WASHINGTON – Hundreds of people turned out in Veterans Park in Washington for a Pioneer Day eve luau and the opportunity to meet Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Tuesday night. During the luau, Holland,a native of Southern Utah and one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, received the Manhood Award from the local community.
Holland and his wife, Patricia Holland, are the grand marshals of Washington City’s Pioneer Day parade this year. The parade will also feature up to 1,000 youth dressed as LDS missionaries and “stripling warriors.”
Holland joked that his wife was the real star of the forthcoming event, and he was merely one of her attendants.
He said he looked forward to being in the parade with the youth, particularly those of upcoming missionary age. Currently the LDS Church has over 70,000 missionaries serving across the world thanks to last year’s announcement that missionaries could serve at younger ages. Holland added that the Church projects that number will rise to over 85,000 in a few months, and may even reach 90,000 in the future.
Report continues below
Videocast by Samantha Tommer, St. George News
The Hollands were also honored by residents of Washington during the evening, Holland specifically was presented with the Manhood Award by Dale Ure, who said society in general has “deflated what real manhood is.”
The Manhood Award has been presented since the mid-1970s to members of the community who exemplify what “real manhood” is according to the standards of the award, which include characteristics such as integrity, responsibility, promoting freedom and liberty, and so on.
According to a card titled “The Twelve Pillars of True Manhood,” which was handed out the the crowd as a part of the presentation, a true man is “a combination of George Washington, Pope John Paul, John Wayne (and) Superman.”
“I didn’t know I was qualified,” Holland joked. “I’m glad they at least think I’m in the running for it.”
Patricia Holland was also presented with a book of local cooking recipes by Washington Mayor Ken Neilson.
As the sun began to set, the evening concluded with a troupe of Polynesian dancers out of Las Vegas entertaining the crowd.
All throughout the evening, longtime friends of the Hollands stopped by the couple’s table to say hello, while many others lined up for a chance to meet Holland in person.
When acting in his capacity as a leader of the LDS Church, Holland is known for impassioned sermons given during the church’s semi-annual general conferences.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
Related post:
- LDS Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland, ‘Stripling Warriors’ to participate in Washington City luau and parade
- Guide to Southern Utah’s Pioneer Day events
- Pioneer reflections: Living the good life
- What the HAYnes? You want me to push a cart how far?
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @MoriKessler
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.
What a load of ridiculous nothingness.
He gets a “manhood” award and his wife gets a cookbook? How very 1950s of you. Perhaps they should have tried a bit harder to get the grammar correct on their handout.
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“The parade will also feature up to 1,000 youth dressed as LDS missionaries and ‘stripling warriors.'”
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Which is all the reason many need to avoid this odd “holiday” parade.
Rejoice! This article has given you the opportunity to exercise your ability to be a troll!
Have nothing constructive or positive to say out there in internet land, kids? Better yet, are you someone who feels empowered to say whatever you want over the internet because of that wonderful cyber-anonymity, yet would never dare say it in public or directly to the faces of the people you love to ridicule?
Then you too, my friends, can be a troll!
Empowered by anonymity? Pot, meet kettle.
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I find it ridiculous to honor this person for his “manhood,” especially based on the criteria given (and the obvious lack of thought and attention given to the handout). Add to that the fact that he is celebrated for his manliness while his wife is relegated to being thought of as only a housemaid and cook, and you have the makings of a full-on farce.
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Also ridiculous is asking 1000 kids to dress up like fictional characters and another 1000 to put on the mormon missionary uniform for a city (read: civic) parade. Sure, I grit my teeth when the handcarts go by, but at least those are historically accurate and have something to do with pioneer day.
In the early Pioneer Days, he might have been rewarded with another wife, probably a child bride. Then, the women were just cattle.
The reason why it is called Manhood Award is because it is give to men. Where is the same outrage when a woman wins a motherhood award or when the UN designate a day to celebrate and give awards for womanhood? You need to get off your hypocritical high horse.
Please do be careful when you walk around lest you step on your own brain.
Did I seem outraged in my comments? I’d say I was actually more amused by the blatant sexism demonstrated by rewarding the man’s inherent manhood, while relegating the woman to helpmeet status and presenting the poor thing with a cookbook, of all things.
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While the man is a vigilant protector of family and virtue, and a defender of truth, freedom and justice, the woman is the quiet, nurturing consort who presents pipe, slippers and a hot meal to him at the end of the day. Thus my comment about the 1950s.
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I do find it interesting that you, Ian, think the award appropriate for a woman is one celebrating motherhood. Is that, in your world, the only role for a woman? I must admit, you’ve got me on the U.N. thing, as I have no idea what you’re talking about. If I knew of such an award being presented by the United Nations, I would not be outraged; I would celebrate the idea of women finally being recognized as more than ambulatory incubators or flag-stitching maidens to be shielded from the evil world.
What an even bigger “load of ridiculous nothingness.”
IF you think that women in the fifties are a bunch of “quiet, nurturing consort who presents pipe, slippers and a hot meal to him at the end of the day” then you need to take a deep breath and re-examine your thinking. Tell that to my great grandmother, my grandmother and my mom & they’ll give you a piece of their mind.
Both Womanhood and Manhood need to be celebrated and when it happens, their respective partners (if they have any) are not mere backgrounds but partners in success. Go and check out this “UN thing” and see what the Women’s husbands receive during the awarding. They got nothing and you know what? That is perfectly OK because the event is not to their honor.
In this case someone received a manhood award, his wife received a humble gift, and you call it sexism. There is nothing more sexist than to think to celebrate one and not the other.
Hypocrisy rots the brain.
If you’d like for me to check out “this U.N. thing,” please provide a relevant link.
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Or perhaps we should cut this conversation off. It appears to be making you angry.
Now when I was a little boy, at the age of five. I had somethin’ in my pocket keep a lot of folks alive. Now I’m a man. Made twenty-one. You know baby. We can have a lot of fun. I’m a man. I spell M A N Man. Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh. All you pretty women, stand in line. I can make love to you baby, in an hour’s time. I’m a man. I spell M A N Man. I goin’ back down to Kansas Stew. Bring back the second cousin Little John the conqueroo. I’m a man. Spell M A N Man. Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh. The line I shoot will never miss. The way I make love to ’em, they can’t resist. I’m a man. I spell M A N Man. Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh, aeh.
………………http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm7gVvUuZkE
It’s so interesting to see how satan rages when an apostle of The Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned. Someday these vicious tongues will be silenced and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ.
How surprised will people be when they reach heaven and notice Joseph Smith isn’t there?
It’s no surprise you have so much hatred and misery in your life. Many of the commenters here I suppose would make excellent candidates for “Troll of the Year,” or the “Grinch That’s Trying So Desperately To Steal Christmas and Faith in God.” Your consequence for always complaining will never be happiness (only misery) in stark contrast to the people who like to celebrate.
No hate and misery here, but I sense those emotions in your post. Remember, Smith shot and killed an innocent man.
Please express their opinion and you call them Satan! Your nothing more then a bigot and you aren’t going to hell or heaven because neither exist. Truly a sad lout without any doubt!
How unfortunate it is that you allow Satan to rage in your heart against truth as much as you do. If I were you, I would be doing some deep soul-searching. And by the way, no one ever took you by the ears and dragged you into church. It is your own steaming pot kettle that keeps your imagination aflame with falsehoods.