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Idea of the Month

Here’s Mud in Your Eye—There are all kinds of competitive athletic bowls these days. Well, Provo (Utah) seminary students have introduced the Mud Bowl and pass it along as the most fun these students have had. You play tackle ball, you race—the guys against the girls—and you crown the winners with a blob of mud. Hire a water truck to spray the “bodies” clean, have a watermelon bust, and dispense plastic covering for car seats for the ride home.

How to Hold Your Own Festival of the Arts

What you do when you want to sponsor a Heritage Festival of the Arts in your area is have an Al Klann, a student working toward his degree in architecture, as a member of your institute of religion. This is how Arizona State students at Tempe turned their institute into a gallery. Al and a crew of volunteers cut 400 uprights, drilled 3200 holes, stained boards, planted planters, and then helped the contributors hang their artwork. The preparing was an all-night affair, but the success of the event was well worth it.

Contributing artists were enthusiastic about the crowd, the facility, and the spirit of the event. “It’s the most ambitious undertaking of its kind ever held outside of the center of the Church. Very rewarding,” said sculptor Dennis Smith.

James Christensen expressed surprise at finding such a “professionally organized and constructed gallery setting.” Gary Smith said, “I felt a warm spirit and intention here.” Dr. Clinton Larson, who read poetry in a special writers’ seminar, felt that this and similar shows could serve to “convert people to the gospel by translating spirituality into art.”

The committee agreed that, as D. H. Lawrence once wrote, new experience is the most painful of human activities; yet it is the most worthwhile because it insists on growth. “We grew,” said one member of the committee, “and we feel sure the festival will too.” No reason why not. It was quite popular with Latter-day Saints in the community—as well as many non-Mormons who are interested in the arts.—Deborah Egerer.

The Answer Is Yes

Our mail is constantly enlarged by letters from readers who want to know if the magazine ever takes articles/ poems/photographs by youth. The answer is a big yes! In fact, we depend upon your free-lance writing for one-third to two-thirds of the magazine, depending upon the makeup of any particular issue. See further instructions at bottom of contents page.

A Condensed Version of What They’re Talking about around the Church

In Ireland, weeks of stormy weather gave way to sunshine when Latter-day Saint girls staged their first Campcrafter outing. Picturesque Isle of Man was the setting, and Jean Farbus, Janet Houston, and Gail Cain were in charge …

Taipei recently echoed with missionary memories when former Taiwan missionaries held a reunion for Chan Hsiu Ch’ing, Hsu Ching Chih, Chung Mei Chian, Ch’en Wu Hsiumg, Ch’en Young Chu, Chang Hsi Mei, Wang Ch’ing, LiLian Shan, Shen I Ping, and Che’en Ai Jua.

Joanne Coates is an authentic cowgirl who lives on an Idaho cattle ranch—and she’s also the crown champion goat-tier of the United States …

Latter-day Saints are in a seven to one minority in Pasco, Wisconsin, so it was gravy day when Kent, Bart, and Brad Mackay were featured athletes in the local paper …

It may not be unusual in Arizona to have an American Indian as queen of high school festivities, but it is in Montpelier, Idaho. The celebrity is Linda Fay Bradfield, foster daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ariel Neeley …

Snow College students in Ephraim, Utah, awakened interest in and did honor to President Lorenzo Snow by staging a campus “Snow Week,” a festival of events sponsored for the public by the Latter-day Saint Student Association …

In Tucson, Arizona, blacks are building a Protestant chapel with the help of members of Sigma Gamma Chi (the Church fraternity) at the University of Arizona Institute of Religion …

California coed Regina Marie Wood is keeping friends at Dixie College in St. George, Utah, spellbound with reports on her European jaunt. She was the only Latter-day Saint in the youth chorale that sang at the Salzburg Music Festival …

Helen Jean Kestner writes that girls in the Ventura (California) Second Ward have made over one dozen dresses for an orphanage in Kentucky …

“Downtown Needs You,” “Be a Big Brother,” and “Tutor a Teenager” are some of the box signs urging University of Utah Institute students to invest their humanity in a community service effort. Volunteers are helping hundreds of needy people to learn, care, be happy, be more skilled, feel wanted, and be better citizens …

Michiki Sitrnaman, Sherree St. Clair, and Frank and Ray Enos are four Latter-day Saint students in the military dependents high school in Germany, and all four have won top awards …

Larry Jardine writes that a cardboard salvage project in cooperation with local merchants brought $6000 to 300 Las Vegas youth who used the money to travel to Utah for the BYU Special Education Week. It could happen to you if you’re willing to work! …

Speaking of working, the personal Book of Remembrance that many young people have been making in Lake View Ward, Sharon West Stake, Provo, Utah, is helping them find joy in doing their genealogy …

An athlete and youth leader in his ward, Larry Shane Larson is completing this year as a scholarship holder at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And there are three more planning to go—on scholarship! …

Marie Rogers, Tempe, Arizona, sends word that Sister Lenore Romney won the hearts of the multitude when she spoke to girls at the institute preceding her public address at Arizona State U. …

“I enjoy being a girl,” exclaimed Utahn Marsha Bowen, national president of the Future Homemakers of America. And Marsha is a great girl, living gospel standards as she travels the country …

Janene Forsyth of Falls Church Ward, Arlington, Virginia, is another active Mormon girl who has won national attention as Miss American Teenager. “It’s like being on a mission,” explains Janene …

Rusty Nixon has two claims to fame—one, she is President Nixon’s niece, and two, she is the only girl in an auto-mechanics class at Ricks College. “I’m not a feminist; I just wanted to learn something I’d really use all my life,” explained Rusty …

Dreams do come true, according to Terri Ford, Las Vegas 22nd Ward in Nevada. Youth attending their meetings and participating in fund-raising projects traveled to Hawaii and now consider themselves real haoles, smitten with the land of paradise …

Three years ago Church publications featured a photo story on Indian Placement students Pearl Keith and Dennie Deal. Pictures and interviews brought the two together. Now they’re newlyweds with mission and some college training behind them …

Vista Second Ward Aaronic Priesthood boys took the achievement trophy for Palomar (California) Stake for excellence in attendance, athletics, sportsmanship, example …

Brigham Young University is the only private university on the list of America’s “Big 30” based on the number of full-time students; there are 25,116 this year, with students coming from all over the USA and from more than 70 foreign countries …

Steve Nelson holds a world record and was a guest on TV’s “What’s My Line” because he won the fifth annual world championship inner tube races held on the Colorado River …

A beautiful spot on the famed Seventeen-Mile Drive near Carmel, California, was the setting for a three-day winter conference for sixteen stakes of college-age youth. Tom Reilly and Jim Christensen said the affair was planned to encourage creative leadership, and it succeeded, according to expressions in the testimony meeting concluding the affair …

Salem, Utah, had a small beginning in 1850. Now it’s getting an exciting thrust forward as students under the direction of Milo Baughman work with citizens in an all-out project to refurbish this pioneer town.

Craft

A Great Way to Trunk It

Antiques top today’s want list. Trunks, footlockers, and storage chests are among the most popular items. Talented Allison Clawson of Midvale, Utah, suggests the following steps to help make your trunk handsome:

1. Be sure there is a solid bottom on the old trunk you use!

2. Remove old lining, and clean exterior finish with liquid paint remover, used according to directions.

3. Clean metal or rusty parts with steel wool or use steel brush attachment on electric drill.

4. Sand any wood with heavy-grain sandpaper and then follow with fine-grain sandpaper.

5. To paint, apply sealer coat, then two more coats, allowing each to dry thoroughly; sand lightly and dust between each coat. You may wish to antique your trunk or put on decals or other hand-painted decor. A protective coat of shellac may be used.

6. To stain and varnish, wipe stain on with soft cloth and allow to set. Use at least two coats of clear varnish; sand and dust between each dried coat.

7. Line the inside by “quilting” with brass-headed tacks some polyester batting covered with corduroy or velvet or homespun print. Or you can “wallpaper” some burlap, felt, cotton, or velveteen to the inside by applying a thin layer of wallpaper paste to the back of the fabric and the interior of the trunk. Gimp braid trims raw edges.