Sarah Sun is the first Chinese-American Miss Utah winner
This weekend, Sarah Sun, Miss Aspen Hills, became the first Chinese-American woman to win the Miss Utah Competition.
Sun is a second-generation Chinese immigrant currently studying International Strategy & Diplomacy at BYU. She plans to pursue a Juris Doctorate and MBA from Harvard University. As her initiative, Sun focused on reducing the probability of inmates at the Utah State Prison re-offending by making art education available to them.
She competed against 46 other contestants at the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City over the weekend, being judged in five categories including private interview, health and fitness, and talent. Now that she’s come out on top, Sun will represent Utah at the Miss America Competition later this year.
The Miss Utah Scholarship Organization, which is part of the Miss America Organization, awarded $70,000 in scholarships to contestants this year.
The Pony Express returns to Utah as part of annual recreation
Riders in Utah are helping recreate the historic Pony Express. Every year, the National Pony Express Association recreates the treacherous journey taken over 160 years ago by riders and their horses to deliver mail across the country at a time when there were no other methods of mass communication.
Hundreds of riders will take turns carrying 1,000 letters across the Pony Express Trail from Sacramento, California to Saint Joseph, Missouri, a nearly 2,000-mile journey they’ll undertake in just 10 days.
Utah has three teams made up of two dozen people. They received the mail from Nevada early Sunday afternoon and carried it 300 miles to Wyoming by early Monday morning. They carried the mail nonstop through all conditions, rain or shine, to honor the original riders.
Bryce Canyon National Park celebrates 100 years
Bryce Canyon National Park is celebrating 100 years. The park is Utah’s second most popular behind Zion, and since it was founded on June 8, 1923, it has seen over 63 million visitors.
Bryce Canyon is known for unique rock formations called “hoodoos” that look like large pillars, and has the largest collection of hoodoos in the world. It also has some of the darkest skies in the country, earning it the International Dark Sky Status in 2019. On a clear, dark night, visitors can glimpse the Andromeda Galaxy 2.2 million light years away.
The park will be celebrating with a variety of events throughout the year, including their annual Astronomy Festival from June 14 to 17. You can find more info about these events by following the park's social media or on their website.
