Here’s A quiz. In the early ’90s, I was a student at Utah State University, working at the student newspaper. Our advisor, the great Jay Wamsley, knew someone at the Utah Jazz. And, once in a while, I’d get a pass to sit on the baseline with actual photographers. (Meaning: The guys who called me “kid” and told me to stay out of the way.) I still have a file of negatives from my Minolta of Karl Malone dunking over Hakeem Olajuwon, John Stockton’s no-look dish to Karl and, then, Clyde “The Glide” Drexler shutting it down. (Sorry, Karl, it happened, kind of a lot.)
QUESTION: Where was I?
Ding. Ding. Ding. You are correct!
And now, the Delta Center is back—at least name-wise. But, in the decades among the slow-mo head-fakes of naming rights, things sure have changed up here on Walton Mountain. This issue is a celebration of and (a worry about) all that change in Salt Lake.
First, we present a comprehensive guide to the stalwarts of our arts community who are coming out emphatically with bold fall seasons, as evidenced by the dancer on our cover, Ursula Perry of Repertory Dance Theater. (“Brava! Encore! The Fall Arts Preview,” page 64).
Next, we once again, emphatically (and a bit wearily) refute the statement “You can’t get a drink in Utah.” This statement is fiction. And we have 20 of Utah’s best bartenders who will Slap. Those. Words. Out. Your. Mouth. And offer you a glass of something you’ve never tasted, in ways you’ve never tasted it. These are the entrants to our 2023 Farm-to-Glass Cocktail Contest (page 81). We invite you to help us judge their efforts and help us decide the “One Cocktail to Rule Them All.” It’s a heavy burden but one that we expect you will shoulder gladly.
Now we come full circle.
Our story “The Great Salt Lake: From a Bird’s Eye View” found its way into these pages because Utah State University graduate, Clarissa Casper, at the urging of her professor, the great Matthew LaPlante, persistently sent it our way. It’s a beautiful love song to the birds that rely on the lake and the danger its disappearance will mean for these creatures.
Go Aggies.
