“Stories and Music of the Pioneers” — an upcoming eight-week series of Sunday evening special programs of historical accounts and music — is the latest of special interfaith events sponsored by the St. George Utah Temple Visitors’ Center.

The programs are tied to the annual observation of the July 24, 1847, arrival of the main company of Latter-day Saints pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley, with settlers sent out throughout the region — including southern Utah — in the ensuing decades.

From July 3 through Aug. 21, the visitors’ center will host a 20-minute “Story of the Pioneers” by local, prominent individuals who are “pioneer-like” in their specialties, followed by a 15-minute session of “Music of the Pioneers” as presented by local musicians.

Each weekly program will be streamed live on the St. George Temple Visitors’ Center Facebook page.

The series is similar to previous events presented at the St. George Utah Temple Visitors’ Center, including the “Stories and Music of Hope” earlier this year and “Christmas at the St. George Temple” in late 2021.

Those scheduled to present in July and August are:

• Sunday, July 3 — Gail Smith, a prominent author, along with her late husband, Hyrum Smith, was founder of Franklin Planner and a major benefactor to Tuacahn Center for the Arts.
• Sunday, July 10 — Steve and Toni Caplin founded Steton Technology, a business application software suite. They sold their business in 2014 and served as president and companion over the Washington D.C. South Mission. Steve Caplin, who grew up in Miami, Florida, is the grandson of Ukrainian and Russian Jewish immigrants.
• Sunday, July 17 — Lyman Hafen, is a popular author of more than a dozen books of history and fiction, connecting people to southern Utah through story. He founded St. George Magazine and is the president and CEO of Zion Forever, an organization supporting Zion National Park.
• Sunday, July 24 — George and Kathy Staheli, married for 60 years, built the popular Cottontown Village in Washington, Utah, a pioneer-style western development replete with a dance hall, reception center and retail stores. They have served four handcart missions, and he both taught in public schools and coached football and women’s basketball.
• Sunday, July 31 — Terry and Gina Wade moved to St. George, where Terry practice law in Utah and Nevada. He has served as a local stake president, mission president in Paraguay, president of the Peru Missionary Training Center and an Area Seventy based in southwestern Utah.
• Sunday, Aug. 7 — Elder Steven Snow, an emeritus General Authority Seventy, is an attorney and great-great-grandson to Erastus Snow. His 18-year service as a general authority included five years in the Presidency of the Seventy and executive director of the Church History Department.
• Sunday, Aug. 14 — Monte and Lisa Holm co-founded a financial services firm that expanded across the United States and Canada. He served as a local stake president and president of the South Carolina Columbia Mission.
• Sunday, Aug. 21 — Toni Caplin (see July 10) is the great-granddaughter of prominent southern Utah historian and writer Juanita Brooks.