"Martin Harris, The Man Who Knew" is one of two annual pageants sanctioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints featuring significant schedule changes.
Church spokesman Rob Howell said Thursday the Castle Valley Pageant, about early Mormon settlers, will be held in Castle Dale in even-numbered years ; the Martin Harris pageant will be held in odd-numbered years.
The programs have been adjusted, Howell said, "to meet the needs of the church."
"We trust that this change is going to relieve some of the burden on the volunteers," Howell said. "This just takes a ton of work by these people and we can't express enough appreciation for the countless hours they have sacrificed."
The Martin Harris pageant is a two-hour production that traditionally runs to a packed audience for three weeks each summer at the burial place of Harris, one of the earliest witnesses of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
Howell said the cast and crew includes more than 400 volunteers, mostly from Cache and Box Elder counties.
Wellsville resident Donald Jeppesen has been involved with the pageant since its inception and has served as president of the Martin Harris pageant committee for the past eight years.
"We're disappointed to see it go to an every-other-year basis, but we're looking forward to 2009," Jeppesen said. "We're gearing up for that already.
