SOUTH JORDAN — Ask Bruce Newbold about his aunt's farmstead, and he'll get a nostalgic, far-off tone in his voice.

He remembers roasting hot dogs for Grandpa Holt's birthday, visiting at the annual Easter family reunion in the grove and passing out 150 bags of popcorn at Halloween.

Newbold happily shares memories of one of South Jordan's original homes that many residents know as the Popcorn Lady's place or Aunt Mame's.

"She treated everyone that came down there as her family," Newbold said of his aunt, Mabel Holt Nelson. "It didn't matter if it was close relatives or people in the community, everyone called her Aunt Mame."

South Jordan is working on restoring and preserving Aunt Mame's home at approximately 10300 S. 1300 West. Called the Samuel E. Holt Farmstead (after Aunt Mame's father and Newbold's grandfather), the spot will eventually be turned into a 3-acre park and living-history site.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony on the first part of the three-phase project is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Newbold and brothers Richard and Dennis inherited the 13-acre property when Aunt Mame passed away in 2004. Her wish for the home that had been in the family for nearly 100 years was for it to be a gathering place for family and the community that treated her as such.

"It's a dream of ours, and it's coming true," Newbold said. "It's important not only to us as the family but many of the residents of South Jordan to save some of the history. This is probably the only old home that represents the sacrifices of our ancestors."

Samuel E. Holt, who served as an LDS bishop in the area for more than 15 years, operated the Bishop's Storehouse on the site in the early 1900s. Holt would collect the tithes and offerings of local members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — back then, it was produce and livestock rather than the 10 percent of earnings church members pay today. Holt would then distribute them to the needy members of the community.

"We want to tell that story of how the communities got together to help with those welfare needs," said Don Tingey, director of South Jordan parks and recreation. "We'd like it to tell not only the history of Samuel E. Holt but, in a larger sense, tell the history of the Utah communities from their beginnings."

The city plans to turn the farmstead into an educational park, complete with a walking path lined with historical plaques, demonstrations on farming and irrigation and a possible farm-animal petting zoo.