The Dixie Sun Bowl Celebrates Its Final Birthday… Kind Of.
This month, the Dixie Sun Bowl celebrates it's 78th birthday, and this year will be its last... kind of. Starting next week, the renovations will begin on the Dixie Sun Bowl. The city will HOPEFULLY maintain a lot of the charm and feel that the original Sun Bowl has always had. The story on how this historic venue was created is AWESOME.
THE STORY OF THE SUN BOWL CREATION:
In the 1940's before World War II, the rodeo was happening down the street, but the venue wasn't permanent. They started searching for the perfect spot. However, the war hit, the men left and the idea was put on hold. Finally, the war was over, and the men returned home! One day, Neal Lundberg and Ez McArthur were out riding their horses, when they ran into St. George Mayor, Eric Snow. Snow pointed out a location that the city owned and encouraged Lundberg and McArthur to talk to the city council about the land. That land is now... THE DIXIE SUN BOWL!
Lions Club members were asked to each donate $100 to the cause. That $100 is the equivalent of $1,300 now! That's a big ask. 42 Lions pulled out their wallets and donated the $100, while 130 non-members donated AT LEAST $100 to the cause. The Lions Club got creative with fundraising and even started selling raffle tickets to win CARS! One car was a new 1947 Plymouth. That Plymouth was won by Sheriff Antone Prince.
Local people started donating their time, their work, even their equipment to bring this venue together. It was a true community effort. In January of 1947, construction began, and by September it was complete and ready for the Dixie Round-Up Rodeo! Now, the venue needed a name. The Newspaper put out a contest to name the new venue. Bobby Laub of Santa Clara submitted "The Dixie Sunbowl" and won the cash prize: $15. The project cost around $35,000, which would now cost around $10,000,000!
