Pioneer Day is today. Don’t worry, I didn’t know it either.July 24th, 2008 @ 7:01 am
An E-mail thread between my younger sister, who lives in Utah, and me yesterday:
Sister: Do you have tomorrow off from work?
Isabel: Why would I have a random Thursday off?
Sister: My husband has it off. I thought maybe you and The King would too.
Isabel: (confused at this point.) Yeah, we don’t have it off. We’ll both be working on Thursday this week. As per usual.
Sister: But it’s the 24th of July tomorrow.
Isabel: You’re right, tomorrow is the 24th of July. And today is the 23rd of July. So what?
Sister: The 24th of July is Pioneer Day. Remember?
Isabel: Now I remember. But you realize Pioneer Day is strictly a Utah holiday. And more importantly it’s strictly a Mormon holiday? Nobody outside of Utah has any idea that the 24th of July is a real holiday.
Sister: So you don’t have tomorrow off from work?
Isabel: (shaking my head as I type out my response to her!) Yeah, I don’t have it off from work.
Sister: And The King?
Isabel: Yeah, he’ll be working too.
(Lil Isabel on Pioneer Day, 1978)
Happy Pioneer Day, bitches! And to quote my friend Becky, “remember to thank your ancestors for coming here today!”
Will do!
Back in the Day · They're just my family
Monica
said,
July 24, 2008 at 6:12 pm
We live in Utah and Ash doesn’t have it off either.
I can’t believe what a big deal it is here. Being from Seattle, I had no idea what a fuss it was.
Rhi
said,
July 24, 2008 at 6:16 pm
But, you’re wearing a bonnet at work today, right?
Amanda
said,
July 24, 2008 at 6:17 pm
You know I actually knew this - randomly - and I don’t even live in the US let alone Utah! I was simply looking through the BBC Religion and Ethics site the other day (I was ill and bored of daytime tv - I wanted something with depth to it!) and when I was looking at the Mormon part of the site it mentioned this! Funny how I stumbled upon it so close to the actual date!
Happy Pioneer Day! Loved the photo of you as a kid :o)
Melain
said,
July 24, 2008 at 6:33 pm
OK, that’s hilarious. I can’t believe they actually close stuff down for that! I want pictures of you in your bonnet at work. You can’t just IGNORE such an important day. At the VERY least, you should buy a home ice cream making machine, or brew your own vat of root beer or SOMETHING to honor the ancestors.
Kristen M.
said,
July 24, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I am heading outside right now to turn our little red wagon into a COVERED WAGON! Yippee! I was in So Cal as a kid but Pioneer Day was actually one of my favorite things and our ward made a pretty big deal out of it! And that rootbeer is yummy! Well, to kids who never get soda it is anyway.
Hillary
said,
July 24, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Those cheeks! Those freckles! What an absolute cutie!
glamgranola
said,
July 24, 2008 at 9:25 pm
My mom used to dress me like that all the time and we weren’t Mormon, my mom just wanted to cover up the fact that I didn’t have hair until I was nearly 3!
Katie
said,
July 24, 2008 at 10:08 pm
It turns out Pioneer Day is celebrated outside of Utah in small communities like Thatcher, AZ. I went there with my husband for their big celebration last weekend! You can read his blog entry about it. http://partyoftwo.blacklotusweb.com/2008/07/24th-of-july-pioneer-day-in-thatcher-az/
May
said,
July 25, 2008 at 2:31 am
Happy Pioneer Day! I didn’t realize it was a real holiday till I went to the Lord’s University there in Provo. Suhweet!
Nevada doesn’t have Pioneer Day, but they DO have NEVADA DAY!!! It’s where we all celebrate living in a state where you can GAMBLE at the GROCERY STORE! Woohoo!!! “What’s that game Mommy? Can I play?” asks little May as we push our cart out of the store EVERY SINGLE TIME. “No dear, those are games for grownups!”
the wifey
said,
July 25, 2008 at 2:23 pm
ha! that’s awesome. i honestly have never heard of pioneer day, but i guess that’s what happens when you grow up in the midwest and then move to the south. i had an outfit like that that i wore to my grade school’s 100th anniversary, though =)
Steph
said,
July 25, 2008 at 5:31 pm
pioneer day makes me want to ride a bike around town with streamers - lucky for me, we never had to wear bonnets in my family - and decorating your bike with streamers and such decorations is totally cool. especially in sf when you can get away with anything that might be considered odd in another more normal part of the country. anyway - i WISH we got off of work all around the country for pioneer day! The least they could do is give all the states west of Ohio pioneer day off and those east of there could have some other holiday off in the fall or something. I’m not sure what you’d call it - maybe “My ancestors were scared to leave home” holiday?
Christar
said,
July 28, 2008 at 12:24 am
There are still lots of places that don’t close for the 24th. Like my work. Yep, I had to work. Blah. But it was only for 5 and a half hours. And Shaun had it off which was awesome because we got a day off together that was just the two of us. Which almost never ever happens since every Friday thru Sunday we have Zach.
But it’s always fun having two days in July that we get to watch fireworks. And one day I’ll get pioneer day off. (Not that it makes a difference since I’ll have Summers off anyways.)
Becky
said,
July 28, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I love the picture! I regret that I never had such a bonnet for Pioneer Day. We celebrated it by washing the car and sleeping out on our back lawn in a tent. I’m glad I’m not a pioneer - I’m not all that hip on outside sleeping, thank you very much.