Education Outreach: Spike 150 Celebration – Spring 2019
Throughout Utah, many communities and entities conducted events to celebrate the meeting of the transcontinental railroads in 1869. Spike 150 is an initiative of Utah’s Transcontinental Railroad 150th Celebration Commission. The Utah 
State Legislature and Governor Gary Herbert established the Commission in 2017 in preparation for this anniversary year. History partners have created content in the form of website, articles, artifacts and videos to use in planning. Museums and other organizations have been invited to learn more about the celebration, the history of the completion of the transcontinental railroad and the importance of this pivotal event to Utah and our country.
The Kaysville – Fruit Heights Museum is commemorating Spike 150 by discussing the memorabilia and photos related to this important event in the nation’s history. The students’ favorite part is a Jeopardy Contest between classes conducted by Christine Deppe and Fay Croxford. These museum board members trade off each presentation with one dressing as the train engineer and presenting while the other runs the slide show. One slide talks about a newly discovered piece of history, how the Kaysville Brass Band played as the train headed to Promontory came out of Weber Canyon. Those band members were the first Utahns to ride into the greater Salt Lake – Ogden Valley by train. Students also sing along to “I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad.” Deppe and Croxford plan to visit every elementary 4th grade in all the Kaysville/Fruit Height Schools over the course of several weeks. They are delighted with the opportunity to tell how a museum can bring more exciting stories to students.
