Roadshows

Roadshows were plays put on by each ward in a stake – usually the young men and young women. They varied in quality, based almost entirely on the creativity of the person in charge. They ran the gauntlet from awesome and sometimes hilarious to hellish torture. Overall, I enjoyed them – but I was so busy as a youth that I usually wasn’t involved directly in them.

They ceased years ago (no idea how long ago), mostly, I believe, because they took so long and so much time to prepare that when life got more and more involved and hectic (and more mothers started working outside the home) that they became more of a burden than a fun activity. I have no idea what the official reasoning was to eliminate them, but that’s my guess.

What you talking about, old man? :silent:

Yeah, I remember those days.

Okay, dating myself here. Working on roadshows was the best of times and the worst of times. The wards all performed their shows in competition that was fierce in our stake. They were kind of like church basketball for music nerds. It was very easy to accept their discontinuation becuase they obviously weren’t at the core of the gospel, and there was often some very bad sportsmanship at the competition. But I remember them fondly because they were a real group effort and our final product was a sort of “desert blossoming as a rose” moment for our little podunk branch at the far end of our mission field stake.

This is a beautiful summary of what made them so great.

UK must have missed the first memo as we were still doing them up until about 7-8 years ago (definitely did one in 2005 as our little branch of misfits won).

They now do ‘Oscars’ where each unit (usually the youth) create a 5-7 minute video that people watch during a dinner with a host telling corny jokes between each one.

Still a mixed bag of quality. I think they recently switched it to a music video so it didn’t go over 4-5 minutes.

Yep the UK missed the memo on that, I know several stakes doing them up to a couple of years ago

In my stake we still do a ‘dance festival’ which everyone loves even though the same ward wins each year!!

The roadshow is still being done in my stake in the Northern Cache Valley area. I personally don’t enjoy it, or the pressure placed on youth and leaders to participate.

My stake (ward even more so) is very traditional and there are lots of things done because that is just how it always has been done. It is frustrating sometimes , almost 10 years in our ward and we are still considered “new” people. Lots of family relations, kids, siblings, aunts and uncles settled on family farmland.

My stake had road shows in the 80s, but for some reason we haven’t had any since, I think, the early 90s.

USU is a great school and Cache Valley is a beautiful place.

I agree on both counts. She is excited to start college, and USU seems to be a perfect fit for her.