Benjamin Woodbury Driggs Float

as mentioned in the Deseret Morning News 7/19/2005 by Amelia Nielson-Stowell

Days of '47 parade preview

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The Midvale Stake's float, "A Pioneer Legacy to Youth," included a 300-pound replica of the sunstone on the Nauvoo Temple. The replica was so large, in fact, the stake had to cut it down to get it out of the garage the float was being stored in.

"The work that goes in on the site, you wouldn't believe," said stake member Ron Monsen, who helped build the float. He said members worked night and day to get it done.

In addition to the sunstone, the float includes "Ben the Wagon Boy" with his dog and a wagon filled with tools -- a scene designed from one stake member's ancestry.

Benjamin Woodbury Driggs was one of the rescuers who assisted the Willey and Martin handcart companies. While living in Nauvoo, Ill., Driggs loved playing at the wagon shop his father Shadrach Ford worked in. For his seventh birthday, Driggs' father made him a small wagon. The young boy loved the wagon and was sad when two men working on the Nauvoo temple asked Driggs if he would give his wagon to them so they could transport their tools for work on the temple. Driggs eventually gave his favorite toy to the workmen so they could move their tools efficiently.

Stake members passed out the history of Driggs at the event and will pass it out during the parade.

"It draws a lot of happiness," Monsen said. "There's a satisfaction of people enjoying it."

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