Community

When did this town get so serious? Seriously. Do people think Park City transformed from a post-silver-mining backwater because of some faux polished veneer of exclusivity and golden-year serenity? No matter how overused the word “luxury” is or how curmudgeonly people act, this town is never going to be Aspen or Naples. Park City became what it did because of personality and identity derived from the kind of things that make a place distinct and memorable. The kind of things like the Park Silly Sunday Market. That hasn’t stopped some folks from trying to get rid of it.

The Silly Market has been a Main Street institution for 16 years. As evinced by its name, it’s an eclectic mix of live music, food carts and local vendors. 

Organizers are trying to secure a new long-term contract with Park City but will operate for 2023 under a temporary one-year agreement. To many long-time locals and visitors, the idea of eliminating the Silly Market is preposterous. However, for a vocal subset of Old Town business owners and homeowners the boisterous shenanigans are a business-draining, crowded nuisance.

Those opposing the Silly Market generally fall into two camps, easily identified by public comments submitted during a November 2022 Park City Council Meeting. The first group’s argument essentially boils down to a Grinch-ey sentiment:  “Oh, the noise, the noise, noise, noise, noise!” The second camp comes largely from Main Street merchants who argue the hordes of people descending onto Main Street to attend the Silly Market don’t actually benefit local businesses, because, as one business owner euphemistically said, the event “keeps many of the higher end homeowners and visitors away.”

(Outside of events like the Silly Market, I’d argue Main Street has been shedding most things non-higher-end-homeowner-and-visitor-related for years now.) But Historic Park City Alliance members opinions were overwhelmingly against the Park Silly Market according to a recent a survey in which 63 percent of respondents favored eliminating it. Their general sentiment was that the Silly Market is a drag on Sunday business

However, single day sales for a portion of businesses doesn’t tell the whole story of a Park City’s economy say Silly Market leaders (who are very serious). 

“We’re fostering businesses that become cornerstones in the community,” Kate McChesney, Silly Market Executive Director says. “Places like Nosh, Freshie’s and Sammy’s all got started here with an opportunity to build a footprint without a huge investment up front.”

Some have suggested changes to the Silly Market, including its location and the day of the week, both of which would fundamentally alter its identity. A Wednesday Silly Parking Lot Market doesn’t have quite the same appeal, especially for local families who have jobs and kids in school. “We’ve made some concessions for the upcoming year in good faith,” McChesney says. “We’re doing 10 dates as opposed to 14, starting music later, at 1 p.m., for noise reduction and working to make people in the community feel heard. But we’re not ready to move or change the day.”

Park City will remain Silly for the upcoming year. But until a long-term contract is secured, we’ll be left wondering why the town has gotten so darn serious.  

The Park Silly Sunday Market Impact 

Each Silly Sunday somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 people flock to Main Street, totaling around 200,000 people per season. It’s difficult to imagine that isn’t helpful to Main Street businesses, but some merchants claim the benefit is seen by bars and restaurants while Sunday sales tank for everyone else. There’s no publicly available reliable data with which to cast judgment, so we’re left with assumptions about whether throngs of visitors or tranquil streets are preferable.  

For Park Silly 2023 dates visit parksillysundaymarket.com

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With Earth Day just around the corner, it’s an opportune moment to show appreciation for our planet by participating in sustainable events. Here are a few of the various happenings taking place in Utah to commemorate Earth–our one and only home.

Earth Day Pop Up Market–April 23

Engaging in thrift shopping is an invigorating approach towards sustainability, as it helps cut down on energy consumption, air pollution, and excessive waste filling up landfills and polluting oceans. Join the Urban Arts Gallery from 12–7 p.m. for this cost-free occasion, featuring an array of items including furniture, trinkets, clothing, local artwork, and even tarot card readings.

116 S. Rio Grande St., Salt Lake City 

Hogle Zoo’s Party for the Planet–April 22

Celebrate Earth Day with a “Party for the Planet!”, where Hogle Zoo and various community organizations are committing to promoting conservation, creativity, and community involvement. Engage in family-friendly games, recycling projects, and crafts, and learn more about the impactful efforts of Utah’s Hogle Zoo in preserving animal habitats both locally and worldwide. This event will be held from 9 a.m.–6 p.m.

2600 Sunnyside Ave, Salt Lake City 

Scion Cider’s Earth Day Plant Swap & Sale–April 22

Step inside Utah’s foremost cider bar and trade in one of your plant cuttings for a different propagation. In addition to the plant swap, the event is teaming up with local plant nurseries to host a kitchen herb workshop complete with custom containers, high-quality soil, and a selection of plants for purchase from Thyme & Place. Also, Hollow Tree Honey Foundation will be providing free packets of wildflower seeds.  Sip on some delicious ciders while mingling with friends, taking in the fresh air on the patio, and of course, celebrating the beauty of our planet! 

916 S. Jefferson St. West, Salt Lake City 

Shop with a Dietitian: Sustainability–April 18 

As Earth day approaches, you might be contemplating ways to make you diet more environmentally-conscious or just healthier. Look no further! Harmon’s has a tour that will take your sustainable eating habits to the next level. Led by their expert dietitian Heather Lieber, this tour is designed to enlighten you on the significance of selecting sustainable foods, minimizing packaging waste, and curtailing food waste. Meet them at 5 p.m. for this hour-long tour, starting at the dietitian office adjacent to the post office, and prepare to embark on a journey towards a more environmentally-sound lifestyle!

135 E. 100 South., Salt Lake City 

Recycle Utah at the Wasatch Brew Pub–April 22

Gear up to celebrate our awe-inspiring planet and the crucial work we undertake in safeguarding it by joining Recycle Utah and Wasatch Brew Pub on Earth Day, from 5– 8 p.m. This celebration is the ultimate event to revel in the joy of life, and will boast an array of delicious food and drinks, with a silent auction showcasing the best of local businesses. All proceeds will go towards supporting the brewery’s education program, aimed at nurturing future generations to become environmentally-conscious citizens. This is an exclusive 21+ event, so get ready to raise a toast to our remarkable Earth!

250 S. Main St., Park City 

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Discover more spring events here!

Founded when suppliers delivered wares in wagons and folks routinely paid bills with sacks of flour or heads of cattle, few Utah businesses can boast 100 years or more of survival. Those tenacious enough to have remained in the hands of family are not just endangered species, they’re practically extinct. We asked a handful of local, family-owned businesses to share their secret sauce for surviving over a century of depressions, pandemics, wars, construction, big box stores and—lest we forget—online shopping. You’ll likely recognize the names. Now you’ll appreciate what it’s taken to stand the test of time.

It turns out, superheroes aren’t the only ones who transform when they put on a suit. According to B.J. Stringham of UWM Men’s Shop, no phone booths or capes are required to become a new man—just a well-tailored, expertly-cut suit.

“I see it all the time. A guy comes in with sweats or his baggy shorts, and he tries on one of our suits,” says the company’s president. “Suddenly there’s a glint in the eye, a confident stride, a strong handshake. It’s really satisfying to see what a suit can do.”

The company has built a loyal following of luxury-loving customers who embrace its impeccably-engineered menswear and bespoke tailoring—even if it sets them back a couple of grand or more. These are not off-the-rack deals, and B.J. isn’t apologizing for it.

“We don’t play the game,” he says “We guarantee the best, that’s how we differentiate ourselves and why we’re still in business after all these years,” he says of their brands which include high-end names like Brioni, Oxxford, Kiton, Isaia and Eton. “I had a customer once say, ‘When I buy it from you, I only cry once.”

B.J. and his younger brother, Brandon (CFO), recognize the need to keep the old place from seeming stuffy…it is 118 years old, after all.

“We don’t want that whole ‘we have the finest silks and blah blah blah,’” he jokes, employing his best sneering English accent to make the point. “We’ve worked to create a space where you can come, get fitted for a suit, chat, play some pool, look around.”

The Stringhams have outdone themselves in creating a swanky, men’s-club vibe. Bottled drinks, club chairs, a barber shop, guitars hanging on the wall and  ping pong and pool tables welcome alike the sockless, well-coiffed hipster and the silver-haired gentleman looking to update his board-meeting attire.

In the early days, UWM manufactured blankets and knitwear, sending hundreds of traveling salesmen to extol the merits of wool. When B.J. and Brandon’s grandpa, Briant Jr., took over the business from his father, Briant Sr., he shifted it from millinery to a retail shop. His son Bart redefined it as a high-end shop, working tirelessly to build a reputation as the best men’s shop in the city.

“Their thinking was ‘a Stringham has to do it,’” says B.J., referring to the intimate knowledge of the menswear business handed down from generation to generation,  encompassing everything from fabrics to cuts to designers to the names of loyal customers’ wives, dogs and grandkids.

“They worked themselves to the bone, and while we were grateful for what they built, I don’t remember seeing my dad on Saturdays (sacred in retail) or between Thanksgiving and Christmas at all,” says B.J., who felt himself missing out on his own children. “I never got to see my daughter play in one [Saturday] soccer game—I was always at the store because Brandon and I had now adopted the mentality that if we weren’t manning the shop, it would fall apart.”

The nonstop pace was enough to make B.J. fall apart. 

“We needed a culture shift, we needed to entrust the knowledge with our employees, listen to feedback and adapt,” says B.J. They examined and questioned every aspect of the business, throwing out things that weren’t working (like their women’s clothing line and their scarcity mentality.) B.J. and Brandon took themselves off of the sales floor. They made deals with high-end manufacturers to introduce their own lines and expanded into a second retail space in Murray (Tom Nox Men’s Shop) with plans for a third. Finally, they wanted to instill a greater sense of purpose by creating a nonprofit organization called “Suited for Good” which donates not just a suit, but the entire fitting experience to folks getting back on their feet. 

“I don’t know if we could have survived the pandemic without this new sense of purpose and optimism,” says B.J. “Not only did we have to close the store for a time, but the worldwide shift to Zoom meetings and working remotely had everyone saying, ‘sweat suits will forever replace business suits.” 

Turns out, men still chase after the swagger and style of James Bond. They want the sweep and polish that comes from fine fabrics, eye-catching design and a tailor’s eye. Instead of folding post-pandemic, he says it’s been UWM Men’s Shop’s best year ever. If B.J. has this much enthusiasm for a suit store, imagine the scene on the sidelines of his daughter’s soccer games—where he now finds himself every Saturday.

Utah Woolen Mills’ rules for wearing a suit:

1. Never button the bottom button of a suit jacket
2. Your shirt shouldn’t gap on your neck
3. Shirt cuffs should stop right at your wrist (and your suit jacket a half-inch above that)
4. Belts and shoes should match and complement the color of your suit 
5. Ties and vests should end at or just below your belt

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Discover more Utah businesses that have survived world wars, technological revolutions and pandemics.

Founded when suppliers delivered wares in wagons and folks routinely paid bills with sacks of flour or heads of cattle, few Utah businesses can boast 100 years or more of survival. Those tenacious enough to have remained in the hands of family are not just endangered species, they’re practically extinct. We asked a handful of local, family-owned businesses to share their secret sauce for surviving over a century of depressions, pandemics, wars, construction, big box stores and—lest we forget—online shopping. You’ll likely recognize the names. Now you’ll appreciate what it’s taken to stand the test of time.

Right place, right time. That’s how Thomas Young helped build Las Vegas…that, and elbow grease. The artist and owner of a Utah hand-lettering sign company developed a fascination for neon, but, unlike his painted signs, the new medium required electricity. In the early 1930s, his train stopped in the tiny town of Las Vegas where a new hydroelectric dam called Hoover was in the works, and Young saw possibility.

A year later, just as the little train-stop town of 5,000 people legalized gambling, he renamed Thomas Young Signs to Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO) and Thomas snagged his first big break in Vegas: a neon sign for the brand new Boulder Club. Not long after, the Las Vegas Club wanted YESCO to create something bigger, taller and brighter than their neighbor. Soon the Golden Nugget came knocking, and Young’s neon signs spread up Fremont Street, testing the laws of physics, each sign more spectacular than the one before. Thus, the “Glitter Gulch” was born. The rest is history—a history written in the dazzling lights and neon icons that transformed a dusty Nevada town into an international destination. 

“We’re the name behind the lights,” says third-generation Sr. VP Jeff Young. YESCO’s fingerprints touch everything from the ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ landmark sign to Vegas Vic (the waving Fremont Street Cowboy) to the 80-foot Hard Rock guitar to the newest generation of massive LED displays that wrap the lengths of hotels like The Aria, The Wynn and The MGM. 

The company’s reach is felt at home as well, from the iconic spinning Snelgrove’s ice cream cone to the weather-forecasting Walker Center sign (blue means clear skies, flashing red means snowstorms), to the state-of-the-art Utah Jazz Jumbotron. Everywhere you look, Salt Lake City is aglow with the company’s glittering feats of engineering. 

“Sometimes when I look at some of the large-scale projects we do,” Jeff reflects, “I wonder, ‘what would my grandfather think of this?” The 103-year-old company now employs thousands of people in over 100 cities, its scope recently on display when Jeff starred in an episode of Undercover Boss on CBS. 

The TV show followed the clean-cut businessman, disguised with spikey, purple hair, road-tripping across the U.S. to try his hand at assorted rank-and-file positions within his own company, from marquee sign assistant, (hunting his way through the alphabet to find letters for a sign) to an electrician’s assistant (tight roping his way along an LED billboard hundreds of feet in the sky).

“There were moments I wondered if I’d made a bad decision,” Jeff says of agreeing to participate in the show. “It’s reality TV after all—not known for having your best interest in mind.” Usually, an episode features a boss bumping up against at least one employee who unwittingly airs their grievances about the company—and sometimes even the leadership. Ultimately, Jeff says his level of confidence in YESCO and the happiness of his employees compelled him to take the plunge…notwithstanding his bundles of anxiety as to how it would all turn out when the show aired on television. 

“At one point during filming,” Jeff says with a laugh, “I thought, what would happen if I walk out of the hotel tonight, get in a taxi and just run away?”

In the end, though, Jeff says he was overwhelmed, “in a good way,” when the episode aired. The century-old company’s staying power is rooted in family and the mentality of safeguarding YESCO for the next generation and their employees rather than just cashing out and moving on. 

“We’re a company with heart, we really care about people, and that came through in the show,” he says. “Not only are we a family-run company, but we also have lots of families within our ranks, too.”  

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Founded when suppliers delivered wares in wagons and folks routinely paid bills with sacks of flour or heads of cattle, few Utah businesses can boast 100 years or more of survival. Those tenacious enough to have remained in the hands of family are not just endangered species, they’re practically extinct. We asked a handful of local, family-owned businesses to share their secret sauce for surviving over a century of depressions, pandemics, wars, construction, big box stores and—lest we forget—online shopping. You’ll likely recognize the names. Now you’ll appreciate what it’s taken to stand the test of time.

When asked why Utahns eat waaaay more sugar than any other state, (twice the national average), Rachel Sweet, whose family founded Sweet Candy Company 120 years ago, can only speculate.

“Everyone needs a vice,” she says, pointing out that many Utahns follow certain religious strictures. “Not drinking alcohol, coffee or tea probably has something to do with it.” We’d wager she’s right—if wagering wasn’t also restricted. 

At Sweet Candy Company, “candy is king,” says Rachel’s cousin, Rick Kay, president and CEO. While he doesn’t look anything like Willy Wonka, (no plum overcoat or top hat in sight), it does seem like something the fictional candyman would say.

Rick, who jokes that “nepotism rules aren’t a thing here,” sits in a conference room across from his cousin, Rachel (VP of Corporate Affairs), and niece Anne Bischoff (Marketing Director), as they view the candy plant below. He describes how his great-grandpa Leon Sweet first sold licorice root candies from a horse-drawn wagon in Portland, Ore. before relocating to Salt Lake City.

“Utah manufactured more sugar,” he explains of the then-newest state in the union and its already-evident fixation on sugary bliss. Today, Sweet Candy Company is the largest national distributor of nostalgic salt water taffy, jelly-filled chocolate sticks and chocolate-covered cinnamon bears. (Sidenote: Rick says cinnamon candy is a regional flavor preferred in the West. “Distribution stops right around Kansas,” he says.)

As fourth and fifth-generation custodians of the family legacy, Rachel, Rick and Anne say the company has been through it all. 

“We’ve survived a couple of pandemics, the Great Depression and two World Wars,” says Rachel. The famous “Candy Bomber” Gail Halvorsen dropped Sweet’s chocolates made by their grandfather from his C-54 cargo plane for children in post-war Germany. “And Prohibition, that was really tough for Sweet,” she adds. “The liquor once used in our flavorings had to be locked in a vault and every drop accounted for.”

As Rachel and Anne suit up in steel-toed boots, eye protection, hairnets, shields and gloves for a tour of the plant (this is the stuff of fantasy: one of the rooms is literally named the “chocolate enrobing room”), Rachel describes the importance of understanding every nook and cranny of the candy manufacturing process. “I first started learning the business as a teenager, filling orders in a bulk-pack line,” she says.

Anne says her first job was an apprenticeship, rotating through different areas of the company. “It’s important for the next generation to have institutional knowledge in order to carry this on,” she says. “But it’s also important to bring new ideas and innovations.”

Newfangled, robotic-armed machines sort and box those orange sticks alongside older-school contraptions like the Mogul—a machine that fills trays with starch, prints the starch with moulds, fills with moulds with jelly centers, and then stacks them into a pallet for setting. We pass by monster-sized vats of taffy being flavored, whipped, twisted into shape and wrapped in wax paper. Is this heaven? 

Whatever it is, Sweet’s candy operations are considered an “essential” part of the food chain. During the pandemic, the plant ran as usual and not a single of its 228 employees was furloughed. When the mom-and-pop stores had to shutter for a time, Sweet found new channels of distribution to keep the company afloat. Many local grocery stores now have Sweet’s old-fashioned taffy displays and even Costco carries our favorite treats.

“Folks need their candy,” says Rick, describing how the sweet stuff seems bulletproof even amidst the pandemic, supply chain challenges, and the threat of a recession on the horizon. “You may not be buying a jet ski, but you’ll probably keep buying your orange sticks.”  

Utah: The Sweet Tooth Capital

Even in the early days, Utah was known for its love affair with sugar. Leon Sweet moved his company from Portland to Utah for greater access to the state’s sugar mills. A study by Hershey’s candy company found that Utah leads the United States in the consumption of sweets, making Utah (unofficially) the “sweet tooth capital” of the U.S. 

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Discover more Utah businesses that have stood the test of time here!

Not every murder or kidnapping leads to a societal reckoning of some kind. Although, perhaps they should. In a world obsessed with the gritty details, sensationalism, anxiety and catharsis of true crime, we often overlook the human impact and the personal and societal trauma that remain long after the case is closed. But some events have a way of cutting through barriers of self-protection and shining a spotlight on the darkness in our world and in ourselves. These are crimes that shifted our perceptions and forced us to reevaluate our communities and institutions. In some cases, the event woke us up from a stupor in which we believed all was fine in the world and forced us to face a harsher reality. In other cases, survivors and families of victims defied the odds and made commitments to do their best to ensure no one else would have to endure what they had. These are five cases of true crime in Utah after which we would never be the same again.

The Last Lynching in the American West

Offense: Homicide, Date: 1866, 1833, 1925, Case File: No. 2563

Synopsis

The state of Utah and its predominant faith have a past entrenched in racism, perhaps more so than most residents realize. As a result, students in Utah schools probably didn’t learn about the three Black men lynched in Utah, but now there are people raising awareness of their deaths to try to start the process of understanding and addressing that racist past, and how it permeates our society still, so we can begin healing. 

Narrative

In 1866, a group of boys playing on Arsenal Hill (what is now Utah’s Capitol Hill) discovered the body of Thomas Coleman. Coleman was a Black man, formerly enslaved, and a Mormon. He worked for Brigham Young at the Salt Lake House hotel in downtown Salt Lake City after arriving in 1848, one year after the Latter-Day Saints settled the Salt Lake Valley and the year Utah became a U.S. territory. Coleman was brutally beaten with a rock and stabbed with his own knife, according to the coroner. A sign was left on his body, reading, “Notice to all N******. Take warning. Leave white women alone.” Leaders of the Latter-day Saints at the time were opposed to interracial marriage and made it illegal in the territory in 1852. Such public, violent acts were used to enforce racial segregation. To this day, it remains a mystery as to who killed Coleman. 

In 1883, a mob of white Utahns, as many as 2,000 people, stormed the Salt Lake City jail, took a Black man named William H. Harvey and publicly hanged him. Harvey was jailed, accused of shooting and killing the city’s police chief, but the white mob lynched him before he went to trial. Police were complicit in the lynching and, despite thousands of participants and spectators, no one was charged for lynching Harvey. 

To further prove the point that Black people were not welcome in Utah, in 1925, residents of Price (labeled a “sundown town” where the KKK had a strong presence) lynched Robert Marshall. He was a coal miner also accused of shooting a sheriff. Before Marshall made it to trial, the townspeople took him and hanged him twice. In the end, no one was held accountable for the public lynching because none of the hundreds of townspeople who witnessed it would give testimony. The violent ordeal has come to be known as the last lynching of a Black man in the American West. 

In an effort to memorialize these men, in June 2022, the Salt Lake County Community Coalition hosted a soil gathering ceremony at the sites where Thomas Coleman and William Harvey were killed. The two jars of soil now reside with the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala., where they are on display at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice with soil collected from the sites of lynchings across the country. Two jars remain in Utah to serve as a local memorial. 

The Mark Hoffman Case

Offense: Untold Damage to History, Date: 10-15-1985, Case File: No. 35637

Synopsis

Mark Hofmann fooled a nationwide community of scholars, investigators and collectors with his forgeries and engineered the bombings that killed two people. Hofmann’s notorious deeds will always be inextricably entwined with the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but the impact of his machinations spread far outside of Utah and the church. 

Narrative

On Oct. 15, 1985, a bomb exploded in the Judge Building in downtown Salt Lake City. The explosion killed businessman Steven Christensen. Hours later, another bomb exploded in the Salt Lake City suburbs, killing Kathy Sheets in the blast meant for her husband, Gary. The bombs had been planted by Mark Hofmann to prevent the exposure of his other crimes—prolific forgery of historic documents including Hofmann’s forgery of the infamous Salamander Letter. The letter challenged LDS beliefs by detailing an alternate account in which it was a white salamander, and not an angel, that led church founder Joseph Smith to the gold plates, from which he translated the Book of Mormon. 

Former LDS Church Historian and author of Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hofmann Case Richard Turley says, to prevent from being fooled again, the church archives launched new projects and implemented new policies and technology. Hofmann’s forgeries, however, were not limited to the interests of the LDS Church and Utahns. Turley says his book also helped one person discover that an Emily Dickenson piece, which they were about to acquire, was actually a Hofmann fake. But there is no telling how many uncovered Hofmann forgeries are still out there, doing untold damage not just to church history and the Utah historical record, but American and world history as well. 

A Voice for Survivors

Description: Elizabeth Smart becomes an advocate, Date: 06-05-2002, Case File: No. 56879

Synopsis

The abduction of Elizabeth Smart made her a household name across the country. Twenty years after her rescue, Smart has used the subsequent platform to become an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and to change the way victims are treated. 

Narrative

On June 5, 2002, Brian David Mitchell kidnapped 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart from her family’s Salt Lake City home and held her captive for nine months. On March 12, 2003, Smart was rescued and reunited with her family. It was years later before Smart decided to return to the national spotlight. 

At a panel at John Hopkins University in 2013, Smart said one of the factors that deterred her from escaping captivity was that she felt worthless after being raped. This was in part due to the lessons she had received about sexual purity, which compared non-virgins to “a chewed piece of gum.” The story captured the ways our culture undermines and blames victims. 

Motivated by the stories of other sexual assault victims who said no one had believed them or taken them seriously, Smart started the Elizabeth Smart Foundation to support survivors. Over the years, the efforts have evolved, including initiatives like the “We Believe You” campaign, which provides financial grants for survivors of abuse and assault. Smart acknowledges that having people believe in her and a strong support system helped her create a life after her ordeal, and “We Believe You” is meant to confront the stigma and disbelief surrounding sexual violence so other survivors can have the same chance.

A Luminary’s Legacy Cut Short

Offense: Arson, Homicide, Date: 05-22-2016, Case File: No. 786950

Synopsis

Few homicides in recent times touched the citizens of Salt Lake City quite as much as John Williams’ did. The City remembers Williams as a restaurateur, LGBTQ advocate, renovator and historic preservationist. His friends knew him as a generous host, especially at his famous Christmas parties. His murder at the hands of his ex-partner cut short a life that would have already an outsized legacy and sparked a conversation about how this could happen, despite Williams’ attempts to seek help from the law.

Narrative

On May 22, 2016, John Williams (72) was at home in his Capitol Hill mansion when his estranged husband, Craig Crawford (now 54), set fire to the house. Unable to escape, Williams suffocated in his smoke-filled bedroom. 

Crawford, an admitted addict, delusional and volatile, had returned only recently to Williams’ life and home after Crawford was deported from Canada. Within months, Williams had written Crawford out of his will, drafted eviction papers, and filed for divorce and for a protective order against Crawford. The protective order claimed Crawford was becoming a danger to those around him. A second court filing made it clear that Williams had little faith in the court’s ability to help. The court denied the request. Less than three weeks later, Crawford killed Williams by setting fire to the home. 

The tragic event started a discussion about how State law addresses domestic violence, the effectiveness of protective orders and the barriers to getting help, particularly for those within the LGBTQ+ community. Nearly seven years later, the State of Utah is still reckoning with its troubling domestic violence statistics, with multiple bills proposed during the 2023 Utah Legislative Session that could fund and coordinate efforts and victims’ services statewide. 

One of Williams’ final acts of generosity was funding the Encircle organization, which endeavors to offer a safe haven and resources for LGBTQ+ youth and their families. His name now resides on a new Salt Lake City mansion, hosting events for the LGBTQ+ community, the John Williams Encircle Home.

Funding safe spaces for LGBTQ+ community at Encircle, encircletogether.org

An Ongoing Mission For Campus Safety

Offense: Homicide, Date: 10-22-2018, Case File: No. 983729

Synopsis

Before she was killed on the campus of the University of Utah, student-athlete Lauren McCluskey had tried to warn campus police about the danger she faced. The investigation into her eventual murder revealed the failures of both the authorities and the university to respond to those threats. In the years that followed, improving campus safety became a mission for the McCluskey family and a stated priority for the university, but a recent student murder exposed that there is still more work to be done. 

Narrative

On the evening of Oct. 22, 2018, Lauren McCluskey (21) was found dead in the parking lot next to her University of Utah campus dormitory. She had been shot seven times by her ex-boyfriend Melvin Rowland. Rowland had waited for Lauren in her resident hall for several hours. She was on the phone with her mother when Rowland dragged her across the parking lot. Matt McCluskey, Lauren’s father, alerted campus security that his daughter was in danger. It was too late then, but, prior to the murder, Lauren had gone to law enforcement, fearing for her life. 

There were multiple instances her murder could have been prevented. According to her mother Jill McCluskey, “The officers never checked Lauren’s killer’s offender status. After the police took her statement, they could have easily found out that Rowland was on parole and put him in jail right then. I just wish a responsible adult would have listened and believed.” 

On the first anniversary of her murder, a student organization called UnsafeU led a walk-out to protest how the university handled the case. The 2020-21 academic year started with another UnsafeU protest. Her family started the Lauren McCluskey Foundation to honor Lauren and provide resources to “change the cultures that respond poorly to dating violence and stalking on campuses.”

While the university had promised to improve training and communication between housing staff and campus police after Lauren’s death, a 2022 state audit uncovered that those same issues persisted, and they could have contributed to another student’s murder. Before she was killed earlier that same year, U. student Zhifan Dong warned the university’s housing department about her ex-boyfriend, who had assaulted her and lived in the same dorm. The University of Utah acknowledged mishandling the case and that the employee training on recognizing and reporting domestic violence, instituted after Lauren’s death, was not enough.

Lauren McCluskey Foundation, @LaurenMcCluskeyFoundation, laurenmccluskey.org

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Founded when suppliers delivered wares in wagons and folks routinely paid bills with sacks of flour or heads of cattle, few Utah businesses can boast 100 years or more of survival. Those tenacious enough to have remained in the hands of family are not just endangered species, they’re practically extinct. We asked a handful of local, family-owned businesses to share their secret sauce for surviving over a century of depressions, pandemics, wars, construction, big box stores and—lest we forget—online shopping. You’ll likely recognize the names. Now you’ll appreciate what it’s taken to stand the test of time.

Founded in 1862 and located in Murray, Daynes Music is Utah’s exclusive Steinway piano dealership. 

Skip Daynes’ hands are a map of scars. Some are from his early days working as a ranch hand for his uncle in Summit County, but far more tell the story of nearly 60 years wrangling pianos through windows, up staircases and, lately, to bizarre and exotic destinations, thanks to the collision of music and social media.

 “I’ve propped up a Steinway with two-by-fours on the Salt Flats and sent another floating on a pontoon in a geothermal pool,” he says. But it was hauling a piano up a stubborn flight of narrow, winding stairs that made the fourth-generation owner of Daynes Music nearly call it quits.

 “I told my assistant, ‘That’s it, I’m selling this damn store,’” recalls Skip. Perhaps visions of life in the saddle like the old days, shoeing horses, competing in rodeos, herding 200 head of cattle and rounding up 4,000 sheep for lambing each spring sounded easier than pianos.

 What happened next, the 83-year-old says with reverence, is a moment he’ll never forget: the thundering voice of his great-great-grandfather, founder John Daynes, in his ears like the voice of God.

 “DOOON’T SELL THE STOOORRE,” Skip animates in imitation, his chin to his chest, dropping to a shaking baritone. It was a voice from beyond the grave that saved the store—started by his great-grandfather, who had pulled a pipe organ in a covered wagon and set up a music and jewelry business in a log cabin 160 years ago. And so, Skip went back to work running the oldest store in the state—opened before Utah actually was a state. Skip admits it wasn’t the first time he’d envisioned forfeiting the store for the saddle—but it would be his last. After all, he hadn’t possessed the long, fine-fingered hands of a pianist, but the rough-hewn hands of a rancher. 

“But…my name is Daynes,“ says Skip. “That means something, there’s history there.

That history not only includes pianos in covered wagons, but his grandfather, Royal Daynes, who helped establish the Utah Symphony while carrying on the business through a World War and the Great Depression, and his father, Gerald Daynes, leading the company through another World War and helping Ballet West get its start. 

And while Skip has made some savvy decisions to ensure the store’s continued survival—like trading in a general approach and selling everything from guitars to stereo equipment to specializing in Steinway pianos, relocating the store to Midvale (where parking abounds), and championing new technology (yes, even in the piano business there’s new tech)—he says the secret to staying strong for so long is: “You love the community and they love you back.”

Fostering and entrenching himself in Utah’s arts scene has meant loaning everything from pianos to rehearsal space, providing Steinways to every college in the state, creating competitions with generous prizes and pressuring Capitol Hill for music in public education.

“I’m a lifelong advocate for music in schools,” he says, noting some recent wins with the legislature for restoring music at the elementary level. “When computer keyboards replaced piano keyboards in the curriculum, we lost something important.” 

In return, Utahns hold the record for owning more pianos per capita than any other state, he says. As to the future of the store, Skip’s crossing his fingers that his grandson will take the reins.

“I’m counting on Great Grandpa John to intervene,” Skip says with a laugh. But that laugh cuts out as quick as a flame and his face grows serious. This cowboy isn’t fooling around. Meanwhile, the pump organ old John Daynes hauled in his wagon across the plains, complete with its little carpeted pedals and lopsided keys, sits noiselessly in the corner of Skip’s office, for now. 

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This year, Best Friends Society, a leading animal welfare organization, is creating their own cuter and fluffier version of the Oscars.

Best Friends Animal Society

Best Friends Animal Society is a non-profit organization that operates the nation’s largest sanctuary for homeless pets. With bases in Utah, California, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, and New York the organization has been working together to end the euthanization of animals across America for almost 40 years. Best Friends is committed to providing safe shelter, medical care, and adoption services to animals in need, with the goal of finding permanent homes for as many animals as possible. They offer spay/neuter services, community cat programs, pet food pantries, and of course adoption. With two locations in Utah: Salt Lake City and the other in Kanab, stop by at your closest one and take a look at the adorable furballs that this sanctuary has to offer!

Adoptable Pet Awards

For the first time ever Best Friends is hosting an Adoptable Pet Awards to boost adoption rates for their pets. “This awards season, Best Friends wanted to come up with a fun and engaging campaign to help raise awareness for a handful of adoptable dogs and cats who have been in the shelter system for a significant amount of time,” says Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society. “Our hope is that the public will vote for their favorite lovable pet, as well as inspire people to get out there and adopt. The shelters and homeless pets need you.”  There will be 6 categories ranging from best action sequence to best supporting napper, with 4 pet-nominees for each category. Voting is now open and the results will be announced Friday, March 10th!

Visit here to vote and to get to know some of the adorable cats and dogs nominated!

No-Kill by 2025

No-kill animal organizations play an important role in the effort to reduce the number of animals that are euthanized each year and to promote the welfare of animals in the United States. Best Friend’s made a commitment in 2016 to ending all kill shelters across the states by the year 2025. Currently New Hampshire and Delaware are the only no-kill states in the U.S. Utah, which is considered a low-priority state, is still estimating at about 900 animal deaths occur per year  in the kill shelters that are still operating. There are also many smaller, locally-based no-kill animal organizations across the United States that work to address the needs of animals in their communities. A few of these no-kill shelters in Utah are Best Friends, Paws for Life, and The Humane Society. These organizations often rely heavily on donations and volunteers to operate, and may partner with other animal welfare organizations to provide a wide range of services to animals in need.Go to the Best Friends Animal Society website to donate today!

Go to the Best Friends Animal Society website to donate today!

From February 13 – 19, adoption fees at Best Friends Lifesaving Center in Salt Lake City are reduced to $14 in celebration of Valentine’s Day!

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