Freedom Festival Devotional

Thank you Carl Bacon for inviting us to be your special guests at this year’s opening devotional for the Freedom Festival in Provo.  We were treated like royalty as we got to visit with the Governor, several local political leaders running for office, the recipients of the freedom award, BYU athletes, Days of ’47 sponsors and overall incredible people!  

We loved the message shared by Coach Niumatalolo, head football coach at the Naval Academy.  Thank you for such a noteworthy experience!  We feel the patriotism running deep and we are proud to be Americans, and especially grateful to those in the Armed Forces who fight to keep us Free! We are looking forward to attending Stadium of Fire with performances by Hunter Hayes, Brian Regan, and Little Big Town.

Taylorsville Parade

“When we say ‘Taylorsville’ you say ‘Dayzz’…

‘Taylorsville’

‘Dayzz’

‘Taylorsville’

‘Dayzz’

We had a happy Taylorsville Dayzz as we got to ride through your enthusiastic city!  We loved the crowd participation and the support we received.  A special thanks to Markosian Auto for sponsoring us with a Vehicle. We loved riding in your beautiful truck!

International DUP Seminar

A beautiful Saturday afternoon to lunch with hundreds of the amazing Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, we feel so blessed!  We are grateful for your singing voices that joined us as we sang a great hymn of the Civil War and Pioneer time, The Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Please enjoy the video below!

Battle Hymn of the Republic

Relief Society Garden Party

The Cottonwood 5^th Ward Relief Society sure knows how to throw a party! We loved the opportunity to dine and visit with them, to sing, and to speak of their wonderful theme “Bloom Where You Are Planted”.  Our sweet Queen was even able to arrive in Pioneer style as she walked from her car that had stalled to arrive at the event.  Thank you to the angel young man who stopped to help her push her car! We were grateful to be with amazing women full of love and light!  A special thanks to Kallie Dent for inviting us.

South Jordan City Parade

Thank you South Jordan - for welcoming us to your fair city. It is the hometown to our 1st and 2nd Attendants, Tess and Brittny. We loved being in your parade!

DUP Salt Lake Olympus Company Jubilee

It was another happy day with a group of our sisters, the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers of the Salt Lake Olympus Company. We were able to share messages as well as sing with these amazing daughters, and also celebrate several of them who are celebrating a special recognition of being over 90 years old!  Thank you for our beautiful Daughters of the Utah Pioneer pins, we are honored to have them.

Walk for William's Syndrome

This Video Montage says more about this happy event than we could!  It was so fun to be real princesses for the day, and sing songs from The Little Mermaid, Moana, Anastasia, and Frozen with these upbeat children and adults. So much fun!  Thank you to Queen Maren’s mom Melou Cline for the opportunity, and her great work with Children with Williams Syndrome as a music therapist!

Pioneer Kids Service Day

We had a very “cool” day with the teams of diligent 6^th graders from 2 elementary schools in Farmington.  The day began with a train-ride through “This is The Place” park, where our very own Brittny Millington (2^nd Attendant) was able to give the tour. (She worked at “This is the Place” for 3 years!)

It was inspirational to work alongside the kids as they caught on quickly to the Pioneer spirit of hard work and began pulling and hauling large overgrown thistles, bags full of weeds and twigs, and all with fun attitudes, singing, joking, speaking Spanish, story-telling, and rapping while they worked.  We are grateful to have been able to work with such a respectful and pleasant group!

Click here to see the Pioneer Kids Service Day Photos!!

DUP Gale City Camp

We had an amazing morning as we got to provide the musical number and a short program for the closing meeting for the South Jordan Daughters of the Utah Pioneers- Gale City Camp.  We were so impressed by this strong group of women as they shared their experiences with us and experiences of their pioneer ancestors.  Thank you to these amazing women, we hope they have an amazing summer until they meet again in September.

Pass the Baton Luncheon

It was a Luncheon full of love and learning as we got to sit down with the Days of ‘47 royalty of 2016 and learn how they made last year so successful. (89 events!) Baylee, Rachel and Stephanie have left us big boots to fill, and great advice of how-to, while also making 2017 our own.  We are grateful for their selfless examples of service.  We are also excited that all three are sporting rings on their left hand after such a successful reign.  Congratulations to Stephanie, who was married August 2016. Rachel, who is about to be married (May 2017), and Baylee, on her engagement to be married in September 2017.

Days of '47 Board Meeting

We were pleased to be able to meet the members of the Days of ’47 Board today as we took part in the tradition of bringing cookies as part of our introduction in their board meeting. (Classic Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Crispies, and Lemon Surprise.) We are thrilled this year to move forward with increased social media use to spread our devotion to the pioneers and invite others to participate in all the events and activities. We have a Facebook account (Days of ’47 Royalty) that is updated regularly, as well as an Instagram (@daysof47royalty), Twitter, and an up and coming YouTube channel. 

It is also part of our Vision in this year’s Horizon to reach out to different cultural groups in speaking and service events.  Our Queen Maren served a mission in Nagoya Japan, and is fluent in Japanese.  And the Attendants served Spanish speaking missions. (Tess in San Diego, California, and Brittny in Little Rock, Arkansas.) We hope to be able to reach out to all groups to help them feel the power of the pioneers.

Tri-County Convention in Morgan Utah

Such a great day in Morgan! Our Queen Maren and 2^nd Attendant Brittny were able to attend and share a short message and sing a beautiful musical number.  Our thanks to Dorothy Little and the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers of Morgan County who invited us to be part of the event! 

The Faces of 2017

Royalty for 2017 Days of ’47 were crowned Saturday, April 22, 2017.  

The pageant featured 21 contestants from Idaho and many areas of Utah.  

The queen is Maren Cline, the daughter of Russ and Melou Cline of North Salt Lake.  She is an accomplished harpist and pianist, and is classically trained in opera.  

The First attendant is Tess Hanson, daughter of Karl and Tammy Hanson of South Jordan.  She was a Bingham High School class officer in student government for two years and has had musical training in drums, guitar, violin and voice.  

The Second attendant is Brittny Millington, daughter of Aaron and Laura Millington of South Jordan, who served as a member of the South Jordan Youth Executive Council, and volunteered with the Brain Injury Alliance of Utah and with the Intermountain Healthcare Traumatic Brain injury support group. 

The recipient of the coveted Annie Taylor Hyde Award is Elizabeth Aust, daughter of David and Mary Aust of Rexburg, Idaho, who is a songwriter and vocal performance Sterling Scholar.  She was selected by a majority vote of the other contestants. 

The Royalty was chosen during a pageant held April 22nd at the LDS Conference Center. They were selected by a panel of judges based on talks centered on this year’s theme, “Pioneers Visions of a New Horizon!” Their goals, accomplishments, poise, leadership, answers to judges’ questions, and family genealogy with pioneers who came to the Salt Lake Valley between 1847 and May 10, 1869 were other qualifications. As they travel and speak this summer, our Royalty will be an example to young women who hear their message. They will represent the Days of ’47 and International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers.  Numerous Days of ’47 events occur during July. Go to www.daysof47.com for dates and locations. The Days of ’47 Royalty will attend all of these activities. They are available for appearances and speaking engagements. 

Please contact their advisor Cathy Ehlert at 801-274-1224 or 801-580-8565 or casehlert@gmail.com to schedule these lovely young ladies. 

Saying Goodbye to 2017

This is a link to view our Year in Review video. We were able to help with 90 events this year (2 in the last week of our reign!), and have loved being able to meet so many wonderful people. Thank you for all your love, support, and helping to keep the Pioneer Spirit alive! 

https://youtu.be/N11KcybA1HQ

If we've learned anything this year, it's to not miss the chance to take a fun photo when a photographer is near! 

We can't thank Cathy Ehlert and Judy Binns enough to their tireless efforts to help make this Royalty wonderful! They accompany us to all of our events, schedule events, and do the leg work for the pageant and the wonderful year. We love you both! 

As a final fun fact, as of one week after the pageant, all three of the 2017 Royalty were engaged or married! Baylee is engaged to Matthew Montgomery, Rachel is engaged to Keith Manis, and Stephanie is married to Ryan Short. This is year we will never forget!!

-2016 Days of '47 Royalty

2017 Pageant

The Days of '47 Pageant is filled with a busy and exciting weekend of events! The contestants first met at a seminar by Kathy Loveless, "Seminar for Success". They then rehearsed for 2 hours, and then attended the Royalty Ball at the Capitol Rotunda. The Ball is a chance for the contestants to socialize in a non-competitive space, bring dates, and have fun dancing. Friday was then busy with another rehearsal, and half of the contestants had an interview with the judges. Saturday morning, the rest of the contestants interviewed with the judges, ran through of the entire pageant, then the Pageant began! The contestants first competed in an afternoon portion where they wore business wear and gave a 40 second speech about the theme, “Pioneers – Visions of a New Horizon". The evening portion of the pageant begins after all the contestants had a delicious dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and pictures on Temple Square. During the evening portion, the contestants wore formal gowns and answered an on-stage question. The Top 10 were chosen, and they came back on stage to answer a final question. From there, the Annie Taylor Hyde Award was given to Elizabeth Aust, who was voted from her fellow contestants to exemplify kindness, and the pure spirit of the pioneers. Then the 2017 Royalty was announced: 2nd Attendant Brittny Millington, 1st Attendant Tess Hanson, and Queen Maren Cline. 

Although a lot is happening during the weekend, aside from college finals and work, this experience is wonderful! The contestants meet new friends, gain confidence from trying something new, and come away with a new sense of pride for the Utah Pioneers. 

Pictures on Temple Square- a HUGE thank you to Chuck Uibel and Lloyd Blackburn who volunteer their time to photograph the pageant! 

Our beautiful 21 Contestants performing the opening number

Top 10 Finalists

Sam Payne, our wonderful emcee and entertainer!

Constance, the Pageant Director, and Maurine, President of The International Society of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers 

2017 Pageant Application Now Available

This video is a small portion of the adventures we have had this year! It has been an unforgettable experience, and 3 lucky women will be chosen in April. The 2017 Royalty Pageant Application is now available on the DUP website! Please share with those you know who might like a change at scholarship money and and an amazing year of serving and representing our Great State!

http://isdup.org/dyn_file.php?fileToken=ZKPPVXFEIL

To view the video, follow this link to YouTube:

https://youtu.be/tKD8FFr83ds