Mormon History Association Conference, Part I

Arta and Ruth on campus by the pond

I am going to the 2012 Mormon History Association Conference for three days—held right across the right across the road – so I walked over to the MacEwan Conference Centre to pick up my materials this afternoon, thinking I would have time to make some preliminary choices about where to go and what to see.

I sat by Ruth and Gene Bailey at the Opening Programme and Reception, which featured people I know. Bruce Nysetvold played a violin duet with his little girl – the Orange Blossom Special tune he used to play when he was young, and she was fiddling along with him – very cute. Doug Sherwood and Brad Harker were in a lovely barbershop quartet rendition of Ida Rose from the Music Man. And the Laycock Family Singers (an 11 year old, a 9 year old and a five year old boy) sang some show tunes that would rival the quality of music I have been seeing in London. (The grandfather of this family is Doral Pilling’s cousin, which makes musical talent all the more unimaginable, given Doral’s power to carry a tune.) This family lives in Strathmore, but they might have to think about moving to New York or London – the kids are really good.For the idle reader here, who wants to know who I saw there – Bill and Fiona Hasegawa (Bill saying he can’t tell one tune from another, but Fiona also told him that the Laycocks are good), Peggy Estrabooks, Ches and Joanne Pierson, Doug and Kay Bennion (who live in St. George in the winter), Diane, Erva and Jim Sherwood, George Armstrong (who used to play the piano for me when I lead the singing in Primary), Norma Leavitt (who looked fabulous, like she stepped out of a fashion magazine), Ursula Benedict (was is leaving on a cruise to Alaska next week)

 ... at our feet?... 
rose petals from the Alberta Wild Rose bushes behind us

I didn’t eat at the reception – too busy seeing hold friends and finding out of they were going to the session in the next two days, or if they were just attending the Opening Program.

Mostly, I was happy to see Ruth. I met her on the internet, twenty years ago, and some of us who cut our virtual teeth on Mormon-L and the Electronic Latter-day Women’s Committee went down.

OK. A bad sentence, but you get the idea. Ruth found herself carrying her glass long after she had left the reception and was worrying that she had stolen it. Yes, when you take glassware from an event it is stealing, no matter how innocently you do it. I thought she should have carried off something with at least a U of C logo.

Ruth steals campus glassware -- see her right hand?

Tomorrow is a long conference day beginning with a Newcomers Breakfast at 6:30 am and the last session finishing at 6 pm.

Others will go to a banquet.

I shall banquet at home and write another post for you about ... The Mormon History Association Conference.



Arta