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FAIRVIEW — In the quiet Sanpete County town of Fairview, farming has always been the main attraction. You’d have a tough time not seeing a tractor somewhere in a field as you drive through town.
However, after a big announcement in Salt Lake City on Wednesday morning, there just might be another attraction in Fairview about to get even more attention.
Related: NHL Worlds Reacts To Utah Mammoth Name Announcement
“I was not expecting this at all, but we are excited for it,” said Jared Sorensen, who is the vice president of the Fairview Museum of History and Art. Inside the museum, there is a mammoth. “We call him Spirit,” Sorensen said with a laugh. And now, with Utah’s new NHL team officially named the Utah Mammoth, this Ice Age icon just might have a bit of a comeback.The mammoth inside the Fairview Museum is a full-size replica cast from real mammoth bones discovered just up the mountain from Fairview in 1988. Sorensen said at the time it was dug up, it was considered the most complete mammoth skeleton ever found. Though the real bones are preserved at a museum in Price, the replica in Fairview gives visitors a close-up look at what a mammoth might’ve looked like tens of thousands of years ago.It has become the museum's logo, identity and, for many kids, the best field trip photo opportunity in the state. “This building was built to house it, and everyone loves it,” Sorensen said. “... Especially the kids. We have to keep them from climbing on the mammoth.” Now, Sorensen hopes the new hockey team’s name sparks curiosity and maybe a few road trips from people who have never visited the museum before. “It would be great,” he said. “A lot of publicity for us and probably more donations for the museum. More opportunities for us to show off what we’ve got.”The museum averages about 25 visitors a day, not counting the school groups. But Sorensen believes that it might change initially because of the hockey name change. In fact, on Wednesday afternoon, the museum was nearly sold out of its mammoth stuffed animals. Lots of people came in specifically to buy them. It’s the kind of attention workers are hoping for more of. “It is going to be great for the museum and the people of Utah,” Sorensen said. [gallery ids="772120,772122,772124,772123,772119,772125,772128"]
