November 2021 Utah Stories

THANKSGIVING DINNER IDEAS NOVEMBER 2021

MAIN STREET Local Businesses vs. Homeless Interests

Homeless Solutions • Ogden’s 25th Street Moabites Living in Cars • November Activities

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UTAH STORIES MAGAZINE

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VOLUME 11 ISSUE 17

6 Utah Stories 20 Mount Olympus Contributors Community Garden 12 The Homeless Vs. Growing kids & Gardens Local Businesses 36 Selecting Holiday on Main Street Libations Food & drink pairing 14 Main Street without the fuss

Evolving changes and reinvention

40 Bring it to the Table

18 An Alternative Homeless Solution

Vegan options for the holidays

Permenant residence for those 55 and over

42 Wasatch Brewery Turns 35!

Cheers to beer

44 The Big Flip Part 2 It looks so easy on TV

SPOTLIGHT 24 Moab

26 Ogden

Moab’s housing crunch

Ogden’s 25th Street reimagined

32 Sugar House SLC Homeless Situation

LOCAL & AWESOME? Utah Stories invites excellent local businesses to inquire about our advertising rates and determine if our readership is a good fit. For more information please contact Richard at 801-856-3595 or visit utahstories.com/advertising

PUBLISHER/EDITOR

DIGITAL PUBLISHER & MARKETING & EVENTS

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Rachel Fixsen

Dung Hoang

David E. Jensen

Golda Hukic-Markosian

Braden Latimer

Connie Lewis

COPY EDITORS

Pamela Manson

Pamela Manson

David Jensen

Richard Markosian

Richard Markosian

Golda Hukic-Markosian

GRAPHIC DESIGN

John Taylor

Cathy McKitrick

Elizabeth Callahan

Anna Lythgoe

WRITERS

Amanda Rock

Fletcher Marchant

Deann Armes

Ted Scheffler

Richard Markosian PUBLISHER’S ASSISTANT Connie Lewis SALES & ACCOUNTS

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ONLINE PREVIEW

Go to UtahStories.com to find exclusive online content: •

Recent Recipes from Utah Bites' Ted Scheffler —includes Border Grillstyle Southwestern chicken, Cataplana mussels & clams, and spice rice cakes with chicken.

• •

An examination of Utah Enviornment and the future of the Great Salt Lake, by Richard Markosian.

A First Look at Fenice Mediterranean Bistro in Salt Lake City, by Ted Scheffler

COMING SOON: •

Too Woke for Thanksgiving — Explore the history of Thanksgiving and let us know how you celebrate, by Deann Armes.

Visit UtahStories.com for more stories and podcasts by Richard Markosian and restaurant reviews, recipes and events

by Ted Scheffler

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BEHIND THE STORIES Braden Latimer

Braden Latimer is a lifelong Utah native with a passion for photography, videography, and capturing the essence of people and nature.

A graduate of the University of Utah in communications, Braden (or Biddy, to his closest friends) stumbled into photography, first as a hobby, before growing his work through freelance and full-time gigs.

Braden has been a contributor to Utah Stories since 2017. When he isn’t traveling the world shooting vibrant photos and video, Braden enjoys hiking, camping, and roadtripping to concerts. His loves include good kombucha, good people, and anything with four legs, fur, and a tail.

Pamela Mason

Pamela Manson is an experienced journalist who covered numerous beats at two statewide papers — The Salt Lake Tribune and The Arizona Republic — and worked at Texas Lawyer newspaper in Dallas and the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She has won many awards for her reporting and serves on the board of the Utah Headliners Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which advocates for a free press and works to inspire the next generation of journalists. Pamela, who is now a freelance writer, grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas School of Journalism.

John Taylor

John Taylor is a photographer based in Salt Lake City. Armed with his grandfather’s vintage camera as a young boy, he started to see the world through the lens. Even today, he enjoys connecting with people on assignment or location, or just out for a walk with his wife, son, and rescued greyhound. He never leaves home without a camera and is always on a quest for the best shot. To see more of his work, visit his website at www.visionfoto.com.

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ONLINE COMMMENTS

Commenting on: The Battle Over Utah's Enviornment Jenny Lynn How do we participate in protecting the great salt lake?

How can the public get involved?

Utah Stories The best is to contact the local Audubon society. They seem to have no other interest than protecting the enviornment of the area.

Kyle McKenna I would like to know about the impacts that the Bear River dam projects will have on agricultural/rural life in those areas.

Commenting on: Utah's Inland Port Will Increase the Divide Between the Rich and the Poor Dan Fahndrich I have 35 years in international logistics import/export and cannot figure why it is necessary in the first place, since we do the necessary work now. I called [Jack Hedge] a year ago, I and he could not tell me why we need this over what we already have. The swampy land will be hard to deal with, the pollution, etc.. etc.. etc.. Also, the Utah Legislature seems to be in back of this and I do not know why.

Commenting on: Mormons vs. The Mexican Drug Cartel Rob Jackson I think this is an awesome approach in real journalism, not just giving some dressed story for main stream media. Raw and upfront, very nice.

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Modernity Mischief and Passion

Goldman Sachs Employees

Main Street Homeless Advocacy Is Hurting Local Businesses

By Richard Markosian

D

owntown Salt Lake City: Main Street — Three homeless men sit in the former business entrance to the Off-Broadway Theater and distribute rations of spice or possibly weed. In broad daylight on the busy thoroughfare, they roll joints and watch the passers-by. Around the corner, acrid plumes of blue smoke fill the air. The SLCPD, like most metro Police departments, have essentially decriminalized the distribution and use of less than one ounce of marijuana.

Just a few feet away, “Downtown Ambassadors” are telling a homeless woman named DJ, from Brooklyn, that she can’t get a hotel voucher for the night because they have been put on hold by the city. The homeless resource centers are full, but there will

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likely be an “overflow center” coming soon.

Three other homeless men are milling about on Main Street. One man is deep in thought as he applies acrylic paint to his canvas propped up against the former TP Gallery. Another man is hauling around his possessions in a shopping cart; another is ranting to an invisible person. This small section where City Weekly, TP Gallery, Coffee Garden and Eborn Books were located has been empty for two years.

Today, the businesses and the area are blighted and have become a homeless enclave.

A man is camping on the sidewalk.

He says he is only safe thanks to his pitbull. “I have nowhere else to go,” he says. His friend, who attempted to camp in the park, recently froze

to death because the sprinklers came on in the middle of the night and he couldn’t dry out.

Less than a block down the street, the 222 Main Street skyrise is home to Goldman Sachs on three floors.

Around seven years ago, local businesses on Main Street were hoping to see a big boost in business thanks to the leasing of such a large space to one of Wall Street’s largest investment firms, but the lunch rush that restaurants and bars were receiving prior to Covid has still not returned.

“I know it’s cliche to say this, but we accept it as the new normal,” says a Beerhive Pub bartender.

Goldman Sachs employees are lined up at the San Diablo Artisan Churros

food truck. An off-duty police officer is on site to provide security. He tells me that since the main homeless shelter was demolished and three new shelters were built, the “homeless situation” has become contained but spread out. But the rumor is that some large downtown firms are planning on leaving for Draper once the old prison is demolished and the new “tech hub” center is open.

This strange contrast between rich and poor — wealth managers and drug abusers; thousand-dollar custom tailored sport coats along with men in sweats, shoeless, covered in dirt and grime— all within two city blocks, is apparently the new normal on Salt Lake City’s Main Street.

Boarded up businesses on Main Street

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Goldman Sachs headquarters in Downtown Salt Lake City

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Omar Mullahkhel operates the Market on Main Street convenience store beside where Zion’s Books once resided.

He has witnessed massive changes in his 35 years in business on the street since opening. He emigrated from Afghanistan in 1973 and studied Microbiology-Chemistry at BYU. He tells me he has been fortunate enough to buy the property he now resides in, but that currently there is so much homeless activity that his customers tell him they are afraid to come to his shop. He says the city hasn’t shown enough concern over the plight of small businesses due to the encroachment and daytime activities of the homeless.

Omar unfolds a bill from an envelope he recently received — a “special assessment” — to pay $1,200 for doing business on Main Street. In the past under Rocky Anderson the sidewalk was washed and cleaned one to two times per week by the central business district. Now it is washed and cleaned one to two times per several months.

Most of the time, he washes and cleans his storefront himself. On either side of his business, homeless people are camping and loitering for the day, but he receives a steady influx of customers, many of whom buy small items to get change to buy tickets for the trax station across the street.

In every major city in the United States, local Main Street businesses have become victims of the rising blight caused by homeless population increases. Prior to 2009, homeless encampments were rarely seen in Salt Lake City. Why are cities across the country allowing public camping at unprecedented levels?

One major reason is that the ACLU

Omar Mullahkhel owner of Market on Main Street located at 268 South Main Street in Salt Lake City

utahstories.com | 15

of human feces leftover from the homeless the night before.

Brown tells me that the campers stay on Main Street all night and they sometimes relieve themselves in the

Bob Brown Owner of Cheers to You on Main Street

has been fighting court battles to ensure that homeless have the “right to live” on public streets, even if it is clearly impacting local businesses.

Omar says that since Eborn Books, Coffee Garden, and the Off-Broadway Theater have closed, his business and sales have been down. “This is a cursed block,” he tells me, as most businesses around him are now clearly in a state of disrepair or boarded up. Just one restaurant and one bar remain: Pleiku and Keys on Main Bob Brown’s Cheers to You bar is located on a much more vibrant section of Main Street. Block 52 is home to 15 bars and restaurants and has become the epicenter of downtown’s nightlife and economic activity — something that never existed in downtown Salt Lake City until the past decade after the law was changed to allow for more than one bar on each face of a block.

But when I arrive to interview Brown at 11am, his next-door neighbor Sergei, who owns the Raman Bar, is dealing with a new problem: three large piles

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planters there. But this was the first time he found human excrement right on the sidewalk. He called the City to come clean it so the smell doesn’t impact his lunch rush business.

Brown confides in me that while his block has been doing great business, the city isn’t providing enough support to prevent the homeless from engaging in all sorts of illegal activity while he and his fellow business owners are trying to serve customers. He has offered to pay off-duty police officers to patrol the block during the busy hours, but the SLCPD wouldn’t allow it. Now they are going to allow it, but he needs the support of other business owners on the block to “pitch in.” He believes it would make a big difference to have a constant presence of officers on foot.

But what can be done about the problem long-term? Brown believes that the homeless need somewhere else to go. He likes the idea of a tiny-home village on the west side, but he and his neighbor Sergei share the opinion that customers need to stop succumbing to the pressure of homeless panhandlers. The homeless migrate to the block because they are working to receive donations to buy illicit drugs. The homeless population in Salt Lake City have access to free meals, and many of the homeless on the street are clearly suffering from mental disorders, so why is there no place for these people who clearly are in need of treatment?

The Bigger Picture: Why is this happening?

A series of battles fought by the ACLU and decisions made by the Supreme Court have altered the laws and rationale on a national level. The ripple-effect of these decisions has plagued much larger metropolitan areas like San Francisco and Los Angeles.

But now it’s clear that Salt Lake City, which always has had a reputation for being clean and free of the deleterious effects of human depravity, is also suffering the consequences of laws intended to protect the civil liberties of the homeless.

The New York Civil Liberties Union Mental Patients’ Rights Project was working to protect people confined due to mental illness and developmental disabilities. They targeted cities for legal action to prevent long-term housing in places that were once stigmatized as “insane asylums”. These “landmark cases that became the highpoint of the civil rights movement for people with mental disabilities,” According to the ACLU, drastically reduced the number of patients hospitalized for mental disorders.

In Wyatt v. Stickney (1972) and Wyatt v. Aderholt (1974), the ACLU challenged the conditions of hospitalization for those with mental illness and developmental disabilities. These judgments led to significant reductions in the institutions’ populations. The goal was to treat patients on a local level, but the reality has been that many people suffering from mental disorders self-medicate using harddrugs such as meth, fentanyl, spice and meth. And the new reality is that our

homeless shelters, jails and prisons are not equipped to accommodate these people. Those suffering from mental disorders fall through the cracks so they wander the streets in all major cities, protected by the ACLU. Another recent court battle over camping on public sidewalks in Boise, Idaho has paved the way for how cities need to respond to homeless “encampments”. Per the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bell v. Boise, public camping can only be banned if a public shelter is available. According to an ACLU legal primer, “It is possible that a city could have enough shelter resources that the homeless population truly has a choice to sleep elsewhere. When reasonable alternatives to outdoor camping exist, enforcement of anti-camping ordinances may not be unconstitutional.”

If Salt Lake City’s homeless shelters are full, it is legally Constitutional for homeless people to camp in public spaces. Salt Lake City has a law on the books against camping in public spaces, and they enforce this ban by handing out vouchers to the homeless population to stay in motel rooms. I’m told that the overfill shelter will soon be in place and that homeless people suffering from mental disorders and freezing at night should be alleviated.

But clearly the larger problems need to be solved before conditions improve for both the homeless and small business owners.

Utah Stories is offering a series of podcasts and a documentary regarding the homeless situation in downtown Salt Lake City. For updates and news, subscribe to Utah Stories’ digital newsletter at UtahStories.com.

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An Alternative Homeless Solution Switchpoint may be the answer

By Connie Lewis

T

he ongoing homeless problem in Salt Lake is a tough one to solve.

Homeless shelters are running at capacity and the Tiny Home Village is still in the planning stages. So Carol Hollowell came up with an alternative solution that could get people out of the cold and off the streets.

Hollowell says her original background had nothing to do with homlessness. Born and raised in Bend, Oregon, she came from an entrepreneurial background, and she credits that with why her model is different from most homeless shelter providers.

She asked herself how her non-prof-

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it, Switchpoint, could do things differently by providing shelter while creating independence. “My business background sets it apart,” she says.

“Seventy percent of the funding comes from micro enterprises and donations.”

Hollowell moved to Utah in 2009 as a volunteer director for the Five County Association of Government, finding volunteers for events and helping those with court-ordered service to find opportunities. Many of them needed to do restitution hours for tickets, and when she started delving into why they got tickets, in many cases it was because they were homeless. She

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CAROL HOLLOWELL

thought maybe she could fix that.

She didn’t want Switchpoint to be the band-aid approach that other local homeless shelters use. “They get a meal and a bed and then they are kicked out,” she says. Hollowell wanted to find a more permanent solution to low-income housing.

Last year, while working with the Homeless Coalition running two of their winter overflow centers, she discovered that most people coming into the shelters were over 55. They were people who had money, just not enough for rent in Salt Lake’s overpriced real estate market, and they became homeless as a result.

One of the overflow facilities used last year by the Salt Lake Valley Coalition to End Homelessness was the Airport Inn. The owner was looking to sell. He agreed to let Switchpoint purchase it, and Hollowell began the process of raising funds to remodel it into The Point — a permanent residence facility for those 55 and older who are currently homeless.

So far they’ve replaced the flooring and added countertops and sinks to each room to turn them into studio apartments. They’ve filled in the pool and turned that into a community area. They’ve had to replace all the windows, redo the roof, and do serious upgrades to the plumbing. They anticipate opening in mid-November.

The cost so far is 2.5 million dollars.

The money raised has come from private, city, county, and state funds.

According to Hollowell, “The local Hansen Family Foundation was a generous sponsor that enabled us to get off the ground. The foundation really cares about low income seniors and

making sure the project is viable.”

Ongoing funds come from their micro enterprises, including a doggie daycare business, thrift stores, and substance abuse care, that according to Hollowell, are businesses that generate money and profit to provide for the operating costs for shelters and for those operations that don’t turn a profit, such as their domestic violence shelters.

The difference between The Point and other shelters is that the residents will be paying rent they can afford.

And being in a permanent situation provides a sense of community.

Hollowell found that people become isolated on the street, and she wants The Point to feel like home.

If a resident finds that their income is inadequate, they can work onsite as 1099 employees, cleaning the kitchen, driving the shuttle, or get help finding a job off campus. The idea is to help them feel valued and know they make a difference. “Not a number or entitled — nothing for free — not even deodorant or a coat. Their facility will be clean because they will take care of it,” Hollowell says.

Switchpoint already opened a facility in St. George — Riverwalk Village — a converted hotel with 55 units of 1, 2, 3, and 4 bedrooms. Another converted hotel will be opening there soon. They look for opportunities to buy older places cheaper than building from scratch.

The motivation for Hollowell is clear: “I feel strongly that my 70-yearold-neighbors shouldn’t live on the street just because they live on social security, or we’re not doing a good job as a community.”

utahstories.com | 19

Vincent Medivil, Peter Hansen, and Henry Adams harvesting in the garden

Mount Olympus Garden Serves as a classroom for kids

W

hen students at Howard Driggs Elementary School in Holladay started planting seeds at the Mount Olympus Community Garden in the spring, their outdoor classroom consisted of six garden beds filled with soil and little else.

By the time the children returned after summer break, they found that a

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thick growth of vegetables and flowers had sprouted at the site, including tomatoes, corn, squash, pumpkins, carrots, beans, mint, cilantro, sunflowers, marigolds and snapdragons.

“We were putting in seeds at the end of May right before we dismissed for the summer, and the boxes were bare dirt and leaves,” teacher Alison

PHOTOS BY PAMELA MANSON

By Pamela Manson

Jueschke said. Now, “it’s like an amazing jungle down there.”

The students were excited about the results of their labor. On a recent visit to the 3-acre garden at 4500 South and 2700 East, a class of 8-year-old third-graders pointed out where they had planted seeds and what had grown at the spot.

“I planted a zucchini plant,” Peter Hansen said, adding that he likes seeing interesting bugs.

“I found corn. There’s lots of them,” Henry Adams said, pointing to stalks.

Lucy VandenAkker marveled at the size of a flower that is taller than her.

“Last year we planted the sunflowers and they weren’t grown, but now it’s like a chandelier,” she said.

Ellison Whitaker also liked the flowers that had grown over the summer.

Vincent Mendivil, who said he dug up

radishes on his last visit, gathered Russian Mammoth sunflower seeds.

The raised beds were prepared in the spring by members of the Neighborhood Garden Club, who help coordinate the school program. Then, from March through May, teachers took students a class at a time to the 3-acre site a few blocks away at 4500 South and 2700 East, where they were divided into smaller groups for the planting.

Club members were on hand to assist the students in the planting. Parents, neighbors and other volunteers also helped out.

The kids planted a salsa garden with tomatoes, basil and peppers; a squash garden; a pollinated garden; a bean garden; and a garden of corn, beans and squash, which are the main crops of some indigenous people.

Lucy VandenAkker holds a zucchini in the Mount Olympus Community Garden

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Tasy Van Tienderen Holds a squash and a pumpkin from the garden

“Every child got to plant some seed and also put a plant in,” Connie MacKay, the Neighborhood Garden Club’s president, said. “The fourth and fifth grade not only planted seeds and plants but also improved the area by identifying and taking out invasive plants.”

The gardening teaches students about a variety of subjects such as the life cycle of plants and different foods from different cultures. Tasy Van Tienderen, who helped gather produce and seeds, said she likes the class.

Jueschke gave each child an extrusion and asked them what it was. They responded with a chorus of “edible flower!”

“It is getting to be the end of the fall harvest,” Jueschke said. “It’s good for the students to see from the seed to the end of the cycle.”

Jani Iwamoto, then a Salt Lake

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County Council member and now a state senator, led the effort to develop Mount Olympus Community Garden in 2012. The majority of the property was designated for gardening by refugees and a smaller portion for use

by Driggs Elementary and Olympus Junior High School.

The garden was developed on a vacant piece of land that was owned

by Salt Lake City and maintained by Holladay. Dry Creek Charity paid for leasing, supervision and watering of the property and helped fund the infrastructure, and master gardener Paul Fetzer supervised the design and creation of the garden. Also collaborating on the project were the Neighborhood Garden Club, city and county officials, community members, teachers and school administrators, businesses, boy scouts and other groups.

MOAB

The Reality of Van Life Wages are high in Moab, but the cost of living is higher Rachel Fixsen

C

indy Martinez has been coming to Moab during the summers to work since 2016. She’s nearing 65, and her husband is 70. Both collect disability, and both live out of their van.

“There are good things and bad things that happen in Moab,” Martinez said. The wages in Moab are high, but the cost of living is higher. Maintaining daily routines while living out of a vehicle is hard, and there aren’t other viable housing options for people in her situation, she said. She likes the climate in Moab, but she feels her worth as an employee is undervalued.

Martinez has worked for hotels and RV parks in Moab, cleaning rooms and cabins, doing laundry and helping with guest services. Though Moab businesses pay well, she has had fall-outs with a few employers. She’s been denied promised sign-on bonuses and given only part-time hours after being hired

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for a full-time position. Employees feeling expendable, combined with an impossible housing market, makes it hard for businesses to recruit and keep adequate staffing, Martinez said.

“You can still look on the job sites,” she said of Moab businesses. “They’re dying for workers.” Social media posts and help wanted signs around town indicate that many Moab businesses do need extra help.

Community leaders are acutely aware of the housing problem in Moab. There are some subsidized affordable housing options: the nonprofit Housing Authority of Southeastern Utah manages three apartment complexes and several other programs to help low- and middle-income earners obtain housing. However, there are usually long wait lists for all of those programs, and all of them require applicants to meet certain criteria to be

eligible. Martinez said that when she’s working, her income, combined with her and her husband’s disability payments, can push them above the qualifying threshold for some subsidized programs — but it’s not nearly enough to pay for market-rate housing.

The Moab Area Community Land Trust, a local nonprofit organization, is working on developing a subdivision that will include hundreds of units for low- and middle-income brackets.

Moab City has purchased a lot with the intention of building an affordable housing development.

In 2019, Grand County approved a zoning overlay that allows developers to build with increased density in exchange for designating some of their units as workforce housing for people who live and work in Grand County.

Projects like these take a long time to get off the ground, In the meantime, some Moab workers still rely on their vehicles.

The City of Moab has considered a temporary ordinance allowing RVs to be parked on private property outside of campgrounds to provide some immediate relief for houseless workers.

Technically, it’s illegal to “camp” out of a vehicle in Grand County unless you’re parked in a designated campground or on federal public lands in areas where dispersed camping is allowed. The City of Moab has had such an ordinance for years. In January of this year, the Grand County Commission passed an ordinance clarifying those rules for county lands as well.

The county attorney told commissioners that sheriff’s deputies needed clearer language to be able to effectively address complaints about nuisance

campers and people illegally renting out their yards or driveways, so far citations have not been issued.

Those circumstances mean it’s hard for people living in vehicles to find somewhere to park for the night, Martinez said. She and her husband have been woken up by police officers in the early hours of the morning while sleeping in their van on the street or in parking lots in town.

Even a tent site with no electrical hookups or sewer at a private campground in town costs around $30 a night. Martinez said one campground quoted her $700 as a monthly rate for a tent site. But driving out of town to free camping on federal land has costs as well.

“When you’ve got to rely on your car to get out of town … you have to worry about how reliable your car is and how much money you have for gas,” Martinez said. In addition to fuel for the van, other expenses come with living in a vehicle: vehicle maintenance costs, propane for cooking, ice, laundromat use, and a gym membership to be able to use the shower.

Sometimes cooking is too much of a hassle, with having to set up a camp stove in inclement weather or in crowded picnic areas after an exhausting day of work. At those times, Martinez said, she and her husband eat out, which is another expense.

Martinez and her husband have left Moab for a milder climate for the winter, but she says she’ll be back in Moab next summer if she can find work. She hopes to save up enough money to buy a better vehicle, maybe even an RV, to make life easier.

utahstories.com | 25

OGDEN

Ogden’s 25th Street Overcoming a bad rap

N

ew businesses are popping up on Ogden’s Historic 25th Street adding more dining and shopping to its thriving three downtown blocks — Brookey Bakes, Alaskan Gold Connection, Table Twenty Five, and Historic Street Market are a few popular newcomers. No Frills Diner, relocating from 12th Street, is also expected later this month.

Historic 25th Street, aka Notorious Two Bit Street or Electric Alley, is the heart of the city, beating on for over a century through decades of being blighted by a bad rap and rife with vacancies when all but locals were too afraid to go anywhere near its threeblock length. Today, its vitality echoes what its initial boom must have been

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like after the Ogden Union Station opened in 1869, the street is once again an alluring destination that attracts new businesses and travelers thanks to revitalization efforts that were started in the mid-nineties by the city and community members.

As a newcomer, Carl Cox had no preconceived notions of the street other than it seemed like a great place to have a business, and so far he is pleased. A professional jewelry maker for more than 45 years, he opened Alaskan Gold Connection on Historic 25th Street at the end of May last year in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. “I win the award for worst timing,” he jests.

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Alaska where he resided for twenty years, Cox landed in Ogden, charmed by the historic district. He said it “felt like home,” reminding him of his old shop location in Alaska. Farmers Market Ogden, and the foot traffic it brings, was also a draw. His unfinished natural gold, quite rare to find in Utah, and custom designs have been attractive to locals and visitors and Cox says he is happy they ended up on 25th Street.

While the street is a hot spot for new business presently, some of its oldest remaining businesses opened when it wasn’t quite as warm.

When La Ferrovia Italian Ristorante

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a strip club until 2010 when the city shut it down — and none of them were what you’d call “family-friendly.” People just didn’t take their kids there. The city offered owner Jeff Ashbridge an affordable deal to bring his restaurant to the Ogden Union Station where his eatery flourished until he moved two blocks east to his current location at 234 25th Street, which he purchased.

The only neighboring businesses at the time La Ferrovia moved in, said Ashbridge, were a few clubs, some salons, and Star Noodle Parlor across the street, a Japanese-American establishment that had been there since the 1940s and whose revered neon dragon sign still stands outside the building that now houses Stella’s On 25th, an Italian restaurant.

Ashbridge said they loved the street although it had a reputation to overcome. But loyal patrons followed from the Union Station who left any qualms they might have had behind them in favor of the authentic Italian comfort food they’d grown to love. Babies have grown up eating there who now bring their kids and grandchildren. “Generations have been coming,” Ashbridge said. They’ve seen four generations at a table.

The street has improved over the years, and grown busier with more people from new apartments and condos nearby, according to Ashbridge.

They’ll be okay, he says, “as long as the street stays semi-clean and nice.”

The family has run the business

PHOTOS BY BRADEN LATIMER

moved to 25th Street in 1988, business was sparse. There were little more than a few restaurants, cafes, and bars — the current Lighthouse Lounge, now under new ownership, was previously

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themselves for 33 years, with Ashbridge and his wife Giuseppina, still doing the cooking every day. Their kids grew up busing tables and serving food. Their daughter Barbara said she’s been working there since she could “reach the table.”

“You don’t get rich owning restaurants,” he said. “Thankfully, we make good food and people like it.”

“A great business, great staff, and great products,” is what Amy Jones attributes to the longevity of their family-run business, Needlepoint Joint, a needlework supply shop that her mom founded in 1973. The spacious interior is lined with custom made cabinetry showcasing a vast selection of natural fiber yarns and other fiber arts supplies for most types of needlework.

They moved into the 25th Street location in 1996, around the same time as Roosters Brewing Co., when it was “more of a dive bar” place, Jones recalled. “A lot of businesses have come and gone since then.” But now, she says, it has become a destination with more nightlife and it’s common to have out-of-state visitors in her store, especially as interest in the fiber arts has grown.

In the beginning, some customers were afraid to come to the street to shop there. Jones says they’d reassure them, “we work here, we’re okay.” But they’ve always enjoyed the building and being downtown. “Mom wanted to be a part of Ogden, in the heart of it on 25th Street,” she said.

A customer who was doing needlework at one of the back tables overheard the conversation and chimed in. ”I moved to Ogden because of this shop.” She could have relocated any-

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where from Seattle, but after finding Needlepoint Joint during an afternoon visit to 25th Street while passing through town, she decided to make Ogden her new home.

While it’s not as old, Grounds for Coffee 25th Street owner Sadie Smith has been around long enough to see dramatic changes over the last decade.

Although it was at the beginning of the revitalization, she said “I couldn’t believe I was lucky enough that it happened to be on 25th Street” when she took over the business that “fell into her lap” in 2009.

“It has been nonstop growth and positive change since I stepped into that shop,” Smith said.

Still in the middle of the recession at the time, Smith says there were a lot of vacant spaces but also a “huge love of 25th Street from the ones who were there and dedication to help our street thrive,” she said.

Still, there were people who weren’t comfortable going downtown. “Those of us that were a part of it knew that it was safe, but the word hadn’t seemed to be really out yet, and ‘outsiders’ didn’t seem to trust it yet,” said Smith.

Today, the word, as well as the diversity, has spread. Smith says that now you now see every age group “from families with young children to high school kids going downtown just to hang out, 30-somethings enjoying the nightlife, and seniors who can recall the earlier eras of the street — all spending time here together.”

Grounds For Coffee 25th also serves travelers from all over the world every day, she said. “The last 12 years have been such a beautifully pivotal time for this street.”

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SUGAR HOUSE

Changing Sugar House Despite a huge transformation, Sugar House still maintains its synergy and charm

S

UGAR HOUSE — Forever artsy and eclectic, the walkable Sugar House business district has long had a vibe of its own. And by 2005, developers discovered the neighborhood with hopes to capitalize on its synergy and charm. Since then, the south side of 2100 South between 1000 and 1100 East underwent a huge transformation.

That historic block first faced demolition, then sat vacant a number of years — hence earning the moniker, the Sugar Hole — and finally erupted in new structures featuring mixed-use retail and housing options.

Mark Williamson owns the longstanding Sterling Furniture Store on the old north side of 2100 South, just above 1100 East. The family-owned business opened in 1941, and he joined the business in 1987.

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“There has been a lot of development across the street,” Williamson said, noting an increase in traffic. “And up here on 11th East, with the trees, sidewalk, and small mom-and-pop shops, it does have a different feel.”

While he believes that change is both cyclical and inevitable, Williamson hopes “that we don’t lose what has been uniquely Sugar House for a long period of time.”

A towering construction crane indicates that work continues just to the south on 2200 South Highland Drive where traffic patterns will be disrupted for a while.

According to construction updates provided by the Sugar House Community Council, the new five-story building being erected will house 200 luxury apartments plus ground floor

PHOTOS BY JOHN TAYLOR

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retail, restaurants and a bike shop.

Dealing with change While several small businesses succumbed either to redevelopment or the Covid-19 pandemic, new ones arrived to capture some of the plentiful foot traffic sauntering past storefront windows.

Just north of Sterling Furniture, Tela Christensen co-owns Village Vintage Interiors with Mike Whitney.

“We’ve been at this location for one year,” Christensen said. “We love being over here, it’s a great community.”

But similar to Williamson, she senses that further change could be on the horizon.

“Rolling with that is part of owning a business,” Christensen said. “But we’re hoping to be here for a long time.”

She also misses the old local shops that were displaced on the other side of the street.

“There were a lot of small unique business owners and people to meet,” Christensen said. “It’s a little different when it’s all corporate.”

Meagan Hallen has worked as a sales associate at Home Again Consignment for almost four years. The business has occupied an older structure at 1019 East 2100 South since 1997. And Hallen said the used furnishings business is booming these days — due in part to supply chain issues.

But both remain relatively optimistic amid the growth in Sugar House.

“Parking is always going to be a struggle, and this street has always been a terror,” Hallen said. But that’s nothing new to the California transplant.

“I’m used to traffic, to a lot of people

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— and don’t care. But I do hear a lot of people complain about it,” Hallen said.

For Williamson, he intends to keep doing what he knows best.

“The reason we’ve stayed in business was that we feature a good product at a good price,” Williamson said. “It’s through people buying and referring others to us that we’ll be here another 50 years.”

Prime but pricey Not everything is corporate on the new side of the block. Dave Bean owns the single-chair Sugar House Barber Shop at 1060 East 2100 South — where he has about 150 square feet in which to greet and groom customers.

After launching three other barber shops since 2014, Bean said he opened up in Sugar House in January 2020 — just in time to feel the pandemic’s crushing blows to business.

“I’d been used to 10 to 15 haircuts per day, but that shrunk to about two per day due to Covid,” Bean said.

But business began to pick up when people felt the need to get presentable again.

“I don’t have to stare out the windows all day long, I can just cut hair most of the day,” Bean said. “Now they want haircuts so bad that I’m scheduled out and can’t take walk-ins.”

Rents also run higher in the new part of Sugar House, Bean said. “But it’s worth it to be in an area where they appreciate the quality. It’s almost like Park City.” He also acknowledged he can’t afford to live in Sugar House.

“I live in Saratoga Springs, so I commute every day,” Bean said. “It’s a long commute but I listen to tapes and it’s worth it for this location.”

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No Turkey?

No Problem Do’s & Don’ts for Selecting Holiday Libations

By Ted Scheffler

H

eading into the holiday season, I’m often asked — especially when I run into colleagues and friends at the wine store — about what wines are best to pair with holiday fare such as that served at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. My advice — and this is true all year ‘round, not just during the holidays — is to not fret and fuss too much. You want to serve wine, beer, cocktails and such that are complementary to the cuisine being served.

But I don’t usually recommend striving for perfection; perfect food and drink matches aren’t as important as finding versatile beverages that can partner well with a wide variety of flavors and textures, from turkey, gravy, stuffing and spuds, to green beans, cranberries, roasted carrots and pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving and Christmas get-togethers should be relatively stress free occasions, not the time to obsess about perfect food and

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drink pairings. Here are some general strategies.

I like to greet holiday guests with something festive like a glass of bubbly or a light, low-alcohol cocktail. For budgetary reasons, I’m probably not going to be popping corks on vintage French Champagne, when an inexpen-

sive Spanish Cava or Italian Prosecco would kick off a holiday gathering nicely.

Or, perhaps a domestic sparkling wine such as Gruet Brut, which has a French heritage but is made in The Land of Enchantment, New Mexico. A light and festive cocktail to serve would

be the St-Germain Spritz. It’s a simple, refreshing and elegant low-alcohol cocktail made with 1½ ounces St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, 2 ounces of dry sparkling wine, and two ounces of unflavored sparkling water.

I usually like to offer guests a choice of either red wine or white, or both,

utahstories.com | 37

to sip with holiday dinners. In making those meals, we tend to throw caution and our diets to the wind and use gobs of butter. Think about it: buttery mashed potatoes, buttery squash soup, corn chowder, Butterball turkeys — there’s lots of butter consumed during holiday dinners. So, I might opt for a big, buttery California Chardonnay to complement those buttery foods — something from Cakebread, Far Niente, or Stag’s Leap, for example.

Or, if you’re serving a soup course, how about something a bit unique like Amontillado Sherry from Spain?

When it comes to red wine and versatility, I often turn to France for American holiday dinner wine pairings. Specifically, Beaujolais or Beaujolais Nouveau. Beaujolais wines are young, fruity, and relatively low in alcohol, which makes them quite quaffable and don’t weigh you down during dinner. Beaujolais Nouveau is especially festive and easy-drinking, and it is released every year a little before

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Thanksgiving, on the third Thursday in November. Younger Pinot Noirs and full-bodied Merlots from wineries such as Trefethen and Judd’s Hill are also good red wine options to pair with turkey, stuffing, gravy, and the like.

What about the pumpkin pie, you ask? Well, if you haven’t switched to coffee yet, I suggest selecting a wine that will serve to enhance the spicy flavors of desserts like pumpkin pie. I’d choose a Riesling or Gewürtztraminer, or perhaps a late harvest Gewürtztraminer or Ice Wine (aka Eiswein) to serve with sweeter desserts.

Again, holiday gatherings are intended to be fun, not formal, so trust your instincts and don’t fuss too much over creating perfect food and drink pairings. You could even treat the holiday meal as an informal wine tasting and open a variety of wines and have fun seeing what wines pair well with which foods. Try to relax and enjoy the day.

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FOOD

Bring It to The Table Chuck the Tofurkey and try these vegan options for the holidays

By Amanda Rock

T

rying to make a good impression this holiday season? Bring food.

Trying to save the world this holiday season? Bring plant-based food. A 2021 report published by the Journal of Ecological Society says that animal agriculture is responsible for at least 87% of greenhouse gas emissions.

The holiday season is the perfect time to share my passion for plantbased food with friends and family, which means I also get to share my love of animals and not wrecking the environment. By writing this article, I’m sharing all these things with you! I hope you’ll find this helpful, whether you’re tasked with bringing a dish

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to dinner, or you’re looking to add vegetarian and vegan options to your table.

Appetizers Serve a trio of Middle Eastern dips with pita chips for a simple starter, and watch everyone dig in! Baba Ghannouj is made with a tahini base and roasted eggplant and the flavor is smokey and savory.

Muhammara is divine! Roasted red peppers, garlic, onion, and ground walnuts create a complex and delectable flavor. Hummus is a reliable staple, and you can dress it up with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of

cumin or paprika.

There are brands of vegan cheese delicious enough to feed to skeptical omnivores. And to those already in the know? Upscale vegan cheese is a love language. Look for fermented soft cheese made from nuts to pair with a crusty baguette and fruit. I’m particularly fond of these brands: Treeline, Miyoko’s, and Nuts For Cheese.

Sides There are quite a few holiday staples that can easily become plant-based.

Swap the milk and butter in your mashed potatoes with non-dairy versions. If you’re overwhelmed by the amount of plant-based milk available, look for unsweetened, unflavored almond milk. Any plant-based butter is good, but Miyoko’s Cultured Vegan Butter has the most authentic buttery flavor.

Boxed macaroni and cheese is another option for a side dish. Look for Daiya or Annie’s. Top your vegan mac and cheese with breadcrumbs and dollops of butter and brown it in the oven — fancy! Green bean casserole is super easy to veganize with plant-

based milk, too. Google a recipe if you need some guidance.

Dessert If you’re wondering what I have planned, I’m taking the easy way out and buying vegan desserts. Or as I call it, “supporting small, local, womenowned businesses”.

Pumpkin pie is my favorite holiday dessert, but this year I found something better — Pumpkin Lasagna from Sweet Hazel and Co. I can’t wait to see everyone’s face when they realize they’re eating pumpkin pie with a layer of cheesecake!

Aziza SLC is selling boxes of desserts that will be ideal for gifting. Each box comes with five pieces of baklava, one Mafroukeh Truffle (a semolina-based pistachio sweet with floral notes, filled with cream), one Kunafa, and one Kunafa cup. I will forever remember my first bite of sticky, sweet, and crunchy Kunafa. It’s made with crispy shredded phyllo dough, filled with custard, then doused with sweet orange blossom syrup.

Yes, I’ll be buying an extra box of desserts to not share with anyone.

utahstories.com | 41

Irreverent As Ever Wasatch Brewery Turns 35!

By Ted Scheffler

I

n post-prohibition Utah, there had not been a brewery since the original Fisher Brewing Co. closed in the 1960s.

That is, until Greg Schirf came to the Beehive State.

After graduating from Wisconsin’s Marquette University with philosophy and journalism majors and minors, respectively, and still only 21 years old, Greg Schirf hit the road, literally. He hitchhiked from Milwaukee to Utah to join his brother who’d already

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moved here, and eventually landed in Park City. Speaking of himself and his brother, Schirf said, “We were sort of dirtbag hippies and we moved into a town that we were comfortable with.”

Working at various jobs in and around Park City in the mid-70s — as a newspaper reporter, real estate developer, in construction, and traveling as a journalist with the U.S. Ski Team— he hadn’t really found his niche. But remember, Schirf is from Milwaukee,

PHOTOS BY DUNG HOANG

and what is that great city synonymous with? BEER, of course!

Schirf says that he was “a homebrewer at heart.” So, he decided to open a brewery. In Utah. In the 80s.

When he took his business plan to the banks for financing, Schirf says the response was that they always knew he was “a little special.” They thought he was nuts. And Schirf is a little nuts; a contrarian at heart and a bit of a trickster. He enjoys a good laugh, is self-deprecating, and cherishes the sort of irreverence that has become a calling card of his Wasatch Brewery.

Never one to be told that he can’t do something, Schirf succeeded in opening his Utah brewery — the first in decades — in 1986. Their motto: “We drink our share and sell the rest.”

Schirf and his brewery have come a long way since the day he went to the DABC and told them he needed a brewpub license. Their response: “What’s a brewpub?”

Today, Wasatch sells their beer in more than 20 states, including Utah, and produces 75,000 to 80,000 barrels of beer every year.

On October 22, 2021, Wasatch Brewery turned 35 years old and celebrated with throwback prices for draft beers and giveaways co-sponsored by Ski Utah at both brewery locations in Park City and Salt Lake City.

Through the years, Wasatch and its brewing partner, Squatters, has garnered a truckload of awards and prizes for beers like Polygamy Porter, Devastator Double Bock, Great Deceiver Imperial Pilsner, Apricot Hefeweizen, and others. This writer was particularly fond of the Raspberry Wheat beer that he consumed in vast quantities at the

Park City Wasatch Brew Pub during the mid-90 when he was a fixture at the upstairs bar.

All of which makes me happy about the near future of Wasatch Brewery.

Because, even as Greg Schirf and his gang look back fondly on the past 35 years, they’re not sitting still. Coming in the Spring of 2022, according to the brewers at Wasatch, is the Top of Main Rotating Series (referring to the top of Main Street in Park City, where the Wasatch Brew Pub is located). And their first new brew in the new series, I’m thrilled to report, will be a Raspberry Ale. Congratulations to Greg Schirf and his gang on 35 years of misbehaving and supplying us all with bodacious brews. Here’s to 35 more sudsy years!

utahstories.com | 43

R E A L E S TAT E

The Big Flip Real estate investing can be lucrative but risky

By David E. Jensen

T

hose TV shows make it look so easy. Buy an old house, make some renovations, and sell it for a pile of money! But in the real world, investing in real estate is a speculative venture that requires a thorough knowledge of the housing market, access to capital (known as hard money), and a willingness to take a calculated risk.

Real estate investors, known in the industry as “flippers”, purchase distressed properties at a discounted price, fix them up, and resell them at a profit. Flipping homes is a subspecialty within the real estate industry, and flipped homes accounted for 6.2% of all home sales in the US in 2019.

In this second installment about

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real estate investing, I spoke with Matt Strong, a Salt Lake investor who is also a hard money lender. Hard money is an asset-based loan that is issued by an individual or a company rather than a bank. These are high-cost, short-term loans (usually one year or less) that are not based on the borrower’s credit worthiness, but use the investment as collateral.

In a brisk housing market like Salt Lake is experiencing, selling a home is not hard to do, but it has to be a home someone wants, and it has to be worth the asking price. When looking for the perfect flip, Matt seeks out a fixer-upper that needs some serious TLC, and then invests the time and money

PHOTOS BY DUNG HOANG AND COURTESY OF MATT STRONG

necessary to make it desirable to a top-dollar buyer.

Matt goes on to explain why he enjoys doing what he does. “I love buying, fixing and flipping houses,” he says, “because I can see something go from terrible condition, to improved condition, to full market value.”

An example of this is the low-end house Matt bought in Glendale for $45,000. Five months later, he sold it for $250,000.

“On the higher end,” he recalls, “I bought a $630,000 house at an estate sale after grandma passed away and the kids sold it in the current market condition, which was not great. It wasn’t a hammer house. It wasn’t totally distressed with sledgehammer holes in the drywall. It was just so outdated.

We added $200,000 to the remodel and sold it for $1.2 million, all within about a six month period. It’s really, really cool to see that kind of value creation and improvement of a house and neighborhood.”

Some investors may use a flipped home as a revenue-generating asset by renting it out short or long-term before selling it. I asked Matt how he decides whether to rent a home or sell it.

“That’s a really good question,” he answered ... Sometimes people turn a bad flip into a rental. And if you finance it the right way, long term, you’re always going to have a winner.

But most successful flippers or real estate investors know their plan from day one.”

Matt has flipped close to 450 homes in his career. When asked if he’s ever lost money on a flip, he replied, “Absolutely. I figure I probably lose money

on about 10% of my flips, especially when I’m doing them in high volume.”

One reason, Matt says, is the tendency to get caught up in making quick decisions to get the next deal and not taking the time to properly evaluate each one.

“That means you might pay the wrong price or underestimate your cost of repairs, or you have so many going that you don’t have the resources to handle them all, so they take longer, and it costs more money to finance them. And then sometimes you just have bad luck where the market turns part way through your flip. Otherwise, you did everything right, but you ended up losing money. All in all, I figured I’ve lost about $450,000 over the last 16 years on flips, which accounts for about 37 homes.”

Normal life events create opportunities for others, Matt says, explaining that “financial distress, divorce, death, old age, new job opportunities, growing families, et cetera, provide opportunities for investors who want to improve the value of a property.

And sometimes people just don’t care about their properties and let them go to waste, which in turn, allows for a discount and an opportunity for an investor to come in, add value, make money, and sell the property at full market value.”

Matt will fund and/or flip houses “that the average person would run away from, because both myself and the investor buying the home can understand that it’s not about what it is today, it’s what it will be after the remodel is done. That,” he says, “is where the value is.”

utahstories.com | 45

BARS & PUBS A BAR NAMED SUE

Full bar, food, pool tables, pingpong. 3928 S Highland Dr, SLC + 8136 S State St, Midvale

BEERHIVE PUB

Main Street just got a whole lot cooler! A big, gorgeous bar, hundreds of great beers and good company. 128 S Main St., SLC

BIG WILLIES

Good pub food, sports bar and pool tables. 1717 S Main St, SLC

BODEGA

Home of SLC’s best kept secret. 331 S Main Street

BOHEMIAN BREWERY

Czechs know: Amazing food. Amazing beer. 94 E 7200 S

CHAKRA LOUNGE

LEGENDS SPORTS GRILL

Perfect spot to watch the Jazz and enjoy a burger and a brew. 677 S 200 W

LUCKY 13

Excellent food and a friendly atmosphere. 135 W 1300 S

PIPER DOWN

SLC’s Most Amazing Rooftop Patio. 1492 S State St, SLC

POPLAR STREET PUB

Good food, great selection of local beers. 242 S 200 W

PROPER BREWING CO. Craft beer and a full bar. Food available next door at Proper Burger Co. 857 S Main St., SLC

RED ROCK BREWING CO.

Tapas, exceptional cocktails, DJ. 364 S State, SLC

Utah’s most awarded brew pub: taste why. 254 S 200 W + 1640 W Redstone Center Dr, Park City

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SQUATTER’S

DESERT EDGE PUB

THE BAYOU

FIDDLER’S ELBOW

THE ROYAL

GRACIE’S

TWIST

Classic aprés ski, famous garlic burgers. 2820 E 6200 S, Holladay Great food and atmosphere for a night out. Trolley Square Watch the Utes and drink a stein in Sugar House. 1063 E 2100 S Service, drinks, food and ambience—all top notch. 326 S West Temple, SLC

GREEN PIG PUB

Great place to watch the game and have a pint. 31 E 400 S, SLC

HOG WALLOW

Where great dining and beer was born in Salt Lake City. 147 W Broadway (300 S) A must see ‘Beervana’, 100s of beers. 645 S State St., SLC Nigt club w/ full bar and great grub, live music on the big stage. 4760 S 900 E, Murray Renovated 19-century boiler room with a patio for clever small plates, pub classics & craft beer. 32 S Exchange Pl, SLC

UINTA BREWERY

A small pub attached to Utah’s biggest brewery. 1722 Fremont Dr. (2375 W)

Offering spirits & bar food, live music. 3200 E Big Cottonwood Canyon Rd, Cottonwood Heights

WASATCH BREW PUB

KEYS ON MAIN

WHISKEY STREET

Live dueling piano bar in the heart of downtown. 242 S Main

Superb food and beer. 2110 Highland Dr, SLC + 250 Main Street Park City High West and a great vibe classic feel. 323 South Main St.

Celebrating America’s Craft Breweries with over 300 Brands 128 South Main Street • Salt Lake City Open every day from Noon to 1 am

November Activites

The Salt Lake City Mission is in urgent need of turkeys and they are asking the community for help. They are looking for donated frozen turkeys between 10 and 12 pounds. Other holiday meal trimmings are also welcome. Distribution to those in need starts November 19. Donations can be dropped off at Salt Lake City’s Mission’s main office at 1151 South Redwood Road, Suite #106, Salt Lake City.

November 10, 17, 24 The Excellence In The Community Concert is a free concert series held every Wednesday, and is designed to bring Utah’s best musicians and dancers on stage by bringing people together and enhancing communities.

To view performers for upcoming concerts visit thegallivancenter.com.

who always support the Ogden Nature Center, a portion of each donation will go to the Ogden Nature Center, and a portion will go to the coffee shops! Participating coffee shops include Grounds for Coffee, 3005 Harrison Blvd on November 15 & 16, and Kaffe Mercantile, 1221 26th Street on November 22 & 23.

November 19

November 13 Opening day for Downtown Farmers Market Winter Market. Running through April 23, and open from 10am to 2pm on Saturdays, the Winter Market will be held at Pioneer Park on opening day and then move indoors to The Gateway. The market will feature locally grown and produced produce, meat, eggs, cheese, baked goods, sauces, condiments, chocolate, and much more.

November 15 & 16, 22 & 23 Support the Ogden Nature Center by joining Cup Hop. Visit a local Ogden coffee shop to pick up a squirrel mug for a $20 donation filled with speciality coffee, tea or cocoa. In celebration of the Ogden Nature Center’s endof-year friend drive, and to give back to the coffee shops

Solve a mystery at the Salt Lake County Library Viridian Event Event Center, 8030 South 1825 West, from 7 to 10pm. Who Dun It: Mystery at the Gilded Keys is an adult-themed event. Film-noir costumes are encouraged and there will be a free photo booth. Investigate the contents of different rooms and mingle with suspicious characters to gather clues and catch a jewel thief in an immersive 1940s style evening. Pre Registration is required and can be done online at slcolibrary.org/events/ featured/whodunit.

November 25 16th Annual Utah Human Race in Sandy. This year’s theme is Run with an Attitude of Gratitude. This is a family friend 5K/10K run with proceeds going to the Utah Food Bank. Register at utahfoodbank.org.

WINTER MARKET at THE GATEWAY North End of The Gateway Near the Fountain Produce, grass-fed meats, eggs, honey, baked goods, & more.

SATURDAYS NOVEMBER 13 - APRIL 23

10 AM - 2PM WWW.SLCFARMERSMARKET.ORG

CLOSED DECEMBER 25 & JANUARY 1