Our civic-minded friend and neighbor Katie Witt has agreed to serve the people of Northern Utah as a congresswoman and is now running for the 1st Congressional District seat held by Representative Rob Bishop. Congressman Bishop is retiring after many years of faithful service and with his departure there is a need for strong conciliatory leadership in Washington. Katie is a vetted, capable candidate who has been involved in public service for many years and is serving as the mayor of Kaysville, Utah.
We are hosting an open house and fund-raiser for Mrs. Witt on Monday December 16 from 7:00 to 9:00 in the evening. We invite you to come meet Katie, talk about your hopes and concerns for our country, donate if you wish and share some delicious homemade artisan desserts and treats. Flex your patriotic muscles and participate in the democratic process on a personal level!
Don’t forget to tune in to BYU SiriusXM Radio 143 Friday, December 13th at 6:40 a.m. for a lively conversation about one of Salt Lake’s favorite holiday traditions – the candy windows at Macy’s City Creek. As a 2-time participant, I’ve been invited by host Lisa Valentine to share the backstory and process involved in these confectionery community greetings!
The process starts with a concept. I thought a vintage-looking Santa with a bag filled with toys on his back would be a fun way to honor holiday traditions and my ancestors who were early pioneers in Utah. My great…great grandfather Christopher Layton was the president of the department store where the windows were displayed when they moved to Main Street in 1876.
My design was approved by Chad in Salt Lake and sent with a couple of dozen others to Macy’s Corporate Headquarters in New York City. The head of display for Macy’s and Chad selected my concept because “Macy’s needs a Santa in the window at Christmas.”
The supplies started arriving. I set up my work area in the kitchen/dining area because I didn’t want to work in the cold garage.
I carved some dimensional details from the packing material surrounding the 42″ diameter foam sphere.
In came 6 cases of candy and 1 case of silicone caulking. We set up the candy like a palette of paints.
My team and I worked for several weeks gluing candy to the sphere. Macy’s picked up the ornament and placed it in the windows of the store for staging. Here are behind the scene shots before the unveiling.
Yeah, it was overdone, but when have I not overdone anything holiday-related?
And 3 years later, we did it again!
Here’s a link to the original article and a KSL interview on television.