Thanksgiving Point

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Thanksgiving Point Institute is a non-profit, quality of life, education based charitable organization.

Founded in 1996 by Alan and Karen Ashton, Thanksgiving Point is a not-for-profit institute that was developed as a gift to the community. The name Thanksgiving Point was intended to reflect their gratitude for the financial success of the software program, WordPerfect, which was co-designed by Alan Ashton and Bruce Bastian.

Alan and Karen Ashton purchased the land close to the city of Lehi, Utah with the intention of building a garden in the desert so that others could seek peace of mind in a beautiful garden spot. During times of difficulty in her life, Karen had sought out gardens as places of peace; she built the Thanksgiving Point Gardens with the intention of sharing this opportunity for beauty and peace with others.

As the gardens were under cultivation, it was decided that other businesses and venues should be added to the property both to extend the offerings at Thanksgiving Point and to aid in covering costs of maintaining the property.

During the planting and cultivation of the gardens, the Thanksgiving Point Golf Course was built. The course was designed by Johnny Miller and the intent in building the golf course was to surround the gardens both to protect the garden views and provide revenue to support the gardens. After opening the golf course, the Garden Wall restaurant was opened; next came the retail shops. At this point, the Thanksgiving Point Gardens were ready to be opened to the public. Since Thanksgiving Point was developed on land purchased from the Fox Family Farms, some farm animals and some agriculture were maintained on the property and eventually became Farm Country.

In 2004, under the direction of new CEO, Mike L Washburn, Thanksgiving Point created a brand identity for its venues and supporting businesses by clearly identifying the institute as a cultural, family-friendly gathering place where the focus is hand-on discovery.

This not-for-profit institute currently contains the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, the Children's Discovery Gardens, the Museum of Ancient Life, Farm Country, the Emporium Shops, the Art Institute, and four dining establishments including the Expedition Cafe in the Museum of Ancient Life, the Trellis Cafe at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, the Deli in the Village and, the Institute's signature restaurant, Harvest.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AT THANKSGIVING POINT

Many educational opportunities for children are provided by the Institute. In the 2005 - 2006 school year, over 50,000 children visited Thanksgiving Point as part of a field trip experience. Field trip opportunities include such things as:

-A trip to Farm Country for pre-school and elementary school children where children learn where bread comes from by planting and grinding wheat; children take home a necklace with a wheat seed that will sprout and grow. Other children may learn about milk production from the milking process to the pasturizing, bottling and delivery of milk to neighborhood stores.

-In a field trip to the Children's Discovery Garden, children can navigate their way through hedge mazes and learn about ecological balance in the Eco Pond.

-Children who go to the Museum of Ancient Life see 60 fully articulated dinosaur skeletons which makes this museum the largest dinosaur museum in the world. They can play in the Erosion Table where they will learn about the effects of water on sand as it slowly erodes their dams and hills. They may learn about eating habits of dinosaurs at the computer station where they feed dinosaurs at a dinosaur cafe.

-Junior High students, as part of their TLC (Technology, Life and Careers) courses study a variety of career options demonstrated in everyday business operations at Thanksgiving Point. Interested students may return to the TLC Academy for an indepth study of three careers that interest them most.

OTHER EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE:

-In partnership with Utah State University, gardening classes are offered year-around under the direction of Master Gardener Larry Sagers.

-At the Emporium Kitchen, men, women and children attend cooking classes that include a variety of cooking experiences from Chinese, Italian or French cooking to the art of fondue.

-People of all ages take classes at the Art Institute that provides instruction in glass blowing, pottery making, and stained-glass window artistry.

PUBLIC EVENTS

-Thanksgiving Point offers a number of signature events to the public each year to support the mission of the Institute. These events include a reactment of the first Thanksgiving entitled "First Feast." Every aspect of the feast is kept as close to the actual feast as possible including use of knives and spoons since forks were not used by the original settlers.

-The Tulip Festival is held each spring in the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. 250,000 bulbs including 70 varieties are planted throughout the Gardens for visitors to enjoy during the last part of April and first pary of May.

-Concerts in the Thanksgiving Point Gardens Waterfall Ampitheatre where participants see the largest man-made waterfalls in the Western Hemisphere.

-Holiday Lights is a drive through light display, featuring more than one million twinkling lights, holiday music, plus featuring The Christmas Story, a series of photographic displays that share the true meaning of Christmas.

PRIVATE EVENTS

To provide financial support for the cultural and educational offerings at Thanksgiving Point, private events such as weddings, receptions, parties and corporate events are held in a variety of conference and meeting rooms throughout the property.