Tag Archives: Fairpark Community

2017 Utah State Fair a Success!

The 2017 Utah State Fair is expected to break another record for attendance, a record broken just the year prior. This year’s success can largely be attributed to the additions of the circus and the new Days of ’47 Stadium, which allowed for more large-scale events. This latter trend will continue throughout the year, as the Fairpark is planning upwards of 30 stadium events through 2018. Stay tuned to what’s in the works by checking www.utahstatefairpark.com (and keep an eye out for the more informative, user-friendly website design).

The Fairpark is excited to announce Pumpkin Nights October 13-29. Pumpkin Nights is a family-friendly, immersive Halloween experience (that highly encourages costumes). SLC is one of 3 cities they chose to host the festival this year, so it’s a pretty big deal for our community. Tour 4,000 carved pumpkins, carve your own, watch Halloween movies, get lost in a hay-bale maze and complete a site-wide scavenger hunt. Visit www.pumpkinnights.com/slc/ for more details. Click on the image for a full size map to illustrate what’s in store for you at Pumpkin Nights.

Dirt2Table: Spring is Coming! Plant your Seeds Now!

Isn’t it fantastic? The days keep getting longer, the low temperatures keep getting higher and the dirt is thawing out. Soon, we can get our hands in it and prepare it for giving us back the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor.

During the month of March, we should all take advantage of the dirt’s willingness to start growing an array of wonderful treats for our tables. Among those plants that can be planted by seed in March are greens such as kale, spinach, chard and lettuce. It’s also a good time to plant seeds for root vegetables such as carrots, beets and onions. There are many varieties of each of the food plants mentioned, so have fun and plant as many varieties as you can!
Don’t forget that the Fairpark Community Council will be working hard between now and April 29th to grow a delectable assortment of starter plants, ready for you
to plant out in your patch of dirt by May 1st. We will be starting herbs, tomatoes, eggplant and pepper plants soon so that by the end of April they will be established
and ready to thrive in your garden. This year, to create an event that provides more value to our Community than just a plant sale, we are having the First Annual Fairpark
Community Festival of Spring and Plant Sale. The event will feature a seed giveaway and plant sale like last year, but will also include many educational booths and workshops to help make your spring and summer more enjoyable for
all.

If you have any ideas to help make this Festival of Spring and Plant Sale a success, please reach out to Tom King at 801-502-1991 or write to dirt2tableslc@gmail.com.

Fairpark Community Council Bylaws: Proposed Revisions

The Fairpark Community Council Bylaws Committee has examined the Bylaws and are proposing revisions, which can be seen here. (Click link)
The revisions will be voted on at the February 23rd Fairpark Community Council Meeting. Please review the document and plan to attend the Feb 23rd meeting. Thanks!

Nature in the City Proposal

Seventeen local, regional and national environmental groups have endorsed a proposal called “Nature in the City”, to create a riparian greenway along the Jordan

Pictured here is the new Fred and Ila Fife Wetlands Preserve, west bank
Jordan River at 900 South, Salt Lake City, Utah

River all the way across Salt Lake City. The plan, which has also been endorsed by both the Glendale and Poplar Grove community councils, would designate a series of
“nature parks” along the river corridor, mostly on existing city-owned open space. It would regrade stream banks to reduce erosion, replace non-native plants with native plant communities, add new wetlands, improve water quality and connectivity along the river both for people and wildlife. It would also promote nature
education, urban agriculture, off-street commuter bike trail expansion along, to and from the Jordan River Parkway Trail, and the creation of several nature-themed
community centers to serve as gateways to the river.
This proposal will be presented at the October Fairpark Community Council Meeting.
Pictured here is the new Fred and Ila Fife Wetlands Preserve, west bank Jordan River at 900 South, Salt Lake City, Utah

Westview Media has a feature on this proposal here.

Red Iguana, A Community Cornerstone

The name speaks for itself. It’s a respected restaurant with strong community roots with over 30 years serving west side residents. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Lucy Cardenas and Bill Coker of Red Iguana this month and learned a little more about this family owned restaurant — a gem along the North Temple corridor.

Red Iguana has been involved in the Fairpark Community Fairpark for decades.

“I try to do what I can by taking care of our properties, and bringing people in. I also love helping our neighboring schools. I really just want to support what we have here,” said Lucy.

“There’s a lot of potential to see North Temple turn into a Grand Boulevard. We want to invite people to come check us out!”

If she could fix one thing about the neighborhood, it would be the trash. “My biggest thing that drives me crazy is the trash. I live here in Fairpark and I walk a lot. I walk between the restaurants. We walk downtown and to the dog park. I want this to be a walkable neighborhood and I want it to be safe and
clean.” We couldn’t agree more!

Also, Red Iguana is growing! The Red Iguana 2 restaurant expansion is now open. “A lot of people thought it was counter intuitive to open a restaurant nearby. But really, I didn’t want to leave the neighborhood. It will be fantastic thing – funky and cool. So I said, you know what, we are going to open up right here in this neighborhood! It’s in operation and it’s going beautifully. Really, really nice. We are so appreciative that the community supports us.” They are open 363 days a year, and closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.

When asked about growth in the neighborhood Lucy said, “I love the idea of more restaurants coming into our neighborhood. People have a real perception of this neighborhood and we need to fix that. I’d love to see a floral shop, or a specialty food store. Just bring it on in! If another restaurant opened up nearby, we would love that. Having grown up here, North Temple used to have all kinds of things happening, a movie theater, a bowling alley, a Dees and a lot of stuff going on. I’d love to see that come back.” For more information, hours and menu, go to rediguana.com.

Town Hall Meeting June 30th on Proposed Fairpark Arena

There will be a town hall meeting on Thursday, June 30th in the Grand Building at 7pm (155N 1000W) to share information and answer questions about the 10,000 seat arena proposed to be built on the current site of the rodeo grandstand on the Utah State Fairgrounds. The proposal for the arena includes funding from the State Legislature, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, LDS Church and private funding sources. The Arena will house the Days of ’47 Rodeo, and will be able to hold other events throughout the year. “It’s a jewel. As a community, we have always recognized the importance and historical value of the Fairgrounds, not only for our community, for my community, for the state. This is going to help the state Fairpark to be self-sustaining to be able to keep the fair in Salt Lake City and on the west side,” Representative Hollins said. “This is an investment toward economic success and stability. After 20 years of studying, adjusting, and budget tightening it is time to allow the Fairpark to be a revenue generator we all know it can and will be.”

This is a potential game changer for the Fairpark, with potential to create revenue streams to make the fairgrounds sustainable going forward. The Fairpark Community Council supports the proposed arena and we hope you will join us at the town hall meeting to get more information, and find out how we can support this initiative. State Senator Luz Escamilla, Representative Sandra Hollins, Representative Brad Wilson, and State Fairpark Executive Director Larry Mullenax will be in attendance.

Fairpark Celebrates LGBT Pride Month in June

In Fairpark, we value diversity and appreciate cultures from all corners of the Earth. This is a neighborhood rich with a history of welcoming new residents from different backgrounds for generations. This month, we will be focusing on the LGBT Pride Month of June and we had the opportunity to sit down with one of our local west side celebrities, artist and drag performer, Miss Gia Bianca Stephens. Let’s get started neighbors!

LGBT Pride Month History

Did you know that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan? The Stonewall riots were a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. In major cities across the nation the “day” soon grew to encompass a month-long series of events. Today, celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia and concerts, and LGBT Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. Memorials are held during this month for those members of the community who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally. Utah Pride Day which was celebrated earlier this month drove record numbers to the Pride parade, the 2nd largest parade in the state only outdone by the Days of ’47 Parade. Utah is also the number one state for gay parents raising children.

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” Maya Angelou

Gia Bianca Stephens – Rocky Mountain National Showgirl, Local Performing Artist

She’s even more beautiful in real life than she is in pictures. Tall, statuesque and stunning, Gia Bianca Stephens has been performing for years and could possibly be Fairpark’s most glamourous resident. Lately though, she’s been taking her talents to the national level.

Continue reading →

Stellar Success for 1st Annual Plant Sale!

Be proud Fairpark Community residents! The 1st Annual Fairpark Community Plant Sale was a big success. We achieved our aim of sending over 4000 healthy vegetable plants home to happy gardens both within our neighborhood and beyond.

After growing and selling the 28 varieties of Heirloom tomatoes, 16 kinds of Peppers, 3 Eggplant, and herbs we recovered the costs for growing the plants and we were also able to give away hundreds of packages of FREE Seeds, as well as pots, soil and seeds for the younger ones to take home and watch grow. Everyone had a really fun time, especially those that spent the whole day volunteering for the big event. From the end of February until May 14 over 400 volunteer hours into the growing and operating the event.

This event would not have been so wonderful without the dedicated hard work of volunteers. No amount of gratitude is sufficient to express how thankful we all are that these volunteers were able to give so much of their time.

We also couldn’t have done it without a few other pieces of unusually good luck. Two of these lucky breaks stand out. First to happen was getting the majority of the Greenhouse building materials donated. But by far the most important lucky break was being allowed to put the Greenhouse right at the wonderful Vegan Vietnamese restaurant, All Chay. We can’t heap enough praise on the kind and generous owners of that restaurant. Not only did they allow us to assemble the Greenhouse right against their front window, but they provided many hours of volunteer help with the project, from its assembly, to tending the plants and making sure the windows were always clean for the plants and for patrons to view the plants from the outside.

Fairpark also got some media coverage out of this project: KRCL, KUER and Salt Lake City Television.

For you patrons that supported our community by getting plants and planting them in our garden, please send photos of your garden and/or any gardening activities to dirt2table@gmail.com or text to 801-403-0121. Please add your general location (e.g., Fairpark) and your first name and any comment you’d like to add. We want to see your gardens and post them to our social media!

We are already planning for next year. Stay tuned for a re-branding and details about the 2017 event.

Garden on!

West Side Spotlight: Larry Mullenax and Jeff Kooring

This month, we met with Larry Mullenax and Jeff Kooring of the Utah State Fairpark for our West Side Spotlight! Larry is the interim Executive Director and Jeff is the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Utah State Fair Corporation. As we have previously reported, this was a very successful legislative session for the Fairpark. With the help of the Fairpark Community Council and other west side leaders, legislation was passed that effectively resolved the lease issue, made changes to the governing structure and appropriated funding for deferred maintenance. One positive piece of the legislation is that the new Board overseeing the Fairpark will include a member who lives in the neighborhood who will represent the viewpoint of the community. The City and State have shown serious commitment to keeping the Utah State Fairpark where it is for years to come.

“This summer, we are looking forward to lots of fun events at the Fairpark, in addition to the Fair in September (9/8-18),” said Mullenax. Kooring added, “We’ve got great events coming like the Artists Blacksmiths Association of North America biennial conference which will have thousands of international metal artists, educational events and markets (7/13-16). The Vans Warped Tour (7/30) is coming back and will bring thousands of concert goers. The Utah Beer Festival (8/27) will move from Washington Square to the Fairpark this year and the proceeds will benefit the Utah Humane Society.”
Continue reading →

Start Your Garden Catalog!

The long awaited Dirt2Table Start Your Garden Plant Sale Catalog is finally here! View the catalog and follow instructions for accessing the pre-order form.

Plants are $1 each, or $5 for a six pack or $25 for 6-six packs. Mix and match is ok!
(all proceeds will be used to enhance the next Annual Fairpark Community Plant Sale).
Fill out your pre-order form and submit it via any of these methods:

at the All Chay Restaurant, 1264 West 500 North
Scan and email to
dirt2tableslc@gmail.com
Text photo of order form to
8015021991

Order pick ups will be arranged using the contact info you provide on the order form. We anticipate starting to have orders picked up on May 6 th or 7th
in advance of the May 14 th event in the park.

For status on your order you can call Tom at 801-502-1991.

*** Attention! Quantities are limited! All orders will be filled on a first come first serve basis. Please get your order form to one of our partners as soon as possible to try to ensure your order can be complete. Payment will be at time of pickup, in case substitutions or subtractions apply***

To view the full catalog, click garden catalog.

To print an order form, click plant order form.

To print a flyer, click flyer.

New! (April 19, 2016): Seed Giveaway Listing for anyone who attends the event on May 14 – even if you have pre-ordered and picked up your order! Click here for the listing.

Click the thumbnail images below to view one catalog page at a time.

Pages 1 and 2

Pages 3 and 4

Seed Giveaway Listing image