BYU 50th

Ruth Gudmundsen Clark and I had a great weekend commemorating 50 years since our BYU graduation.  We did all the events, plus, Thursday to Sunday afternoon.  But first Ruth's beautiful watercolor of syrah grapes.  It was delightful perusing her photo archive of some of her recent work and hear of the installation of the upcoming Reno show. (Sorry about the reflection)

"Syrah"

Doesn't it look lovely.

Googling turned up this photo of Ruth's blue ribbon winner in the "One Brush Painting" challenge of the Sierra Watercolor Society.

Talk, . . .  talk, . . .  talk . . . and more.


Pizza at the Brick Oven, formerly Heaps O’ Pizza (2006 was their 50th) in our day and teeny tiny, same block.

Spectacular at the Marriott.  What an upgrade from Fieldhouse Frolics!  Met some other “59’ers” in our section.  Great show of music, dance as well as scenes highlighting a professor of long ago who did much with sports offerings at the “Y” in the early days and initiated the Timpanogos Hike that lasted for 29 years.  People still hike on their own.  I need to do that!

#1 Women’s Detective Agency.  What a fun series.

Old Banyans.  Must have spent hours

Walks around campus. 

Museum of Art after lunch at the cafe.

Hinckley Alumni Center.  Hung out until the 59’ner dinner.  Pleasant meeting other alumni, none of whom we had known previously.  It doesn’t matter, we’re all old, retired and like to chat.

Bio Book of alumni photos and updates we had ordered was fun to peruse.  Sobering statistic--2100 grads, 700 deceased and counting.  I guess we're on our way out........

Dinner  with 80-100.  Emceed by our Freshman Class President, Leo Wiedner.  At the open mic after dinner  one woman was hilarious in narrating at some length her rocky road past her widowed father in tiny Las Vegas who thought she ought to stay at home and cook for him and not attend BYU.  Now she has written many LDS publications--books, articles, Ensign, FARMS, etc.

Saturday Homecoming Parade.  Visited Lehi, ancestral home of both Ruth's parents.  The old house, the cemetery.  Lots of changes.  Then caught most of the parade.  Lots of floats, dance clubs--hip hop, street, folk, you name it it was there in duplicate, boosters on mopeds (Shriner-style). . . .  Tons of candy.  Great fun and game spirit.

Old apartments.   

Heritage, Smith Hall, #160  Now a men’s hall

868 E 620 N.  Emigrant families were living there.  The House of Ivy across the street  replaced by big apartment complexes.  We had 16 girls and took turns cooking for 4-6 guys from House of Ivy.  So many girls I can’t remember half the names.  I left after a quarter and went to UCLA.  Lunch at Guru’s was good.

8th N apartments at the bottom of the stairs, second from the west end. That was a fun place with four girls.  Location, location, location.  Junior year. 

Brick apartments west of Universtiy for marrieds.  Senior year.  A friend made an exception for Ruth, Jan Markstaller Donnelly and I our senior year.  A one-bedroom with a sofa in the living room.  Last one in at night got the sofa.  Nine weeks I was on campus at the Home Ec Lab.  Wonder where Jean Lewis Butterfield is now.  Great roommate.

Tailgate party at Hinckley.  Rain brought dinner inside.  Fun to take our chances at dropping a disk between pegs mounted on a large wooden board to bounce through one channel of pegs to another to finally stop in one of about 10 spots to determine a prize.  I won a pompom and Ruth a pep towel;  we switched.  Our table happened to have 4 other couples of 59’ners so it was fun.  One couple were from Honolulu.  I dared to ask her if she knew Amelia--”Everyone knows Amelia Bailey!”  I don’t doubt it.  She’s a lovely, refined and much involved woman in Honolulu.

The game.  What can I say.  Ruth and I never saw a winning game at BYU. . . .  We had fun with all the hoopla in the upper section midfield.  Fine seats thanks to Ruth.  Our tradition continues.  TCU 38, BYU 7.


Sure was fun having my old buddy to reminisce old times.  50 years is a long time.  We’ve been friends for 60.