Slaterville Dramatic Company. John Wheeler and Alice Bybee were unanimously sustained as president and secretary respectively of the company. Those present who subscribed their support were William Wheeler Jr., Orson Hudman, Jess Slater, Moroni Wheeler, Fredric Foy, Alice Howell, Emma Sophia Manning, Lottie Wheeler, and others not readily identified. It must be understood that while the organization was not sponsored directly by the Church, it was condoned, supported and had the blessings of ward authorities. Mr. Wright secured copies of several light dramas that amateurs could handle successfully with proper training, and selected a cast for the first performance which, after many evenings of instructions and hard drillings, was able to present to the public, though laboring under the disadvantage of not having a stage on which to perform a production that drew praise from some severe show critics of our cities. After the first performance was held under such a disadvantage, it appeared that success of the dramatic company and indeed, its very existence, were doomed unless something unforeseen happened that could save it. Realizing the possiblility that all the efforts put forth to effect an efficient organization of qualified, interested workers, dedicated to a public service of entertainmnet might prove fruitless, placed Mr. Wright and other interested parties in a peculiar predicament. The unfavorable situation was relieved by the good news that erection of a hall planned as a place to hold public dances and entertainments and also be available for Church and ward activities was contemplated by William Smout Sr., a devout Church member and worker and well-to-do man who had served the neighborhood many years as a blacksmith and during the spring and early summer of 1890, a spacious frame building provided with a large stage in the west end, was erected on property formerly owned by him near the spot where Mr. Korab's residence stands. His reaction to a move to initiate the light drama or stage show as a feature of entertainment in Slaterville was favorable. Promoters of the project were granted use of the hall and privilege of installing necessary scenery for the stage. Immediate action was taken to get everything in order for a series of performances to start in the fall. Mr. Wright was successful in securing services of a man whose name was Major Darling to paint the scenery. Where the man hailed from or any knowledge of his background, as far as the writer knows, was never revealed. It was known definitely, however, that he was not a citizen of Ogden or vicinity. Regardless of the man's family connections or part of the country he came from, the quality of work he did demonstrated to the satisfaction of those qualified to judge that he was an expert at what he claimed to be his profession. Before pursuing his new assignment, the painter's desire was to obtain board and lodging as near as possible to his work, which he secured at the home of Mrs. Ellen Hutchins, a widow, who owned and lived in the home that now belongs to Julian Powell and where the Virgil Garner family resides. The committee in charge made no suggestion as to scenes desired on any curtain, but left the entire matter up to his experienced judgment as to what would be appropriate for each. On the back curtain was pictured beautiful mountains overlooking green fields and a peaceful stream wending its way through clumps of trees and shrubbery in the valley below. Side curtains -136- MUSIC ELBERT GARR Trombone RUSSELL WHEELER LEROY PERRY MUSIC FURNISHED FOR ALL OCCASIONS Phone 28-J-3 R. F. D. No. 5. Box 160-a OGDEN. UTAH LERAY MINTER CLARENCE ALLRED Piano Left to Right: Clarence Allred, Russell Wheeler, LeRoy Perry Back row: Marian Perry, Amelia Holley, Horace Holley Sitting: Hazel Cobabe, Florence Bowns, Arnold Slater, Delilia Holley LaVern Bowns, Delphia Knight -137-