Parley's Sixth Ward--The Gold Standard!

Moving to this ward in Salt Lake City was a turning point in our young married life!

Jim and I had moved to Salt Lake City in 1964, with our darling 5-month-old little baby girl, Susan. Jim got a position with Dohrmann’s Restaurant Supply as a kitchen designer. We were excited to have a good job with a great company. We found an older home on 2078 Aston Circle to rent in Parley’s Sixth Ward. We could walk to Church! We soon found out that this was an elite section of Sugar House. Jack Okland of Okland Construction and his large family lived there. They even asked us (with Susan) to babysit their children once when they went out of town! There were many business owners and wealth. This ward also had heavy hitters spiritually, and we felt honored to be in their presence. We watched them and learned from them! George I. Cannon was the Bishop. He set the tone for all other wards that we would EVER live. When he called us into his office to both be Activity Counselors (2^nd Counselor) in the Mutual, we were stunned! He made us feel like we had been called to the highest calling in the Church! He had a knack of making any calling to any person very special and top notch. He believed in us more than we believed in ourselves!

Bea Lund was the President of the Young Women. She was owner of Continental Beauty College and Continental Fashions. Phyllis Gardiner was the First Counselor. Her husband, Dan, owed Dan’s Food Town, then one of the largest food chains in Utah. I remember sitting in the Gardiner kitchen at a Presidency meeting one day discussing monthly happenings and who would be in charge of what. All of a sudden, I turned to Bea Lund and asked, “Why on earth would you ask for me, a young 24-year-old girl and not at all experienced, to be your counselor to serve with women of your stature and importance?” She laughed and recounted, “Do you remember when we had all the Young Marrieds to our cabin a couple of months ago?" (Cabin? It was more like a mansion on the Weber River. It had 8 bedrooms on the main floor, a full kitchen with 12 bar stools. The upstairs had a girls' bedroom wing on one side with a full beauty parlor and a boys' wing on the other with pool tables, ping pong tables, etc. You could have the whole Mutual up there comfortably!) She continued, "We watched you when you led the parade of girls coming down the stairs from the beauty parlor at midnight, and we saw “enthusiasm and zip! That’s what we wanted in this position.” Enthusiasm and zip? Goodness, I felt very small and insignificant even being in their presence. They would hear none of that nonsense, and we continued the meeting. That’s how they always treated Jim and me--as equals in this great Parley’s 6^th ward!

During our “tenure” in that calling, Jim and I worked side by side in producing and directing some outstanding events. We had a Stake winner with our Roadshows. Wards then created a 20-minute song and dance-dramatic skit. On the big production night, we actually loaded up actors and props and traveled to other wards in the Stake performing. Anyways, our show that year was called, “What’s Poverty, Pa?” It was a spoof on President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. We created a family who was so poor they didn’t even know what poor meant! It was hilarious and fun. We won First Place hands down, and we were on our way! So fun! Susan was such an “easy” child and just tagged along as I dragged her with me! What a sweetheart!

I remember the yearly “Spring Sings” as well. We were in charge of three of those. Each organization on the ward level created a humorous-musical skit and presented these acts to the whole ward on a Mutual night. We competed with each ward in the Stake who did the same. They were always outstanding and crazy-fun because we had such outstanding people in our ward. The Church today doesn’t do productions like that anymore. In fact, now they are even going to be doing away with most Church pageants! Bro. Hammond (Hammond Toys) was the President of YM. I remember one that was held in April 1966. I was oh so pregnant with baby #2 (Jill). I was always kidded about carrying “little thumper” because she was kicking and thrashing around so much at rehearsals. We moved down the street into a little cinder-block house, 2041 Ashton Circle, (We affectionately called it “Ash-Can Circle!”) with other young marrieds, Connie and Paul Manwell (Manwell Plumbing) and Ken Garff (Ken Garff Motors) as neighbors and many others.

We learned so much in this ward from its dynamic leadership on all levels. Our testimonies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continued to grow deeper! We learned how to forget about ourselves and any preconceived shortcomings we thought we had and just serve others with pure joy and happiness, plan and execute “big events,” and treat everyone with Christ-like love and respect, just as we had so amply received from them! Every ward thereafter in our lives has been measured by the “gold standard” of Parley’s Sixth Ward in Parley’s Stake. Few have met the test!    Memories of Carol Ann Shepherd, 10-18