At the Wedding with Uncle Joe and Aunt Stella

L-R: Aunt Stella (Law) Atkinson, Mom (Mabel) Atkinson, Erline Atkinson

"Oh Promise Me"

Erline and LeGrand, 5 February 1943
Married in the Logan Temple

Doris, 1940

Doris, two years old

21st Birthday in Dayton, Idaho

These photos were taken on LeGrand's 21st birthday, Sunday, September 29, 1940, while visiting Erline's family in Dayton Idaho.

Future parents-in-law: Earl (age 46) and Mabel (42) Atkinson

Logan, 1940

Ready for work
[Erline in front of her Grandma Law's house]

Logan Temple Grounds, 1940

The final photo in this sequence is labeled "Logan Temple Grounds." One photo is obviously the Institute building in Logan. The photos following these in LeGrand's photo album are dated May 30, 1940.

LeGrand

Young Family in Fishtail, Montana?

Erline's Birthday Present, 1944

Come down off the car Junior, 14 June 1944 (LeGrand & Jr.)

6 months old, 17 June 1944

20 July 1944

Toes up! 20 July 1944 (Walter)

"Smile pretty," 20 Aug 1944 (Walter & Erline)

Sherwin and Elva's Wedding Reception

Left to right: Unidentified bridesmaid, Joyce, Mary Bailey Kerr Danielson, Elva, Sherwin,  unidentified best man, Earl, Erline, LeGrand, Elva's mother and father. December 13, 1963

Logan, the Dansante and Grandma Law

As part of a visit to the Utah Festival Opera, we attended a backstage tour of the Ellen Eccles Theatre on 43 South Main Street (where we would later see the two operas). About half way through the tour, I heard a word that I had heard Mom mention whenever she talked about the beaus who courted her in college--in fact, it might be where she met my dad. The word sounded like "dansant."

As we finished up at the Ellen Eccles Theatre, the guide said, "Now let's walk across the street to the dansant." As we walked across the street we saw this building at 59 South 100 West, which now houses the offices, scenery shop, costume studio, practice rooms and other offices of the Utah Festival Opera:

Inside the Dansante, they told us a brief history of the Dansante:

It started out as a rollerskating rink then as a miniature golf course. By the late 1930's it was a dance hall (hence the name "Dansante," French for "dancing"). (It was here that Mom went to weekly dances leading up to her marriage to Dad.) Also during that time, it was used to race miniature cars and to hold boxing/wrestling matches. The tour guide mentioned that notables like "Gorgeous George" and "The Swedish Angel" boxed or wrestled there.

After World War II the building fell into disuse until 1993, when Michael Ballam purchased it from an M.D. in California, restored and expanded it into the offices of the Utah Festival Opera.

Following the 1:00 Mikado performance, it occurred to me to wonder where Erline had lived as a single college girl. I recalled that she had lived at her Grandma Law's house. I checked out the 1920 Census (on the Internet) and found that she had lived at 79 West 400 South--about 4 blocks away from the Dansante. We drove there and took this photo:

I'm not certain if this is Grandma Law's actual house, but it is definitely at the same address. It could be that vintage.

After taking the photo of Grandma Law's house, we went to look for a restaurant. On the way we noticed a Bluebird Candy Factory, located on the same block as the Bluebird Restaurant (where we had dinner yesterday evening), but physically separated by at least half a block. Curious, we walked into the factory, where we learned that the factory and restaurant separated in the not-too-distant past. The chocolates we purchased at the restaurant yesterday weren't really Bluebird Chocolates, but were purchased from other "generic" manufacturers. We each went away with one authentic Bluebird Chocolate.

Let's Dance

This is a photo of LeGrand and Erline in about 1940, three years before their marriage. He passed away in 2000. He had been in an assisted living center for less than one day. The evening he died, Erline attended a high school jazz concert in which her grandson Derek played.

At the end of the concert, Erline told Derek that during the concert that night--when Derek's group played Glenn Miller's "In the Mood"--Walt had come up to her and said, "Let's dance."

After the concert, Erline received a phone call from the assisted living center, informing her that Walt had passed away during the concert.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

We would be celebrating your birthday in person today if you were still around. (It's been over three years since you left.) We miss you. Thanks for the many wonderful memories!!