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The parade starts at 6 p.m. at the Five Points Roundabout, 1500 S. Main, and culminates at the South Davis Recreation Center, 400 N. 200 West.
More than 120 entries had signed up for the parade extravaganza, that typically brings out crowd estimates exceeding 100,000 people – or just over the population of all of South Davis.
The Bountiful Breakfast Exchange Club will lead off the entries. The service club has a long tradition of involvement with Handcart Days.
Again this year, it will host the Chuckwagon Breakfast Saturday morning in the pavilion next to Bountiful Junior High School. Hours are 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. with proceeds going to benefit child abuse prevention efforts and more.
This year’s grand marshal is Joleen Willey, whose family helped play a part in the founding of Bountiful and has had a strong community role ever since, up to the present.
The parade involves the outpouring of thousands of hours of effort in creating floats to logistics behind making it all happen – by hundreds of volunteers.
Volunteers are what make the parade and entire Handcart Days possible. They are drawn from the area’s LDS stakes and beyond. Those in committee chair positions are called for three years, the first in a shadow, learning capacity, the second performing that role, and the third sharing expertise with the “newcomers.”
Richard and Linda Davies are chairing the entire event, and are assisted by dozens of other committees staffed by hundreds of volunteers. The City of Bountiful, including its parks and police departments, lends a big hand to making the event possible, as well.
The Bountiful City Youth Council also volunteers its services to aid with the big celebration. One way it helps is with the Exchange Club’s Chuckwagon Breakfast.
This year, anyone entering the various runs sponsored by South Davis Recreation can receive a free breakfast, made possible through their registration.
“Last year we had a record year for the breakfast held in the new bowery,” said Bountiful City Council member John Marc Knight, who also serves as president of the Exchange Club.
“I believe we raised over $6,000. We’re expecting an even bigger crowd. We’ve multiplied the serving line, so people don’t have to wait so long. We’re trying to get people fed and seated quicker.”
The breakfast costs $3.50 per person or $15 for a family, all you can eat. According to Knight, a good part of the food is donated by Dick’s Market in Bountiful.
“The vast majority of funds raised go back into South Davis programs for the prevention of child abuse,” he said. Donations are made to Safe Harbor domestic violence shelter, the Joy Foundation, the Family Connection Center and Bountiful Community Food Pantry.
The Youth Council supports many programs in the community, including the breakfast. “We’ve got our fingers in just about everything,” Knight said of the BCYC, as far as its helping hands. That ranges from the Rotary Club’s Coats for Kids to being a major player in the upcoming Summerfest festivities.
“We (club) can’t do it by ourselves anymore. It’s a ready labor force, they’re young, they’re fit, they can do anything. They work shoulder to shoulder with the Exchangites,” Knight said.
tbusselberg@davisclipper.com
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