Beauty is Eternal – But Maybe Not My Dress!

(This was featured in “The New Era”, January 1974. I am singing the theme song I wrote for the conference.)

My Senior year in high school I was asked by our Stake President to represent our stake on a regional Laurel committee.  They were planning a 23-Stake Laurel Conference that was to be held at Ricks College.  I was thrilled at the chance.  At our first meeting, I volunteered to head up the music committee.

The theme of the conference was Beauty is Eternal.   I decided to write the theme song.  I had never written a song before and had no idea how to do it, but I wanted to try.   I had to look in the hymn book to see which way to put the tails on the notes!  I had some music ledger paper and went to work.

(My First Official Musical Composition)

The words and melody came to me and I began to write.  It was the beginning of a long and satisfying hobby of music composition.  You can listen to it on the music part of my website,  www.music.granniedebbie.com

A person from the Young Women General Board, even came to listen to it.  An article about our Laurel Conference appeared in the New Era in January of 1974.   I am conducting a group musical number.

(My outfit is so sad!)

The only sad part was what I was wearing.  All of us were all given lovely pink material for long dresses so that our committee would be dressed alike.  I had given my mom the materials for my dress weeks before the event, but she didn’t make it for me and didn’t let me know so that I could have asked someone else.  I had moved out of the house the summer after I graduated so that I could work and earn money for college.  I went home to get the dress and was so sad.  I would be the only one on the committee without a dress.  The ugly outfit in the photo was the best I had.  Sadly, it was mom’s skirt with a heavy-knit dress that Aunt Roma had made me shoved in as a blouse.  This photo is absolutely traumatizing and I am still twitching from it.  What a strange irony!  The theme definitely clashed with my attire.

One funny thing happened.  I was the chorister for the Sunday meetings we had at the conference.  We filled the auditorium.  The place was so big I needed to use a conducting baton.  I had never used one before.  I was indicating for the congregation to rise during the rest hymn and the tip of my baton caught on the music stand, flipped out of my hand and flew off the stage, almost hitting the priest sitting at the Sacrament table down below.  I was mortified, but it was so funny.  But not as funny as my ugly dress!