It was the local parody review, the Park City Follies, that said it best, soberly revealing a very serious agenda: preserving what is left of Park City customs. Billed as "Follies on the Roof," the annual show lamented the loss of Autumn Aloft, a hot-air balloon extravaganza that took place each year. It mourned the loss of real dynamite crackling at 6 a.m. on Miner’s Day. "Tradition!" sang the amateur performers on the Egyptian Theatre stage. The grand resolution of the evening was a peace treaty between developers and long-time Parkites: to protect, and promote Park City’s surviving quirks — market them — after all, it’s what endears citizens to the town.

Though Park City also hosts wintertime festivities, cold weather is for tourists. The oldest and most respected Park City and Summit County traditions emerge long after the snow melts. Here are a few of the best in the county:

The Jupiter Peak Steeplechase
What: No hurdles here. The Jupiter Peak Steeplechase is a 16-mile trail-running loop with a 3,000-foot elevation gain. The event begins at Legacy Lodge at the base of Park City Mountain Resort.
When: Aug. 9 at 8 a.m.
Where: Park City Mountain Resort.
Cost: Pre-registration for the event is $25 until Aug. 8. Day-of registration is $35. For more information: MountainTrails.org.

The Mid-Mountain Marathon
What: The Mid-Mountain Marathon begins at Silver Lake Village, at Deer Valley, and finishes at The Forum at The Canyons. The scenic near-level single-track trail at 8,000 feet traverses Deer Valley Resort, Park City Mountain Resort, The Colony and The Canyons resort through forests of aspens.
When: Sept. 6 at 8 a.m.
Where: Deer Valley Resort and The Canyons.
Cost: Entry fee is $50 per person before Aug. 15; $55 before Sept. 1. There is no registration after Sept. 1.
For more information: RunnerCard.com and MountainTrails.org.

Miners Day Parade
What: The day, sponsored by the Park City Rotary Club, honors Park City’s mining history, from the discovery of silver in the 1860s to the opening of Treasure Mountain Resort in 1963. Events also raise funds for charity projects like the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. Events feature include the mucking and drilling competition where hard-rock miners compete using the skills they learned on the job. The Rotary Club hosts a breakfast at City Park, followed by a 5K race, an 11 a.m. parade and the "Running of the Balls" fundraiser, which asks individuals to sponsor one of many balls that will be released at the top of Main St.. The person who purchases the winning ball earns prizes.
When: Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 1.
Where: City Park and Main St..
For more information: ParkCityInfo.com.

Fourth of July celebration
What: The Park City Ambassadors, a charitable, volunteer wing of the Park City Chamber/Bureau, organizes a blow-out each Fourth of July.

All-day activities include live entertainment and games for children at City Park. Start the day off right with a pancake breakfast at City Park. By then, you’ll be ready for the mid-morning parade down Main St., which is followed by a picnic. For the sportier types, there is also a 5K walk/run and an annual doubles volleyball tournament. To end the day with a bang, enjoy the fireworks display at dusk.
When: Friday, July 4
Where: City Park and Main St.
Cost: Free.
For more information: ParkCityInfo.com

Utah Symphony
What: Deer Valley Resort’s Amphitheater hosts the Utah Symphony for its annual celebration of all things American. Bring a picnic and a blanket.

Be sure to keep Deer Valley’s guidelines for the performance in mind. Their Web site states coolers and glass containers and chairs 9 inches or less in height are allowed. Try to resist the temptation to arrive early and reserve a seat. "Items brought into the venue prior to the gate opening at 5:30 p.m. will be removed," the Web site warns.
When: Friday, July 4 at 7:30 p.m. Gates open at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Deer Valley Resort’s Amphitheater
Cost: General admission, $25; Reserved seating, $50; Family passes, $75; Youth or student, $12. Ticket prices increase $5 on the day of the show. Tickets can be purchased through ArtTix at (888) 451-2787 or utahsymphonyopera.org. General admission tickets can also be purchased at Deer Valley Signatures located at 625 Main St., from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
For more information: DeerValley.com

The Oakley Rodeo
What: Oakley Rodeo Festivities include a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo, horse show, barbecue and fireworks. The annual rodeo draws in crowds from all over Summit County. Rodeo riders from all over the country come to compete.
When: July 2 – 5
Cost: Tickets, $12
For more information: OakleyCity.com

The Kimball Park City Arts Festival
What: More than 220 artists and 30 live musical performances make The Park City Kimball Arts Festival an attraction for the entire intermountain West. Featuring dining options, wine and beer gardens and a kids’ corner, this year marks the event’s 39th anniversary.
When: Aug. 2 and 3 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: Park City Main St.
Cost: 2-day pass, $10; Adults, $8; Children 10 and under, free.
For more information: Kimball-Art.org.

Summit County Fair
What: The annual award-winning Summit County Fair features the Miss Summit County Pageant, a dog and horse show, food booths, barrel racing, livestock, horticultural and floricultural exhibitions, fine-arts exhibits, baked-goods competitions and a pet fest among its featured events. See the Demolition Derby on Aug. 2, an ATV rodeo on Aug. 7 and fireworks after a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo on Aug. 8.
When: July 31 – Aug. 16.
Where: Coalville
Cost: Prices to events vary
For more information: SummitCountyFair.com

The Park Silly Sunday Market
What: Beginning June 15, The Park Silly Sunday Market takes over the lower half of Main St. on Sundays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. With booths purveying organic foods.
When: June 15 through Sept. 28. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Park City’s Main St.
Cost: Free.
For more information: ParkSillySundayMarket.com.

The post It’s a tradition! appeared first on Park Record.

"This is something new – we’ve never really done this before," Jane Talley, the theater company’s education director, explains. "This is a joint production: the elementary schools as well as our two classes."

The classes includes Play Works class — the advanced class — whose members play the principals and perform all the speaking roles and the Broadway Bound class – the intermediate class – whose members are playing the Oompa Loompas. Theatre groups from four area elementary schools will also contribute through song and dance: Students from Jeremy Ranch will perform "I Like Candy," students from McPolin Elementary will perform "Big Rock Candy Mountain, Park City Academy will perform "Hot Chocolate from the Polar Express", and Parley’s Park Elementary will perform "The Good Ship Lollipop."

As a special treat, attendees can buy Willy Wonka chocolate bars. Much like the story of "Willy Wonka," hidden golden tickets can be found inside five candy bars each night. Four winners will receive prizes; one winner will win a grand prize, according to Talley.

The performances this week precedes the beginning of more Youtheatre shows already planned for a summer full of theater workshops. In June, camps for ages four through nine will begin, as well as a Shakespeare camp for kids 10 to 14 years old. In July, there will be a performance of "A Year With Frog and Toad." In August, 10-to 14- year-olds are also invited to Improvisational Acting and high schoolers are invited to audition for the stage production of the 1980s musical, "Footloose."

For more information, call: (435) 649-9371 or visit egyptiantheatrecompany.org.

See ‘Willy Wonka’

What: A youth theater production of "Willy Wonka"

When: 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 22 and Friday, May 23; 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 24

Where: The Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main St.

How much: $5 for those18 years and younger; $7 for those 18 years and up. Tickets can be purchased at the Egyptian Theatre box office. For more information, call (435) 649-9371.

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Honoring those words, his first fictional novel, "Sun Going Down" (Simon & Schuster, 2008), arguably took a lifetime of truth-seeking. When he arrives at Park City Library’s Visiting Author Series this Wednesday, it will have been after decades of listening to family tales, and more decades of reading and hunting down the facts by touring American landmarks and historical by foot.

"Sun Going Down," an epic tale of a family by the name of Paint, elaborates the legends and lore of Todd’s ancestors beginning 150 years ago on the Western frontier.

The outline is based on what actually happened: A man is on the river during the Civil War running a boat with a freed slave and gets caught in the crossfire. Later he moves to South Dakota, tries various ventures, and has a son who becomes a very wealthy rancher. That son, Eli, ends up having a daughter, who is based on Todd’s grandmother, Velma, an important figure whose bold, vagabond life is captured within the novel’s covers.

"A lot of this was oral history I got from my father, mother, aunts and uncles, all those people when I was young who told me stories directly," he says.

Velma’s story, which is much defined by Eli’s disgust over her consummated relationship with a ranch hand, is what Todd feels distinguishes "Sun Going Down" from other historical fiction works.

"It’s an unusual story the scope of it," says Todd. "But it wasn’t until I focused on the star-crossed relationship between Eli and Velma when he kicks her off the ranch, her subsequent life, his late effort to reconcile that I was finally ready to sit down and write You can’t just write about incident after incident after incident. That really doesn’t add up to a novel."

In part, the storyline was revealed in an unexpected wealth of records. Nearly 25 years ago, while working as a Canadian sports reporter, received a package from his mother full of further details about their family’s past: a memoir written by his great aunt and 50 years of journal entries left by a great-great-uncle Eb Jones, the son of one of the first pioneers in South Dakota and a scout for the U.S. Cavalry at the time of the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890.

It was then that Todd fully recognized the value in his family’s connections tovarious historical plots and pivotal moments in United States history. They had participated in the Gold Rush in 1849, traveled by Mississippi steamboat, and later faced hard luck during the Great Depression.

"I always think you can tell the story of the general better through the specifics than just reciting the dates and facts," he says. "What I hope to do is illuminate American history by telling the story of a particular family."

And he aims to recount the past with precision. "If I said a river is five miles south of a rock, I wanted it to be there," Todd explains.

To expand the sketchy paragraphs and hand-me-down memories, Todd says he has spent the better part of the last decade reading and re-reading books and visiting the sites where his novel takes place. This research and the memories of a young childhood in the rural outskirts of Nebraska, helped him to get inside the period he was writing about.

"Before I was six or seven, we were all still living with a coal-fired stove and no telephone and an outhouse," he reveals, "so I have a bit of an immediate sense of what it’s like to live that way; to be self-reliant."

Beyond "Sun Going Down," Todd says he has already contracted with Simon & Schuster for two more novels based on his family history. The next volume, "Fire on the Water," covers the story of his mother’s half-brother Bobby who became a gunner on the Tennesee Battleship during World War II. The third, "The Rain Came Down," will follow the Paint family into the 1950s and 1960s.

"It will be a trilogy when I’m done and then I’ll do something else," Todd predicts. "I hope to be around long enough to write 10 or 12 of these things."

Attend a reading of "Sun Going Down"

What: A reading of "Sun Going Down" (Simon & Schuster, 2008) by Jack Todd, presented by the Park City Library Author Series

When: Wednesday, May 21, at 7 p.m.

Who: Jack Todd, the author of the memoir, "Desertion: In the Time of Vietnam," which won the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction, the Quebec Writer’s Federation First Book Prize.

Where: At the Park City Library, 1255 Park Ave.

For more information: visit simonsays.com.

Up next: On June 5, the Park City Library Visiting Author Series plans to welcome Mike Farrell of the television show "M*A*S*H" who will read from his book, "Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist."

The post Family history meets fiction in ‘Sun Going Down’ appeared first on Park Record.

"We were inundated with jewelry applications and sold out of those spaces by the end of March, (but) we will continue to accept applications for all other categories throughout the season," explains Jewels Harrison, who programs the market’s vendors. "We really look for vendors who represent and provide something for the diverse customer base that attends the Park Silly Market But (we) encourage those interested to do so as soon as possible as the dates are filling quickly."

The market is preparing for an expanded, eclectic new year with a few new rules. New categories for participants with different prices have been added to satisfy a broad range of vendors (the cost of a booth ranges from $50 to $225); the hours have changed to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to accommodate crowd flow (the 9 a.m. start time proved too early the market was packed at 3 p.m.); and extra room on 9th Street will be used in hopes of supplying a demand for more local produce.

"We’re Park City gals, so we’ve been very conscious and cautious that we’re listening to the community’s voice," says Kimberly Kuehn, the market’s executive director. "I never wanted to compete with Volker’s Wednesday Farmers Market, but after 17 Sundays last year, it was clear that people wanted to buy produce on Wednesdays and Sundays."

Kuehn stresses that it’s hard to have too many opportunities to buy local.

"With the economy being the way it is, it’s important for us to buy from regional farmers," she explains.

The Park Silly Sunday Market is also working closely with the Historic Main Street Business Alliance to distribute the crowds from the North to the South end. To drive traffic up the street from the Market on Lower Main, Kuehn says they plan to redirect the Main Street trolley. "The trolley will start at the Sky Lodge and pump people through Main every 10 minutes, she explains.

Last year, the market attracted an average of 1,500 to 2,000 people weekly. According to a report from Park City’s Finance Department, from June to October the months of the market — total sales tax on Main Street in 2007 was up 16 percent from 2006. Total sales on Main Street for the entire year in 2007 were up 10 percent compared to 2006. Still, with a fresh start this year, and some refinements, Kuehn looks forward to even bigger year. "We feel last year was a huge accomplishment," she says. "But it was just a beginning."

For more information about the Park Silly Sunday Market and for details about how to apply for booths, visit parksillysundaymarket.com or call (435) 655-0994.

The post Market plots its return appeared first on Park Record.

"She’s really got a wonderful spirit," says Rich Wyman, a professional Park City singer-songwriter and close friend. "If you meet her, she’s just one of those people that is full of light and just great to be around – really positive."

Sadly, since last July, the optimism of the sunny chanteuse has been tested, confronted with serious news about her health. Doctors diagnosed her with an adenocarcinoid tumor of the appendix – a rare cancer that took some time to discover. According to Seligman, there are only 10 doctors in the United States that specialize in it.

"Say what?" Seligman jokes on her blog, caringbridge.org/visit/krysseligman. "it was quite a shocker since I’ve always thought of myself as relatively healthy I kept thinking, ‘When is Ashton Kutcher going to jump out and tell me I’ve been punked?’"

For months, unable to work, Seligman has received mounting medical bills for chemotherapy and alternative healing work, and her battle continues. This week, pain and excess fluid throughout parts of her body have returned her to a hospital bed.

"For months she’s been at a level eight to 10 pain and it rarely subsides," reveals Tara Cinelli, Seligman’s friend and business partner who co-owns Salt Lake City’s Great Salt Air.

Still, it’s time to celebrate and rally support, according to Seligman’s network of Park City friends. They have been plotting to throw her a benefit this Sunday, May 18 and the show will go on. The event will take place at The Playground (formerly Club Suede) and include a silent auction, food and live music.

Rich Wyman, his wife, Lisa Needham, and the Park City Divas, a local women’s group that counts Seligman as one of its members, plan to begin with a performance of "The Weight" by The Band and conclude with a cover of "Let It Be" by The Beatles. The songs will bookend a long list of Seligman favorites by Johnny Lang and Sheryl Crow, and originals by Divas Mary Beth Maziarz, Jeanne Marie Rettos, Erica Stroem, Thea Henney, Wendy Fisher and Lisa Needham.

In addition, Needham will show a film that she made with David Waterfall and lele Newey that follows Seligman’s healing process of both conventional Western medicine and alternative practices such as energy healing and craniosacral massage.

"I own the Park City Yoga Studio, so I’m always meeting pretty amazing healers," Needham explains. "And for some reason, when I found out Krys had cancer, it was just at a time was just meeting a lot of them so three months ago, I just had this wild idea to bring them together."

The thought to document Seligman’s experience followed soon after.

"Benefits are amazing themselves, but I thought, ‘We should create a benefit with parts that were connected to Krys,’ and then I thought, ‘Let’s show a video of Krys’ healing process and see what she had been going through.’"

The first alternative therapists were Toby Christensen, a healing drummer and creator of "Sound Attunement Therapy," and Jamee Curtis, a practicing shaman. While Christensen stood above Seligman as she lay on the gorund, beating a djembe drum near her heart, Curtis stood by near her head, remembers Needham.

"Krys was crying in the car on the way over but then she had amazing results," she says. "But it isn’t about, ‘OK, we’re not going to rely on Western medicine,’ it’s just that sometimes working with these energy healers does provide her some relief from the pain I just think these therapies are becoming more prominent and accepted. I would really love to say it was Park City, but I think it’s a trend that’s happening throughout the world."

Unfortunately, the cost of the trend and its amazing results have added to an already hefty dent to Seligman’s wallet.

"Krys does have insurance," assures Lauren Keiser, one of Sunday’s chief gala organizers and a friend. "But when you have something as serious as this, even with what insurance pays, the bills are gigantic Hopefully, what this fundraiser will do is pay off all her medical expenses that have been rising and hopefully, there won’t be a ton more to pay."

Support the singing sushi waitress

What: a fundraiser gala in honor of Krys Seligman, a local singer famous for singing at her tables who has been battling a rare cancer. The benefit will feature live music from The Rich Wyman Group and The Park City Divas, a local women’s group, as well as auction items.

Where: The Playground, located at 1612 Ute Blvd. at Kimball Junction

When: Sunday, May 18, at 6 p.m.

How much: $15 at the door.

To Donate: Can’t attend? Donate auction items or services by contacting Lauren Keiser at (435) 640-3953 or Deborah McGraw at (435) 640-4246. To donate a check, send donations to Zion First National Bank, 1100 Snow Creek Dr., P.O. Box 3899 Park City, UT 84060. Checks may be made out to Swift Code ZFNBUS55 routing number 124000054, account name: Christine Seligman Donation, account number 098358930.

For more information: Krys Seligman contributes to a Web site at caringbridge.org/visit/krysseligman.

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Lee Land is speaking over the phone while driving. His tour bus is his car and he just drove from his home in Colorado to Wisconsin to share his lesson with an assembly of kids. He will teach again tomorrow at the Oakley School in Summit County, a day before he performs for Mountain Town Stages Home Concert Series this Friday.

Lee Land illustrates his words of wisdom about listening by deconstructing his songs on a machine called a "live looper," a recording device that allows him to record and play back riffs on various instruments. Collectively, the recordings are then played together to create an orchestra of sound.

"In terms of looping, you have to listen to every part, because every part has to work in harmony with the others. The only way they will fit is if you pay attention to each part as it’s laid down What I tell kids is, you have to do that in life in terms of getting along with others. You have to hear each other."

At the dawn of the new millennium, Lee Land’s ability to listen led him to construct a new genre that married a funky folk jam-band sound with beats from West Africa. In 2001, one year after he was introduced to live looping, Lee Land came back from a three-week tour of Ghana and Nigeria with an army of exotic percussive instruments including talking drums, that can change in pitch depending on how you squeeze their strings, and a djembe, a skin-covered hand drum shaped like an oversized goblet.

"Paul Simon is into South African sounds," he says. "But Nigeria has this very creative, high-energy vibe that amazes me."

The confluence of the technology and eclectic rhythm yielded "Afrograss," Lee Land’s self-invented new genre.

"Looping was a way to get the sound I was carrying in my head after the trip," he explains. "It made sense that you could play all these African percussion parts with looping."

Lee Land’s passion for the music of Africa runs deep. "It changed my life," he says. "It changed my music."

He recalls watching Afropop and Nigerian Juju music legend King Sunny Ade when his band performed in Boulder, Colo., Lee Land’s hometown. Taken with the music, he found himself in the front row, hands thumping on the stage, connecting with the oumalay drummer, one of six percussionists in Ade’s group.

"I was just tuned into this guy and I was vocally playing back to him what he was playing and he was just laughing at me. If I didn’t have it right, he would correct me," Lee Land remembers. "I mean, how many people are into the oumalay player? I was just all about him. When he saw me, he just hugged me and I went back stage."

Lee Land says later he ended up buying the very drum the oumalay drummer used in that performance.

Lee Land’s most recent album, "Dragonfly," showcases his virtuosity in instrumentation and his slightly scruffy voices. Unlike his live solo act, the recordings are decidedly collaborative projects. Accompanying him on the 2005 release are members of various other American jam, country, rock and bluegrass groups. Michael Travis from The String Cheese Incident plays the djembe and congas; and Greg Liesz, who performs with Joni Mitchell and k.d. lang, plays the Dobro. His wife, Carol Lee, a lyricist and artist in her own right, helped to pen all 13 songs.

Lee Land says Mountain Town Stages members found him at the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival and School where he teaches each year. Though Lee Land has performed in Park City at The Spur Bar and Grill during Sundance Film Festival, the upcoming Mountain Town Stages gig will be his first (and the third Home Concert performance for the organization.) "I’ve done a lot of house concerts — They’re cool because they’re intimate. I’m looking forward to it," he says.

See Arthur Lee Land

What: A potluck and an intimate concert

Who: Arthur Lee Land, credited with fusing African beats with bluegrass, funk, reggae, rock and folk music to create a new genre known as "Afrograss."

When: This Friday, May 16, at 6 p.m.

Where: At a Mountain Home Concert, presented by Mountain Town Stages. The concert will be held at a private home.

How much: a suggested $20 donation.

How to see him: RSVP with Rebecca Eton at reb@rebmark.com or call (435) 640-7829.

For more information: visit arthurleemusic

The post See a ‘One-man Afrograss Folk Rock Ensemble’ appeared first on Park Record.

For the 2002 project, she painted four-by-six foot sections at a time on 24-foot-high walls, repairing the damage done 60 years ago when the state decided to terrorist-proof the building.

"In the 1950s, after a terror scare, the government wanted to make the building more secure, and to do that, they hacked away at beautiful carvings and lowered the ceilings, so you never saw all of this beautiful artwork," she remembers. "It was a really neat project because it was history. It felt like a treasure hunt."

Garrison says she was awarded the commission after a paint contractor for the capitol’s renovation saw her work in a show home in New York. At the time she had nearly a decade of experience in marbleizing, graining, decorative and faux painting home interiors projects that often required her to learn about the history and architecture of historic buildings.

Three years ago, Garrison moved with her husband for the mountain lifestyle and to ski. But here, home and commercial projects are different. Buildings are newer, so few need restoring, she says, and homeowners tend to request more faux painting than the patterned wall designs in demand in New York. A new challenge has been to perfect the art of Venetian plaster, a popular Park City wall treatment. But, "in this business, you’re always learning," she says.

Garrison is a self-taught artist who first picked up a brush at the age of 10 when a family friend recognized her talent gave her a kit from his paint shop in Poughkeepsie, New York, where she was born. She began to paint semi-professionally in 1987 after she learned Rosemaling, the ancient art of Norwegian decorative painting. Her work would complement the craft of her first husband a Norwegian cabinetmakers, she says. She would paint furniture and grandfather clocks and take the pieces to craft shows.

"It’s very stylized and disciplined and that’s where I learned that repetition in design, though somewhat tedious, can be really beautiful," she explains.

Then, in 1993, a friend who made a living painting décor inside homes taught her about wall treatments and began referring clients to her. Her work included recreating the large-scale jungle paintings of 18th century painter Jean Jacques Rousseau to creating trompe l’oeil views of the Mediterranean to ceilings of show homes. She also began to learn about art restoration, volunteering at the New York State Historic Preservation Offices are located. The office restores work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and homes owned by the Vanderbilt family. Mainly she worked on paper old drawings and maps. Using her training she later repaired a 300-year-old paper mural in a home in Glenn Falls, New York, that sustained heavy water damage.

A few years ago, Garrison earned a bachelor of science degree in studio art at Skidmore College after her three children had grown up. There, she painted on canvas, but, she confesses, it wasn’t as inviting as a wall or a ceiling. She longs to work on more homes, bringing rooms together with designs and colors that pick up on patterns in carpets, lace or objects.

"I seem to relate to painting in homes now when I paint on canvas, it feels restrictive," she says. "I like painting seeing the designs emerge and pulling people’s furniture together with the walls and making everything work."

To contact Jeanie Garrison, call (435) 657-0751 or e-mail jeaniegarrison@earthlink.com. For more information about her work, visit jeaniegarrison.com.

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Just days into his new job, Lyttle, a skier and competitive runner, is finding his bearings quickly in Park City. His love of the outdoors and experience on the East Coast groomed him well for the position. Before accepting his appointment at the National Ability Center, he worked remotely in Philadelphia as a major gifts manager for one of Park City’s largest and most notable organizations: The United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA).

"That’s how I became familiar with Park City the offices (for the USSA) are here so I came here a lot I just really enjoyed the town and this job," he explains. "I used to run the trails behind the ranch (in Round Valley) and saw the sign for the National Ability Center and kind of looked at their Web site and became familiar with their organization and saw they were looking for a development director."

Lyttle succeeds Lauren Rayner, who, after two years, left the Ability Center development office with plans to start a business of her own. The responsibilities of the position include overseeing fundraising operations, working with public relations, outreach and special events like the center’s annual A Starry Night benefit.

Lyttle decided to relocate after seeing the the inner workings of the center including its Hippotherapy program, where specially trained therapists use the motion of a walking horse to stimulate the rider and help them to develop balance, coordination and strength.

"I was completely sold on the place. It was overwhelming. It’s amazing what they do over there," he says. "I think what I like about the center is that it’s a combination of athletics, recreation and working with kids young and old It really struck a chord."

Since receiving an MBA at Joseph’s University, Lyttle has been a professional fundraiser. Beyond the USSA, he worked with environmental organizations and museums including the Friends of the Wissahickon, a nonprofit dedicated to maintaining 1,800 acres of Philadelphia Fairmount Park and the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia’s natural history museum.

Among the big events Lyttle has helped to promote and manage is the Philadelphia Zoo’s Zoobilee, a decades-old annual benefit which he says served as a million-dollar fundraiser.

"To me, I think the key to fundraising is finding people who are passionate about the organization you’re working with," he says. "For the Ability Center it’s going to also be about getting people out to see what happens (at the ranch and recreation center.) Once you get out there, it’s just an amazing place."

In a press release, Meeche White, chief executive officer and founder of the National Ability Center touts Lyttle’s outlook as among his greatest strengths.

"We are looking forward to having Scott join us with his unique skills and ideas," she says. "He has a great attitude and is a good fit for us at the Ability Center."

Ryan Jensen, the center’s outreach manager and spokesman echoed White’s sentiments.

"To work in nonprofits, you have to feel a need to help the people you serve," he says. "Scott has a good grasp of the people in the community and that’s probably what helped him get the position."

Upcoming National Ability Center Programs

The National Ability Center hosts programs for people of all abilities. Among the programs offered this summer by reservation or enrollment are*:

Adventure Learning

A "learn by doing" custom program that lasts from two hours to two weeks for groups of six or more. The program may include the low-challenge course, high-challenge course or the indoor climbing wall.

Archery

For individuals ages seven and up of all abilities, the recreation center and ranch teach beginning and advanced archers.

Climbing Wall

For individuals ages five and up of all abilities, climbing instruction is available for birthday parties or events.

Canoeing

Canoe on the Jordanelle Rervoir-Rock Cliff Recreation Site by appointment.

Outdoor Education

Families and groups can learn about the outdoors through the Ability Center on trips that include camping, river rafting and local activities.

Waterskiing and Tubing

Waterski or tube on the Jordanelle Reservoir-Hailstone Recreation Site.

*To sign up or book activities, a current National Ability Center Membership is required. Call Jenn Carpenter to register at (435) 200-0987. For more information, visit the National Ability Center Web site at discoverNAC.org.

The post Ability Center announces new hire appeared first on Park Record.

The upcoming performance on May 16 follows the May 2 debut of Oakley-based rock band Robin Mary’s rock opera production, "Music for the End of the World Extravaganza." The event attracted a sizable crowd to the unlikely venue for the synthesized riffs and electric rock melodies for which the band is known. More than 60 people took a seat for the 90-minute performance, a number grabbing popcorn and sodas at the concession stand.

Many in the audience that night were likely too young to see such an act in a private club for cocktails and beer without a fake I.D. while others were likely hearing the group’s hip and youthful style for the first time. But was the idea, and the impetus behind the upcoming concert next week featuring Robin Mary, Broken Silence, the Park City-born rap-meets-rock group, and Stem Cell Ghost, a two-man industrial music-performance art group, with members who are seldom seen without respirator masks.

As Vince Simas, once a student at South Summit and now representing Robin Mary and Stem Cell Ghost, explains, "Bars can be genre-specific, but all walks of life are welcome at a movie theater. We wanted to do the same thing with this concert. We wanted to expose more people to more music."

In addition, Simas says he and Clifford Sundberg, Robin Mary’s front man, wanted to refresh the experience of going to a concert. They were looking for something more theatrical.

"We thought the performance art piece should be incorporated into music more," Simas explains. "The theatre is the perfect place to do that because it immediately opens up people’s reaction of the show and they’re more likely to be on key with the acts and what they’re trying to portray."

They also thought the event might be a good experience for the younger crowd in southern Summit County, where, as kids, they felt they rarely, if ever, could find concerts of the kinds of musical genres they cared about "It would have probably been very inspirational for me to see people push the limits (in music) If I had this opportunity, I think it would have changed my life," Simas says.

Beyond Sundberg and Simas, the members of this consortium of musical performers, despite their diverse tastes in music, are old friends.

"There isn’t that much music in Summit County, but the bands that usually last over a year have been actually really talented and we’re pretty much friends with most of them," says Bryan Anderson, a member of Broken Silence. "None of us perform the same type of music, but we all ran together because we were all musicians. It’s just kind of a tight-knit little scene."

Anderson remembers deciding to form a rap group in Park City as an odd experience. "It was strange being part of a hip hop band for sure," he remembers. "We would all get together and freestyle at lunch and have these little groups. It was kind of like a fun thing who could outdo the next guy. We started to make a couple songs and we had so much fun, we thought we should just take it seriously. We released an album in 2004 and (local) critical reviews were pretty good."

Broken Silence has performed at Park City’s Star Bar, but has, for the past few years, been relocated to Salt Lake, playing gigs and working in the studio to produce new material for a second album that includes performing with a live back up band called the Mad Hatters. Anderson says the May 16 performance will be the public’s first opportunity to see the new act.

"We’ve been known for putting on a pretty good show, but we wanted to step it up," he says. "As of now, this show in Kamas is going to be our first show with our new set up, but already we can just tell the energy is going to be so much higher."

But in the past six years, and after he returned from Arizona’s Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences, Anderson and Broken Silence moved to Salt Lake, where, Anderson says, the interest in the genre has grown. "Hip hop is very much alive Salt Lake," he says, adding that the scene has grown from places like the city’s Uprok Records and more recently, the Urban Lounge.

But is Kamas ready for May 16?

"I think it’s a really good idea there’s not a better spot for it, actually," Anderson argues. "People in small towns look for something besides the obvious to do on weekend nights. If we do it right, and get places like Coalville, Wanship and all those cities involved. It might be really successful."

See hip hop, rock and electronic music at the Kamas Theatre

*Who: Three Park City, Oakley and Salt Lake City-based musical acts including Broken Silence, the hip hop group, Stem Cell Ghost, an industrial electronic group and Robin Mary, a post-punk rock band.

*Where: At the Kamas Theatre on 30 North Main Street in Kamas, Utah

*When: Friday, May 16. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Performances are slated to begin at 7 p.m.

*How much: $10 at the door.

The post Music at the Theatre appeared first on Park Record.

Paul McCartney played bass with his left hand and bent his knees, John Lennon chewed gum – these minutiae are not forgotten by the members of the Pennsylvania Beatles tribute band known as "Come Together."

When the group takes the Egyptian Theatre Stage Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, it will be the culmination of two decades of mop-top devotion. For Come Together, the business of covering Beatles tunes has grown from a hobby and passion to a full-on profession. They still rehearse and research, brushing up on John, Paul, George and Ringo’s mannerisms through old footage from concerts and archived newspaper interviews. They stick to playing tunes from 1964-66, during the British Invasion era.

The group plays on the same equipment as The Beatles did in the ’60s and they wear boots imported from Liverpool, the band’s hometown. The dedication to authenticity has paid off. While performing songs like "Yesterday," "This Boy," "All My Lovin’" and "Day Tripper," they often elicit the same legendary "Beatle mania" from audiences.

"It’s so much fun to be on stage having people think you’re The Beatles — it kind of gives all of us a brief little glimpse of what they went through," says Bill Kropinak, the founder of the band who plays John Lennon. "It’s not uncommon for the theater to be up dancing out of their seats and screaming during the songs. It’s the whole Beatle hysteria – it still goes on, which is hard to comprehend, but we’re happy it does."

The transformation officially begins for Kropinak on the day of the performance, putting on their wigs and buttoning their suits. "As we’re getting into costume backstage, we all begin to get into character," he explains. "But we’re always going over what we’re doing, making it sound right. It’s too easy when you are trying to be someone else’s character to slip out of John and become Bill."

Kropinak remembers when he first heard The Beatles on television.

"They were on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Paul started it off with ‘All My Lovin,’ if I’m not mistaken," he recalls. "It was mind boggling. There was a lot of hype prior to their performance about these guys coming over with long hair and I — quite frankly — was an Elvis fan. I was thinking to myself, ‘I don’t know. Elvis is the man.’ But after seeing The Beatles play, I was blown away. They wrote their own songs, played their own instruments – they re-wrote rock ‘n roll history."

Kropinak hasn’t met any of the members in person and never saw a live show, but he did meet Cynthia Lennon, John’s first wife, accidentally once at a Beatles convention in Cleveland, Ohio. "I happened to open a door and she was in front of me," he says. "I got an autograph and said, ‘Hello.’"

Kropinak mostly just enjoys the finer points of the band’s songs. "I Feel Fine" is his favorite. "They released it in August of 1965 and what’s so unique about it is that little feedback intro which was done almost by accident with John’s acoustic guitar feeding back when Paul hits a bass note and it rattles a little," he says. "There’s something about that moment, where I was in life and where I was when I heard it."

So when, at the age of 36, Kropinak, a body-building Harley-rider, decided to play on stage for the first time, it was a Beatles review at a Beatles tribute show. "It was something I did for the fun of it, but here we are, 20 years later, and we’re making a living out of it," he muses.

The band arrived at its current configuration in 2000 with Steve Marks as Ringo Starr, James Willaman as George Harrison and Russ Saylor as Paul McCartney. Kropinak considers it his most dedicated team.

Saylor, who had previously performed with other oldies bands, says after 30 years of right-handed playing, he decided to teach himself to play with his left. "I was amazed at how many people actually recognized it, because they would come up and say, ‘Well, you know Paul was left-handed,’" he explains. "So I said, ‘That’s it. I’m going to teach myself to play bass with my left hand so I don’t have to hear it anymore It was a very slow process and it was rough: You know how to play it, but your hand doesn’t want to move the way you want it to at first."

Saylor says he rarely tires of The Beatles’ songs. The meaning of the lyrics still shines through and the band’s influence on rock bands continues, he explains. Though it’s been more than 40 years since The Beatles first American performance, the music still matters to audiences, according to Saylor.

"The Beatles had this raw energy and broke all the rules, and to be able to go back and create that, it’s just amazing," he explains. "I think people come to our performances because it makes them feel young again. It brings them back to a time when they didn’t have to worry about things. It gives them their innocence back."

The post The Beatles are coming, The Beatles are coming! appeared first on Park Record.