Helper City is excited to be celebrating International Dark Sky Week with many activities and events taking place April 22 through April 30. Castle Country Radio was able to sit down with Mayor Lenise Peterman and Lenora Callor to discuss all the details.

“Helper City achieved certification as a Dark Sky Community in 2020. We were the second community in the state of Utah to receive that accreditation and what it really means is we are working to manage how we light our city, our municipality. That includes working with businesses and their signage, as well as, you know, our street lights. We just installed several new street lights, which are dark sky compliant. So you know we’re really taking steps to save the dark skies so that you can view the stars,” explained Lenise Prettyman. This is an opportunity to be a part of eliminating light pollution in the local area.

The celebration for International Dark Sky Week was celebrated over the weekend with several different activities. This week will feature a gathering at the Rio Theater on Wednesday, April 27. “We’re going to have Nick Kiahtipes there. He will be there Wednesday at 7:00 pm on April 27 at the Rio Theatre. We’re going to do a Dark Skies overview; this is a good time for any of you to come in and ask any questions about what Dark Skies is all about. He’ll have the answers, he’ll be able to discuss what Dark Skies mean, what the lighting means, what is means to you as a community, how we’re going to be able to look at the stars and see them with great quality. So this is a good time to come out, find out what Dark Skies are all about and what we are going to be doing,” said Callor. All community members are invited to this gathering if they have ever wondered about a Dark Skies community.

If you ever wondered about the various planets, you can now learn about them by visiting local businesses that have displays set up in their stores. “We have planets that have been set up throughout the businesses on Main Street, and that includes going up to the rock shop and over to Pick and Rail. What we have there is we have the planets, and then we have some information on that particular planet next to it that you can read through and see what the planet actually looks like,” said Callor. This would be a great family activity to enjoy.

For more information on celebrating International Dark Sky Week contact Helper City Hall at (435) 472-5391.