The Lord opened doors for Martin Harris pageant

CLARKSTON, Utah — Denzel Clark remembers sitting with Valdo Benson on the Clarkston cemetery hill, anxiously watching for headlights, hoping enough people would come to see the town's Martin Harris pageant to reward the townspeople for their mighty efforts.

When the cars came, one after another after another, it was very much like the famous scene from \"Field of Dreams,\" Clark said.

__IMAGE1__In hindsight, he's not sure why he ever worried. The Lord has been watching out for the pageant since its inception.

Over the years, as Clark watched Mormon church general authorities and government leaders step in to get a memorial built to Martin Harris but also to see to it that an amphitheater was created for \"The Man Who Knew\" pageant, he became convinced that it was something the Lord wanted to see happen.

\"Our Father in Heaven actually opened all the doors. I was just in a certain place at the right time,\" said Clark — the former pageant president who is often credited with \"starting\" the pageant.

Clark, a retired locomotive engineer, was the mayor of Clarkston in 1978 when the community pageant was introduced for Cache Valley area residents as a way to showcase Martin Harris' life and sacrifice. (Today the pageant is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

Harris, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon who helped finance its first printing, has a number of direct descendants in the area. In fact a representative of the family organization comes each night of the pageant to talk with visitors about their heritage.

\"It is really a blessing to our family,\" said Steve Harris, a direct descendant. \"Before they started the pageant, we knew very little about Martin. Most of what we know is from Rhett James' research.\"

__IMAGE3__Martin Harris and his story are Clarkston's claim to fame, evidenced by the pageant, the memorial and the passion of the community toward preserving his memory.

But Clark was the one who asked Rhett James to write a script, Duane Huff to direct and Valdo Benson to produce the pageant. Community members rallied around to be part of the show.

Since the city owned property adjacent to the town's cemetery, that became the pageant's home, dedicated, by then-President Ezra Taft Benson.

\"We had a committee without a chairman at first. It became a regional, then an area, then a full-church pageant. They needed a chairman and I was invited to be it,\" Clark said.

He was later officially called and set apart as the president of the pageant where he served until 2001.