OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Draper Historic Preservation Commission Special Meeting: Widowmaker Plaque Ceremony Coordination – September 10, 2026

Meeting Portal — Thursday, September 10, 2026
BodyDraper, Utah
SessionMeeting Portal
DateThursday, September 10, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 51:48

Transcript — Verbatim
0:16

Okay, so we're recording.

0:18

Yeah.

0:19

You want to start?

0:20

All right.

0:20

Welcome everyone to this special historic preservation commission meeting to discuss the Widowmaker plaque event.

0:27

It is 6.02 p.m.

0:29

And we are going to start off with a roll call.

0:32

Jason Wiggins.

0:33

Annie Bomber.

0:34

Lyndon Peterson.

0:36

David Hao.

0:37

Rena Pace.

0:38

David Wilkes.

0:39

Jennifer DeStromski.

0:40

And then we'll have people on Zoom introduce themselves.

0:46

Mel Kimball Jr., Mill Kimball Sr.

0:50

Hi.

0:51

Thank you.

0:54

All right.

0:55

We will move on to our agenda item, Widowmaker Plaque Ceremony Coordination.

1:00

Jason, I'm going to let you take it away.

1:02

Thank you.

1:04

Probably before anything, you know, it's always nice to have some idea or vision that kind of aligns all of us and kind of organizes our thinking and how we moved together into this event.

1:18

Just taking a stab at a fun one.

1:20

I thought it'd be nice to uh think of this event as a way of reuniting the widowmaker community around the original race site and celebrate its enduring spirit of adventure and camaraderie and preserve its place in Draper's history for future generations.

1:38

So I felt like that's a good way to say that's why we're here.

1:48

David Wilkes is our event coordinator.

1:50

Yeah.

1:51

And they're so I may Linda and Dave, I think we kind of want to spend more time with them first.

2:00

Because I don't know if they can stay the whole meeting.

2:03

My only thought was to let Mel uh Junior and Senior talk a little bit about what they plan to bring.

2:10

That might inform how you know when uh your team decides you want to support us as well as David too.

2:18

Okay.

2:18

I don't think we have to go into all the particulars yet, but okay.

2:21

I think that might be might be good.

2:23

Okay.

2:24

So uh Kimball family.

2:27

Um you wouldn't mind just giving giving a little introduction about yourself and you know I've spent a lot of time with you folks, but not everybody in the room has.

2:37

Uh let us know what your connection is to the race and give us a little bit of an idea of what you plan on bringing in terms of uh artifacts and and things you're gonna be sharing with the community, as well as maybe an idea of what you plan to to say when at the event.

2:53

Is that all right if I put you on the spot first?

2:56

Yeah, that's fine.

2:58

Cool.

2:59

Um dad, do you want to go ahead?

3:01

Sorry.

3:02

Okay, well, let me um I'll introduce my dad.

3:05

My dad uh he joined the bees club about 1963-ish, somewhere in that uh vicinity before they had actually had the hill climb um on Steep Mountain.

3:20

It was uh at another location over by uh on the Utah County side on the Utah County side of that flat of where the the cars park later on uh in 64 when the hill climb started is when he joined the bees club and was uh just you know as an enthusiast and got involved with the hill climbing uh at that point.

3:50

And then uh won the 1968 widowmaker, uh all but four feet going over the top of the 600 foot hill all the way to the north.

4:01

And then uh as you know later on, it moved and it went down to the longer hills to the south, uh starting off at about a thousand foot somewhere in about 76, 75, 76, somewhere in there.

4:19

I believe.

4:21

And then progressed on.

4:25

Uh I started writing.

4:28

I was born in 1963, and I started writing at age 11, and I wrote my very first widowmaker uh on the 600 foot hill.

4:39

Um back before just before they had moved it.

4:43

And from there on, we just uh progressed and stayed in the club and helped uh promote and participated.

5:00

You gotta remember the bees club wasn't just a hill climb club, it was a it was an enthusiast club that did a lot for uh racing in general in in the state, uh, desert racing, flat track motocross, uh, and hill climbing.

5:09

Hill climbing obviously found its niche because of of Steep Mountain and becoming the widowmaker, which became worldwide and and especially around the US.

5:20

So I think that's kind of where I would be leaning to speak on.

5:28

Um I know that uh it didn't get a lot of good uh publicity sometimes because of the the crowd routing us and and things on that uh nature, but you know, we were talking about that earlier.

5:48

Um we were there because of the event, and the happening is what they promoted as you know, our announcers used to say that it this was a happening.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Historic Preservation██████████████████████████████████████████42%
Community Engagement██████████████████████████26%
Public Engagement███████████████████19%
Procedural█████5%
Parks and Recreation█████5%
Business Licensing███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Draper Historic Preservation Commission Special Meeting: Widowmaker Plaque Ceremony Coordination – September 10, 2026

The Draper Historic Preservation Commission met on September 10, 2026 (2026-09-10) at Draper City Hall's Administration Conference Room, 1020 East Pioneer Road, to coordinate the upcoming Widowmaker Plaque Ceremony. The agenda was dated September 9, 2026, while the provided timestamp is September 10, 2026; no minutes were available. The transcript records the start time as 6:02 p.m. The meeting included roll call, presentations by the Kimball family, planning for the October 10, 2026 ceremony at Flight Park, and adjournment.

Welcome and Roll Call

  • In-person attendees: Jason Wiggins, Annie Bomber, Lyndon Peterson, David Hao, Rena Pace, David Wilkes, and Jennifer DeStromski.
  • Via Zoom: Mel Kimball Jr. and Mel Kimball Sr.

Event Vision

  • Commissioner Jason Wiggins described the event as a way to reunite the Widowmaker community around the original race site, celebrate its spirit of adventure and camaraderie, and preserve its place in Draper's history for future generations.

Kimball Family Participation and Memorabilia

  • Mel Kimball Jr. introduced his father, Mel Kimball Sr. (age 89), who joined the Bees Club around 1963, won the 1968 Widowmaker on the 600-foot hill, and later raced when the event moved to longer hills to the south in the mid-1970s.
  • Mel Kimball Jr., born in 1963, began riding at age 11 on the original 600-foot hill and won Widowmaker championships in 1986 and 1988.
  • The Kimballs plan to bring Mel Sr.'s Triumph motorcycle, Mel Jr.'s championship bike, Mel Jr.'s traveling trophy, Bees Club jackets and hats, and other memorabilia. Other Bees Club members may bring items; about six members were confirmed, with an estimated 20-25 people expected from that community.
  • Two large scrapbooks from the 1960s and roughly 1979-1984/85 may be displayed, but only with a family member turning pages because the bindings are fragile.

Ceremony Logistics

  • Date: October 10, 2026; setup at 9 a.m., ceremony start at 10 a.m. The advertised public event will be no more than one hour, with no more than 30 minutes of speaking followed by 30 minutes for questions and memorabilia viewing. Cleanup must be complete by 2 p.m. due to afternoon thermal activity at Flight Park.
  • Location: The plaque is already installed near the Flight Park restrooms, facing the original race hill. The ceremony will be set up in the parking lot with canopies, chairs, tables, a lectern, and a sound system. County rules prohibit making the park unusable for its intended purpose, and the area includes paraglider launch boxes and a fire truck turnaround line that cannot be blocked; the site plan will be shared with the fire department.
  • Weather contingency: The ceremony is rain-or-shine for light rain; cancellation or postponement would occur with lightning within 8 miles or wind gusts over 12 mph. Canopies will shelter VIPs and artifacts; VIP estimates were no more than 50 people.
  • Format: No ribbon cutting or unveiling will take place because the plaque is already installed. Media will be invited through a media release; Linda will pull clips from an 'On Any Sunday' DVD and coordinate press. The Kimballs are willing to be interviewed and to stand near the artifacts for informal questions.

Speakers, Outreach, and Refreshments

  • Invitations: Kelly is reaching out to the Draper mayor and city council; David Wilkes will email county council members. County Mayor Wilson was unable to attend, while county community engagement staff Lauren Brady and Chris Otto are expected. David Wilkes accepted the MC role.
  • Outreach: An invitation may go to Edge Sports, a Draper-based motorcycle shop, for participation and social media promotion, but formal sponsorships were not being pursued due to the short timeline and sponsor reciprocity expectations.
  • Refreshments: The city will provide cookies and hot drinks; a suggestion for motorcycle-shaped cookies was noted, with a possible donation and shout-out if a business provides them.

Action Items and Next Meeting

  • Action items were reviewed briefly; members indicated they understood the next steps.
  • A follow-up coordination meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, September 30, 2026, for commission members; the Kimballs may not attend but can be reached by phone if questions arise.

Key Outcomes

  • Ceremony date and time finalized: October 10, 2026, 10 a.m. start; 9 a.m. setup; cleanup by 2 p.m.
  • Event format set: short speaking program of 30 minutes or less, no ribbon cutting, followed by memorabilia interaction and media availability.
  • Kimball family confirmed they will bring motorcycles, a trophy, apparel, and scrapbooks; other Bees Club members may contribute.
  • David Wilkes to email county council and coordinate with Kelly on city official attendance; Linda to prepare media materials and video clips; refreshments arranged through the city; possible Edge Sports outreach.
  • Follow-up commission meeting set for September 30, 2026.
  • A motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and approved by voice vote.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, so we're recording. Yeah. You want to start? All right. Welcome everyone to this special historic preservation commission meeting to discuss the Widowmaker plaque event. It is 6.02 p.m. And we are going to start off with a roll call. Jason Wiggins. Annie Bomber. Lyndon Peterson. David Hao. Rena Pace. David Wilkes. Jennifer DeStromski. And then we'll have people on Zoom introduce themselves. Mel Kimball Jr., Mill Kimball Sr. Hi. Thank you. All right. We will move on to our agenda item, Widowmaker Plaque Ceremony Coordination. Jason, I'm going to let you take it away. Thank you. Probably before anything, you know, it's always nice to have some idea or vision that kind of aligns all of us and kind of organizes our thinking and how we moved together into this event. Just taking a stab at a fun one. I thought it'd be nice to uh think of this event as a way of reuniting the widowmaker community around the original race site and celebrate its enduring spirit of adventure and camaraderie and preserve its place in Draper's history for future generations. So I felt like that's a good way to say that's why we're here. David Wilkes is our event coordinator. Yeah. And they're so I may Linda and Dave, I think we kind of want to spend more time with them first. Because I don't know if they can stay the whole meeting. My only thought was to let Mel uh Junior and Senior talk a little bit about what they plan to bring. That might inform how you know when uh your team decides you want to support us as well as David too. Okay. I don't think we have to go into all the particulars yet, but okay. I think that might be might be good. Okay. So uh Kimball family. Um you wouldn't mind just giving giving a little introduction about yourself and you know I've spent a lot of time with you folks, but not everybody in the room has. Uh let us know what your connection is to the race and give us a little bit of an idea of what you plan on bringing in terms of uh artifacts and and things you're gonna be sharing with the community, as well as maybe an idea of what you plan to to say when at the event. Is that all right if I put you on the spot first? Yeah, that's fine. Cool. Um dad, do you want to go ahead? Sorry. Okay, well, let me um I'll introduce my dad. My dad uh he joined the bees club about 1963-ish, somewhere in that uh vicinity before they had actually had the hill climb um on Steep Mountain. It was uh at another location over by uh on the Utah County side on the Utah County side of that flat of where the the cars park later on uh in 64 when the hill climb started is when he joined the bees club and was uh just you know as an enthusiast and got involved with the hill climbing uh at that point. And then uh won the 1968 widowmaker, uh all but four feet going over the top of the 600 foot hill all the way to the north. And then uh as you know later on, it moved and it went down to the longer hills to the south, uh starting off at about a thousand foot somewhere in about 76, 75, 76, somewhere in there. I believe.

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