What's Happening in Provo and Orem | Jan. 3, 2025

What’s Up Provo! Happy Festival of Sleep Day! You gotta love “sleep festivals”!

It’s also JRR Tolkien Day, which could either be celebrated by starting a new adventure, or by adding a few extra meals to your day. We might choose to do both. 🍗🐉⚔️

A few highlights of today’s newsletter:

• 🤣 JK! Studios LIVE, $1 Tacos, Renaissance Faire in Orem, Free Concert (and promo video shooting)

• 🎼👶 McBride Music spotlight + free demo classes coming up

• 🚂 Railroad “Quiet Zones” might be coming back

Local Business
McBride Music 🎼👶

This one’s a business spotlight/event combo!

Both Annie McBride (Miss Annie, owner/operator/instructor at McBride Music), and Jess Gibson (Miss Jess, instructor at McBride Music), have been involved in music since they were very young. So they know the power of getting young kids involved in music.

Their program, Music Together, is designed for babies and toddlers (0-5 years old). Here’s how it works:
Kids and parents attend 45-minute classes where there’s playing, singing, and dancing! It’s tons of fun, you and your child can get your wiggles out (parents need to get their wiggles out, too), and don’t be surprised if YOU learn a lot about music at each class.

They also have a few free demo classes coming up. We’ll include future reminders about these events in upcoming newsletters, but check out these classes now in case spots fill up quick. Here are the details:

The demo classes will be held at Steps Performing Arts Center in Spanish Fork. They will be just like their normal classes, (45-minutes, for ages 0-5), and the times are Wednesday, January 8th at 10:00 a.m. and Friday, January 10th at 5:30 p.m. Register

Check out their regular classes times and prices | McBride Music Home Page

Nothing in this section is sponsored. We’ll always let you know if something is sponsored.

The Bulletin 📌 

Railroad “Quiet Zones” might be coming back 🚂 

Trains in the valley have been sounding their horns in the “Quiet Zones” since late September. Why? Well, apparently some of our railway crossings didn’t meet all the FRA guidelines. But the FRA is back and doing another inspection, so hopefully the outcome is better this time! It’s a shame that the horns will still be blasting today during the Festival of Sleep, but good to hear things might go back to normal soon. Article

‘Historically Dangerous’ avalanche conditions in Utah 🏔️ 

Greg Gagne, forecaster with the Utah Avalanche Center: “We have right now a historically dangerous snowpack. We have widespread weak snow… we’ve been putting a strong layer of snow on top of this weak foundation, so it’s created this really dangerous structure.” Be especially careful around steep slopes that are north facing. Read more

Sports 🏀 

🏆️ Nine BYU football players receive All-America / All-Conference awards. Article
🏀 BYU men’s basketball defeats Arizona State 76-56 (Richie Saunders had 30 points). Recap | Highlights
🏀 BYU women’s basketball loses to Cincinnati 72-63. Recap
🏈 BYU gets a big time transfer in Keanu Tanuvasa from the U of U. Article | Interview with Keanu 

Provo/Orem School News 🏫 

💻️ Provo School district job openings (including a few instructional assistant & custodial jobs). See the list
🏅 Timpview teachers, Kimber Kober and Denise Abbott, receive the UACTE awards. Article
📆 Orem schools start again on Monday, Jan. 6th. Provo schools start again on Tuesday, Jan 7th (Monday is a Teacher Development day in Provo).
Alpine School Calendar | Provo School Calendars

Today
48° | ⛅️ | 5%

JK! Studios LIVE 🤣 

“Don’t worry Zona, things always go wrong for us. Then somehow people keep paying us. Not enough… I don’t have enough money for my heart medication, but I do have hope…”

The former cast of Studio C and the current cast of JK! Studios (same people) are coming together for a night of hilarious and family friendly sketches! There will be three shows, one today and two tomorrow. Ages 5 and up require a ticket.

Covey Center | Friday @ 7pm & Saturday @ 3pm & 7pm | More info

🎹 New Year Concerts
Anna Larson (violin), Joel Rodeback (horn), and Kaden Larson (piano) will be performing at the Piano Gallery in Orem. There will be another concert tomorrow at the Mount Timpanogos Village in AF. (They will be collecting donations.)
Piano Gallery (650 South State Street, Orem) | Friday @ 6pm
Mount Timpanogos Village (502 S. 1140 East, American Fork) | Saturday @ 7pm
More info

🌮 $1 Tacos!
Tacos Los Gomez (4.9 ⭐️’s on Google) is celebrating their 2nd anniversary with $1 tacos! ¡Qué estupendo!
Tacos Los Gomez (1187 N 1200 W, Orem) | 2pm - 7pm | More info

Also:
👉️ Rear Window showing at the Orem Library
👉️ Acoustic Open Mic night at the Provo Library
👉️ Despicable Me 4 at the Springville Library

Saturday
38° | 🌧️ | 50%

Epiphany! 🎭️ 

Calling all dukes and duchesses, counts and jesters—it’s the largest Renaissance Faire in Utah, and it’s here in Orem!

The fair (faire?) will include live music, performances, storytelling, silent and live auctions, and dance lessons. (They will be teaching historical, Renaissance era dances.)

The theme of the fair (fayre?) will be light, wisdom, and renewal. In fact, much of the celebration and the performances will center on the birth of Jesus Christ (January 4th, the day of the even, is also the 12th day of Christmas). Don’t forget your Renaissance attire!

Provo Historic Courthouse | 6:30pm & 7:30pm | More info

🐦️ 125th Annual Christmas Bird Count
The 125th annual?! How have we not heard of this until now? The CBC is a citizen science survey, and their goal is to count all the different bird species, and even the number of individual birds, in different areas around the country. Tomorrow, the focus (at least around here) will be on Wasatch Mountain State Park in Midway.
Wasatch Mountain State Park | 8am-4pm | More info (scroll down to Jan 4)

🎸 Free Concert (and promo video shooting)
Local yacht rock band, Made For Midnight, needs a crowd for their next promo video! So head to the Angelus Theatre for a free concert and make sure your beautiful face is in that video! (Yacht rock - a genre of music that originated in Southern California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It's known for its smooth, laid-back sound)
Angelus Theater in Spanish Fork | 4pm - 5pm | More info

👪️ Kids & Family Expo
Arts, crafts, small business vendors, face painting, bounce houses, local food trucks and more!
480 North Main Street, Heber | 10am | More info

Also:
👉️ Facing the Falls. The Grand Canyon Expedition at the Provo Library
👉️ Heroes & Villains Artist and Makers Market in the Provo Towne Centre

Live Music 🎸 

@ The Velour
Closed for the holidays

@ The Boardwalk
Friday - Running Sons, The Inevitables, Teddy P

@ The Rise
Saturday - Sasha Hayden, EmJay Hink, Bentelou

Friday To-Do’s ✔️ 

We are all familiar with New Year’s Resolutions. But what do you know about Quitter’s Day? This year Quitter’s Day falls on January 10th. It’s always the 2nd Friday of the month, and the reason for the “holiday” is it’s the day most people give up on their New Year’s Resolutions.

So to help you beat Quitter’s Day this year, and to help you have a more successful goals in general, we’re including some helpful resolution-related to-do’s for you to consider.

✅ Write a personal vision 👓️ 
No point climbing the ladder if it’s leaning on the wrong wall. Tips for writing a 5/10/25 year personal vision statement | Franklin Covey’s Mission Statement Builder (personal and family mission statement) (requires you to enter your email)

✅ Establish “habit cues” ⏲️ 
Figure out exactly what will trigger you to do what you’ve set out to do. For example: “When I close my laptop to leave for lunch, I’ll do 10 pushups.”
Read more about habit cues and the habit loop

✅ Write your goals down ✍️ 
So many tips and tricks out there. But pretty much everyone agrees, it is best to write your goals down. Other tips: The Beginner’s Guide to Goal Setting

Thanks!

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the first newsletter of the year! 😉 

-Nicole, Josh, & Carlie

p.s. If someone forwarded this to you, and you aren’t part of the group yet, then sign up here! 👈️