Burlington celebrates pioneer heritage

The theme for this year’s Pioneer Day celebration was “Back to Our Roots” and Burlington and the surrounding communities celebrated in style.
The festivities started Friday night with pickleball and corn hole tournaments. The winners of the Pickleball tournament were Ross and Todd Davidson, with Craig Winterholler and Matt Thompson winning the cornhole adult division and Katie Gotfredson and Brett Winters winning the kids’ division.
Saturday morning started early with a 5K fun run and bike race. Robby Lee continued his reign on the men’s side with Kellen Winters coming in second and Connor Hoyt in third. On the women’s side, Katy Neves repeated with a first-place finish and Brandy Lee came in second with Ellen Harrison finishing third. In the first-ever kids’ division, Sophia Harrison took the girls’ race with Ezra Harrison won the boys’ race.
The parade came next with many families and organizations representing and was followed by the Pioneer Program, which was organized this year by Susan Neves. Many members of the Otto and Burlington communities sang and danced to celebrate their pioneer heritage and those who were instrumental in settling the Burlington, Otto, and Emblem communities. Dennis Davidson and Richard Wardell shared their ancestor’s stories of resilience and the forming of the Wardell Reservoir.
The community luncheon and tug-of-war took place in the park and were followed by the volleyball tournament, where Whitney, Jenna and Tilly Neves, Leah Graham and Matt Weirich beat out the rest of the field for the championship. Mayor Jerry George provided another historical presentation.
The weekend ended with a family dance, food trucks and a night of fireworks.