photography / Troy Boman Vintage wool swimming suits and a cornet (top) surround a chalk drawing made by GHS student Sara Beazer depicting Saltair in the early 20th century.

by Sarah Miley

STAFF WRITER

The Grantsville Old Folks Sociable is all about honoring the older members of the community and reminding them of their past. And this year's sociable won't disappoint, with various items from Grantsville's past on display that will take people on a walk down memory lane.

Vintage swimming suits -- like the ones worn at Saltair -- a slinky, photographs of old businesses in town, and the original piano used at sociables at the opera house, are just some of the items that will be displayed at the 124th Old Folks Sociable.

Members of the sociable's decorating committee have been working for months to gather together artifacts, photos and unique items representing 12 different themes that show off the history of Grantsville.

Debbie Allred, chairwoman of the decorating committee, said the 12 different areas -- the opera house, schools, drug store, Saltair, stores, the Clark farm, gas stations, the Bluebird, Skyline Restaurant, fire stations, Burmester, and history from the 1920s to 1950s -- will be displayed in a unique way to help tell Grantsville's story.

Allred said she got the idea for collecting and displaying items from the town's past from the sociable's theme, which is "Take me there."

"That's what the sociable is about is remembering the past," she said.

Allred has been in charge of collecting together items that would have been around or invented from the 1920s to the 1950s, such as silly putty, slinkies and Wheaties.

Each theme was assigned to a committee member. Many of those people are descendants of original owners of the businesses being profiled.

Carla Stromberg Wickham has been in charge of gathering together items and photos of the Skyline Restaurant. The restaurant was well-known for its shrimp dinners, as well as homemade pies and rolls.

Wickham said she's going to display recipes from some of the famous food that was served at the restaurant. The recipes have been a longheld secret, she said, so having them on display will likely delight a lot of people.

Allred also has memories of the Skyline.

"We always met there after every dance and had french fries and tartar sauce," she said.

Another area the committee has decided to focus on is Saltair.

"It's not in Grantsville, but it's affected so many people here," Allred said. "I remember my mother talking about it."

Swimming suits, like the ones people wore at Saltair will be on display.

The Grantsville Opera House, which in the past hosted numerous social activities including the Old Folks Sociable, will be another theme.

In fact, the original piano of the sociable that was used in the opera house will be on display at Saturday's festivities. Musician Dan Butcher will even tickle its ivories throughout the evening.

All of the memorabilia will be on display on shelves built specifically for the sociable.

James Christensen, a craftsman in Grantsville, designed the shelves and offered up his shop for the construction, Allred said. Six men have been continually working on the shelves for about two months.

"It's been a labor of love," Allred said.

The shelves, in addition to all the decorations, centerpieces and flower arrangements -- which were professionally done -- will be for sale. Allred said a committee member will have all the prices of the items for sale listed and once the sociable is over on Saturday night, items can be picked up and taken home.

The shelves are black, which Allred said goes well with the other colors of the sociable: lime green and purple. There's not a particular significance to why the committee chose these colors, only that they wanted to do something that hasn't been done before.

"When you've done this for the past 124 years, it's hard to come up with something they haven't done," she said.

The events on Saturday will begin with a car show from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The honored guest reception -- for those 75 or older -- will be at noon, followed by the honored guest dinner at 1 p.m. Entertainment programs will be held at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m., with dancing from 4 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. A 5k run will be at 10 a.m. Tickets are $15 in advance or $17 at the door, and are sold at many Grantsville businesses, as well as at the Transcript-Bulletin.

The children's sociable will be held this evening at 7 p.m. at the high school.

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