Remembering Arloa and Chuck White

How many young people in Duchesne learned how to dance – square dancing, ballroom dancing, line dancing – from Mrs. White in elementary school?  How many young people in Duchesne learned to be more responsible for their own actions by interacting with Mrs. White in elementary school?

I must admit, there were times that I was a little scared of Mrs. White.  She could be a little sharp with her words and firm in her expectations, especially for a carefree young boy.  Not once, however, did I doubt that she cared about me and all the other students at school.  A person can’t work that hard at their job and not love the people they serve. 

When I was on the “dance team” in sixth grade, one of my favorite things was to see her smile or hear her offer praise to us after we had done well at a dance.  Praises and smiles came only after work, practice, correction, and more instruction.  Her passion and high expectations pushed me to work harder and to expect more of myself. 

And who didn’t love to see Mrs. White riding around town on her scooter?

It wasn’t until high school, however, that I got to know her at a personal level.  At Church, I was assigned to be home teaching companions with her husband Chuck.  He was just starting to get active in the Church and I was assigned to show him how to be a home teacher.  Spending time with Chuck was a treat for me.  He had a wonderful sense of humor and great stories about working all over the Basin and the Mountain West.  It was great to listen to him visit and share stories with the families we were assigned to visit.  We even had the privilege of working together for two summers at the school district.  One day, after I had graduated from high school and before I left on my mission, we were assigned to tear out a bathroom at Union High School.  The school year had just started.  It was time to carry a toilet out of the bathroom and throw in the back of our truck, but it was in between classes.  I told Chuck that we should wait until everyone was back in the classroom. 

He smiled and said, “No, let’s do it now.”

So I was on the front side of that heavy, industrial toilet with the front of the bowl tucked right up under my chin.  We stepped out into the hallway, completely full of students and faculty.  I endured the shocked and teasing comments in good cheer, until I saw a girl that I spent time with at a dance a week or two before.  She looked right at me, she recognized me and her face contorted in disgust.  I never asked her out.

One Sunday, after Chuck and I were home teaching companions for a bit, Mrs. White pulled me aside to tell me thank you for being friends with her husband.  I wasn’t sure what to say, but I assured her that it was an honor for me.  She then invited me to come by their home sometime to visit. 

Over the course of my last year of high school I did just that a handful of times.  Usually it was just for a dessert on a Sunday afternoon.  It also turned out that all three of us liked Ray Stevens, so we spent an afternoon watching their collection of Ray Stevens VHS tapes.  They told me about their family, about Chuck’s work in the oil field, about their family vacations.  Chuck even once called to confide in me a problem he was having and asked me, a seventeen year old kid for advice. They listened as I discussed plans for college and a mission and my dating life.

I was saddened to learn of Mrs. White's passing this week.  I was blessed to get to know Chuck and her so well.  All of us were blessed for knowing Arloa and Chuck White.

_______________________________

Blackburn Vernal Mortuary

Arloa Woolley White
September 11, 1940 ~ November 17, 2017

On November 17, 2017, we lost our dearly devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend. Arloa was born on September 11, 1940, to Arlo and Stella Wooley in Vernal, Utah. After being raised in Rangley, Colorado, she married Charles (Chuck) White on December 21, 1957. She traveled all over the western US with Chuck's work, until settling in Duchesne, Utah in 1971. She touched many children's lives while working as the elementary secretary and teaching dance. After retiring in 2000, her and Chuck traveled all over the country in a motorhome for 11 years, finally settling in a new home in Stansbury Park, Utah. She loved to sing karaoke, and teach line dancing to her friends. She is survived by her children; Rick (Debbie) White; San Antonio, Texas; Arla (Mark) Liebmann, of Stansbury Park, Utah; 7 grandchildren; 4 great-grandchildren, and numerous relatives and friends, including siblings sister, Connie (Bill) Bankster, of Grand Junction, Colorado; Leon (Jenny) Wooley, of Rifle, Colorado; Gwen (Les) Wilson, of Pasco, Washington. She was preceded in death by her parents, and brother, Art Wooley. Funeral services will be conducted on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 at 11 a.m. at the Blackburn and Sons Vernal Mortuary. A viewing will be held Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. and one hour prior to the services. Burial will be in Maeser Fairview Cemetery, under the care and direction of the Blackburn and Sons Vernal Mortuary.

Memories of the Duchesne County Fair

Who remembers watching the horses come off the side of the mountain as they would sit back on their haunches and slide down?  Usually their rider would be out in front holding onto the reins, running and sliding just in front of the horse.  Eventually they would reach the bottom and drop out of sight momentarily…then in a mad rush horse and rider would come galloping through the river and into the rodeo arena.  As a young boy I knew of a few people who rode in the Crazy Horse Race year in and year out.  It seems most of the riders were younger guys who didn’t know better yet, but there were a few experienced riders that continued to race.

At the end of every summer I looked forward to the Duchesne County Fair.  Shortly after my family moved to Duchesne my dad was put to work fixing the old wood rodeo stands, repairing seats, gates, and fences.  I loved to spend time with him as he put up new lumber and painted it as the fair approached.  My dad, Reed Van Wagoner, would go on to serve on the Fair Board for several years and as Chairman for some of that time.  His service on the Fair Board and his work as a deputy sheriff allowed me to spend a significant amount of my time around the fair as it was set up, executed, and closed up.  I remember when the Blue Fair Building was brand new.

For a year or two I had plans to be a bareback rider in the Little Buckaroos rodeo.  I never made it, but one year, with a brand new set of school clothes on my body, I won the greased pig contest.  Both my dad and I got in trouble when I got home that night, but I did win a bag of Jolly Ranchers.

My dad was on the Fair Board the year the old rodeo arena was replaced.  I think he was Chairman of the Fair Board that year.  It was fun to go down every day or two to check on the progress, to watch the new chutes and announcer stands put together and to watch the huge light poles go up.  

That year Charly McClain put on a concert at the fair.  Sitting up front with my parents and family friends was a cool treat.  At one point in the concert Charly McClain asked for a ten year old boy to come up to the stage.  I happened to be 10 that year, the summer before I started sixth grade.  My dad shoved me a little and told me to get up there, but I hesitated, not sure if I wanted the attention and uncertain what would happen.  Suddenly one of my dad’s friends sort of grabbed me and threw me out in front of the stage.  Pretty soon one of the stage hands had me by the shoulder leading me up on stage where the beautiful Charly McClain took me by the hand.  I was thrilled and terrified at the same time.

She told the crowd that she was going to dedicate the next song to me.  Before she started she leaned over and whispered in my ear.  In the days and weeks afterward several people asked what she whispered to me.  I told most of them it was a secret.  But, here is what she said to that ten year old:

“The music is going to be really loud.  Don’t let it scare you.  Just smile and squeeze my hand.”

As they started the song I recognized it from the radio.  My mom always listened to KNEU 1250 AM at the house and car and I had heard this song more than once.  She started to sing the song “Men”.  Here are the lyrics and a link to the video.  Looking back, it may have been a little grown up for a ten year old, but I just kept thinking that a beautiful woman is holding my hand in front of my family, all of my friends, and everyone in my hometown.

Men

Some men treat you just like a lady

Others treat you just like a child

And they can drive you so far away

Or they can drive you wild

Some you wanna show to your mama

And some you wouldn’t show to your dad

Some wanna take you straight to the altar

And some just wanna take you to bed

Women, I’m here to tell you about ‘em

Men, we couldn’t make it without ‘em

I’ve loved a few and I’ve a few that need a friend

There’s nothin’ better than men to hold

There’s nothin’ better than men

Some men are as cold as December

Some are ‘bout as hot as July

Sometimes they fill your life with happiness

Sometimes they make you cry

Women, I’m here to tell you about ‘em

Men, we couldn’t make without ‘em

I’ve loved a few and I’ve found a few that need a friend

There’s nothin’ better than men to hold

There’s nothin’ better than men

Charly McClain - "Men" Youtube

As she finished singing the song she turned to me and leaned over to give me a kiss.  In shock I turned my face away…I think I remember hearing a few gasps in the crowd.  Then, I came to my senses and turned back.  She kissed me on the cheek leaving a beautiful mark from her dark red lipstick.  The crowd roared and my knees felt weak. 

As I left the stage, I was given an autographed picture and a Charly McClain hat.  I took that hat to school every day for the first month of school.  I remember when Mr. Lowell Caldwell, our principal, came to my desk.  He saw the hat and asked: “What was better? The hat or the kiss?”  It wasn’t even close between the two.  (I was jealous later when I found out that my mother had lunch with Charly McClain and her husband Wayne Massey at the El Cid.)

Other concerts followed through the years—Pam Tillis, Earl Thomas Connelly (who was very drunk during his concert), and others, but none were as good as the Charly McClain concert.

I loved watching the rodeos from the announcer’s stand where I could watch the cowboys with their gear preparing to ride the rough stock.  I loved watching the demolition derbies and the horse pulls.  I loved listening to the corny clown jokes.  I loved walking through the displays in the Blue Fair Building.

Two summers ago I took my family back into town and we spent some time at the fair and the rodeo.  My kids loved the parade down Main Street, even with the rain.  They loved the food from the vendors outside the rodeo grounds.  Growing up my mom always warned me not to buy food from a certain food vendor.  As we asked one of my friends for a recommendation she shared several, and then, more than 20 years later, she gave me the same advice regarding the same food vendor—“Don’t buy food from there.”

As I’ve lived all over the United States and traveled abroad, I’ve come to realize how truly special it was to grow up in a place like Duchesne.  The Duchesne County Fair was and is an amazing opportunity for family, friends, and neighbors to come together every year and celebrate the community and way of life.