Pigskin — not politics — was the theme of Thursday’s gathering between West Valley City Mayor Karen Lang and Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson.
The two met at the Tracy Aviary in Liberty Park to settle a friendly wager they made last fall, when the Atlanta Falcons faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs. Lang and Wilson were both in attendance for the game on a personal trip, with Lang rooting for the Falcons and Wilson representing the Chiefs, so the two made a bet: whoever’s team lost would have to do a service project for the other mayor.
The Chiefs bested the Falcons 22-17, so Wilson decided Lang would help out a flock a little closer to home by assembling enrichment activities for the birds at Tracy Aviary.
After putting together bags of treats for the aviary’s macaws and plastic Easter eggs stuffed with snacks for the ravens and crows, Lang and Wilson took turns wearing a leather glove so the aviary’s Aplomado falcon could perch upon their arms and give them a personal “thank you.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) West Valley City Mayor Karen Lang watches as Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson holds a falcon at Tracy Aviary on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.
Wilson’s husband, Trell Rohovit, is from Kansas City, and former Utes quarterback Alex Smith played for the Chiefs from 2013-2017, which cemented the county mayor’s place in Chiefs Kingdom. Lang and her husband, Brian, are “devout” Atlanta fans, Wilson said, and when the Salt Lake County leader found out they also loved the NFL, the pair of mayors vowed to travel to the game if their two teams ever played each other.
“We were trying to come up with something fun, because this was not a serious, cutthroat thing,” Wilson said. “This was a time for two mayors and our husbands to get together. We talked a lot about life and our kids, and a little bit about government and needs in the community.”
Thursday’s event was nothing new for Lang, who grew up around the birds since her father raised falcons in Springville. And for Wilson, she’s two-for-two on football predictions, since she made another friendly bet with former Utah County Commissioner Tyler Ainge — son of Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge — on a Utah-BYU game a few years back.
“The Falcons tried to fly, but the Chiefs gave them a one-way ticket back to the nest,” Wilson joked at the aviary on Thursday. “So, careful — these birds might have more fight in them than the team here.”
Aviary staff also advertised a slew of special events planned for the coming weeks:
• Sept. 5: The aviary will host its “Something’s Brewing” event along the Jordan River at the Pia Okwai facility in South Salt Lake, featuring new projects and a display of environmental conservation efforts along with kombucha, tea and coffee for patrons.
• Sept. 6: The aviary will celebrate vulture awareness day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 6 with vulture-themed bird shows, talks and themed activities and snacks from the Bird Feeder Cafe.
• Mid-September: The aviary will kick off Latino Conservation Week on Sept. 14 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Tracy Aviary’s Nature Center at Pia Okwai. The aviary will also host a bird walk on Sept. 20 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the South Salt Lake campus, and will wrap up the week with a conservation night event on Sept. 21 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Liberty Park facility.