Arts council exhibits love letters to the city by elementary students

It was a freezing cold February, but Ridgecrest Elementary School students warmed hearts with love letters sent to Cottonwood Heights.

The Cottonwood Heights Arts Council reached out to Ridgecrest Elementary principal, Sara Allen and the teachers about a creative assignment for Valentine’s Day. They had more than 150 students write and decorate love letters to Cottonwood Heights about why they love their city.

Many letters were posted on the walls of Cottonwood Heights City Hall last month. These notes were from the children’s point of view. A small sampling of the sweet comments from the student’s letters are listed below.

Londyn Freeman’s first grade classmates expressed appreciation for certain businesses in Cottonwood Heights. Alessia Delli Bovi wrote, “I love skating at the rec center.” Bovi’s classmate Corbin Webb agreed by writing, “I love going to the rec center. I love the Arctic Circle. I love going shopping at Smith’s.” Classmate Skylar Roberts wrote, “I love all of you. I want to live here forever. I love everything you built.”

Some of the children looked outward to the natural beauty of the area in their love letters. Rebekah Peterson’s third grade student, Isla Larson wrote, “I love you because we get snow.” Isla also appreciated the amazing landscape and added, “The mountains are close and beautiful.”

First grader Andy Gong wrote in his letter, “One reason I like this city is because of the mountains, so I can snowboard.”

Javier Gamboa Matos of Rebecca Jimas’ fourth grade class wrote, “I like to go sledding at snowy parks.” Matos’ classmate, Davinn Lee wrote, “I like to go to school because I like math and we are close to the mountains. Then we can go hiking or if it’s snowing we can go boarding, make a snowman and go sledding.”

Mckenna Karr, a fifth grader from Yen Ju Chen’s class wrote, “Cottonwood Heights is one of the best cities because it’s home to my school. I have been going to Ridgecrest for 3 years. Although I don’t live in Cottonwood Heights, I spend a lot of time here. I love to see the snow outside my classroom or the bare trees and colorful leaves. The booming sun or the beautiful flowers. It makes me feel a part of nature.” Karr added, “I am so grateful that even though I don’t live here, I go to school here and I feel a part of the community.”

Jason Mumford who is also in Chen’s class said in his letter, “I love the parks in Cottonwood Heights. I like to go sledding at the parks in the winter with my family. My favorite park is Mountview Park since it has the best sledding hill. In the summer I like to play with my dog at Mountview Park.”

There appeared to be a uniformed Valentine’s Day theme of artistic work on cards from each classroom. For example, Freeman’s, Andrea Rowell’s and Peterson’s third grade

By Jolene Croasmun | j.croasmun@mycityjournals.com

classes decorated their letters with a variety of Valentine’s Day stickers. Clearly Chen’s fifth graders were encouraged to draw an image of what they loved with their letter to the city while Rebecca Adamson’s fifth grade class used blue and orange construction paper to create a sky and mountain outline that portrays the images of Cottonwood Heights.

The artist of the month for February was the students from Ridgecrest Elementary school. Their creative and decorative love letters to Cottonwood Heights were exhibited on the walls of city hall throughout the month of February. l

Cottonwood Connect Ski Shuttle opens for local residents

By Annabelle Larsen | a.larsen@mycityjournals.com

The days of being stuck in traffic going to a canyon could be ending sooner than we think for Cottonwood Heights residents and visitors.

An updated, reservation-based public transportation service to the various ski resorts is now possible through the Cottonwood Connect Ski Shuttle.

Reservations for ski shuttle round-trip rides to Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude are accepted on a first come, first served basis. These services are scheduled to run Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays through April 16.

The goal of the new ski shuttle is to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality and enhance the visitors’ experience, as well as residents’ experience as they journey to and from the canyons’ ski resorts.

As stated on the Visit Salt Lake website: “This public, private partnership was funded in part by Salt Lake County, Visit Salt Lake, Utah Transit Authority (UTA), Alta Ski Area, Snowbird, Solitude Mountain Resort and Brighton Resort. Cottonwood Connect will help supplement the recent reduction in ski bus services provided by UTA. Passengers will pay $10 for a round-trip service and reservations will be required through the online booking portal. A fleet of mini-coaches and

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large passenger vans will ramp up their frequency throughout the program. Beginning with a weekly capacity of 736 passengers and ending with a 1,120 weekly passenger capacity. Snow Country Limousine was selected as the service provider after a request for proposal process by Visit Salt Lake.”

Areas served by Cottonwood Connect in- clude Midvale, Cottonwood Heights and Sandy with stops at area hotels and public park and ride lots in partnership with UTA and UDOT. A full list of stops and routes can be found at visitsaltlake.com/cottonwoodconnect.

“I’m proud of everyone who came together to make this a reality. Cottonwood Connect will benefit so many across the valley who want to use our canyons this winter and environmentally it’s another win for our community,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson.

“We felt strongly about helping to create a way for our visitors and locals to enjoy more options to reach our mountain playground,” said Kaitlin Eskelson, president and CEO of Visit Salt Lake. “Salt Lake is the perfect urban basecamp for winter adventures and our goal is to create a seamless experience.”

“We appreciate Salt Lake County leaders for providing the Cottonwood Connect service,” said Sandy City Mayor Monica Zoltanski. “Sandy City is pleased to support the program by including the shuttles with UTA buses who are guided by the Sandy Police Ski Bus Bypass Service as a direct way to promote transit use and ease traffic congestion in our neighborhoods closest to the canyon.” l