Orem Centennial Celebration

Well, it's later.

Orem City turns 100 this year so there will be activities and events throughout the year at different venues.  Yesterday's was the Opening Kickoff Party at the Orem Fitness Center.

Jeremy spent three days building balloon sculptures for this event representing different aspects of Orem's history and values.

From left to right: "Famous for Families" The children running around represent Orem being known as "Family City U.S.A."
"Celebrating 100 Years of Orem" From 1919-2019, this shows Orem's mountain logo and celebrates the centennial.
"Good Things Grow Here" The fruit at the top represent how Orem used to grow and ship fruit to all over the nation.  Now, other good things grow here such as schools, businesses, and good people.
"Birthplace of Silicon Slopes" Technology is represented by the computer beneath the fruit.  A lot of technology companies began in Orem then moved to other areas of the state and country.
"Always Moving Forward" The red train represents the "Orem Line" which was a big part of helping the original city grow.  It was such a big part, the city was named after the man who was responsible for the railroad coming to the community, Walter C. Orem.
"UVU Wolverine" Not a part of the history a hundred years ago, but definitely a big part of the community.  I remember when it changed from Utah Valley State College to Utah Valley University and opportunities grew for those now attending university instead of college.  Many community events are also held at UVU.

There was a Centennial Kickoff Ceremony with entertainment and an unveiling of a book by author, Charlene Winters, all about the city of Orem.  There was also an unveiling of an Orem Centennial painting by artist Eric Dowdle.  The painting was also made into a puzzle.  We got one and it's really fun to see so many things we recognize in it (including the building where we go to church).

After the program there were a lot of free activities and snacks and swag.  It reminded me of Vernal Holly Days except that it was all indoors.  They even had a trivia scavenger hunt where you could learn about the city of Orem's history and get a ticket punched for each question you answered.

It also didn't last as long as Vernal Holly Days.  Since Jeremy wasn't working during the event, we stayed as long as we wanted and left before it ended.
It was a fun event and I'm glad we got to help celebrate Orem's Centennial as a family.