POCATELLO — When he heard the news that Pioneer Day celebrations were being combined with those held on the Fourth of July, Robert Rodriguez Sr. wasn’t happy.
In fact, Rodriguez said he was so bothered by the idea of taking a religious celebration and incorporating it into a national holiday that he reached out to Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad.
“I asked him why the LDS Church was now combining the two celebrations,” Rodriguez said on Thursday. “We want the right to be able to celebrate our independence without appearing like we are also celebrating a religious LDS day commemorating Brigham Young’s arrival into the Salt Lake Valley.”
Pioneer Day is held on July 24 and is observed by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who celebrate the date in 1847 when members of the church arrived in the Salt Lake Valley where they settled.
Earlier this week, the Journal reported that local LDS Church officials had opted to move formal Pioneer Day celebrations to the Fourth of July, to be held in conjunction with the annual Independence Day parade. Those festivities will also include celebrations commemorating the 150th anniversary of Idaho becoming a U.S. Territory in 1863.
Upon reading that story, Rodriguez, a former LDS church member, said he was bothered as both a veteran and a person of another religion, that an LDS religious celebration would be imposed on those who otherwise want to celebrate the U.S. Independence Day. He said there are also concerns among those he has spoken with that the Fourth of July celebration will be taken over entirely by the Pioneer Day observations.
Both Blad and Larry Fisher, regional public affairs director for the LDS Church in Pocatello said Rodriguez has nothing to worry about.
“We are not making the Pioneer Day celebration part of the Fourth of July,” Fisher said. “We have chosen not to do a Pioneer Day celebration anymore on a regional level. Because we are no longer doing the Pioneer Day celebration, we can get more involved with preparing for and helping with the Fourth of July celebration.”
The seed for this change was planted more than a year ago, Fisher said, when he was talking with Blad in the latter part of 2011 about how to better integrate the local LDS population with the community as a whole.
“(Blad) expressed a concern that we put all our energy into the Pioneer Day parade, and don’t participate in the Fourth of July parade,” Fisher said. “That’s where it started.”
Blad recalled the conversation as well.
“The question was, ‘How can we show nonmembers of the faith that we are community-oriented?’” Blad said. “I suggested that the LDS Church support the Fourth of July rather than host the July 24 celebration. They can still celebrate July 24, because it is an important day to the members of the church.”
Although that conversation took part of 2011, the wheels for the 2012 Pioneer Day celebration were already in motion. Fisher said that a lot goes into planning the event each year. But after that celebration, area LDS Church leaders gathered to discuss 2013.
“The decision was made by local church leaders that would discontinue the Pioneer Day celebration as we have done it in the past, and we would support the Fourth of July parade,” Fisher said. “This isn’t our parade, this isn’t our celebration. We just want to help out. We are part of this community and we think the Fourth of July is a great thing.”
He said each of region’s 10 Stakes have been asked to provide at least one float for the Fourth of July Parade.
Blad said Rodriguez is one of only two people who approached him with concerns about the potential melding of Pioneer Day and Independence Day celebrations. Fisher also said he heard from just two church members who expressed concern about the potential change.
Both said they understand the concerns Rodriguez has based on the information he had. Both said the local LDS Church has no intention of taking over the Fourth of July celebration in Pocatello and Chubbuck.
“This is absolutely an Elks’ event,” Blad said. “I have no intention of taking this event away from the Elks. They have a great partnership with the hospital.”
Sera White, exalted ruler of the Pocatello Elks Lodge, confirmed that the annual Fourth of July Parade will continue to be organized by the lodge for the foreseeable future, and that she welcomes the increased participation from the LDS community.
“This is going to be an excellent parade and I am very excited to be a part of it,” White said, via e-mail.
White wrote in the e-mail that the parade, started by the Pocatello Elks more than 15 years ago, was suffering from poor branding and public relations a couple of years ago, but that it has been reinvigorated thanks to a new partnership.
“The Portneuf Medical Center’s sponsorship and involvement in our parade last year, really helped us begin to brand the parade as the Pocatello Elks Fourth of July Parade,” she wrote. “Last year’s parade was highly successful thanks to the involvement of the Portneuf Medical Center.”
For those who do want to hear more from Blad directly, he is open to hearing comments from folks who have concerns and answering their questions about how he feels regarding the change in Pioneer Day celebration and the Fourth of July parade, during his quarterly Town Hall Meeting, hosted on Feb. 25. That will be held at 6 p.m. in the Pocatello City Council Chambers.
(5) comments
Every time I hear this topic, I puke a little in my mouth........
I'd like to start of by stating that it isn't just two individuals that express concern but there are many and I am one.
I support the privatization of the region celebration of Pioneer Day, I support active groups of individuals getting involved in the community by donating their time/money/creativity, and I support the separation of church and state.
Independence Day is by far this nations most cherished holidays and even though I agree that celebrating ones own religion is part of that Independence there is no reason for the two holidays to have content mixed in with each other. There are two days to differentiate the significance of the two holidays and if they must both be celebrated than Independence Day must remain a secular holiday.
As stated in the article a main concern is that too much community efforts are put into Pioneer Day rather than Independence Day, well if that's the case that seems to be a personal choice on both parties parts. If the citizens of the community would rather celebrate one over the other then that is their choice but no where should they merge in content. Now if the church feels that they are putting more effort into Pioneer Day than Independence Day and would like to change that then I fully support them volunteering as individuals with a common goal of celebrating the United States and Freedom without blatantly forcing an individuals belief on the masses of Pocatello.
These are the facts: The 4th of July is a national celebration honoring people who gave their lives so that we may hope to become, and remain, free; it's a celebration of liberty. Pioneer Day is a date celebrated by Mormons signifying when Brigham Young established his Utah and established a community for his version of Mormonism. Now I ask you... what possible reason could we have for combining these two incredibly different and distinct events?
What is meant by the Mormon church "having more involvement with the events"? Are we expected to believe that they would only give freely of their time to help with traditional 4th of July events? I'm inclined to think that an organization like the Mormon church has more than enough "monetary assistance" to influence the course of events and how much their presence is felt. Advertisements like Mormon.org or LDSSingles.com are sure to be found. If there is no church influence then doesn't that make volunteers simply volunteers? Where does church come into play if their specific creed is not among the themes?
I hope there is much more opposition. The closer the 4th of July approaches the more we will know about how much church doctrine will be pushed during the celebrations. There can still be boycotting of vendors and city planned events such as the Fairground fireworks. There can be picketing and protesting of such an absurd suggestion by our city council representatives promoting their own church's pockets. And the presence of any Mormon proselytizing can be met with public Mormon counter culture. Should the LDS church have even a recognized participation in the 4th of July events? There aren't enough ways of saying "NO"!
I find this very upsetting, I pay tribute on the 4th of July to every person who paid the ultimate sacrifice and to every man and woman who served to give us our Country and our freedoms.
I do not pay tribute to a local religion , a religion that I am not a part of or would want no part of me. The anniversary of our Nations Independence and the celebration of the men and women who paid for our independence with their blood has nothing to do with a local religion and never should be.
Please everyone in Pocatello, South Eastern Idaho , speak up, this is flat out wrong.
As of 2:30pm on Friday, there are 36 comments on this story, all attached to the original article, which was posted Saturday. A BIG Thank-You to Mr. Rodriguez, for both his commitment, and advising us that there will be a no-host community meeting tomorrow morning (Feb.9) from 9 to11 a.m. held at Golden Corral. Please spread the word. There are a lot more than "only two" people who are not happy about this.
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