The SUP has expanded its membership to include nondescendants. They also encourage members to prompt their sons/grandsons to come or suggest they give them a gift subscription to their quarterly magazine.

"Anybody is welcome to join," Lott said. "You don't have to have pioneer ancestry. You just have to have an interest in the history aspect of the pioneers that came to Utah."

They also throw out the welcome mat for anybody who's interested in learning how the West was settled and to those who might have an interest in helping preserve the history and heritage of Utah, Lott said.

The SUP hosts dinner meetings, holds history symposiums, takes treks to historical sites (Lott's Mills Chapter, for instance, recently traveled to Martin's Cove in Wyoming), erects plaques and monuments honoring pioneer landmarks and works on projects. Bigger projects include moving Pioneer Village from Connor Street in Salt Lake City to its current location at Lagoon, putting up a monument on Brigham Young's grave site on First Avenue and building a Mormon Battalion monument in Old Town San Diego.

Wright joined when he was 30 and has thoroughly enjoyed what he calls a "great program" and a "wonderful thing." At the very least, it might help younger people "understand what the 85,000 pioneers who came before the railroad went through . . . (and) what they've done."

Wright, a former president, thinks the group needs to really go after fresh faces. "We need to get younger men, to encourage younger men and younger families," he said. "A lot of people wonder why we can't get the younger members, but I think if we keep working toward it, they will come. As time goes on you'll find some will join."

Nondescendants

While Johnson has received suggestions that the DUP should follow the SUP in allowing nondescendants to join, she said the group does not need to change the requirement to keep up its membership.

"We've had a reputation of being snobbish, but we're not," Johnson said. "We're selective, but we want everyone to have the benefit of learning."

To extend that benefit, the DUP created a program three years ago for nondescendants. The associates program allows women without pioneer ancestors to participate in all the society's activities except elected leadership. Associates also do not receive a certificate of ancestry. The program, Johnson said, is attracting many younger women who are married to men with pioneer ancestries and want to ensure their children learn their lineage.

The society also is eyeing women as young as 18, sponsoring activities like the Days of '47 royalty pageant that entices women to get involved as soon as they are eligible for membership.