While Memorial Day has come and gone, the Tooele County camp of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers is inviting the public to join them in honoring their pioneer heritage this Saturday.

The Pioneer Jubilee, held at the DUP museum in Tooele, is scheduled to have entertainment, museum tours, food, and historical demonstrations. But this is more than just a fun party for the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, according to museum director Julie Merrill.

"Kids hardly know what a clothespin is unless they've been to a place like 'This is the Place park' in Salt Lake," Merrill said. "It is so important to know that people have given their blood, sweat and tears to make this city what it is and share that history with others."

The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers is an organization dedicated to the preservation of history and artifacts belonging to those that migrated and settled in Utah before 1969 or were born in Utah before the same year. Members meet in their respective camps to learn about the pioneer history in their area so they can share that information with their community.

The DUP museum houses about 2,000 different pioneer histories and 1,000 pictures of pioneer life, according to Merrill. She says the information is invaluable to Tooele County.

"The people that stuck it out and settled in Tooele County are real troopers." Merrill said. "They stuck it out, even after two parties gave up and backed out. The city has survived and flourished because of the original settlers. I'd be very sad if any of that knowledge was lost."

The Tooele branch of the DUP was started in 1915 and has continued to grow ever since. The county has nearly 400 members separated into two different camps.

In previous years the two camps have had a combined jubilee, but this year will be the first time they've separated into two separate jubilees in order to give camp members a greater opportunity to be involved. The Tooele Valley camp's Pioneer Jubilee will be the following Saturday at the Benson Gristmill in Stansbury Park.

The Jubilee this Saturday at the museum will run from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. although the museum will be open until 4 p.m. A blacksmith will be making horseshoe rings and selling them for 25 cents each. There will carpet weaving demonstrations, wagon-wheel weaving demonstrations, and a hands on clothes washing demonstration for the younger visitors.

"This is an opportunity for us to teach people what life was like," Merrill said. "Even making the soap they washed their hands with was an all day project. It's important that we remember and pass those skills on."

The museum is located on 39 E. Vine St. Parking for the event will be available behind the museum and at the Senior Citizens Center.

ntripp@tooeletranscript.com