Edna coerced me into joining two women’s clubs and I’ve always disliked women’s clubs. One is a group that I somewhat enjoy and the other is a sort of prestigious group of women who get together once a month and have book reports, mostly. the ladies are all nice and some of them are old friends. Edna feels that it is the greatest group on earth and loves every minute of our meetings, and while I don’t hate them, I can never muster the great love she has for the group.
Read and Report, “R&R.” Book Club
I have never cared much for book reports, because I always enjoy reading the whole thing myself. And in this club often they came with copious written out notes and read on and on until I fought sleep and complete boredom.
Utah Sirosis
(Marilyn: Sounds like a disease!)
This is one of the oldest clubs in Utah and one of the first to be in the Federated Women’s Clubs. This club raised the money and built a monument on the grounds of the County Court House. I was in charge of the talent for the whole day when we raised $11,000 in one day to help pay for it. We also earned thousands of dollars to put lights in the downtown section of Provo around the Tabernacle. I joined in 1987 and was President 1992-1993.
Utah League of Writers
I joined and was active in the Utah League of Writer and had a poem published in the Utah League of Writers Book of Poems and was secretary for the group that year. I also wrote lyrics for a song for which a friend of Linda’s wrote the music and it was published in a literary magazine.
I wrote a book called, “Stop, Look and Love” which dealt with relationships with people, mostly your children.
A dear friend, Max Golightly, was asked to produce a musical celebration for the City of Orem. I wrote the script and helped him with the production of “Magic in Mero.” Mero is Orem spelled backwards.
Provo City Arts Council
I was in charge of different musical things in the city, many of which were in the Tabernacle. One of these musicals was Linda’s commissioned “Child of Light” Nativity at Christmas. She wrote her usual beautiful music for it.
Women’s Division of the Chamber of Commerce
I helped man booths and organize other fund-raisers to help put Christmas Lights all over the Tabernacle and the city square and all over the downtown.
May, 1986, I flew up to Provo with Marilyn and attended the Provo/Orem Chamber Dinner with granddaughters, Jana and Michelle in attendance. I received the Citizen of the Year Award for Fine Arts. A beautiful etched obelisk was give to me with pictures taken.
Amica Club
(Another club that sounds like a disease.)
At one time I was President of this group which consisted of a group of older women from Idaho. Rose Marie Reid, of the bathing suit fame, was one of the members. Edna coerced me into it and they didn’t do a bit of good other than just meeting once a month to socialize. Once in a while we would have a speaker; a rather dull club who didn’t accomplish any worthwhile causes. If we had celebrations such as Christmas, we’d invite the women’s husband to join in.
Potluck Dinner Club
Edna and Byron Done, the Woodruffs, Websters, Stella Oaks (Apostle Dallen Oaks mother), The Hamlins, Albert and Margaret Mitchell, Donna and Robert Patch and myself. It was just a group of wonderful friends who met for years for potluck dinner and to socialize.
Pi Si
I joined Pi Si, a psychology fraternity, honorary, and I was active in that.
Education Weeks
At BYU, while I was working there, I was asked to be a speaker on Education Weeks which traveled all over the Western United States. I went to teach in these Education Weeks for several years.
We were given subjects to talk on. My topic was usually family relationships with a question and answer period at the end. It was a wonderful time and I went with interesting people. Once, in order to get to one of these sessions, I had to travel with two men who taught in the Religion Department. I sat in the back and they sat there in the front seat talking all the way trying to outdo each other on their own brilliance. I sat in the back chuckling all the way.
It was on one of these trips where I got an emergency phone call telling me about Linda’s husband, Bruce’s death in a car accident.