By Joshua Wood |[email protected]

In January 2020, the City of Cottonwood Heights held a dinner to celebrate the efforts of its many volunteer committees. Each committee is made up of dedicated volunteers who donate many hours to help the city carry out some of its most popular functions. From the city’s most widely known events like Butlerville Days to initiatives like planning future parks and open spaces, these committees are a force in the community that help make Cottonwood Heights a great place to live and work.

One of the most celebrated efforts of Cottonwood Heights volunteer committees is the events committee. The keystone event each year is, of course, Butlerville Days. A celebration of everything Cottonwood Heights, Butlerville Days requires countless hours of work from city staff and dedicated volunteers. Planning starts in January each year and intensifies right through the celebration in late July.

Work on the event includes planning and arranging activities, filling the tents with vendors, feeding the masses with festive summer snacks and lining up the entertainment.

Local volunteer Jamie Jackson has worked on the Butlerville Days committee for years now and is in charge of entertainment. Her efforts start early in the year with helping to plan the schedule and lining up acts for the stage.

“I spend about 60-plus hours working on Butlerville Days each year,” Jackson said.

Jackson’s work on Butlerville Days has helped shape the event and how it unfolds each year. Her professional work coordinating events and entertainment prepared her well for her volunteer role. Instead of being paid, her reward is dedicating herself to the community she loves.

“That’s hard work,” said Ann Eatchel, culture manager for Cottonwood Heights. “Getting people signed up for Butlerville Days and setting up the stage. She coordinates with public works, she’s constantly going, making sure all the acts are in place and ready to go.”

Jackson volunteers her time each month leading up to the festival, and then helps make sure it goes off without a hitch when the big event arrives. She even shuttles entertainers and their gear to and from the stage in a golf cart, a necessary means of transport once the fields are full of tents and festival goers.

“She has been very much involved in getting Butlerville Days to where it is today,” Eatchel said.

Jackson also serves on the committee for other city events like the annual Bark in the Park event. She views it as a fun event and as somewhat of a relief that it’s on a much smaller scale than Butlerville Days.

“We have been doing it for so long now, we just do it,” Eatchel said. “The volunteers just love it. They started as helpers, and have just kept doing it. I couldn’t do it without them.”

Jackson has lived in Cottonwood Heights for nine years and has found a home serving her city. Her work on the 2020 edition of Butlerville Days has already gotten underway. The hard work ahead will once again be rewarded by a celebration of the city. “I really love our community,” Jackson said. “We work hard to get everything to come together. It’s nice to celebrate our community.”