Sally Elliott
Photography: Laura Lamando
In a county where volunteering at a non-profit, or even founding one, is the norm, Sarah “Sally” Elliott still manages to stand out. Since arriving in Park City in 1986, Elliott has joined, led and even founded some of the most enduring institutions Park City enjoys today.
“I grew up in a family that was very active in civic groups; [volunteering] has always been a part of my life,” she says with an accent hinting at her Oklahoma upbringing.
Her credentials include: co-founder of Park City Recycling (now Recycle Utah); member of the Park City Chamber/Bureau board; treasurer of Park City’s sister city Courchevel Club; member of the Park City Historical Society (then the Summit County Historical Society); Girl Scout leader for three different troops; member of the Habitat for Humanity board; founder of the Park City Garden Club; Park City Council member; and chair of the Utah Heritage Foundation board. And that only starts the list.
Elliott established Park City as her family’s home when her husband Charles (“Torch”) was stationed in Korea and was about to retire from the military. She was in search of a home located near a university (for Torch to earn a Ph.D.) and with a ski team for her children, Elizabeth (Libby), Catherine (Cat) and Charles (Chip).
She bought a house the same afternoon she arrived here; then revealed her decision to her husband. “I told him he was going to love Park City, because he had a house there,” she says. By the time the Elliotts experienced their first Miners Day, she was proven right. “We decided we were never going to leave — we had found home,” she remembers.
Over the years, Elliott has helped shape the feel and look of Park City and its surrounding areas. She has served on the Citizen’s Open Space Advisory Committee (COSAC) working to preserve open land, and on the Mountain Trails Foundation board, which has created a network of trails throughout the county.
The trail system is one of the first things she mentions when listing her favorite aspects of Park City. “When we moved here, we had one mile of trails; now we have 355,” she says proudly. That might explain her willingness to take on the role of construction manager for the Rail Trail in 1992. Of the almost 30 miles stretching from City Hall to Coalville — including 17 bridges — 26 miles are groomed for recreational outdoor enthusiasts. Elliott continues to work on the last ungroomed piece just beyond the small town of Echo, and she helped the Rail Trail receive a listing on the National Registry of Historic Places last year.
“I am amazed at her energy, her enthusiasm and her straight-forward approach to the public process,” says Carol Potter, executive director of the Mountain Trails Foundation. “She is the queen of the Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail, the diva of [asking] developers for trail easements and a star of our Share the Road Campaign. She has done more for the trails and trail development than anyone.”
The outdoors is not Elliott’s only calling. Enthralled by Park City’s history, she always wanted to share the town’s past with visitors. She recorded a video tour for the Park City Historical Society and formed her own destination management company, Utah Escapades. “I really wanted to do historical tours for convention guests, and I found out there was a whole industry dedicated to producing corporate events,” says Sally. This one business turned into three, when Elliott acquired ABC Reservations and Park City Sleigh Company as well. She recently sold all of her businesses to Western Leisure.
That freed more time for another challenge: becoming one of the three outspoken voices on the Summit County Commission. “I was very actively trying to recruit someone else to run,” she says. “Then the people who were helping me recruit turned and pointed to me.”
The rapid growth of Snyderville Basin, Pinebrook and Jeremy Ranch, coupled with the vacancy on the board by the departure of Shaunna Kerr, convinced Elliott to take up that charge in 2004. “This job is just great fun and very rewarding,” says Elliott, who now chairs the commission. “It just feels good to make a difference.”
Although officially a part-time position, commissioner hours are decidedly full time, says Elliott. She talks proudly of the milestones the commission has accomplished: reducing the backlog of lawsuits while racking up wins; seeing Mountain Regional Water become a viable organization; and enjoying an unparalleled good relationship with Park City Municipal Corporation. Relationships throughout the county have also improved, especially among individual towns, and between the county and the animal control department. Elliott also backs the new form of government which has been voted in, saying she thinks professional management (in the form of a county manager) will be a benefit to the county.
Sally and Torch still live in the second house they bought in Park City years ago. The kids have grown up: Chip is a lieutenant colonel in the Army and regularly calls KPCW from his station in Iraq; Catherine is an attorney, and Libby recently became a doctor. Torch continues to teach as a professor of mechanical and civil engineering at the University of Utah, and Park City is still very much home.
“Park City is just so open, so welcoming, and it is absolutely the friendliest community in the world. All you have to do is show up and offer to help,” Elliott says.
Monika Guendner is the marketing and PR coordinator at the Park City Education Foundation.
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