Deseret Digest May 2025

THE DIGEST

MAY 2025 VOL. 3 / NO. 5

Church News

Deseret Magazine

Eat. Stay. Play.

The ‘pioneering’ journey for the first senior single male missionary called

The worth of a soul: Finding redemption in a prison

The Salt Lake Bees’ new hive is a home run.

What I enjoyed about the ballpark in Daybreak

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On God’s errand: The Pamela Atkinson story Longtime advocate for disadvantaged people touches countless lives

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What’s the secret? Utah leaders celebrate 18 years of best economic outlook Gov. Cox said faith is an important factor to the state’s success

By Brigham Tomco Deseret News

State leaders gathered at the governor’s mansion on April 15 to celebrate a new report recognizing Utah as the state with the best economic outlook for the 18th year in a row.

Gov. Spencer Cox, state Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, attributed the winning streak to a series of tax cuts and the unique qualities of Utah residents, including their religiosity.

“We truly believe that we can be the best at everything because we have the best people,” Cox told lawmakers and media on the west steps of his residence. “Utah is No. 1 in the country for people of faith. I don’t care what your faith is, even if it’s not organized religion, believing in something bigger than yourself, I think that matters.”

Cox made sure to clarify he wasn’t talking about any specific faith tradition. But he said the absence of religious belief systems leaves a God-shaped hole that is increasingly filled with “things of the moment” that do not matter in the long run to the health of future generations.

Utah has the highest rate of religious affiliation and worship-service attendance in the country. Cox linked the state’s outlier status in terms of religious adherence to its nationally recognized ability to plan for the future, making it one of the least federally dependent, and one of the most wellprepared, states in the nation.

“There is something about believing in something bigger than any one person, it makes us less selfish,” Cox said. “When you believe that there’s something more out there, something bigger than us, it makes us care about the future.”

Adams and Schultz also balanced their praise between Utah policymakers and private citizens. The state’s consistent No. 1 placement is evidence that frugal spending, lower taxes and light-handed regulation lead to a higher quality of life for Utahns, according to Adams.

“It doesn’t happen by chance. This is by choice,” Adams said. “It’s policies. It’s things that we’ve put in place.”

Intentional legislative decisions over multiple decades have strengthened Utah from the ground up, according to Schultz, who argued that steady conservative leadership has created an environment where Utah communities can flourish.

The skyline of downtown Salt Lake City is pictured on Monday, April 14, 2025.

“Utah’s success is rooted in the principles that work,” Schultz said. “A business friendly, but most importantly, a family friendly environment that fosters innovation and upward mobility.”

What’s in the report?

The “Rich States, Poor States” report is published annually by the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a conservative policy group that connects state legislators across the country to discuss model legislation.

Each year, ALEC scrutinizes states based on the same 15 metrics focused on tax rates, debt service, size of public workforce and right-to-work status. These policies are associated with business growth and serve as an accurate forecast a state’s economic outlook, according to ALEC chief economist Jonathan Williams.

Utah has come out on top of the ranking every year since it began in 2007.

This success is the result of proactive

policymaking, Williams said. If the Utah Legislature had simply kept its economic policy the same after receiving first-place in ALEC’s inaugural report, the state would now be ranked No. 23.

“It’s an incredible testament to legislative leaders and policy makers across the board,” Williams told the Deseret News on April 14.

The latest report ranked Utah highly across most indicators, especially in terms of recently legislated tax decreases. Since 2021, state lawmakers have reduced the income tax four times, from 4.95% to 4.5%, and have expanded tax credits four times for Social Security recipients and three times for families with young children.

Where the state really shines is in terms of economic performance. The report found that from 2013-2023, Utah saw the largest cumulative increase in gross domestic product in the nation, at 107.9%, and the largest growth in employment, at 32.7%.

“This is just an incredible economic success story,” Williams said. “Utah is a

Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

picture-perfect example of when you get it right on public policy and you make your state a lower cost-of-living state with a higher quality of life, that is an incredible formula for economic growth.”

But this formula appears to ignore many of the state’s shortfalls that make it hard for working families to make ends meet, according to Utah House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City.

Romero shared her Republican colleagues’ celebration for another No. 1 ranking but said it was a “concerningly biased evaluation of economic success” because it excluded important factors like the state’s poor showing on metrics of women’s equality, workers compensation and labor protections.

“Rather than accounting for factors that affect regular working people and families, the index praises Utah for its low minimum wage and tax cuts in favor of corporations,” Romero said. “As a state, we must protect the economic outlook for all Utahns, not only a select few.”

DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

Is more growth good?

While economic giants like California and New York lost nearly 2 million people who moved to other states over the report’s 10year timeframe, Utah received over 126,400 transplants, making it the state with the 13th highest rate of net in-migration, the report found.

The trend goes back much further. Utah has had a net positive in-migration rate every year out of the past 35 years except for two, according to Natalie Gochnour, director of the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.

This means a total of almost 700,000 people have decided to relocate to Utah from other states over the last few decades. While there are difficulties associated with growth, being a “magnet state” is a positive sign for current residents, Gochnour said.

“They go together,” Gochnour said. “If you’re providing opportunities for your children and grandchildren, you’re also providing opportunities for people all around the country to come to your economy.”

The pro-growth policies being measured

by ALEC shouldn’t be viewed as corporate handouts, according to Gochnour. They have had a very real return on investment. Not only did Utah lead the nation in terms of GDP growth last year — doubling the national average — it also topped the list in terms of median household income adjusted for cost of living and had one of the lowest poverty rates in the country.

As an economist, Gochnour said these high levels of economic opportunity are driven by investments. But the kind of risk-taking that leads to innovation, jobs and a higher quality of life is “distorted” by high taxes and overregulation, she said.

While Utah leaders have done a good job of encouraging a robust free market, they have also sought to find a balance where “purposeful” investments are made into infrastructure and education, Gochnour said, pointing out that Utah has the third most well-trained adult population in the country in terms of post-secondary degrees, credentials and certificates.

The state’s plaudits — which include the best state in the nation two years in a row, best state to start a business and best state for social mobility — are a function of a “pattern of leaders” that have created a fiscally responsible and forward-looking environment, Gochnour said.

But the national recognition is even more a reflection of Utah’s “social capital,” according to Gochnour, consisting of “networks of trust, relationships, collaboration (and) connection” that exist in Utah communities but are harder to measure.

“It’s our social capital that gives us the ability to prevent problems, to solve problems and to move forward in a better way,” Gochnour said. “And so if there’s one thing that I don’t think the ALEC report totally captures ... it would be that we still in Utah know how to work together.”

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What is ALEC?

ALEC was formed over 50 years ago as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, working mostly with Republican-led legislatures to promote federalism, limited government and free markets.

For 2025, the organization unveiled 32 pieces of model legislation centered around affordable energy, tax reform and education scholarships.

Multiple proposals, including on school vouchers and transparent taxation, are based off Utah legislation, and some recent Utah legislation, including a bill preventing the early retirement of power plants, was based off ALEC model legislation.

ALEC does not lobby lawmakers to pass their model legislation to improve their ranking on ALEC’s annual report, according to state Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, who serves as ALEC’s legislative cochair in Utah.

“There’s no coordinated efforts,” Fillmore told the Deseret News on Monday. “ALEC really is a forum whereby the best ideas in the country can rise to the top.”

Utah lawmakers frequently pitch novel legislation passed in the Beehive State to ALEC to become model legislation for other states to consider, Fillmore said.

However, the primary source of inspiration for new legislation is constituents, Fillmore said. And while some principles, like individual freedom, should guide policymaking, Fillmore said it is ultimately the Utah people that

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determine whether good policy passes and succeeds.

“I would just give full credit to the people of Utah,” Fillmore said. “Anything in politics that is a benefit is just really downstream of the culture that Utahns have created.”

“It’s an incredible testament to legislative leaders and policy makers across the board.”

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CHURCH NEWS

The ‘pioneering’ journey for the first senior single male missionary called Meet Elder Paul Newton, whose journey includes his wife’s death, an application process requiring Missionary Department assistance and a call to Croatia

By Scott Taylor Church News

Elder Paul Newton has been called a pioneer and a guinea pig — appropriate for the first-called senior single male missionary since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently expanded missionary opportunities for single men 40 and older.

And he is starting a pilot program as part of his 12-month service in the Adriatic North Mission.

Elder Newton’s pioneering journey spans more than just the physical distance from his Salem, Utah, residence to the nearby Provo Missionary Training Center and on to the mission office in Zagreb, Croatia.

The real journey has been the past half-dozen years, first when hopes and plans for a senior mission with his wife, Kathleen, were dashed by disease and death, followed by the Nov. 1, 2024, announcement that single senior men could serve and then the nearly several weeks needed to complete his online application, which required Missionary Department assistance.

“I’ve wanted to go on a mission ever since I served the first one as a young man,” said Elder Newton, recalling feeling “clean and connected to Heavenly Father” as a missionary a half-century ago in South America. “And now, I get to do that again.”

He treasures this Dec. 23 text from Tami Evans, a project coordinator in the Missionary Department’s senior missionary services division: “You may not know this, but you were the very first single senior elder called. I know it was a process and at times difficult, but you are paving the way for us to be able to fix things and make it better for years to come.”

Early years, mission and marriage

Paul Newton was born in September 1954 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, while his father attended the University of Alberta. The oldest of 14 children, he grew up in Monroe, Utah, and the then-unincorporated area west of Salt Lake City. Following high school graduation and a year of college, he served in the Uruguay Paraguay Mission from 1973 to 1975.

After returning home, Newton joined the Mormon Youth Chorus, soon meeting Kathleen Parker of Salt Lake City.

They started dating in June 1976, became engaged the next month and were married Sept. 21, 1976, by Elder Marion D. Hanks in the Salt Lake Temple. They raised their family in the Salt Lake Valley and are the parents of five children and 22 grandchildren, with two of the oldest grandsons currently serving full-time missions.

A real estate lawyer with an emphasis in title insurance, Paul Newton left full-time legal practice in 1992, working in-house with a title insurance company until 2015 and then working and consulting for a national insurance company.

Kathleen Newton sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir — now the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square — for 18 years, retiring in 2014. The Newtons talked about serving a senior mission together after her retirement, but she had been

Provided by President Brian E. Cordray, Adriatic North Mission

Elder Paul Newton points to his photo on the assignment board of the Adriatic North Mission in Zagreb, Croatia, on March 21, 2025.

called as a ward Relief Society president and wanted to finish her service.

In early 2019, with a pending mission assignment and a projected July 1 availability date, the Newtons completed their application and medical and dental forms. Ready to meet with their bishop in mid-March, the couple were overcoming an illness he had picked up traveling out-of-state.

On the morning of their appointment, Paul Newton was working downstairs and heard a loud crash. Rushing upstairs, he found wife on the floor, having fallen getting out of a hot bath and hurting her shoulder.

After resting in bed until midday, Kathleen Newton said she wasn’t feeling well and left for the doctor’s office, worried about the shoulder and the possibility of pneumonia. When she was sent to the emergency room for X-rays, her husband joined her to hear the ER doctor confirm a cracked shoulder — and add a diagnosis of a lung disease called pulmonary fibrosis.

“We didn’t know what that was, but once we figured it out, we knew Kathy wasn’t going on a mission, so we pulled the plug on that totally,” said Paul Newton. “But we didn’t know the journey we were going to go on.”

Last years together, first years alone

A pulmonologist eventually gave Kathleen Newton heartbreaking news — he could do little beyond a lung transplant, a dangerous procedure at her age.

A move to the Kansas City/Liberty area of western Missouri helped her breathe easier. “We got three more years by moving away,” said Paul Newton, noting that lowerelevation air has a higher oxygen content. “She never used an oxygen tank in Missouri — not once.”

Kathleen Newton died Nov. 13, 2022, and Paul Newton returned to Utah, selling the family home and assets, purchasing a small residence and soon immersing himself into temple and family history work. He became an ordinance worker in the Payson Utah Temple, happy to pick up extra shifts as well as do ordinance work for the hundreds of deceased he found doing extensive family history research.

“What I did in title insurance was the same thing,” he said. “It’s just a history of land and stuff instead of the history of people.”

He added: “My mindset was that I needed to be anxiously engaged in good causes. You don’t have your sea legs under you when your spouse of 46 years passes away. You’re used

DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025 to doing things together and making decisions together — and all of a sudden, she’s not there, and you’re like only half of yourself.”

A new opportunity — and adventure

On Nov. 1, 2024, after more than 10 hours in the temple doing ordinance work for the deceased and substituting on a shift, Newton was greeted by texts from family and friends informing him of the Church’s new allowance for senior single male missionaries and the common question: “What are you going to do?”

By the next day, he had contacted a friend who used to work in the Missionary Department and learned of a possible opportunity. “I’m all in,” he told his friend.

Including all in for the adventure of simply applying.

Newton can rattle off a series of November and December dates, listing stops, stalls and restarts in his application process. He found encouraging and responsive Missionary Department advocates in Evans and Sister Suzanne Vause, a recently released full-time missionary assisting on the division’s support team.

The latter confided the online missionary systems were being updated, with senior single elder applicants being “guinea pigs” for the first updates.

Newton mentioned that to Elder Lawrence Corbridge, an emeritus General Authority Seventy and former law partner. “Call yourself a ‘pioneer,’” Elder Corbridge told him. “‘Guinea pig’ doesn’t sound as nice.”

Evans told Newton the same thing later in a text: “You are a literal pioneer.”

Evans salutes Newton for his patience and kindness. “His unwavering desire to serve allowed us to identify and resolve many issues, ultimately improving the process for every single elder who has since submitted a recommendation,” she said, adding “I believe the Lord knew we needed

someone like him to walk through this experience first. …

“He remained optimistic, always expressing faith that the Lord would make things work in His timing.”

Newton finally hit “submit” on his online application on Dec. 6. Just before Christmas came Evans’ text, his call and assignment and the formality of sending his acceptance letter to the First Presidency. He entered the Provo MTC on March 10 for five days of “Preach My Gospel” training and five days of instruction on working in a mission office before departing for Croatia.

And now in Croatia

Adriatic North Mission President Brian E. Cordray’s first learnings about senior single elders were that they are to work in mission offices and not be assigned a companion.

But he doesn’t see Elder Newton as serving alone.

“I don’t think he is coming ‘alone,’ in the spiritual sense,” said President Cordray, mindful of the late Kathleen Newton. “I feel that in a very tangible way, she will be with him in spirit, and he will feel her love and support from the other side of the veil.”

With missionaries serving in and transferring across five southern European countries and crossing international borders for transfer assignments, the mission needs someone to navigate visa processes with a myriad of lawyers and government agencies.

“Elder Newton, with his unique background as a lawyer, is a godsend for us,” President Cordray said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for good men to serve at a time when they might otherwise feel put out to pasture. The Lord needs these faithful sons — and frankly we do too here in the mission field.”

Even before starting arriving at the Adriatic North Mission office in Zagreb, Croatia, on March 21, Elder Newton was apprised of a special responsibility, which he describes as “a

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pilot program for reactivating nonparticipating members” for both the mission and the Church’s Europe Central Area.

To hear President Cordray explain the opportunity, it’s an initiative that Elder Newton can understand and appreciate.

Said President Cordray: “We have many older, single male adults who feel like they have lost their usefulness and don’t know what they can offer the Lord and His Church by way of service. Elder Newton will surely be an inspiration to all those good brothers — the Savior has a use for each of us in this great work, no matter what our personal circumstance may be.”

Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Elder Paul Newton, the first missionary called after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints allowed senior single males 40 and older to serve beginning Nov. 1, 2024, poses for a portrait at the Provo Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.

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On God’s errand: The Pamela Atkinson story Longtime advocate for disadvantaged people touches countless lives coordinating committee and Envision Utah.

She’s been a paid member of corporate boards, collecting what she calls her “God-wants-meto-help-others” checks to cover the rent or buy medicine for those who cannot afford it.

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Pamela Atkinson poses for a portrait in her home in Salt Lake City on Friday, March 7, 2025.

By Lois M. Collins Deseret News

It’s hard to live in Utah and not know the name Pamela Atkinson. It’s even on the state tax form for a homeless trust fund. Drive downtown in Salt Lake City and you may pass the Pamela Atkinson Fourth Street Clinic or Pamela’s Place transitional housing. Her First Presbyterian Church has a Pamela’s Closet, collecting items to donate to nonprofits like Thrive, which helps refugees who survived torture.

“A trifle embarrassing” is how Atkinson describes having her name on buildings and programs, but she admits she’s happy when her name boosts donations to worthy causes, which happens a lot. It’s a point of pride that she knows nearly every one of the worker bees who keep those programs running.

But the well-known advocate for the poor, who’s been affectionately called an “energizer

bunny,” has slowed a bit. Atkinson, now 92, has recently been ill. Sitting in her comfy chair by an unlit fireplace in her Salt Lake City home, across from the five stuffed teddy bears she keeps on hand for her great-grandchildren — “six under age 3” — Atkinson said friends keep telling her she’s looking better, but she knows that life is short and precious.

“I’ve had a good inning,” she said, before offering guests a choice of berry cardamom or hibiscus organic tea and biscuits.

The health care advisor in her — Atkinson is a registered nurse and was in Intermountain Health’s administration for many years, retiring as vice president over mission services — is close to the surface. She mentions she likes loose-leaf herbal tea because there’s no insecticide, which tea bags may contain.

Atkinson spent decades roaming through homeless camps to do outreach and check on those she’s befriended who pitch makeshift

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

tents and build cardboard huts among the concrete and the weeds along the Jordan River, meeting endlessly with lawmakers and policymakers and serving on boards. Now she’s as apt to be found on her front porch, weather allowing, chatting with one of the seemingly endless collection of friends she has amassed.

She no longer drives around handing out socks and gloves in the dead of winter. She took away her own car keys, deciding her age and health were no longer so road worthy. This year, because she’s been somewhat frail, she didn’t endure long days at the Utah Legislature to advocate for program funding, although she said she misses her lawmaking friends.

Atkinson has for decades had her fingers in many pies, from advising every governor since Mike Leavitt to serving on the state’s Board of Regents to chairing the Utah Coalition Against Pornography. She’s been on a slew of advisory boards, from refugees to the homeless

There’s another side far from that public persona, though. Near her elbow on a little table, there’s a paperback copy of “Never Let a Unicorn Wear a Tutu.” Toys nestle behind the couch to entertain the great-grands when they come by and the bookshelves have been emptied so they won’t tip. She says she has three little chairs in the other room for when it’s reading time.

Atkinson showers those she cares about with love and food, from family members to her many friends in homelessness. But in this retreat, her titles are mom or grandma Pamela, GP or simply “my dear friend.”

This expert juggler of challenges never put family in the background, even after her three children, Sally, Roger and Heather were grown.

Said her daughter, Heather Hooper: “Despite my mom working, volunteering, serving, helping others much longer than eight hours a day during the work week, she would often get up early on Saturday mornings — her one chance to sleep in — and go and get three dozen bagels and cream cheese for my family of six hungry boys.”

Hooper said her mom called ahead to order their cinnamon sugar favorite, then showed up early, knowing the boys would be up and hungry.

“Not only was I grateful to not have to feed the boys breakfast or lunch on those Saturdays, I was in awe that instead of relaxing or sleeping in or getting things done for herself, she instead chose to shower us with love and food, which was incredibly appreciated and helpful. It’s definitely what I will always remember and be thankful for and hope to emulate in my own life with loved ones.”

It’s just in the last year that Atkinson’s frenetic pace has changed. Gone are the days of loading big bags of dog food in the back of her vehicle to give to those avoiding shelters because their dogs are not allowed, though they are often the closest friend and most loyal companion.

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Atkinson family

Pamela Atkinson, left, and an unidentified friend hangout together in this undated photo.

Pamela Atkinson pictured in the early 1970s with her children, Roger, Heather and Sally.

speaking at events, though not as often as she used to. She’s still a sought-after and listenedto community advocate and adviser. And she never looks far to get rides, should she need to go somewhere. An incomparable network of friends and her daughter are happy to give her a lift that’s both literal and metaphorical. “I miss driving and independence, but I have the friendship of so many people who are willing to take me to appointments and wait for me,” she said.

Choosing a different life

Atkinson is miles from her birth as the third of five children in Bromley, Kent, England — an assertion that has very little to do with geography. To say they were poor is to inflate her family’s resources. Her father raced greyhounds and gambled away any money he got. She never saw him after he abandoned his family. Her mother, Johannah Bye, worked any job she found to support her brood, but they were always hungry and lacked basics like the indoor plumbing their neighbors enjoyed.

She was 7 when the London Blitz began, enduring air raids and panicked dashes to underground shelters before she and one of her sisters were sent to the countryside, where they were safer but made to feel unwelcome.

“She knew what it was to be unwanted and impoverished, with no one to encourage her,” Hooper said.

Back home when the sirens fell silent, she delivered newspapers to contribute to the family’s income. But the older she got, the more she saw all her family lacked.

Reading saved her, she said, opening her eyes to a bigger world that convinced her education could change her life. She met a librarian who fed her interest, setting books aside for her.

The woman was her first mentor and proof that simply showing up for someone could change their world. Atkinson has shown up for others ever since.

Atkinson family

But at night in bed where she and her sisters lay heel-to-head, she decided to marry a rich man. She promised herself she’d leave poverty — and poor people — behind forever.

She later laughed at the absurdity of the plan, given that it turned out the plight of others had been carved in both her heart and her head. Her future would center in large part on easing the burdens of poverty in those she met.

But all of that was still quite far off.

Healing others’ wounds

Atkinson was drawn to nursing and that’s what she studied. But she also had a hankering to roam and see new worlds.

In 1958, she got a visa as an exchange student and worked at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. “I actually found I was so good at doing what I was doing that they made me an assistant head nurse, which was way out of the rule book,” she said. But after a while she had a yen to go home and see everyone and continue her education at University College Hospital, which she did.

Next, she moved to Australia for a job and free fare to one of the Torres Strait islands between North Queensland and New Guinea, where many of the patients she treated were aborigines. The little plane that took her there flew so low over the Australian Outback that she could see crocodiles in the water, a sight she remembers vividly. They landed on Horn Island and took a boat to Thursday Island, where she worked in labor and delivery.

“The operating room had these doors that went to the outside and the patients were wheeled in from the outdoors. The nurse aides would have a fly catcher and fan us while we were working and doing the necessary surgery,” Atkinson said, her British accent still evident.

One day, she had to dive and catch a baby before it hit the ground. It came so fast they had no time to situate the mother. Women often delayed seeking care until the last minute.

She sometimes sailed to other islands with colleagues to provide medical care; each was a new experience. On one, Atkinson said if a child was born to unmarried parents, the island chief fined the couple, but the whole island cared for the baby. “It was really wonderful to see.”

She learned to water ski in the strait’s sharkinfested waters. The sharks provided her the strong incentive to get up on her skis the first time and stay up. She chuckles at the memory of a doctor who never did manage the challenge she was proud to meet.

In 1962, she moved to the U.S. and worked for a time in a Philadelphia hospital, before moving to San Francisco, where she gained broad experience in different kinds of nursing. She went back to school, earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing with a minor in criminology from the University of California, followed by a master’s degree from University of Washington, where she studied sociology, business and education while teaching others nursing and management leadership.

A human touch

It was in Seattle that homelessness first tugged at Atkinson’s heart.

She’d gone with a group to serve dinner and while the others were given dish-thefood assignments, she was asked to be the greeter, shaking hands as people came in. That handshake, she was told, might be the only touch someone experienced in days or weeks or even years. It was a lesson worth passing through generations, so Atkinson has, though she reminds people to ask “Would you like a hug?” before giving one.

Hooper went with her mom to serve dinner to “her homeless friends” when she was about 20. She felt confused watching Atkinson offer hugs. In the car, she asked her mom why she would “want to get that close to men who were obviously unwashed and dirty.”

Atkinson told her human touch “is extremely powerful in conveying love.”

“It is something I remember to this day — the importance of physical contact for a person’s well-being. I definitely look at those experiencing homelessness with different eyes thanks to her eyes that saw as our Savior does,” Hooper said.

Meeting people where they are

Ed Snoddy has worked for Volunteers of America for 30 years doing outreach, looking for and after those who are homeless, addicted or

mentally ill. He met Atkinson in 1996 when she was over mission services for Intermountain Health and remembers being “scared to death.”

She already had almost legendary status. They quickly became friends. If you want to know how Atkinson befriended so many experiencing homelessness, Snoddy is the keeper of many of the stories.

The two made many forays into homeless camps near the river and often took along dignitaries, including then-Gov. Leavitt. Snoddy and Atkinson had befriended a man named Chuck who lived outside with his little buddy, a small black-and-white furball named Trixie, a dog of unknown breed. The day Leavitt joined them, he and Chuck had quite a long talk. The governor was cordial and curious, Snoddy said.

Later, Chuck became sick and one of his housed friends agreed to watch Trixie so he could get medical care. His liver was failing.

He told LDS Hospital staff he was friends with Leavitt, which prompted his health care providers to call for a psych evaluation; obviously he was delusional from the toxins collecting on his brain, a hallmark of liver failure and encephalopathy.

Atkinson called Leavitt and said Chuck would likely die soon, prompting the governor to visit the hospital, security guards in tow, where the two had one final chat.

“You could see the medical team wondering, ‘Who the heck is this guy?’” Snoddy recalled with a chuckle.

Chuck longed to see his dog, so Snoddy and Atkinson smuggled Trixie into his hospital room in a jacket. “Is this OK?” a worried Snoddy asked his friend. “Of course it is,” she replied.

Then added, “Just don’t tell anyone.”

Such moments are vintage Pamela Atkinson, Snoddy said.

Chuck died — at the home of his friend with Trixie, in a hospital bed Atkinson obtained for him. They held a memorial service on the river and she officiated.

“He was a nice guy, always respectful, not a hardcore alcoholic or drug addict,” Snoddy said.

“He kept a clean camp and was fun to talk to.

Sometimes we’d sit and have a sandwich with him. We had boundaries. But there’s no limit to caring.”

Pamela moments

At Christmas, Atkinson and Snoddy took wrapped presents and meals out so homeless friends would have gifts to open: a jacket, a scarf, candy. It was an annual, outside-ofwork experience, “just basic humanity, caring and giving,” as Snoddy describes it. “Those times were probably when we had the best conversations. You could see how grateful Pamela was for being in her position and having the ability to help other people.”

Even her street friendships have been far from fleeting.

Johnny was among the first to go into a Sunrise Metro transitional housing program, which gave him a small apartment of his own.

They’d known him a while, had brought him Thanksgiving dinners at a dumpster where he and a pal, Smiley, lived.

Housing made Johnny happy, but with the passage of time he and Atkinson lost touch —

DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Pamela Atkinson checks up on Cricket at the Allstar Hotel on North Temple on May 15, 2003.

Atkinson took Cricket to the hospital to have her swollen tonsils examined. Cricket has been staying in the hotel after a run-in with her abusive ex-boyfriend.

until a hospital social worker called her about a man who said she was his friend and asked her to visit.

She did. Doctors said they could keep him alive for a while, but he would be on oxygen and need a feeding tube. He didn’t want that. Atkinson got him to The Inn Between, a hospice program for individuals experiencing homelessness, “and we saw him every day for about five days, then he went relatively quick;

his heart was tired and he gave up. I have his ashes on my desk. He’d been a baseball fan.

We decided that maybe, when there’s a new stadium, we’ll sneak him there,” Snoddy said.

When Snoddy described trying to get a home for sex-trafficked women going, Atkinson immediately helped organize it, enlisting community leaders and offering guidance. That program became reality in 2023.

“She’s an advisor to everyone,” said Snoddy,

who calls her input remarkable. Most people look at the bricks and mortar needs, but he said Atkinson has always seen need at a more personal level. She nudges people toward personal fulfillment they’ve never had. Some, said Snoddy, “never had an opportunity to play in a field, an opportunity to go to school, an opportunity to have clean clothes. Pamela would zoom in on that … she was attentive to those details. That’s why people are the way they are. They have missed big chunks of their development.”

He credits Atkinson with his own development working with people on the street, both professionally and personally. He notes moments when the system makes work depressing, with gaps in continuity of care. She makes time to talk whenever he feels down. “It always means a lot to me to have that Pamela moment.”

Snoddy once asked her what she’s doing with all her awards for good deeds and lifetime service. She smiled. “Don’t tell anyone. I have a basement,” she replied.

Agent of change

Were he to sum Atkinson up, Snoddy said her story would be one of lives changed, often slowly and one at a time: There’s the girl, not quite 18, who ran away and worked as a private dancer, developing a drug habit. Atkinson found and visited with her every week. One day, the girl asked if she could call her dad. A week later, Snoddy put her on a plane — with a ticket Atkinson provided — to

11

go back home.

The two friends cried afterward as Snoddy told Atkinson how the girl called home to tell her dad she loved him and was coming.

Or the homeless friend with congestive heart failure who wanted to marry her partner.

Snoddy bought a wedding dress at a Deseret Industries thrift store. University of Utah Hospital staff printed programs and baked a cake. The chaplain officiated. And Atkinson put them up for a couple of nights in a hotel, because the woman didn’t want to die in a hospital. She perished two days later.

There’s the man from Monterrey, Mexico, in the U.S. legally with a wife and three young kids who had terminal cancer of the jaw who wanted to die back home. The Fourth Street Clinic bought Christmas for the little family and Atkinson used her many connections in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to plot his journey and ensure he could get the strong medicines he would need at a pharmacy in Mexico.

“I look at her and think, ‘How many people do you know?’ She’s been connecting people like me to other people in the community and you can see how the trickle effect really works,” Snoddy said.

Spencer Cox, Utah’s governor, calls Atkinson “one of the greatest champions of Utah’s homelessness. She is tireless in her efforts to serve others, always looking for ways to lift and CONTINUES ON PG. 12

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12 DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025 support those in need. I’ve been in meetings with Pamela to discuss how we can better help the homeless, only to learn she had just come from handing out socks and supplies to her friends on the street. Her quiet acts of kindness and countless moments of service have made a difference in the lives of so many Utahns. We are incredibly fortunate to have her example of compassion and dedication in our state.”

One of Atkinson’s favorite events is an annual holiday dinner provided to those without their own abode. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cooks an unbelievable number of steaks — this last year with the help of many volunteers 1,800 people in shelters and various programs and in some cases on the street had dinner with all the fixings.

Atkinson said she believes — sincerely hopes — others will step up to fulfill the needs of those who struggle. She sees a new generation of leaders with big hearts and understanding and said she isn’t worried that if she’s no longer able, there’ll be a huge void.

Holy nudges

Does she have regrets? “I’m grateful and feel blessed that the Lord gave me a purpose in life and led me in terms of what to do,” she answered. She regrets moments when she didn’t answer the call to act. She quickly learned to recognize what she calls “holy nudges.”

She believes the Lord often provided solutions.

She remembers a night serving dinner at the Salvation Army dining room before an overflow shelter existed. Folks were worrying about how those living outdoors would survive the cold. The next day, recounting the dilemma to a friend at the Capitol, she started to cry. A reporter overheard and wrote a story.

Her friend, the late Jon Huntsman Sr., read it and provided $50,000 for an overflow shelter, which made her cry again.

Crying, though, is not something Atkinson does much. “In England, you’re brought up to have a stiff British upper lip. I remember when I went into nursing, one of the first things we

were told is you do not cry with your patients.

I thought that was odd. The first patient who died when I was out on the wards was a 14-yearold boy with leukemia, and I’ve never forgotten I couldn’t cry because I’d been told not to. That changed when I came to the States.”

She said caring goes both ways. She has plenty of stories of folks experiencing homelessness who linger outside the congregate dining room to make sure she reaches her car safely. She tells of a pair who noticed her trunk latch wasn’t working properly. They took turns eating so one of them could watch her car.

Atkinson likes putting people together in interesting combinations, figuring they’ll find things in common and become friends.

It usually works. When former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert wanted to host a faith leaders luncheon, her seating chart put guests with others she figured were strangers. Someone told her it would be better if they could sit by friends, but she disagreed. She also invited the governor’s senior staff to host a table and sent them the names and faiths of the leaders they’d be sitting with so they could visit their place of worship beforehand if they wanted.

“What I loved about these luncheons is the number of business cards that were passed around,” she said. “People made real friends there” and learned about each others’ beliefs.

Her energy has come from leading a “purpose-filled life,” she said. “My purpose is to do whatever the Lord wants me to do. It’s a good purpose and he reminds me if I don’t pay attention.”

Asked to describe that holy nudge, she says, “It feels like, ‘Pamela, get out of your car and do something.’” Occasionally followed by a “holy shove” if she’s too tired or slow to act.

Front porch friends

Like Snoddy, Casey Cameron is one of Atkinson’s front porch friends. They met almost 20 years ago handing out turkeys at the Indian Walk In Center, then grew the relationship while serving as Cox advisers. COVID solidified the friendship as they did their best for folks

Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Gov. Spencer Cox, right, presents Pamela Atkinson with a signed proclamation creating Pamela Atkinson Day during an event at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. At left is President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

struggling during those isolating days.

They have tea every couple of weeks at Atkinson’s house and Cameron sometimes runs Atkinson to her appointments.

Atkinson taught her there are different levels of outcomes, Cameron said: Big ones that cost lots of money and start programs and move systems along. That’s something Atkinson was well-known for at Intermountain. “She can get big outcomes; she’s done that a lot in her professional career,” Cameron said. “But she taught me even when you can’t move the system along, you can still get small outcomes.”

Small outcomes can look like this: making sandwiches and handing them out. Or keeping blankets and gloves in your car in case you encounter someone who’s cold. You can keep people from freezing “and that’s an outcome.”

Atkinson thinks of both short- and long-term outcomes, Cameron said. “One thing she taught me is always focus on what you can do today.

Small outcomes go a long way.”

Atkinson’s credibility with people who are often distrustful is based on what she does “in the moment,” her friend said.

Cameron also credits her for lessons on professional and personal accountability.

Atkinson mastered the “one pager.” She can boil any issue, no matter its complexity, to a single, understandable page that doesn’t give anyone an excuse not to read it. She’ll summarize an important issue and put it on legislators’ desks.

If she asks for money, that page says where the money would go, what the results would be, how the money would make things better and the impact on people and communities it would reach. She would be accountable in that way for that money.

Both Snoddy and Cameron said Atkinson has always encouraged those with whom she’s worked to mind their friendships, to never let disagreements get in the way of relationships.

Always hear people out, be curious and open, is how Cameron describes it.

She wants friends to take care of themselves, too, and to take care of others. So Atkinson does some nudging of her own. “She’s a champion and a cheerleader for me,” said Cameron. “I am 50 and she’s 92 and she’s one of my very best friends.”

Make Your Bathroom Safer This Year!

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Homeless Advocate Pamela Atkinson is thanked by Al, a client of the Fourth Street Clinic in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016. Al uses the health, vision and dental program available at the clinic.

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14 DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

DESERET MAGAZINE

The worth of a soul Finding redemption in a prison

Religion can have positive effects on an individual’s thoughts, emotions and behavior.

David Habben for the Deseret News

By Jenna Carson Deseret Magazine

Wearing a protective vest, I stood on a prison compound, my utility belt weighed down with handcuffs, pepper spray and a radio equipped with a body alarm. This was my required uniform as a chaplain in a high security men’s federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania. Before me, a crowd of incarcerated men filed out of a housing unit toward the cafeteria. A correctional officer approached me, skepticism in his eyes.

“How many of these inmates do you think you are actually going to help here?” he asked. I paused to think about the question.

The officer went on. “I asked the last chaplain here. He’d been in for eight years. Guess what he told me? One. Just one.” He leaned in, his voice low and firm.

“You can’t change these guys. It’s better not to care about them at all. You probably won’t come to hate the inmates — since you’re a chaplain — but try to get as close to hate as possible.”

This attitude was not unusual in prison, where an “us versus them” mentality between staff and incarcerated often prevails. Animosity was fueled daily, but as a chaplain in the prison, I had been called to model something different. I had been called to share the message of God’s love.

While they donned a different outfit and were rarely women, the presence of chaplains in prisons goes back

centuries. Religious leaders have long ministered to the incarcerated, offering solace, guidance and spiritual instruction. Recognizing the role of faith in moral rehabilitation, early American prisons institutionalized prison chaplaincy in the 19th century.

Chaplaincy today is a highly professionalized career, requiring rigorous academic and practical training. Aspiring chaplains typically complete a four-year undergraduate degree, followed by a three-year Master of Divinity.

Additionally, they must complete at least one internship or a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education to gain hands-on experience in spiritual care.

We serve as spiritual counselors, teachers, worship leaders and advocates, tending to the souls of people overlooked by society, often in their worst moments. By providing spiritual counseling, and by leading worship services, chaplains offer a bridge between the incarcerated and the divine, providing spaces that acknowledge the possibility of healing and redemption for all. In prison, the role of a chaplain is not just about religious services. It is about preserving human dignity. A skillful chaplain helps incarcerated individuals deepen their sense of purpose and value in the face of circumstances that often strip away human dignity.

My journey to prison chaplaincy spanned several years.

While a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School, I felt “called” — spiritually guided by God — to pursue chaplaincy in the military. The first step in my process was to obtain ecclesiastical endorsement from my church, but when I

sought endorsement, I learned it was not an option for Latter-day Saint women. At the time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reserved military chaplaincy endorsement for men since women are not ordained. For several years, I advocated for a church policy change that would allow women to serve as chaplains in the military.

Meanwhile, the church endorsed me for other forms of chaplaincy: first in a hospital, then at a prison.

My calling to minister to those in prison included a deepseated belief that no one is beyond redemption. Jesus spoke of visiting the imprisoned and emphasized the worth of every soul. Latter-day Saint theology focuses on repentance, redemption and eternal progression; these principles guide me to view incarcerated people not as criminals but as God’s children in need of spiritual care.

I initially applied to a women’s prison but was instead offered a job at a men’s penitentiary. The prison held over 1,000 men, many of whom came from disadvantaged backgrounds and had joined gangs in their youth to find a sense of belonging. Even if violence had not been a way of life before incarceration, violence frequently became a means of survival once inside.

The men I met in prison often carried immense burdens — of past choices, of separation from family, of a society that had largely written them off. And now they had to endure the isolation of incarceration. As a chaplain, I tried to embody God’s love for each individual. I didn’t always do that, but sometimes I got it right.

In the chapel, I led a Christian worship service on Sundays. This was an austere space with tiled floors, white concrete walls, glaring fluorescent lights and large, metal doors. There were shabby plastic chairs for people to sit in and a portable pulpit. There were no adornments, but we had a grand piano — a thing of beauty in an unlikely place.

I envisioned the chapel as a place that we could set apart, a haven inside a harsh world. I wanted it to become a space of peace, a contrast to the noise and chaos throughout the rest of the institution. I realized that in this unique setting, dignity required a degree of discipline and structure. In the past, even the chapel had been a place where fights broke out, a common site to pass drugs and conduct gang business.

Keenly aware of this, I made one simple rule: no talking

DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025 while I’m preaching, or I’ll ask you to leave. I needed the men to know I meant business. I was not going to tolerate them coordinating a drug deal under their breath while feigning interest in my preaching. Because I insisted that the men come to the chapel for the right reason, and because I enforced this, the chapel became a safer space for everyone.

I was under no illusion that the men would drop out of their gangs, but I worked to create the most sacred space possible so that those who wanted to connect with God in fellowship at least had one peaceful place to do so in the prison.

Once basic safety was established, we could build connection. I frequently reminded my parishioners that we ought to set aside differences and come together in our identity as God’s beloved. Such an ideal could not be realized without a foundation of respect, which is why, when I saw men exchanging gang signs when they greeted each other, I called them out. “When you come to the chapel,” I said, “you leave your gang affiliation at the door.” In keeping with Latter-day Saint custom, I addressed the men as “brother,” and the men began to echo my language, adopting the term themselves. I used music in the service, seating myself at the grand piano with my elementary playing ability. Although I could barely make it through the hymns, and although neither myself nor the men could sing well, we started a choir. I knew nothing about leading a choir, and the men couldn’t read music, but I printed lyrics and I nodded at them when they should start singing. We were off-key and off-rhythm, but something more important than song began to take shape. In the midst of our ragged harmonies, a sense of community emerged. Within that fledgling unity, I found openings to invite the men to use their spiritual capacity to care for one another.

I began asking them to help with the service by offering prayers. My supervisor warned me to be careful; he was afraid the incarcerated might say something offensive or use the chance to pray as a power grab. I took the risk, because asking the men to pray publicly communicated that their voice mattered and could positively influence others. Valuing the inherent dignity of the incarcerated and trusting them to participate led to mutual respect. The men not only respected me; they looked to me as their spiritual leader. Along the way, whether establishing ground rules, preserving a respectful environment, or preparing my sermons, I sought to model the fundamentally dignifying message of Christianity. I preached about suffering, compassion, repentance, forgiveness, redemption and Jesus’ unbounded love. I told the congregants that I did not know their suffering, but God knew. I invited them to reconcile themselves to those they harmed; to own their actions and take responsibility. I told them to cry out to God and that God would send help. I reminded them that Jesus loves them personally.

And I felt that love. When I looked over the faces of my congregation, I thought, “These men are precious to God.” As the weeks and months progressed, a bond forged between us. The men opened up about their concerns and some even allowed tears to roll down their cheeks — a surprising show of vulnerability in a place where men don’t cry. During a time set apart for sharing during each service, we unpacked their sorrows and fears, struggles and temptations.

I thought often about that officer who told me I should try to hate the incarcerated men. Other guards repeated similar sentiments. “You see them in the chapel,” said one guard. “I see them in the housing unit, and they are entirely different there than they are for you.” I believed those staff members; I believed the prisoners behaved differently in the housing units. Creating an ennobling, dignifying space in the chapel allowed something different to happen there, however small.

Chaplaincy in prisons is not just about salvation; it is about creating spaces that honor the inherent worth of souls. Studies have shown that faith-based programs can

15

A skillful chaplain helps incarcerated individuals deepen their sense of purpose and value in the face of circumstances that often strip away human dignity. reduce recidivism rates, helping incarcerated individuals find purpose and a moral framework for change. Courts have long upheld the right of prisoners to practice their faith, recognizing its role in rehabilitation, and Congress has passed laws protecting that right.

Research suggests that incarcerated people who engage in religious activities or participate in faith-based programs often experience greater well-being and are less likely to engage in misconduct while incarcerated. These findings indicate that religion can have positive effects on an individual’s thoughts, emotions and behavior. Faithbased rehabilitation programs aim to foster personal transformation by influencing character, motivation and overall outlook on life.

Yet, despite this, access to chaplains, faith-based programs and religious services remains limited in many correctional facilities. For example, an audit by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General highlighted a shortage of chaplains within the federal prison system. This shortage impairs prisons’ ability to implement effective religious service programs and provide for the diverse religious needs of incarcerated individuals.

Funding cuts and staffing shortages often make it difficult for people in prison to engage in organized worship, receive spiritual care or even possess sacred texts. If we are to take rehabilitation seriously, our nation must invest in more faith-based resources within our federal, state and local prison system. We need to train more chaplains and equip them with resources to navigate difficult ministry settings.

By providing these resources, we do not just help individuals — we strengthen our communities inside and outside of prison.

As a chaplain, I have seen the impact of faith firsthand, and have seen how faith dignifies people. I have watched men find peace in scripture, strength in prayer and joy in song. I have witnessed transformation not through punitive measures but through grace. For those who would ask, as that officer once did, how many incarcerated men I have truly helped, I would answer this: If even one person felt God’s love through my ministry as a chaplain, then answering my calling was worth it.

I know at least one person did. One hot summer evening, I stood on the prison compound, my body weary from the day’s work, the vest on my torso heavy, my arms damp with sweat, feet swollen in my boots. The sun’s golden hour rimmed the prison compound with a glow, the harsh heat of day giving way to sunset.

“Hey, Carson,” said an officer.

“Yeah?”

“See that inmate over there?”

He pointed to a thin figure walking across the compound.

I squinted to see a man severely disfigured, as if someone dipped his body into a pool of boiling water, dissolving his skin.

“Just got here,” said the officer.

“What happened to him?” I asked.

“Dunno, but I call him ‘Deadpool.’”

The man came to the chapel the next Sunday. His body was a hairless patchwork of brown, pink, and white skin.

His puffy lips turned downward, slightly frowned. His hand, missing fingers, propped a Bible against his torso. The skin beneath his eyes drooped.

To look at him was to feel pain.

I redirected my attention, reflexively tightening my hands into fists and opening them wide. I looked at the congregation, trying not to look at the burned man, trying not to think of the officer calling him Deadpool, trying not to think of the cruelty of it all.

After the service, I approached him.

“It’s nice to have you here. Would you be willing to offer the closing prayer next Sunday?”

He looked up at me from his seat on the plastic chair.

“Yes,” he said.

The following Sunday, after the last hymn, his eyes darted toward me nervously from the back row. I nodded.

He stood up and slowly walked to the pulpit, his left hand holding a piece of notebook paper.

“May the Lord bless everyone in this room with peace, love, happiness, understanding and forgiveness.”

Quiet descended on us.

“For to reconcile with God,” he continued, “and go from being a sinner and enemy to being righteous before him, we must confess our sins and our wrongdoings, and ask for forgiveness, and then we will be reconciled with God. For our loving God is a forgiving God.” After the prayer, a few seconds of silence lingered, thick with something unspoken. Then there was the scrape of plastic chairs against polished tile, the shuffle of bodies rising, the low hum of conversation — reverence giving way to routine. Everything seemed to return to normal, except for one thing: the man who prayed. The one who always wore a solemn expression was now beaming.

“I’ve never,” he told me, “done something like that before.”

He came to church every Sunday after that.

Men like him — men who have never prayed aloud, who have never been told their voice matters — deserve spaces in prison where they can. I don’t know where he is now, but I will never forget the weight of that moment. His voice mattered that day at the pulpit. It mattered to his brothers.

It mattered to me. And it has always mattered to God. This story appears in the April 2025 issue of Deseret Magazine.

Learn more about how to subscribe.

Air Force Capt. Jenna Carson is the first female Latterday Saint chaplain in the United States military. This essay is adapted from a forthcoming memoir about working as a female chaplain in a men’s prison. Her opinions are her own and do not represent the opinions of the United States Air Force, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, or the United States Government.

16 DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

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18 DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

EAT. STAY. PLAY.

The Salt Lake Bees’ new hive is a home run.

What I enjoyed about the ballpark in Daybreak The Ballpark at America First Square is a terrific addition to the Beehive State’s sports scene

By Jackson Payne Deseret News

“Ballparks are like cathedrals in America,” the late philosopher Jimmy Buffett once said.

Buffett never spoke truer words. Our nation has been richly blessed by baseball, and the structures that hold its balls and strikes are practically sacred ground.

Ballparks can define an entire city — just look at Boston or Baltimore.

It’s no wonder why Ferris Bueller went to Wrigley Field when he played hooky from school. Going out to the ballgame is one of the most satisfying ways to spend a day.

Such was the case April 8, as I journeyed out to exotic Daybreak to attend the Salt Lake Bees’ inaugural home opener at the brand new Ballpark at America First Square.

Brand new is an understatement — one Bees employee I chatted with said they were still putting the finishing touches on the place all the way up to an hour before first pitch. Miller Sports + Entertainment clearly wanted to milk every last minute out of the 18-month construction process.

The result of said construction, however, is magnificent.

Seriously, the Bees’ new ballpark is a gem.

I’m something of a ballpark snob. I’ve visited 21 different MLB parks in my lifetime, carefully scouting, studying and evaluating each one I visit. I someday hope to cross every team’s home off my list.

I’m not kidding when I say that the Ballpark at America First Square trumps a number of MLB venues I’ve seen.

It’s gorgeous to look at. The brick, steel and glass design borrows from the golden age of ballparks, offering an homage to the past mixed with necessary modern touches.

The panoramic mountain and valley views surrounding the complex are plenty attractive as well.

The 8,000-spectator capacity — a little more than half the size of old Smith’s Ballpark 17 miles away — is intimate, but not uncomfortable; cozy, but not crowded. No seat feels too far from the action. I should know, considering I bounced around the park all night attempting to sit in as many places as possible.

Who needs a seat on press row when you can just roam free and explore?

Take a lap or two around the stadium-wide concourse when you come to visit. The field will always be visible and you’ll get to experience all of the park’s unique and aesthetically pleasing details and quirks — along with smelling all of the places to eat. Classic ballpark aroma? Check.

I was especially fond of the outfield areas, with the bullpen box seats and other various patios and pavilions proving wonderful spots to observe an inning or two. The upper terrace was probably my favorite place to sit in the park, as it provided the most complete view of the majestic baseball scenes before me.

Bees fans are an impressive bunch. Salt Lake boasts a rich minor league history, much of which was on display as many fans walking the concourse sported merchandise for the old Gulls, Trappers, Buzz and Stingers along with plenty of new current Bees gear as well.

Isaac Hale, Deseret News

The National Parks perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" as a KC-135 tanker plane from Hill Air Force Base flies over the ballpark before the Salt Lake Bees' inaugural home opener against the Reno Aces held at their new home at The Ballpark at America First Square in South Jordan on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.

Side note: The Bees’ logos, colors and branding are elite.

Please never change any of it, Miller family. We don’t need another neon jersey fiasco in this state.

Fans waved their rally towels, heckled the opposing Reno Aces and roared throughout the evening as the Bees christened their new ballpark with a 13-10 victory. Nine runs in the first two innings set the tone for a stellar opening day environment, capturing everyone’s attention early and never letting go. The vibes were immaculate, as the kids would say.

Los Angeles Angels infielder Zach Neto, currently with the Bees as he rehabs an injury, punched the first dent on the new left field scoreboard by bouncing a moonshot of it in the third inning, while journeyman JD Davis opened the night’s scoring with an opposite field grand slam in the bottom of the first to ignite the crowd’s delight.

Third baseman Carter Kieboom etched his place at the top of my list of favorite Bees, solely thanks to him using “Shining Star” by Earth, Wind and Fire as his walk-up song.

That tune is 100% on the Mount Rushmore of best at-bat music choices.

I understand that some fans may be upset about the

Bees leaving Smith’s ballpark behind for this new home in Daybreak. Ending more than a century of baseball at that site is definitely disappointing, especially considering the history and lore at both Smith’s and Derks Field before it.

But please, don’t let the exit from Smith’s keep you from attending the new ballpark. The game day experience may differ now from what it once was, but what the Bees have built in Daybreak is too excellent to ignore. It stands among the crown jewels of all of minor league baseball.

After the festivities, all I could think about was how excited I was to someday bring my wife, father and future children to the new ballpark. That’s what baseball is all about — spending time with the people you love and making memories amid curveballs, double plays and dingers. The Ballpark at America First Square is a perfect place to do just that.

Utah likes to call itself the “State of Sport,” and the Ballpark at America First Square further strengthens such status. Maybe someday this ballpark’s success will help bring an MLB franchise out to the Wasatch Front — but even if not, it’s still an incredible tribute to baseball and a tremendous win for the state.

DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

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20 DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

EAT. STAY. PLAY.

Several Broadway shows are coming to Utah.

Here’s what to know The lineup includes mostly newer shows — including ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.’

Utah will also see the return of a fan favorite — ‘The Phantom of the Opera’

By Lottie Elizabeth Johnson Deseret News

After announcing what it called its “biggest season ever” last year, Broadway at the Eccles has revealed an impressive lineup for the 202526 season.

On March 4, the Broadway series announced the shows that will come through Salt Lake City in the coming year. The lineup includes mostly newer shows and premieres for Utah — including “Back to the Future” and “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical,” which featured former Utahn Will Swenson in the lead role on Broadway. The upcoming season will also see the return of a fan favorite — “The Phantom of the Opera.”

“We are so excited to bring this eight show blockbuster season to Salt Lake!” Victor Hamburger, vice president of Mountain for Broadway Across America, said in a statement shared with the Deseret News. “Broadway continues to be the hottest ticket in town and we can’t wait to bring so many incredible new shows direct from Broadway as well as the return of this limited engagement of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ to Eccles Theater.”

Here’s a breakdown of the shows in the 2025-26 season.

What’s in the Broadway at the Eccles 2025-26 season lineup?

‘Some Like It Hot’ — Sept. 30-Oct. 5 Based on the 1959 film starring Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe, the musical comedy “Some Like It Hot” is set in the Prohibition era and follows two musicians who take up new identities and go on the run after witnessing a mob hit.

The musical premiered on Broadway in 2022 and led the Tony Awards ceremony that year with 13 nominations.

‘Suffs’ — Nov. 11-16 Inspired by the American women’s suffrage movement, “Suffs” focuses on the events leading up to the ratification of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In starring as early 20th-century suffragist Alice Paul, composer-actor Shaina Taub became “only the second woman in Broadway history to write the book, music, lyrics and star in her own musical,” Deadline reported.

The musical premiered on Broadway last year and won the Tony Awards for best book and best score.

‘Twas the Night Before’ — Dec. 4-14 “Twas the Night Before” is the first holiday-

"Back to the Future" will be part of Broadway at the Eccles' 2025-26 season.

themed production from Cirque du Soleil, inspired by Clement-Clark Moore’s classic poem, “A Visit From St. Nicholas.”

“Memorable lines from this cherished classic inspired Cirque’s story about a jaded young girl who rediscovers the magic of the holidays,” reads a statement on the production’s website.

“A festive flurry of love and cheer created especially for families, ’Twas the Night Before… features thrilling acrobatics, lovable characters - and a soundtrack including holiday classics re-invented by Cirque du Soleil.”

‘A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical’ — Jan. 20-25, 2026 Will Swenson, a BYU and Cottonwood Heights graduate, originated the role of Diamond in “A Beautiful Noise,” which

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DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025 explores how “a poor Jewish kid from Brooklyn (became) one of the most universally adored showmen of all time,” per Broadway World.

“I came in and I knew all the songs by heart, and I’m not even exaggerating,” Swenson previously told The Associated Press. “I just had it all in my DNA because it was such a part of my upbringing, just constantly on in the car and constantly on at home.”

Although “A Beautiful Noise” features several of Diamond’s biggest hits, it’s not “all singing and dancing and flashing lights,” the musical’s writer, Anthony McCarten, told the Boston Globe.

McCarten chose to center the production on some of Diamond’s therapy sessions from the 1970s — and he reportedly did hours of interviews with Diamond to develop this concept, the Deseret News previously reported.

“I wanted it to be about something, and Neil, to his great credit, was not afraid to go there,” McCarten told the Boston Globe. “My job is not to flatter. It’s to get to the bottom of something. And Neil was happy for me to ask the questions, and he was nothing but honest in his responses.

“That’s what made him an extraordinary artist,” he continued. “If you examine his songs, even though they were pop tunes, there’s a lot of depth and self-inquiry in them.”

‘The Phantom of the Opera’ — April 8-26, 2026 After a staggering 35-year run on Broadway, “The Phantom of the Opera” closed its curtains

in 2023, as the Deseret News reported.

But the Andrew Lloyd Webber-composed musical about a mysterious composer who haunts the Paris Opera House is returning to the Eccles Theater for a three-week engagement next year. The production was last at the theater in 2018, featuring a revamped set design and staging that created a fresh take on the story, as the Deseret News reviewed at the time.

‘Back to the Future: The Musical’ — June 9-14, 2026 “Back to the Future,” starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, hasn’t waned in popularity since it hit screens 40 years ago. If anything, the future is even brighter.

When Fox and Lloyd both attended the FanX convention in Salt Lake City two years ago, fans spanning multiple generations gathered together — and spent anywhere from several hundred dollars to well over $1,000 — to celebrate their “Back to the Future” fandom.

One of the latest tributes to the film is a musical, adapted to the stage by the film’s creators, Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis. “Back to the Future: The Musical” features a mix of original music and hit songs from the film as it follows the movie’s storyline of Marty McFly going back in time to bring his high school-age parents together.

The musical made its Broadway debut in 2023 following a successful run on London’s West End, where it won the award for best new musical at the 2022 London Olivier Awards.

‘Hell’s Kitchen’ — July 7-12, 2026

“Hell’s Kitchen” is a coming-of-age story from 17-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys.

With music from Keys as its foundation, the semi-autobiographical story follows 17-yearold Ali in New York City as she struggles to find her place.

“Rebellious and stifled by an overprotective single mother, Ali is lost until she meets her mentor: a neighbor who opens her heart and mind to the power of the piano,” per a description shared in a news release. “Set to the rhythm of the 90s, ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ is a love story between a mother and daughter.”

“Hell’s Kitchen” made its Broadway debut in 2024 and received a whopping 13 Tony nominations.

‘Water for Elephants’ — Aug. 25-30, 2026 Based on the 2006 book of the same name, the musical “Water for Elephants” has largely been praised for its visual spectacle and production quality.

“After losing what matters most, a young man jumps a moving train unsure of where the road will take him and finds a new home with the remarkable crew of a traveling circus, and a life — and love — and beyond his wildest dreams,” per a description of the musical shared in a news release.

“Water for Elephants” made its Broadway debut last year and closed in December.

Broadway at the Eccles 2025-26 season add-ons

Existing subscribers will be the first to have

21

access to the following two add-ons for the 2025-26 season: ‘Clue’ — Feb. 10-15, 2026 Based on the classic 1985 film — and inspired by the popular board game — “Clue” comes to the Eccles Theater in stage form. The murder-mystery comedy is one of the add-ons for the 2025-26 season.

‘Hadestown’ — March 24-29, 2026 “Hadestown,” which won the 2019 Tony Award for best musical and the 2020 Grammy for best musical theater album, made its debut at the Eccles Theater back in 2021.

Now, the production that dives into Greek mythology by exploring the lives of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and King Hades and his wife, Persephone, returns to Salt Lake City as an add-on for the 2025-26 season.

How to get tickets for Broadway at the Eccles 2025-26 season

• Existing subscribers to Broadway at the Eccles are automatically renewed at the launch of the 2025-26 season, according to a news release sent to the Deseret News. Existing subscribers get first access to the season add-ons, “Clue” and “Hadestown.”

• New season ticket holders will be welcomed in May. Those interested in becoming a season ticketholder can join the waitlist for the 2025-26 season.

• Single tickets for productions will go on sale at a later date.

22 DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

EAT. STAY. PLAY.

What is astrotourism?

Discover Utah’s stellar destinations Beehive State has some of the darkest skies on Earth “Furthermore, as dark skies are an even more intense natural amenity in the non-summer months, they have the ability to increase visitor counts to national parks year-round and lead to a more efficient use of local community and tourism-related resources throughout the year,” the study says.

All five of Utah’s national parks — Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion — as well as 10 state parks and three communities are accredited International Dark Sky places.

“While Utah’s stunning state parks draw visitors from across the globe during the daytime hours, you don’t want to miss out on the magic that begins after sunset,” Utah State Parks director Scott Strong said in a press release. “Dark sky programs offer visitors a unique perspective. Experiencing state parks like Goblin Valley, Kodachrome Basin and Dead Horse Point under the starry sky is an experience that you’re sure to remember forever.”

What is a Dark Sky place?

Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Comet C/2020 F3, also known as NEOWISE, is seen before dawn above the Bonneville Salt Flats on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared April "Dark Sky Month," touting the tourism benefits stargazing brings to the state and its Western neighbors.

By Dennis Romboy Deseret News

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spent 286 days among the billions of stars that make up the universe.

But you don’t have to leave the planet to immerse yourself in the cosmos. Rather than an astronaut, you can be an astrotourist.

Utah has some of the darkest skies on Earth and the highest concentration of certified International Dark Sky parks and communities in the world. For the fifth consecutive year, Gov. Spencer Cox declared April as “Dark Sky Month” in Utah, touting the tourism benefits stargazing brings to the state and its Western neighbors.

“Visitors to Utah engaging in astrotourism tend to stay longer, spend more and mitigate harmful tourism impacts on the local community,” according to an official declaration Cox signed.

A Space.com article says it is impossible to talk about astrotourism without mentioning

Utah.

“The landscape is so varied — there are beautiful tall snowy mountains, winding red rock canyons, arches and everything in between,” Bettymaya Foott, an astrophotographer and director of engagement at the International Dark Sky Association, told the publication.

“The juxtaposition of a beautiful starry sky against a breathtaking landscape makes it pretty hard to take a bad photo.”

What is astrotourism?

Astrotourism is traveling to places — sometimes remote locales — where it’s possible to see celestial events such as stars, planets, eclipses and meteor showers due to minimal light pollution. It also includes visiting observatories, planetariums and other astronomy-related places.

“Preserving the night sky is vital to Utah’s long-lasting tourism economy and a dynamic visitor experience,” Natalie Randall, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism and Film, said in a press release. “Utah State Parks,

national parks and local communities have shown tremendous leadership in prioritizing night sky preservation and offering unique year-round programs for both residents and visitors.”

Astrotourism is anticipated to generate nearly $6 billion and support over 113,000 new jobs in the Colorado Plateau over the next decade, according to the Utah tourism office.

The Colorado Plateau, a region that includes parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, is known for its dark, star-filled night skies.

Seeing stars

A 2019 study found tourists in national parks are increasingly interested in observing the night sky, especially considering that natural recreational amenity is quickly disappearing from the planet. The study forecasts that tourists who value dark skies will spend $5.8 billion over the next 10 years in the Colorado Plateau and create more than 10,000 new jobs in the area each year.

The International Dark Sky Places program certifies communities, parks and protected areas around the world that preserve and protect dark sites through responsible lighting policies and public education, according to DarkSky.org.

DarkSky has certified more than 200 places since Flagstaff, Arizona, was named the first International Dark Sky City in 2001. There are nearly 62,000 square miles of protected land and night skies in 22 countries on six continents. Certified areas are required to use quality outdoor lighting, effective policies to reduce light pollution and ongoing stewardship practices.

Natural Bridges National Monument in southern Utah was the first dark sky designated park in the world.

According to DarkSky, certification alerts visitors to light pollution and the need to preserve the night sky as a natural resource. It supports management agencies in achieving long-term conservation targets and connecting people to nature. It also serves as an economic driver by fostering increased tourism and local economic activity.

The Utah declaration says stargazing, astronomy programs, star parties, dark sky photography and other activities allow Utahns and visitors to enjoy the physical and emotional benefits of the night sky. Dark skies are also integral to the well-being of many animal and plant species, and are shown to have positive health impacts on people.

DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

COME ON UP FOR A SUMMER OF FUN BRING THE WHOLE FAMILY

June 24: Fireworks Celebration

August 8: Laketown Raspberry Days Rodeo

July 4–5: Paris 4th of July Celebration and Rodeo

August 11–16: Bear Lake County Fair

July 5: Garden City Fireworks Show with Little Texas

August 7–9: Raspberry Days

September 6: Battle Over the Border

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24 DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

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26 DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

© 2025

41, No. 22

Teacher, Teacher

Can you find at least 10 differences between these twin teacher pictures?

The National PTA celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week with a theme each year. Use the code to discover this year’s theme! =A

=L

=B

=O

=C

=R

=E

=S

=F

=T

=G

=U

=H

=W

=I

=Y

Decorate this ‘We Appreciate YOU!’ award for your teacher!

Standards Link: Social Studies: Discover jobs and careers in our community.

Teachers Care

Teachers work hard. They also make learning fun, listen when students are having problems and sometimes even take care of scraped knees and elbows.

What does your teacher do for you and your classmates?

Teach Listen Smile Hugs

Clean Dry tears Make jokes Friendship Comfort Talks Help Solve Problems

Draw your teacher at this desk.

Have a friend or family member try.

Did they find any differences you missed?

Standards Link: Find similarities and differences in common objects.

AWARD CARE COMFORT DESK DRAW FIX FUN HELP LISTEN PAPER SMILE TALKS TEACHER THEME WORK

Find the words by looking up, down, backwards, forwards, sideways and diagonally.

R F T C O M F O R T E F H X I K C I V E

P S E K W R Q S E A

A J M V W O R K L C

P W E C L X D L I H S U A Z M I E A Y E

T R J R P F S T C R E W T L D L K T H F

L F E X S M I L E U

V H O Q T W A R D N Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recognize identical words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns.

This year, Teacher Appreciation Week starts on another special day: Cinco de Mayo!

DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

27

EVENTS Orem's Farmers Market & Food Fest Wednesday!

2025 Spring Homes Tour - Kletting in the SLC Avenues

Spring Festival 2025

Farm Fest 2025

May 7 - 21 Time: 5pm-9pm Location: 293 E Center ST - Orem https://www.facebook.com/events/640489178915505/ May 7 - 10 Time: 4pm-8pm Location: 3500 North 2200 West - SLC https://nowplayingutah.com/event/spring-festival-2025/

Salt Lake Bees vs. Sugar Land Space Cowboys

May 8 Time: 6:35pm Location: 11111 South Ballpark Way - South Jordan

Mother's Day Spring Expo

May 9 - 10 Location: Spanish Fork https://festivalnet.com/71411/Spanish-Fork-Utah/HolidayCelebrations/Mothers-Day-Spring-Expo

2025 Train Day at This Is The Place

May 10 Time: 10am-5pm Location: 2106 Sunnyside Avenue - SLC https://nowplayingutah.com/event/2025-train-day-atthis-is-the-place/

May 17 Time: 10am-4pm Location: 68 K St - SLC https://www.facebook.com/events/2344541979252576/ May 17 Time: 9am Location: 6351 South 900 East - Murray https://nowplayingutah.com/event/farm-fest-2025/

Coldplay USA At America First Square On Rio Tinto Kennecott Stage May 19 Time: 8pm Location: South Jordan https://www.facebook.com/events/1156514206214367/

Bluffdale's 5th Annual Love Where You Live Community Fair

May 20 Time: 6pm Location: Bluffdale https://www.facebook.com/events/1664113150859880/

Salt Lake Bees vs. Omaha Storm Chasers

Planned Parenthood Association of Utah's 55th Emerald Anniversary Gala May 30 Time: 5:30pm-9:30pm Location: 123 W South Temple - SLC https://tockify.com/kuer.community.calendar/ detail/5472/1748647800000

22nd Multicultural Ethnic Dance Festival May 31 Time: 4pm Location: 400 W 200 S, - SLC https://nowplayingutah.com/event/22nd-multiculturalethnic-dance-festival/

Totally Rad Vintage Fest

May 31 Location: 9575 S. State Street - Sandy https://www.visitsaltlake.com/event/totally-rad-vintagefest/67235/

Salt Lake Bees vs. Round Rock Express

June 3 Time: 7:05pm Location: 11111 South Ballpark Way - South Jordan

2025 Provo Art Stroll

May 21 6:35pm Location: 11111 South Ballpark Way - South Jordan

June 6 Time: 6pm-9pm Location: Provo https://nowplayingutah.com/event/2025-provo-art-stroll/

South Salt Lake's 8th Annual Mural Fest

International Packraft Film Festival

Disney's Newsies: The Broadway Musical

Mayday Parade

Opening Knights - A Theatrical D&D Show

Fork Fest 2025

May 10 Time: 4pm-8pm Location: 2300 S West Temple - South Salt Lake https://nowplayingutah.com/event/south-salt-lakes-8thannual-mural-fest/ May 12 Time: 5:30pm Location: 235 North 500 West - SLC https://theunioneventcenter.com/upcomingevents/ maydayparade25

Utah Utes at BYU Cougars Baseball May 13 Time: 6pm Location: Miller Park - Provo

2025 Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival

May 15 - 17 Time: 5pm Location: 9575 S. State Street - Sandy https://nowplayingutah.com/event/2025-quilt-craftsewing-festival/

Kilby Block Party 2025

May 15 - 18 Location: 155 North 1000 West - SLC https://www.24tix.com/events/t3ta2lw5hvg2tem2g53gpr4uhq

2025 Living Traditions Festival

May 16 Time: 5pm Location: 450 South 200 East - SLC https://www.facebook.com/events/981767397150607/

May 22 Time: 6pm-9pm Location: 320 West 800 South - SLC https://nowplayingutah.com/event/internationalpackraft-film-festival/

May 23 Time: 7:30pm-9:30pm Location: 3030 S Main St - SLC https://nowplayingutah.com/event/opening-knights-atheatrical-dd-show-2/

Holi Festival of Colors

May 24 Location: Ogden https://festivalnet.com/90409/Ogden-Utah/Festivals/HoliFestival-of-Colors-Ogden

2025 Memorial Day Service

May 26 Time: 10am Location: 610 S State St - Provo https://nowplayingutah.com/event/2025-memorial-day-service/

The 17th Ogden Music Festival

May 30 Time: 5pm Location: 2438 James Brown Dr - Ogden https://www.facebook.com/events/1343964596968821/

June 6 - 9 Time: 7:30pm Location: 2505 South Highway 89 - Brigham City https://nowplayingutah.com/event/disneys-newsies-thebroadway-musical/ June 6 Time: 5pm Location: 1000 N 550 E St - American Fork https://www.facebook.com/events/9031832233582521/

Historic 25th Street Car Show 2025 June 6 Time: 5pm-9pm Location: Ogden https://ogdendowntown.com/h25carshow/

PRIDE 2025 : MISTRESS X KORI KING

June 6 Time: 8pm Location: 615 West 100 - South Salt Lake https://www.24tix.com/events/p4s5sxxfajcf3loy42fnjsnyfi

Randy Feltface

June 6 - 7 Time: 7pm Location: 3763 West Center Park Drive - West Jordan https://nowplayingutah.com/event/randy-feltface/

SoJo Summerfest 5K

June 7 Location: South Jordan https://www.sjc.utah.gov/calendar.aspx?EID=1180

*Events and details are subject to change. Please visit the event websites for the most up to date and correct information.

28 DESERET NEWS | MAY 2025

RETIREMENT i n 2025 LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE!

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