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Nobody can say Christie Kimball doesn't have a sense of humor.
Kimball has designed a Days of '47 Parade float, sponsored by the LDS Church's Holladay South Stake, that features an apron-clad woman standing over a pot. Also on the float are several giant Mason jars, in which Kimball hopes to place mannequins dressed in pioneer garb.
The float is titled "Preserving Our Ancestors."
"The parade committee thought it might be a little morbid," Kimball said Monday with a chuckle at the annual parade-float preview party at the Salt Palace Convention Center. "We're still trying to convince them [we should do it]. I'm not trying to be disrespectful."
Parade chairwoman Susan McHenry called the episode "a misunderstanding" and said the committee will negotiate with Kimball "to make [the float] work for all of us." As a compromise the mannequins may be standing outside, not inside, the Mason jars when the parade rolls through downtown Salt Lake City on Saturday.
The minor flap didn't dampen spirits at the two-day preview party, held to let Utahns admire the floats up close and vote on their favorites for the People's Choice and Children's Choice awards. On display were 41 of the 50 floats that will be in the parade.
This year's parade theme is "Pioneer Traditions - Bridges to Our Future," which explains why almost every other float had the words "tradition" or "bridge" in its title. Among the more distinctive entries were Orem's Asian-themed float, complete with a Buddha and a Chinese dragon; a Centerville South Stake float featuring live characters popping out from children's books such as Peter Pan; and a colorful peacock-decorated float designed by the Sri Ganesha Hindu Temple in South Jordan, which is participating in the parade for the first time.
A float by the Salt Lake Bonneville Stake called "Being a Good Neighbor: A Utah Tradition" features a woman holding an enormous bowl of green Jell-O (actually, cube-shaped inflatable footstools). An eye-catching one by Cottonwood Maternity Hospital showed a giant stork delivering a swaddled baby.
Other floats represented such diverse entities as Brigham Young University, Delta Air Lines, the Utah Humane Society and KFC restaurants.
Several clever floats featured mechanized moving parts, and one especially inventive entry boasted a waterfall. Families posed for snapshots in front of their favorites, while kids tried, and mostly failed, to honor "Please Don't Touch" signs.
Visitors said they enjoyed the chance to preview the painstakingly detailed parade entries without fighting crowds or the July heat. Doing so, they said, gave them deeper appreciation for the craftsmanship involved.
"It's awesome," said Myrtle Allred, of South Jordan, gazing at the fleet of ornate, glittering floats around her. "I can't believe that people are willing to put in this much time and effort."