Preservation Utah — Local services in Salt Lake City

I signed up for your Easter egg hunt a full month ago. We have been so excited for the festivities, the community engagement, and for the time at the park. But today we were severely disappointed and let down. On every email or post that I saw about this event the times were listed as 10 AM - 12PM. After struggling to find parking My family and I walked up to the event at 10:15 and waited in line to talk to the lady with the microphone giving directions. When it was our turn, I simply asked “hi! I have a 10 year old and a 12 year old. Where do we go for their age group hunt?” This lady laughed and said “it’s over. You’re late. You missed it.” I was completely shocked that at 10:15 the hunt was completely over. I did not know what to even say back so I stuttered a few times and questioned if there was a second round of hunting for the “late” arrivals. She then said “no. It’s over. You missed it. I wish we kept a stash but that’s not the point of this event.” I do not understand the emotion behind the responses I received. I found them to be rude, disregarding, and disrespectful. I also do not understand why any organization would start the main activity for the day right at the starting time for the event when there was a whole 2 hour block that was advertised. By 10:30 signs, balloons, ribbons and stands were taken down. Clean up began and once again we were left to stand there questioning what went wrong or what I missed. Although it is hard to miss something if there is little to no information given. It would have been wonderful to know that the hunt was at 10 or any rules at all but nothing was provided. I have hosted massive gatherings through church, school and work. Not ever in my 10+ years of mass hosting have I ever experienced this. What a shame it was to have missed the hunt 15 minutes into the event. Now - it has been very hard to find community in Utah. We have been challenging ourselves to get out more and this event was one of those opportunities we were seizing. We ended up feeling more alone and upset than we ever did before the event. I have followed Preservation Utah for a while now. I have loved seeing all the work you guys do. I have also been to other events hosted by preservation Utah. But this one was a fail and I do not care to support any longer after today. Me and my husband are disappointed. My two kids are devastated. We all left the park with tears in our eyes and a lack of hope in the community. Do better. Plan better. Provide more information about the schedule of the day. Maybe wait longer than 15 minutes into the event to...

The Easter egg hunt at Memory Grove was one of the best I've encountered. As an educator who works with young families, and an empty nester...I have attended a variety of these type of events across the valley for decades. There were plenty of goodies for the kids, the event was well staffed, Memory Grove is a beautiful and welcoming community for family friendly activities, the restrooms were clean, and buildings that are often closed...like the Meditation Chapel, were open for tours. Locals were still able to exercise, walk their dogs, and enjoy the canyon throughout the event. My only suggestion is to remind people of the ample parking on the east side of the State Capitol building. We arrived at 9:30am and there were plenty of parking spots near the museum being built in the public parking lot both before and after the Easter egg hunt. Thanks for hosting this and consider inviting more non-profits or community...

It was my first Preservation Utah volunteer appreciation dinner. I enjoyed meeting and visiting with other volunteers that have been doing this for many years.

I especially appreciated my chance to meet Brandy Strand, give her my business card for U Career Success, and chat briefly with her about possibilities to coordinate with each other to engage aspiring architecture, urban planning, and design students from the University of Utah in some manner as volunteers or interns. She seems like a woman of boundless positive energy and enthusiasm for her work. I imagine Preservation Utah can always use more help?

Again, thanks for the charming and generous dinner! I'm looking forward to getting to know Brandy and others better and to many months in the future volunteering with Preservation...