Helper City has been busy in recent months with cosmetic improvements and additions made to their quaint little community. City officials would love for the entire community to come out for an evening to see the new developments.
“We’ve been working so hard that we wanted to pause for a moment and this Wednesday, June 27, we’ll be hosting a Community Appreciation Barbeque from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at the Main Street Park,” said Mayor Lenise Peterman. “Really it’s a pot-luck event, open to everyone and it’s just our way of saying thank to the community for all of the hard work they’ve put forth the last six months.” The city will be providing hot dogs, hamburgers, salad and drinks. Community members are asked to bring a potluck item to share with neighbors and friends but are not required. The evening will feature music by Terry Shaw.
As for the city’s upcoming developments, Mayor Peterman shares its vision, “What we see in our future is Dark Skies Certification, we see a coming together of local area businesses to create a business alliance so they can begin to promote and market their business to drawn people to Helper.” To get the Dark Sky City certification will open up all different possibilities for funding and grants, so it will just help with energy and also it’s just another thing that we can add to our tourism. These were just a few of the suggestions made by the Sustainable Design Assessment back in September of 2017.
Phase 1 of the Main Street Beatification is pretty much complete other than some planting of perennials and pouring of concrete to the tops of the benches along Main Street. One unique touch is a feature to highlight the history of the city’s diversity. “There are language plaques embedded into the cement and something that we’re really proud of in Helper is our diverse history. At the turn of century, there were 27 languages spoken on Helper Main Street and I always like to think about what that must have sounded like, looked like and the melting pot that Helper was back then,” explained Helper City Council Member, Malarie Matsuda. The final touches are scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 30 at 9:00 am, volunteers are needed and welcomed.
A couple of important dates for community members to remember in August is the Mental Health First Aid Training August 10 and August 11 at the Helper Auditorium and Helper Arts, Music and Film Festival August 17 through the 19. To keep informed on the event visit their website at http://helperartsfestival.com/
The Mental Health First Aid training is will be an eight-hour course broken up to four hours each day. This free event will be conducted by Cacilia Jensen, Suicide Prevention Coordinator at Four Corners Community Behavioral Health. The training goes into depth about how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and the necessary steps to take to help a family member, friend or neighbor. There must be at least five individuals registered for the course and it will be capped around 20 individuals. Register by calling city hall at 472-5391 or stop by the office at 58 South Main Street.