A to Z Challenge: Manti and Mannheim Steamroller

Manti

In July of the summer we met, DH and I and a group of our friends and roommates climbed into DH's faithful car Gully, and headed south for the evening to see the Manti Mormon Miracle Pageant.  Every summer a cast of over 800 members portray the epic struggle between good and evil both in the ancient American world and also in more modern times.   This free, popular pageant is an evening of song, dance and drama, and has been a tradition in this small town for more than 50 years.

After getting our dinner and spreading our blankets out on the ground, we settled in and enjoyed the production and each other's company.  After the show we returned to the car, but Gully would not start.  We tried begging for a jump start from a kind passer-by, but that didn't work either.   There was nothing to do but to wait until morning when an auto shop would be open.   So, we began walking the still fairly busy streets of this small town looking for a place to stay.   The few hotels or motels were full, and as college students we were really not up to paying for hotel rooms for the group either.  We finally decided to be brave and knocked on the door of a fairly nice, large, well let home, intending to ask if our group would possibly be allowed to spend the night in a local chapel we had walked by.

A lady in formal evening attire answered the door, and upon hearing our request, called over a stately gentleman dressed in a tuxedo.  This gentleman was the ecclesiastical leader for the local church congregation, and in answer to our request to spend the night at the church, told us that it was against policy.  However, he did offer to let us spend the night at his home.  He left the party, (which we later learned was the official cast party for those who had participated in the pageant) and escorted us to his house.  We girls were shown to a guest room upstairs furnished with a variety of mattresses where his grandchildren slept when visiting, and DH and his roommate were given bedding and situated on the couches downstairs.   They were even lent pajamas by this wonderful man, who had played one of the starring roles in the pageant,  Captain Moroni.   He returned to his party, and we all enjoyed a good nights sleep, then enjoyed a pancake breakfast provided by the community the next morning while Gully was being repaired.

Mannheim Steamroller

The Manti trip was not the only adventure that DH and I had with Gully the summer we met.   We often traveled to spend and evening with his family or a Saturday with mine.   One day we went to visit DH's grandparents, and we often went hiking or for a drive.   Neither DH nor I are huge at making conversation, and we were comfortable with a fair amount of silence on these trips, but we did enjoy listening to music.   DH has always had a fairly sizable collection of music.  Back in 1981 we listened to cassette tapes as we traveled, and  Chip Davis' very first Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire albums were ones that we listened to many times, not only that summer, but throughout the years since then.   We've been able to attend Mannheim Steamroller concerts together several times and have many of the CD's in our collection.   DH and I don't really have "A Song" from our courtship, we have an entire collection of albums!