Utah’s own holiday is being commemorated today – Pioneer Day the 131st anniversary of the arrival of the first company of Mormon pioneers in the Great Salt Lake Valley. in Utah tradition, numerous communities across the state are holding celebrations. The largest observance in Central Utah is at Spanish Fork – the traditional Fiesta Days which reaches its zenith today, capping a three-day festival. A couple of activities on a national basis place additional focus on Pioneer Day: -ln Washington, a “Mormon Trail” bill was before the Senate for a vote. The measure, which earlier had cleared the House and the Senate Natural Resources Committee, designates the 1300mile historic trail the early Advertising On the Move Thanks to the campaign inspired by Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson when she was first lady and the resulting Highway Beautification Act of 1965, tens of thousands of unsightly billboards have been removed from the nation’s interstate and primary highway systems. The battle goes on, as tens of thousands of billboards remain and thousands of new ones have been erected despite the law. But while you can – with mixed success – take the billboards away from the highways, how do you take the highways away from the billboards? An advertising firm in Columbus, Ohio, has come up with a new wrinkle: Using tractor trailer trucks to carry messages to the motoring public. It first three clients are – the U.S. Air Force Reserve, the Veterans Administration and a show manufacturer, their advertisements appear on all four sides of the trucks of five trucking companies operating between 10 cities. pioneers took from Illinois to Utah. -Also in the East, a new portrait of Brigham Yoiuig, early leader who led the first company of pioneers to the Utah country, was unveiled Friday at the visitor’s center of the Washington Temple in nearby Kensington, Md. The portrait is the work of noted artist Stanislav Rembski. Many descendants of the second Mormon president were present for the unveiling. In the final days of the first pioneer company’s trek in 1847, Brigham Young became ill with mountain fever and the company was divided into three groups the advance wagons, the main body, and a contingent for the sick which lagged behind. The vanguard of the company gazed upon the valley from the heights of Little Mountain July 21, descended into it on the 22nd, moved northward to the south fork of the present City Creek on the 23rd. Brigham Young, then president of the Council of the Twelve of the church, was in touch with the advance units of the company through messengers who rode horseback. When he arrived on July 24 – the day commemorated as Pioneer Day – the pioneers of the first and second units already were plowing and planting, knowing there was barely time in that growing season to mature the crops upon which they had to depend. Through their industry and thrift, these and thousands of other pioneers in the years to come “made the desert blossom as a rose” and laid the foundation for the inland empire that we know today. Utah’s own holiday is a good time to reflect on the lofty goals of the pioneers and their foresight, dedication, hard work, and sacrifices in achieving them. We can leam much from the pioneers, and borrow from them qualities that will help us meet the challenges of our time as the state continues its forward march.