- Utah’s latest holiday is called Utah Social and Community Health Day.
- The day was created to remind people to take care of relationships, make new friends and perform acts of service.
- The U.S. has what has been called a loneliness epidemic and Utah is not immune.
Utah
Why Utah's newest holiday could kick loneliness to the curb
The last Saturday in April — this Saturday — is a new state holiday.
The Utah Legislature created Utah Social and Community Health Day to nudge people to mind their relationships. The day is a reminder to nurture friendships and to reach out to others to counter the growing problem of loneliness, a challenge that has seeped through communities across the country.
“Think of it as a day to level up your friendships,” said Brent Reed, one of the architects of the holiday and a strong advocate for the value of forging connections. “Every major problem — and every joy — is easier to face when we’re not alone.”
The holiday’s goal, he told Deseret News, is to get everyone to do something, however small, to connect with someone else. He’ll be having lunch with an old friend he almost lost track of as both of their lives got busy.
Making a day to encourage action
Reed, 59, is a Highland dad with seven kids, who range from teens up to their 30s. He owns a window cleaning business. Reed said he got interested in the issue of social connections in 2023, when news stories were chronicling a loneliness epidemic. He took stock of his own life and realized he’d let many of his social connections drift away.
About the same time, Reed said he saw some of the work done by BYU professor of psychology Julianne Holt-Lunstad, who had been studying and publishing research on the impact of loneliness and isolation — which may not be the same thing. You can have people around you and still feel lonely. You can be by yourself and not feel lonely. But many people do suffer from feelings of one or the other — or both.
Reed got involved with “friendship labs,” coming up with tools to help people increase the quantity of their friendships and improve the quality. He kept trying different things, plagued by the notion that disconnection was a solvable societal problem.
But loneliness is tricky, he said, because no one wants to own that they feel that way. “Being lonely seems to be generally frowned upon,” he said.
He took his concerns to a legislator, who agreed that a day of recognition might be “leverage to tell people to take it more seriously.” State Sen. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, sponsored SCR4, while state Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, carried it in the House. The resolution says the day, which became official in 2025, “recognizes loneliness and social isolation as critical public health priorities” and “urges individuals to prioritize building positive relationships and fostering social connections.”
Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University and director of the university’s social connections lab, believes having a designated day could be “an opportunity both for increasing awareness as well as for taking action.” She helped polish the resolution’s language.
She’s long been heavily involved in sounding the alarm about the very real dangers of loneliness and isolation, noting health risks more dangerous than obesity, air pollution, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption or smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
“No factor is more consistently associated with long life and happiness than strong social connections,” she said, pointing to findings from Harvard’s Study of Adult Development, which is the world’s longest study of happiness.
When U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued his advisory on loneliness, which he characterized as an epidemic, she was the scientific editor. She’s also a technical adviser to the World Health Organization’s commission on social connection. The commission will issue a new report in July.
Despite recent attention from officials, Holt-Lunstad said she thinks there’s a “significant lack of awareness around this issue” among the public. So besides the push to get people involved with each other on a personal level, she believes an awareness day provides an opportunity to “create messaging and campaigns and dialogue that can help us start to increase awareness around just how critically important our social connections are, not only for individuals, but the thriving of our communities and society.
“We know it impacts health, education, safety, prosperity, several different kinds of outcomes — and for far too long, our social connections have been taken for granted and so this is an opportunity for us to create awareness but also for communities to plan events, for individuals to take action in their own relationships and communities,” she said.
The day should remind people how important connections are, said Holt-Lunstad.
Reed said his own focus is on fortifying spiritual, relational health. “Lots of groups are building parks and paths, and there are lots of things that build community. But until you start talking to someone, making friends, going to lunch, it’s for naught.”
What he wants to do, he said, is “level up as a friend. If people did that, it would be fantastic.” It’s easy to let a relationship slide if it’s not minded, according to Reed, who is pretty sure that on Saturday he’ll be having lunch with someone who’s been his friend for 30 years, but with whom he almost lost touch, then working in the man’s backyard for a bit.
One small step
Helping others, doing things together — even chores — forms or strengthens bonds.
Holt-Lunstad talks about a randomized controlled trial she was part of that asked people to do just small acts of kindness for their neighbors over the course of a month. “What we found was that when people did that, that reduced loneliness, it reduced stress and it also reduced conflict in neighborhoods.”
Action on behalf of others is free, simple and anyone can do something, she said.
A single commemorative day is not going to change much, she adds, or be as helpful as something done consistently over time. But it could get people started thinking about others and launch some new connections.
Doing things with and for others makes people feel good. So it can lead somewhere important on a personal level.
“Relationships take time to develop and time to maintain,” she told Deseret News, noting the day “really should be a reminder, more than a one-off.”
There’s a website under development at Utahsocialhealthday.com. It will be built out with ideas for connecting and with different resources, Reed said.
Holt-Lunstad added that she’s glad the holiday focuses on social connection, rather than targeting loneliness explicitly.
“I think oftentimes we focus so much on the problem that we lose sight of what we’re aiming for. Social connection is something everyone needs and everyone can take part in. I’m happy that Utah is focusing on the bright spots.”
It’s on nights like these that I’m reminded of the ravine that divides the NBA from all other levels of basketball. This Summer League tilt was sloppy on both sides, and not many fringe players earned an NBA contract tonight, by the looks of it.
This matchup has always been about the number-one pick AJ Dybantsa and the number-two pick Darryn Peterson. Rivals since high school, these two are in an eternal struggle for the designation of being “number-one”. They wanted to be the best in their high school class. They wanted to be the first off the board in the NBA Draft. Rest assured, these two will be battling for Rookie of the Year honors by the season’s end.
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Both stars were fully aware of the magnitude of this game, and both wanted to be the first to strike in the Thomas and Mack Center.
Dybantsa took his first touch all the way to the basket and forced up an off-kilter shot that missed everything.
Peterson took the ball the other way and forced up a top-of-the-key three-pointer that missed badly.
Dybantsa quickly picked up the slack, flipping an under-and-around lay-in and following that up with a good leading bounce pass through traffic to find a cutting teammate.
From there, the 1-2 combo settled in and let the game flow around them.
For the first time in a Utah Jazz uniform, Darryn Peterson walked among mortal men as a commoner. He had a very slow start in his Las Vegas debut, opening the night 0-for-3 from the floor and even whiffing on his first all-or-nothing foul shot. His steps were hurried, and he stood unstable before his first trip to the bench. Not quite so infallible outside of the mountain air in Salt Lake City.
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AJ claimed the first quarter, dicing up the defense with fadeaways, dribble chains, and this vicious, inhumane slam that will dominate your social media feed for the next day or so.
Washington set the tone for some — should we say physical — defense out on the perimeter, and the officials gave the Wizards liberty to reside in Peterson’s chest for the majority of the game. The number-two pick couldn’t get himself into a rhythm as he’d step out of bounds, dribble off his foot, and sputter under the heat of the Wizards’ aggressive double-team scheme.
They were incredibly handsy from end to end, frustrating Jazz ball handlers as the whistles piled up at the other end.
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AJ Dybantsa lives at the foul stripe — that’s his superpower — and he has since his days at BYU, where he led the nation in foul shots taken per game. Perfectly within his idiom, Dybantsa was 6-of-7 from the foul stripe — keeping in mind the experimental do-or-die free throw rule. Considering how much more physical the Wizards played at the defensive end, it’s a mystery how the Wizards managed to reside in the comfort of the bonus for the entire first half.
Neither player was efficient from the floor, but Dybantsa won the first half of this marquee matchup.
Dybantsa finished the first half with 19 points on 4-of-12 shooting.
Peterson lagged behind with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting and a pair of dimes.
The lead shrank to single digits, and what appeared to be a blowout in the first half — Washington led by as much as 20 — rapidly drew tighter in the second half. It had become a two-possession game before the clock hit 0:00 in the third quarter.
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Both stars lived up to the bill in this one, clearly displaying their individual talents despite their efficiency not leaping off the box score.
Peterson’s tendency to cough up possession has to get straightened out. He’ll be a target for his whole career, so learning to handle and exploit on-ball pressure will be critical to maximize his effectiveness and keep his teammates involved.
Cody Williams stole the show a bit for the Jazz, despite a rocky opening to the night. Though he struggled to stop Dybantsa on the defensive end, he notched 16 points on great efficiency (6-11, 2-3 3PT) plus 5 rebounds. He’s not a ball-handler, despite the Jazz’s wishes, but thrived on a newly added stepback mid-range jumper tonight.
Dybantsa had a strong night, finishing with 27 points on 7-for-18 shooting, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals.
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The Wizards ultimately won this game behind the strength of their NBA guys, Tre Johnson and Will Reily, who combined for 41 to pair with Dybantsa’s 27. They also strongly benefited from Jamir Watkins, Darryn Peterson’s assignment fouling a grand total of 9 times (not a typo).
Peterson likewise fouled 9 times in this one, an ugly blemish on what was an unsteady night for the rookie. He finished with 24 points on 6-18 shooting and 2-7 from three-point land (thanks to a bank-shot heave at the final horn). Dybantsa will be crowned the winner of this head-to-head with Peterson thanks to better highlights and the team win, but neither player dominated, despite what X will likely tell you.
Washington defeats Utah with a final score of 92-88.
Calvin Barrett is the Associate Editor for SLC Dunk. Originally from Springville, Utah, he currently lives in Japan and has covered the NBA and college athletics since 2024.
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The man arrested for murder in the 2006 death of his wife at a Utah national park left behind a suicide note in his Las Vegas jail cell, according to a police report.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police released a public report on the death of David Vander Meer, 49, who was in custody on an out-of-state warrant.
The Washington County District Attorney’s Office said in an affidavit that Vander Meer, a former youth pastor, was a suspect in the death of his then-wife, 28-year-old Bernadette Vander Meer, 20 years ago.
Bernadette fell to her death at Angels Landing in Zion National Park. Prosecutors said in their affidavit that they received new information implicating David, alleing that he began having a close relationship with a young girl when she was 14 and he was her youth pastor.
A fugitive task force took Vander Meer into custody in Summerlin, according to an arrest report, and he was booked into Clark County Detention Center on June 22.
In the report on his death, LVMPD said a corrections officer was conducting visual checks at about 9:30 p.m. June 24 when he noticed Vander Meer lying face down on the ground and unresponsive.
Several sections are redacted, but police wrote that the officer performed chest compressions until medical personnel arrived. Vander Meer was taken to UMC, where he was pronounced dead just after 2:36 a.m. June 25.
Investigators wrote that because of “the nature of his case,” Vander Meer was placed into protective custody. He was seen sitting upright and awake at 9 p.m., and he had no known medical conditions. He also did not mention being suicidal during a mental health screening.
Inside the cell, police wrote that Vander Meer “left a hand written suicide letter and a hand written will in his cell which has been photographed and impounded.” The following paragraph of the report was redacted, and no further details on Vander Meer’s death were disclosed.
The Clark County Coroner’s Office has not yet released its official rulings on his cause and manner of death.
Bernadette’s parents, Richard and Laura Gudenkauf, told News 3 they long suspected Vander Meer played a role in her death.
“Because of the girlfriend,” said Laura. “I found insurance policies months later that he had, lots of them.”
It has been a long time since the Jazz last played a meaningful game I desperately wanted them to win, and it is unhealthy how excited I am for this matchup. After a solid three games in the SLC Summer League, the Jazz head south to Las Vegas, and as hot as the desert sun is sure to be outside, on the court, the Thursday night primetime game featuring the top two picks in the draft will be much hotter.
How to Watch the Las Vegas Summer League?
Who: Utah Jazz vs Washington Wizards
When: Thursday, July 9, 2026 | 7:00 MT
Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
How to watch: ESPN, Jazz+
Darryn Peterson and AJ Dybantsa
Summer league games do not matter in the record books, but this game is a statement-making opportunity for both AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson. Given the historical nature of this draft class, especially at the top, there is some real juice to this game that is atypical of most Summer League games. AJ has the chance to silence the noise that has swelled after Darryn’s remarkable performances in the SLC Summer League. Meanwhile, Darryn has the chance to ratchet up the noise and take the NBA world by storm with another solid performance against the Wizards. Can you imagine the narratives if Darryn were to come out and dominate AJ as he has through high school and college? In the words of the great Charles Barkley, I have two words for you… Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, must-see TV.
Ace Bailey looked really impressive in his 2.5 quarters of play in Salt Lake before missing games with back spasms. It is unknown whether or not he will be ready to go for the Vegas opener, but if he is available, he will probably be the one checking AJ Dybantsa on defense. His combination of length and athleticism could not only make things difficult for AJ on the defensive end but also expose his lackadaisical defense on the offensive end. If Ace is able to go, he will be looking to show the Jazz and the NBA that he is ready to take a leap in year two.
Which Jazz Big Man Will Stand Out?
Which big man will step up this game? In Game 1, we saw a lot of Kylor Kelley, who was a little less than impressive. Against Memphis, Jaxon Kohler, the Utah native, showed up and showed out against Cam Boozer. In game three, although the number of NBA-level players was few and far between, Jonas Aidoo stole the show with his rebounding and ability to play his role. Will we see one of those same three guys seize their opportunity, or will another guy like Micah Handlogten or Eric Dixon steal the show? We saw how vital a big that can roll and catch passes is for Darryn Peterson as a lead guard, playmaking-wise. It will be interesting to see who steps up to the plate to relieve pressure when he is blitzed and double-teamed.
SIDE NOTE: Adam Silver is LAME
No one should ASPIRE to be as boring as Adam Silver. After much excitement was made about Keyonte George making his unofficial coaching debut on Thursday night, according to Sarah Todd, the league has nixed that excitement and won’t allow Keyonte to be coaching on the sideline because who knows why…? I guess they were worried about the Jazz circumventing the salary cap to pay Keyonte or something. Anyways, I guess Will Hardy’s coaching TREE will have to wait for more branches to grow. Adam Silver remains evil in my book.
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