The year 1923 ushered in great moments in history: The first game was played at Yankee Stadium, Time Magazine hit the newsstands for the first time, and Butler Elementary opened its brand new doors to the community of Butlerville. The faces since have changed at Butler Elementary, as has the way of life since Fort Union Boulevard was a rutted wagon road and schoolchildren got their after-recess drink from a dipper dunked in a nearby stream. Yet the pioneering spirit of progress and deep-rooted community pride continues to pulse through what is now the city of Cottonwood Heights.
Today, the Butler Elementary community is preparing to celebrate its students and leaders, past and present, at a 90th Birthday Party and Fall Carnival. The public event is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 24, from 3:30 6:30 p.m. at the school, 2700 E. 7000 South. The party will include an old-fashioned cake walk, sack races, carnival games, and more modern bounce rides, face painting, and the SLC Moose hockey team, as well as food vendors.
The event also will include a history table, stocked with historic photographs of students and the school, PTA books dating from the mid-20th Century, and a look at the original school’s bell, hanging in the gazebo of the church just across the street after a resident discovered it in the ground a few decades back. The history table will be manned by current staff and teachers from days gone past.
“When we have an event like this, it brings the community together, both longtime community members and young families,” Butler Principal Christy Waddell said. “It’s a great celebration of history and community pride.”
