A Bit of History...

Early in 1985, Leland Meitzler asked his friend, Arlene Eakle, if she would be interested in helping researchers at a tour he wanted to sponsor at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. She responded in the affirmative, and a total of eight folks joined us on the 1985 Salt Lake Christmas Tour. That group included Donna Potter Phillips who has joined us every year since then - affectionately known as our "mother hen."

Why did we choose the month of December for the tour? Because the library never is as crowded during that time period. Besides that, the entire city is decorated just for you, and our attendees always love it. Some years we have snow (and lots of it) - in other years the temperature hasn't dropped below 55 and the sun was out the entire time. We always have the tour the first full week in December, starting the weekend following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. This is done so the Thanksgiving holiday is over and airline rates are back at a reasonable level. We don't attempt to do it any later in December, in that most of us have the Christmas holiday on our minds.

Leland and Patty Meitzler have hosted the tour for over 20 years, and the name has changed at times. However it's always been the Salt Lake Christmas Tour.

We're proud to announce a new partnership that started in 2006; The tour is now co-sponsored by our friends from Genealogy Today.

Over the years the tour has grown. As it grew, more researchers have come on board to make sure that attendees would always have the help they needed. Professionals with all kinds of genealogical specialties have combined their talents to make the Salt Lake Christmas Tour the finest genealogy tour available.