Thunderbird Tackles the Past to Envision Cedar City’s Future

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08 April 2019       Cedar City, UT

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Despite facing a rocky path, David Evans, senior at Southern Utah University, discovered that an appreciation of the past could help us prepare for change in the future. Last month, he completed a passionate endeavor to record an interview with one of Cedar City’s lifelong residents. Todd Thorley, 58, was born and raised in Cedar City. The progeny of Cedar City’s founding families, Mr. Thorley has seen the changes that have turned Cedar City into what it has become. He sat down with David and they chatted about the growth that Cedar City has seen and discussed Mr. Thorley’s feelings about the direction the city is going in. David believes that by reviewing and even tackling the past, we can prepare ourselves for growth in the future.

            This endeavor began in 2017, when David set out to interview multiple longtime residents of Cedar City. Due to personal challenges and adverse circumstances, he had to adapt his project and decided to focus on one high quality interview with a single person. David knew Mr. Thorley well, having served in religious organizations with him for several years. Knowing that Mr. Thorley had a knack for storytelling, David knew that he would be the perfect subject for the interview, not just because of his heritage in the city, but because he would be entertaining to chat with. After David received permission to extend his approval from the SUU IRB (Institutional Review Board), he sat down for nearly an hour with Mr. Thorley and wanted to learn about the city.

            Recording oral history has always been important to David Evans. He grew up listening to stories from his grandfather’s exploits in the south Pacific during World War II, and loved hearing about his maternal grandmother’s exploits on the family Ranch when she was a little girl. His grandfather died while David was serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Paris, France. While he had not regrets with regard to his grandfather, David knew that he needed to do something to retain stories of his ancestors. One night in 2016, he took out his iPhone and recorded a conversation he was having with his grandmother and father. As she recounted stories from her youth and her later marriage, David came to understand and appreciate her so much more. This was the inspiration for David’s oral history venture in Cedar City. Stories need to be captured before those telling them are gone. As Mr. Thorley talked about his youth and midnight bunny busting raids and how Main Street extended over the years, David saw that Cedar City’s growth is not merely geographic and physical, but it is demographic. An agrarian town being encroached upon by modern practices that can be rebuffed or accepted. Mr. Thorley believes that the growth can, and should be embraced, but we cannot forget where we came from as a city. The story of Cedar City is, in fact, a story of growth. And it has a heritage and legacy that must be cherished, honored, and protected for years to come.###

 

David Evans

evansdm13@hotmail.com       (801) 520-2950