Sunblock and sandals at the sunrise service

More than 140 years ago, pioneers who had come to the Salt Lake Valley were diligently working on completing a tabernacle to hold church meetings. On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered in the same tabernacle to honor their forbears and other settlers.

The Pioneer Chapter of the Sons of Utah Pioneers presented a one-hour kick-off to the Pioneer Day celebration with the annual sunrise service.

Participants presented an unlikely scene for a normally shirt-and-tie Mormon tabernacle. They wore T-shirts, shorts, baseball caps, sandals and backpacks in the large meeting hall that smelled of sunblock.

Emeritus member of the LDS Quorum of the Seventy W. Eugene Hansen spoke "of those who had the incredible faith and determination to find the place God prepared for us."

Hansen spoke of the hardships the pioneers dealt with, such as leaving Nauvoo, "the crown jewel of which had only briefly been put to use." He told stories of the frost, drought, crickets, food and clothing shortages and harsh winters that made life harder for the pioneers once they reached the valley.

"One can only imagine what it was like in one of those early wagons," he said. "No doubt many a tear was shed . . . as they left their Nauvoo home."

Utahns still cherish pioneer values today, Hansen said. "That pioneer spirit includes a sense of confidence that nothing is to impossible to accomplish," urging participants to take such lessons from the past.

Barnard Silver, president-elect for the Sons of Utah Pioneers, thanked "the pioneers who settled this valley and many valleys and many communities and state and countries throughout the world."

Members of the Mormon Battalion held a flag ceremony and combined choirs of the Choral Arts Society of Utah, Mountain West Chorale, Payson Civic Chorale and Wasatch Chorale sang.