Ward Dinners (Part 3 of 4)

When it seemed most people were finishing up with their meal, the girls started clearing the paper plates off and most of the silverware. They always left the spoons though, because the desert was coming!
Desert was the only real variation in what was served at the ward dinners. We always knew there was going to a good roast beef dinner and we also knew that there would always be a good dessert. But you usually didn’t know ahead of time what that would be. It could be cake and ice cream, cake alone, ice cream alone, brownies, or anything else. But it was always good, and you were sure to get more if you went back to the kitchen area and looked like you didn’t get enough.
When dessert was over, and everyone was sitting back in their seats, all stuffed and happy about life, the entertainment began. This could be anything from a talent show to Indian dancers to a high school singing group. Once we had a magician come. Other times dancing groups came to show us what they could do. When I was really young, we often had full length movies for our entertainment. But the most memorable times for me were when Mom and Dad were asked to perform.
It was quite a novelty to our ward to have a husband and wife both play violins. They were often asked to play for funerals and in church meetings. Occasionally, when the ward was putting together a selection of talent from the congregation, Mom and Dad were included on the program. Most of the time they were pretty serious about it all. But once in a while they varied from their normal routine. Once the person on the entertainment committee asked them to play “a duet.” They planned to surprise everyone, and they did. When the audience was expecting them to come on stage and play a violin duet, they came on without their violins and both of them sat down at the piano to play the Overture to “The Barber of Seville,” arranged for four hands.