The Northern Utah Mustang Owners Association calls Salt Lake City and the surrounding area home. Some 30 miles east, high in the Wasatch mountain range, sits Park City, which was home to the 2002 Winter Olympics. It seemed logical for the Northern Utah Mustang Owners Association to host their show in Park City with its persona as a ski resort and an old mining town.
Truth is the Intermountain Mustang & All Ford Stampede began in Heber City, Utah, on the backside of the Wasatch range. When Park City discovered the benefit of hosting a Mustang show, it got behind the Northern Utah Mustang Owners Association. The show took on real magic with the move, putting it on par with the legendary Rocky Mountain Roundup in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Like Steamboat Springs, at Park City, Mustangs and Fords of all nameplates line up in the heart of town.
The 2010 edition of the Intermountain Mustang & All Ford Stampede was held this past August 13-15. Once again, the event was staged by Mike and Joyce Epperson, who have been involved with most of these shows through the years. This year, the true spirit wasn't about showing, but giving.
Joyce Epperson is a registered pediatric nurse at Salt Lake City's Primary Children's Medical Center, where she learned about an Idaho toddler named Shelby, who was born with a rare liver disease that causes liver damage and potentially death. The only hope for one-year-old Shelby was a liver transplant, which she received last July. However, her care will continue for many weeks with immense medical expenses, not to mention housing and transportation costs between Shelby's home in Idaho and her care in Salt Lake City. So Joyce launched a fund raising campaign to help Shelby's family until her health improves and they can get back home to Idaho.
As Shelby continues to mend, she and her family are staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Salt Lake City. There are times when Shelby has to go back into the hospital due to complications from the transplant. "We don't know when Shelby will be well enough to go home," Joyce tells us. "Her color used to be yellow from the toxins in her body. Now, she is a rosy pink as a baby should be."
Shelby and her family continue to need help, so attendees at the Intermountain Mustang & All Ford Stampede were able to donate to the Help Restore Shelby fund. Contributions are also welcome through the webstore at the Northern Utah Mustang Owners Association website at
www.numoa.com.
Although we've consumed most of this article with a charitable effort, the Northern Utah Mustang & All Ford Stampede is an event you won't want to miss in the future. It happens every August and is a splendid, homespun event good for great memories and good times making them.