days, for kids and adults, with tastings and demonstrations from local cheese and chocolate artisans. Plus vendors selling tasty treats.

For registration and more info click here.

For more of our foodie fun visit our archives.