Pratt Family Reunion
The Jared Pratt Family Association (JPFA) was founded in 1881 by Apostle Orson Pratt to keep track of the descendants of the Pratt Brothers: Anson, William, Parley, Orson and Nelson.
Friday & Saturday, July 19 & 20, 1996
Salt Lake City, Utah
At Federal Heights Chapel
Descendants Search Update
If information concerning you and your family is presently found in the Pratt family descendants search database, you will find enclosed computer-generated family group sheets to be corrected and updated. If you are not in the current database, you will find blank family group sheets enclosed which we hope you will complete one with you as a child and one with you as a parent. If you send this reunion notice to others in your family, please also enclose family group sheets for their use if possible. Please return the complete family group sheets to Robert and Linda Grow at 9767 Little Cottonwood Place, Sandy, Utah 84092 or bring them to the reunion. Keeping track of the Pratt descendants is a key objective of the JPFA; please help us move this work forward. If you know of Pratts that should be added to our mailing list, please send us their addresses.
Reunion Overview
(For details, see following page)
Friday Evening Activities
July 19, 1996
7:00 PM – Parley’s Hollow Hike
OR
6:15 PM – Temple Session at Salt Lake Temple
Saturday Activities
July 20, 1996
(All activities held at Federal Heights Building except Sunrise Walk)
8:30 AM – Sunrise Walk
9:00 AM – Exhibits and Displays Open
10:00 AM – Presentation on Orson Pratt by Breck England, author of “The Life and Thought of Orson Pratt”
11:00 AM – Presentation on Parley Pratt by Richard Nietzel Holzapfel, Assistant Professor of Church History at BYU
12:00 NOON – Lunch ($2.00/adult; $1.50/child)
1:30 PM – Family Meeting conducted by Robert J. Grow, President; Music by Lex & Peggy de Azevedo
Time to Be Determined – Computer Meeting – “Pratts on the Internet”
Parley’s Hollow Hike:
What: Parley’s Hollow, at the mouth of Parley’s Canyon, was the location of Parley’s home and the canyon road toll gate.
Who: Anyone interested in history and a moderately strenuous 25 min. walk each way through the Hollow guided by great storyteller Tim Taggart; parents must accompany children.
Meeting Place: Parking lot of Tanner Park, 2700 E. and approximately 2700 So. (south side of I-80)
For more info: Call Time & Gloria Taggart, (801) 969-4351 (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Temple Session
Who: Anyone interested in participating in a temple session with other family members. Names available from the JPFA file.
Meeting Place: Chapel, Salt Lake Temple; Meet at 6:15 PM for the 6:30 PM session.
Fore more info: Call Bart & Rebecca Tollefson, (801) 835-4423 in Manti, Utah; please RSVP.
Sunrise Walk
Who: Anyone interested in a fun as well as historical walk from “This Is the Place” Monument to the reunion site (about 2 miles along the SLC foothills).
Meeting Place: East entrance to Pioneer Trail State Park at 2601 East Sunnyside Avenue (across from the zoo; look for blue van with a Pratt banner).
For more info: Call Clark or Margaret Sevy, (801) 943-0974 (Sandy, Utah)
Donuts and juice at the Church for all participants.
General Family Meeting and Presentation
Who: The whole Pratt family!
**Slide presentation on the Pratt family in England, the oceanic crossing, and Pratts in colonial Connecticut.
**Descendant Search Update (now numbering over 24,000)
**Music of Parley P. Pratt
**Family business
** New Directions for the JPFA
“Pratts on the Internet”
Who: Anyone with computer expertise interested in helping to facilitate the computer work of the JPFA, including a Pratt page and Pratt genealogy on the Internet.
For time, place & info: Call Robert J. Grow, (801) 943-4648 (Sandy, Utah)
Family Heritage Exhibits: We Need Your Help!
The following people are coordinating exhibits on the five Pratt brothers. We need any contributions of pictures, momentos, books, informative charts, artwork, etc. you may have in order to make these displays a success. Contact these volunteers if you can help, set up, organize, or bring something to add to the display:
Anson Pratt. Call: Vibert & Marilyn Kesler
William Dickinson Pratt. Call: Richard & Morrena Harris
Parley Parker Pratt. Call: Sharon Pratt Wilbur
Orson Pratt. Call: Brent Beesley
Nelson Pratt: We are still looking for a volunteer. Can you help?
Other Exhibits
1. Updated Wall-Size Descendancy Charts: Doug Thompson has been working hard with new software to print wall-size computer-generated descendancy charts similar to the ones we displayed in 1991. We are hoping for a successful outcome.
2. The Descendants Search on Computer: Update or get a copy of your family records.
3. Display on Parley’s Hollow development project including “Orson’s Gate” (tunnel under the freeway to Suicide Rock”).
4. JPFA Items for Purchase
Lunch
Many people have expressed the desire to have a simple lunch at the reunion so they can easily participate in all the activities and have time to visit with their Pratt cousins. Therefore, this year we will be serving a light lunch consisting of: barbecued ham on a bun, chips, cookies and ice cream, and ice water for $2.00 per person. A children’s meal will consist of a hot dog on a bun, chips, cookies and ice cream, and ice water for $1.50 per child. This is strictly optional and you are welcome to make other arrangements for lunch. For those interested, we need to know how many to plan for. Please RSVP to Linda Grow, (801) 943-4648 (leave a message on the answering machine if no one is home), and specify your name, phone number, and the number of adult and children’s meals you would like. You can pay at the reunion. Food RSVPs must be by July 14.
Children’s Activities
Who: Children ages 3-11
What: Activities and games while the meetings are in session from 10:00 AM – 12:00 NOON and from 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM. Supervision by a college student majoring in recreation.
[transcribed and proofread by David Grow, Dec. 2006]