This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If Disneyland had a ride called Escape from Polygamy, Kristyn Decker's book on that subject might still be acceptable to sell at the Tuacahn Saturday Market in Ivins. Even though managers at the nonprofit market affiliated with the Tuacahn Center for the Arts and Amphitheatre in southwest Utah haven't read the book, they banned it after some patrons complained.
"I've been selling the book there for about a year, since it was published," said Decker, who lives in nearby New Harmony. "I have prepaid for my booth there, so I have to see if I can get a refund," now that she is no longer welcome.
Decker's book, Fifty Years in Polygamy. Big Secrets and Little White Lies, depicts her life as a polygamist, a lifestyle in which she was born and raised. She said the book has done "extremely well" and sells at bookstores and through online vendors. She said she had success selling at Tuacahn, a weekly market that invites local artists and crafts people to purchase booths and sell their wares, until someone complained that it was too graphic for a family-friendly market.
Decker says there are some parts of the book in which she describes being molested, and it is intended for an adult audience. But the message, she believes, is important.
I was unable to reach Tuachan Saturday Market manager Chris Graham. But she told the St. George Spectrum that Decker's book did not fit the market's profile or mission statement.
"Our theme and mission statement is it's fun for families. We have pony rides and camel rides; it's like Disneyland," she told the Spectrum. She added: "To this moment, I can't even tell you what was written in [Decker's book]."
Volunteering can be costly • The last time former legislative candidate and community activist Susan Way got a parking ticket was 10 years ago when she was volunteering at the Utah Arts Festival in downtown Salt Lake City and was cited for having multiple stickers on her license plate as she added one for each year without peeling off the others.
Someone, apparently, needed to meet a quota that day.
She was ticket free for the next decade until last week, when she got another parking ticket while volunteering at the festival.
It was Saturday at 6:50 p.m., and she had parked on 500 South to work at the Children's Art Yard. On Thursday and Friday, placards on 500 South noted the stalls were reserved for city employees. But the placards were gone Saturday, as employees don't work on weekends.
She pulled into the stall at 5 p.m. as another woman was pulling out. The woman told Way she had been there since 1 p.m. So, apparently, no parking enforcers felt the need to give tickets because it was Saturday.
Then, after six hours, an enforcer saw the need.
Sounds like someone needed to meet their quota again. And what better way than nailing volunteers at the Utah Arts Festival?
Best-kept secret • Salt Lake City-based Ballet West has become one of the highest regarded dance companies in the United States, and its recognition continues to grow around the globe.
But if you are a local, you wouldn't know it.
"We are better known nationally and in the world than we are here at home," said Artistic Director Adam Sklute.
Ballet West is in its second season as the company featured in "Breaking Pointe," a TV reality show about professional dancers that airs on the CW network.
That has landed Ballet West on the cover this month of Dance Magazine, the premier publication of the industry.
The cover story, "Life in a Fishbowl," is about the show and the dancers.
But finding a copy of the magazine that features one of the premier performing arts companies in Utah "is a challenge," said Sklute.
He found a couple of issues at Barnes and Noble bookstores but couldn't find it anywhere else.
"We are great ambassadors abroad for Utah and what it has to offer in performing arts," said Sklute. "It's just that nobody around here knows it."