Engen Museum hosts 'Hometown Heroes' exhibit

Park City • As the 10th anniversary of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics approaches, a number of special exhibits are being put together to celebrate the occasion.

These include a new exhibit at the Alf Engen Ski Museum at the Utah Olympic Park that commemorates local stars.

According to organizers of the exhibit, one of the key benefits of the 2002 Olympics was the inspiration it provides to local athletes who went on to win medals in subsequent Olympics.

The exhibit features Park City natives Steve Holcomb who won bobsled gold in 2010 and Brett Camerota who captured the 2010 Nordic combined silver. The Games also inspired 2002 silver medalist Shannon Bahrke who won the 2010 moguls bronze, and Paralympic 2010 Alpine gold and silver medalist Stephani Victor to move to Utah.

The new exhibit features memorabilia from all four of those hometown heroes.

"These hometown heroes are extremely proud of their connection to Utah," said museum director Connie Nelson. "We hope the exhibit will not only commemorate their accomplishments, but will also encourage youngsters in Utah to pursue their own dreams on this 10th anniversary of the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City."

The museum, one of two anchor exhibits of the Joe Quinney Winter Sports Center along with the George Eccles 2002 Winter Games Museum, is also part of the legacy of the 2002 Games., It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is free to the public.

The museum features interactive and virtual exhibits designed to introduce visitors to the past, present and future of winter sports in the Intermountain area. It also gives visitors a chance to see collections of ski and Olympic/Paralympic Winter Games memorabilia.

For information on the Engen Museum, log on to www.engenmuseum.org.