Event of the Month

PIONEER DAY IN SNOWFLAKE: WHEN THE SAINTS COME MARCHING HOME

The settlement sitting on Silver Creek revives the memory like water restores wilted flowers. Grandfather cottonwoods line the wide streets.

Sturdy brick houses anchor lawns and backyard kitchen gardens. Along Main Street people wait in the sun for the Snowflake Pioneer Day parade just as they have for the last 114 years.

It is a late July weekend and the descendants of Erastus Snow, William J. Flake, and other Mormon pioneers have gathered to honor their forefathers.

My friend and I lean against a pickup and wait with the Saints. I am thinking of an excerpt from a journal I just read written by a 16-year-old student at a prep school in New Hampshire who was rewarded with a visit to northern Arizona.

On July 22, 1909, he wrote about his trip to Snowflake. “This morning we left Holbrook at half past seven o'clock. It was 30 miles to Snowflake, and the miles were all there. It was a very rough road, and we got here at a quarter to three. We had a fierce dust storm that lasted for about five minutes. You could not even drive in it. We also had a rainstorm. When we got in here we had the first good meal that we have had since we left home.

“It is a Mormon village, and one of the prettiest I was ever in. There are all kinds of trees, and plenty of land under cultivation. There are about 600 of the finest people on Earth here. They may have different religious views than we have, but they are a kind-hearted and jolly people.” Thunderheads are building over the mountains. The old ranchers used to say it always rained on “Mormon Day” (July 24). My own memories are of dusty rodeos, barbecues, street dances, and the long sleepy drive back to Holbrook in a crowded '55 Chevy. The miles were all there then, too.

WHEN YOU GO

This year's Pioneer Day celebration will be held Saturday, July 24. Snowflake is about 220 miles northeast of Phoenix. To get there, take U.S. Route 60 to Show Low, then north on State Route 77.

Snowflake is a conservative community. Scantily clad women and people with obscene tattoos are frowned upon. “Modest Dress. No biker shorts, tank tops or mini-skirts,” the fliers warn. Dress comfortably and take a raincoat and jacket. Strike up a conversation. The Saints come from the ends of the Earth. One end may be yours. You'll enjoy the festive day more if you bone up on local history, see historic homes. Best buys: local vegetables at roadside stands; and stone-ground flour, cornmeal, and cereal at Silver Creek Mill.

For more information, contact the Snowflake/Taylor Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 776, Snowflake, AZ 85937; telephone (602) 536-4331 (you may get a recording).

The bands and floats and horsemen of the 114th Pioneer Day parade go by. We follow the flock to the Main Street Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where Capt. Larry Chesley, a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, is giving the pioneer program. He speaks with emotion about the values that enabled him to survive the unthinkable. Family. Church. Community. Country. Caring. Loving. Sharing. This is what Pioneer Day is all about.

When we emerge, rain is blowing in and out of the tarp-covered arts and crafts booths on the street. The aroma of pit barbecue wafts from the ballpark. Yesterday softball finals were held there. This morning there was a Pioneer Day Run and Kids' Races. Tonight is the last performance of a musical, The Taming of the Shrew, at the Social Hall.

We finish eating and find a seat in the bleachers at the Old Time Family Rodeo. We watch the fresh-faced kids with coltish legs and windblown hair circle for the Grand Entry. I feel the national-anthem lump forming and swallow it down. Why do flags carried by kids on horses always affect me that way? It's a great show with participants from age two to about 45. Nobody has to win big money or belt buckles to have fun.

Pioneer Day ends with youth and adult dances, the Webb family bands providing the music. It is all over for another year. I drive home holding something of rare and lasting value in my heart. Pioneer Day is one of the seasonal events that bind the communities of northern Arizona to one another and to the land they share. M