After school ended in the Spring I didn’t know what I was going to do. One of my friends from College was Phyllis Davis. She was a year older than me and she was also tall like me. She helped me get a job at a local laundry. I spent all day ironing and folding sheets. That was hard work, hot and hard. I lasted about a month. Then I got a job at JC Penny’s as a clerk. That was kind of fun but I really was out of my comfort zone. I think I was good with the customers but I was not very smart. I had not auditioned for Festival and by this time Festival was using more actors from out of State than locals. I got a job tending the children of one of the costumers. I would ride my bike to her house and spend all day with the kids. I would do house work and fix their meals. She only needed me for part of the Summer so then I was out of employment again. I decided to apply at the Parks again. This time I was sent to Zions National Park. I was excited because Tauna was working there also. I once again was a cabin maid. One of the good things about being a cabin maid was once your work was done you were done for the day. By this time my Brother Doug was home from his mission and he also was working at Zions. He had a job in the kitchen. I finally got my chance to climb Lady Mountain. One day after I had finished my work Doug and I climbed up Lady Mountain and we got back in time for dinner.
Another great thing about Zions at that time there was a swimming pool as part of the Lodge. Guests of the Lodge could go swimming and employees could use the pool if there were not too many guests. But the bad thing about the pool is that it was not heated so the water depended on the sun to provide the heat. The only problem was that because the pool was at the bottom of a canyon the sun only hit the pool for just a few hours a day. By four o’clock the shadows of the surrounding mountains were creeping across the lawn and the pool was in a shadow and out of any direct sunlight. The pool never was very warm and by the time I was through work it would already be in the shade and kind of a cold swim. But kids being kids a quick dip was always welcome.
The employees were once again required to sing the buses away twice a day. We also put on variety shows for the guests. I was able be involved in these and it was lots of fun. I also got to substitute for a waitress once in a while. That was good because then you got tips. Cabin Maids got tips sometimes but Waitresses got tips every night. We also held Sacrament Meeting every Sunday and guests as well as employees were welcome. If we had to work that day we could take off for the time to go to Church. It only lasted about one hour. But it was very grounding to have that consistency to look forward to.
Zion Lodge was about two miles from the entrance of the park. Just outside the park was the small town of Springdale. They had a real grocery store and several motels and restaurants. Since we did not have access to a car if we wanted to get there we had to either walk or hitch hike. We did that a few times but not very often. Tauna was a waitress and I was a cabin maid so our work schedules were a lot different. But we still hung out together when we could. We also met other kids from all over the country. It was fun getting to know kids from other states many who had never heard of a Mormon. I came to realize that it really is a responsibility to set an example of who you were and what you stand for.
I loved working at Zions it was a great summer job. I was able to save enough money to pay for my tuition the next quarter.
Next College 1965 – 66.
Wow! You did some really awfull jobs. I thought the summer I spent working as a maid in the Escalante Hotel was the worst job in the world but I think working in a laundry has to be worse than being a maid! I kind of envy you the work at the parks. I was the only one in my group of friends who was never hired to work at the parks and I applied every year I was in Cedar From the time I was old enough to submit an application. Oh, well. I guess I never would have been a secretary if I hadn’t had to learn how to have a job the summer before College. I would have been at the parks before they decided they needed someone who could type and I was probably the only teen ager still in Cedar by July! That job probably changed the course of my life so I will take some comfort in that fact!
Good blogging Sis.