Kate Daly: Miss Lehi, Roundup Week & Community Service | Roots & Branches

Kate Daly shares her lifelong Lehi, Utah story through the Miss Lehi Scholarship Program and Lehi Roundup Week. A community leader on tradition, pageantry, and growth.

Kate Daly: Miss Lehi, Roundup Week & Community Service | Roots & Branches

Kate Daly shares her lifelong Lehi, Utah story through the Miss Lehi Scholarship Program and Lehi Roundup Week. A community leader on tradition, pageantry, and growth.

Kate Daly on Miss Lehi, Roundup Week, and a Lifetime of Community Service

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Episode Highlights

Key Stories from the Interview

The Circus on the Soccer Field

A Living Room Full of Miss Lehi Hopefuls

From Stage Manager to Director

The COVID Queen's Path to Miss Utah

Behind the Scenes at Roundup Week

Moving the Monday Concert

A Small-Town Girl in a Big Town

Historical Insights About Lehi

Community and Legacy Themes

Memorable Quotes

Related Lehi Topics & Episodes

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Full Transcript

Kate Daly Miss Lehi Roundup Week Community Service Lehi Utah History Interview - Roots & Branches of Lehi Podcast

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A conversation with a lifelong Lehi resident about pageantry, tradition, neighborhood floats, and keeping small-town spirit alive in a city of 93,000.

Work Hard Mortgage helps families achieve the dream of homeownership in Lehi and across Utah.

In this episode of Roots & Branches of Lehi , host Ryan Harding sits down with Kate Daly , a lifelong Lehi resident whose life has become deeply intertwined with the traditions, events, and people that define this rapidly growing Utah city. Born and raised in Lehi, Kate has lived in nearly every corner of town and now dedicates countless hours to preserving the community's heritage through two of its most beloved institutions: the Miss Lehi Scholarship Program and Lehi Roundup Week .

Kate's story offers a rare window into Lehi, Utah history from the perspective of someone who remembers when the city's first stoplight went in, when the circus pitched its big red tent on the field where the Legacy Center now stands, and when McDonald's was still a new arrival. Her memories capture a version of Lehi that longtime residents cherish while her current leadership helps bridge that past with a future that now includes 93,000 neighbors.

For anyone interested in Lehi community events , Miss Lehi pageant history, Roundup parade traditions , youth programs , or the challenge of balancing small-town values with modern growth, this interview is both an oral history and a call to get involved. Whether you are a newcomer trying to understand Lehi's culture or a longtime resident who remembers pedaling paper floats down Main Street, Kate's voice will remind you why this city's roots run deep.

Prefer to listen? This episode is also available on <a href="https: <a href="https:

Kate Daly

Director of the Miss Lehi Scholarship Program (since 2013); Chairperson of Lehi Roundup Week (since 2019); Lifelong community volunteer

1990s childhood, 2000s–2020s community involvement, modern Lehi growth era

Ryan Harding

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Kate remembers a time before the Legacy Center dominated the west side of Lehi, when the land was an open soccer field. Each year, the circus and carnival would arrive, erecting a big red tent that Kate recalls as "magical." This memory anchors a piece of Lehi history that has vanished under new development, showing how quickly the physical landscape has transformed while the cultural calendar remains.

Kate's parents ran a music studio offering vocal and piano lessons, and her father wrote for the Lehi Free Press. Contestants regularly came to their home to practice talent pieces, refine resumes, and rehearse interview answers. As a child, Kate watched from the living room as these young women encouraged her, telling her she could one day join the program. Those moments shaped her belief that Miss Lehi is about mentorship as much as crowns.

Kate became the director of the Miss Lehi Scholarship Program in 2013, following in the footsteps of her mother, who had also directed the program. She describes the challenge of preserving tradition while adapting to a "new age" of pageantry, including streaming competitions, introducing fitness wear instead of swimsuits, and allowing partnered talents such as cheerleading and ballroom dance.

Lindsay Larson, Miss Lehi 2019, served an extended reign through the pandemic before competing as Miss Utah County and ultimately winning Miss Utah. Kate tells the story with pride, emphasizing that local chapters like Lehi can launch young women to state and national stages. The legacy wall at the Legacy Center now honors this lineage of queens, donated by former director Jean Hatch and her husband Jerry.

Appointed in 2019, Kate now chairs Roundup Week, working alongside city event manager Mel Hansen and a network of committees. She details the months of preparation that begin each January or February: scheduling entertainers, coordinating with parks and streets departments, managing wristbands and attendance clickers, and deciding whether beloved traditions can stretch to accommodate a city that has outgrown its original venues.

One of the most consequential recent decisions was moving the Monday Roundup concert from Wines Park to the new Family Park. The change stirred mixed emotions among longtime residents, but Kate explains the necessity of accommodating larger crowds. It exemplifies the central tension she navigates: honoring tradition while making room for the thousands of new families who now call Lehi home.

Kate closes with a reflection on why she stays in Lehi. She loves the grocery-store greetings, the Roundup reunions with old classmates, and the Hallmark-movie quality of a place where you know your neighbors. Her dream of eventually running for mayor underscores a life philosophy: community service is not an obligation but an identity.

This interview preserves valuable details about how Lehi has physically and culturally evolved. Here are key historical takeaways:

Kate's interview reflects broader values that have shaped Lehi's identity through decades of change:

This episode connects to the broader Roots & Branches of Lehi archive. Explore these related stories to deepen your understanding of the community:

To enhance this community profile, consider adding these visual elements to the historical record:

Ryan Harding: Welcome to Roots and Branches of Lehi, the podcast where we get to know the faces, stories, and lives that make up our community. I'm Ryan Harding, and I started this podcast as a way for us all to connect with the people we live alongside. Growing up in a small town, I learned that connections go beyond blood. They're built through shared experiences, friendships, and the moments we celebrate together. Each week, we'll sit down with someone new from Lehi to share their unique story, their passions, and what they love most about living here. So whether you've been here for years or just arrived, join us as we deepen our roots and reach out to our branches one story at a time.

Ryan Harding: Welcome Kate Daly to Roots and Branches of Lehi. And we're excited to have you here. Get to know you a little bit better.

Kate Daly: Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

Ryan Harding: Yeah. All the different things you're doing, right? You know, very much like you just said, you're live here, work here, go to church here, pageantry here, all these different things, right?

Kate Daly: Okay. Okay. Well, so let's get to know you first. So, tell me like uh did you grow up here? Where you from originally?

Kate Daly: Born and raised here actually. Born and raised in Lehi. I've kind of lived in every part of Lehi throughout my childhood and I ended up living or buying a home on the west side. So, I'm out there.

Ryan Harding: Okay. And how how long ago did you buy that home? What?

Kate Daly: Uh 2017, I believe. Okay. Yeah. So, I'm in a condo in a nice community out there. Perfect. Love it. It's definitely busy. I'm I live right on Main Street, so I hear all the traffic. I hear all the things, but love it. But love it. Good. Okay. And tell me what it was like uh you know, let's let's go back to your childhood, I guess, a little bit. Tell me what it was like to live here, cuz obviously it was much smaller then. Very small.

Ryan Harding: I mean, you're not you're not, you know, old here, but like we're not talking, you know, but I mean, it was smaller than than it is now, right? So,

Kate Daly: yeah, it was definitely I mean, I remember when the stoplight was put in. Okay. I remember when the McDonald's was brought up. I remember. Yeah, it was it was a different time then. And it was definitely I don't easier to live. It was definitely easier to be in the neighborhoods and not come home until dark when the street lights come on. Like definitely a '90s kid running around. So, yeah. Any, you know, any good memories from that childhood time, I guess, that stand out to you as far as, you know, related to the city and, you know, growing up years and different like just explaining kind of what it was like back then? I mean, I've always been involved in the Roundup parade. I was a float puller. I was a banner carrier. I never got to ride on the float. I was never privy to that, but I got to do everything else. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So, yeah, probably Roundup is probably a big childhood memory and just going to all the things, all the We used to have in the place of the Legacy Center, there was a soccer field. Okay. And the carnival used to come, the circus used to come. So I remember a big red tent would be here and it was magical. It was awesome. Oh, that's good. Yeah.

Ryan Harding: And and tell me your thoughts on obviously, you know, Lehi has grown, right? And and tell me your thoughts on on that part, I guess, of things, you know.

Kate Daly: I mean, it was bound to happen. We have a beautiful land. We have great community leaders and we have a lot of things to offer. Yeah. I don't think I expected it to grow this much though. Okay. As I was coming home from a trip a couple weeks ago, my friend and I were checking the population of different towns on our way home from St. George. And we're at 93,000. Yeah. And that blows my mind because that was not what I grew up with in high school or what I was born in when I, you know. Yeah. So, I think it just is surprising, but it's also very exciting. Sure. Yeah. Traffic is not my favorite, of course. And you always have to plan a little extra time. Yeah. But honestly, like being involved in Miss Lehigh, being involved in the rodeo, it definitely changes your perspective on the community and you get to see a lot more people. You get to learn about new people. You get to learn about different cultures. You get to kind of expand on what the tradition was and how we can grow with it.

Ryan Harding: Yeah. Yeah. No, I love that. Um and and it's a good positive way to look. I mean obviously nobody likes the extra traffic and stuff like that and leaders are working on that and I get that it's a long process and so you know we don't need to talk about that today but but I like your positive parts about you know hey with the growth has come some of these opportunities that maybe wouldn't have been here so okay so let's talk about the you know the pageantry and stuff like that right so so for somebody that doesn't understand you know what it is and stuff like that just talk to me about what Miss Lehi is what goes into that Sure give me a little background I guess of of that.

Kate Daly: Sure. So, we are a local chapter of the Miss America opportunity where states have local chapters of different titles where you could be a city, you could be a county, you could be an open pageant where you don't really have too many restrictions on who can and cannot compete. For us as a local chapter of Lehi, you have to work, go to school, or live in Lehi in order to compete. And this is an opportunity for young women 18 to 28 to win scholarship money, to learn how to interview, to learn resume skills, to learn people skills, and to have a a platform that they're passionate about. Every contestant has to have a community service outreach. Whether that be they want a local food pantry, they want to partner with another organization or they just really care about, you know, a different organization. And each contestant brings their own unique service opportunity to the local chapter, which is really exciting.

Ryan Harding: Yeah. Yeah. No, that's very exciting. And how long has that been around for, Miss Lee? You know, uh 80 80 years, I want to say. A good amount of time. Yeah. Okay.

Kate Daly: I think so. And and so is it something that where is there like advancement like hey if they win here then they also try you know on the state level correct you know regional level I you know yeah so if whoever wins Miss Lehi serves Lehigh city for a year and then they'll go to Miss Utah in June. Okay. If they win Miss Utah then they'll go to nationals which is Miss America in September which is very exciting. So, our current Miss Lehi, Jennifer Connelly, she is working with the community, serving, doing her community service outreach, and she will be preparing from now until June when she competes at Miss Utah. Okay, that's awesome. Yeah.

Ryan Harding: And and uh have we had anybody from from Lehi that you know of that has gone on to to state?

Kate Daly: We have. Yeah. So, Miss Lehi 2019, she was our COVID queen. So she served from 2019 to 2021. Lindsay Larson. She didn't win as Miss Lehi, but she won as Miss Utah County. So her first year she went as Miss Lehi and won first runner up, maybe second runner up. Okay. And then she came back a year later as Miss Utah County. Okay. And won the title with Miss Utah. So we were very, very proud. Hey, that's our girl. Yeah, exactly. We've also had a Miss Lehigh uh get in the top five in the last couple of years. So yeah. Yeah. We've had talent award winners. We've had prelim. We've had Yeah, we've had great great wins.

Ryan Harding: And and and so if we anybody's been to the Lehigh Legacy Center, there's a bunch of pictures on the wall. We have the legacy wall. Yeah. Okay. So that's them and stuff like that. That's all of our queens. Yep. Okay. That's awesome. For and and there's a lot there. There is. Yeah. So that's been around for a while. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.

Kate Daly: That was donated by Jean and Jerry Hatch. Jean was a former Miss Leehigh director. Okay. She's also a former Miss Utah director or producer. And yeah, her and her husband donated that and we get to carry on the tradition and add our next queen after she serves the city. That's awesome. Yeah.

Ryan Harding: So now, is this something that, you know, anybody can participate in? I mean, how many people do you get participating in this? How do people find out about, you know, participating in this? I mean,

Kate Daly: sure. I'm not sure if everybody knows. They may know this exists, but they don't know exactly. Well, okay. How do I, you know, because if I want to play soccer, okay, you know, I sign up for the Legacy Center to go to soccer. But is this something they can also just sign up for? How does that work?

Kate Daly: They can't. Yeah. So, you have to be 18 to 28 years old. You have to be a young woman in the community. You have to live here, go to school full-time, or work here part or work here full-time in the city of Lehi. So, we're looking for someone in the community and we do a lot of workshops. We do a lot of events where we show people who are interested, here's the board, here's all the things that we want to do for you and with you and here's the competition. So, we'll start that probably in February where we'll start advertising all of our workshop dates, advertising dates and times. Yeah. So, anybody, any young woman 18 to 28.

Ryan Harding: And so, let's say they, so let's say they sign up. Then, what's the process? How many hours? What's the time commitment on some of these things?

Kate Daly: Uh, we try to make it easy where we're we're only getting with the girls or young women once a month. We don't want to take up too much of their time. Correct. Yeah. We're not looking to invade their already busy schedule, but we like to help them prepare for interview. We like to help them prepare on their paperwork, get head shot done, and just kind of guide them and help them grow for a couple of months before the competition, okay, happens. So, yeah. So, if they sign up, then they'll meet the board, they'll meet me, they'll meet our current Miss Lehi, and we'll just kind of work with them from now until June when we have our competition.

Ryan Harding: Okay. And do you ever and like what's an average size group that you get in this?

Kate Daly: Oh, yes. I think I've had anywhere from five to 12 contestants. Okay. Okay. So really that's not super huge. I mean so really no there's a lot of opportunity. There's a lot of opportunity. Yeah. And we are one of the highest giving scholarship local chapters in Utah. Okay. So we love Lehigh City. We are grateful for our partnership with them and grateful for their their belief in us. Yeah. So really any but any anybody that participates has a high likelihood of getting some of that scholarship. Correct. Yeah. Even the runners up in the royalty, they also get a a scholarship award. Yeah.

Ryan Harding: And and and I'm assuming the scholarship is for school then or for school. Yep. And that can be a trade school, that could be traditional school. Yeah. Okay. As long as it's an accredited college or or university. Yeah. Or school, I should say. Yeah.

Ryan Harding: And so then assuming they win, what's the time commitment then for that next year? Is this uh you know how much how much time do they end up spending you know on something like this once they

Kate Daly: So we kind of give them full reign of here's your service project or your service initiative that you want to provide to the community and you run with it. So that could be they want to do a service project. They want to do a 5K. They want to put on a concert. We put that into their hands. The other side of it is we are kind of at the hands of Lehigh City and we work very closely with our community events manager and say, "Okay, where do you need us? Where can we help?" And we help at uh I mean the girls just did the Halloween at Legacy Center. We're about to do the Main Street trickor treat and handing out candy. And it's really just every month there's there's an event that we are involved in whether we are helping, attending, yeah, kind of doing whatever.

Ryan Harding: Okay. And so they're involved in all those Lehi events. Absolutely.

Ryan Harding: And and and what's like so at the Halloween one that we just had, what was what was the role of of the the queen there?

Kate Daly: They welcomed them at they welcome the kids at the entrance. They helped uh take tickets. They helped walk around and make sure that other booths were working properly and just seeing if anybody needed anything. Okay. Do they walk around with the crown, too? Walk around with the crown. Crown. Oh, yeah. It's a big deal. Yeah. Everybody knows when Miss Lehi is in the room. Correct. Yes. Okay, let's give her her props, right? Exactly. So, red carpet rolling out. Oh, yeah. And Jennifer will wears it very well. Yes.

Ryan Harding: Good. That's awesome. Any You know, so you've been doing this for how long? Uh, I've been the director since 2013. 2013. Okay.

Kate Daly: Yeah. But I was the stage manager before that. Okay. So, really, you've been associated with this program for a very long time. My whole life, actually. Okay. Yeah.

Ryan Harding: Okay. Any, you know, any stories stand out from from that experience? you know, any experiences you've had, you know, either with the the queen or with, you know, the community, you know, things that stand out from that that time that you've been able to to do in here.

Kate Daly: Yeah. Uh, like I said, I've been involved my whole life. My parents used to run a studio where they did vocal lessons and piano lessons. So, girls who were trying out back in the day, they would come to my parents and say, "Hey, I want to do this. Will you work with me?" My dad used to also write for the newspaper, the Lehigh Free Press, back in its day. and he would help them with interview questions. He would help them with their resume and make sure that grammar was proper. Yeah. So, I remember as a kid just waiting in the living room for so and so contestant to come to the house and go through either the wardrobe, go through their talent, go through an a mock interview. And I just those girls really swept me up and just held me under their wing and it was like, "Yeah, you can do this too. You can be a part of this program. You can, you know, be whatever you want to be." So, I remember as a little girl just looking up to these amazing women and women who I still know today and a lot of them live in this community, which is amazing that I get to see my favorite Miss Lehi, you know, every so often. But being the director, it's been a really cool experience. My mom actually was a former director as well. Oh, really? So, that transition of, okay, well, this is what mom used to do. Okay, what do I need to do now? How do I make this better? How do I keep that tradition but do it in, you know, the new age of of where we are? Yeah. So, I would say kind of every girl or every queen I've had has had their own unique experience. Whether it was an event that they created, whether it was an event that we got to be together at, we made memories with it. Just I don't know. I've had a I've had a beautiful experience with each queen that I've had. Good. Yeah.

Ryan Harding: Have you seen things change? You know, obviously the world continues to change, right? Definitely.

Kate Daly: Miss Lehi, Roundup Week & Community Service | Roots & Branches