Schwendiman Family 1977

Our first pageant experience after moving to Rochester was in July 1977. We had three small children under 6 years of age.

On the night we planned to go to pageant we experienced a horrendous downpour. I got soaked just getting the children into the car. I said to Marlene that with this rain we weren't going to go. She had much greater faith than I did and said that we were going because the rain would stop and the pageant would go on. The pageant was never rained out. So we went.

I kept saying under my breath that this was ridiculous and we should go home. And Marlene kept saying to keep driving because the rain would stop and the show would go on.

The rain was so bad that when we hit one puddle on the expressway the water spray was sufficient to kill the motor. We were able to coast to stop under the only overpass on that stretch of road. Now I was convinced we should quit and go home if we ever got the motor started again. But once started we continued on driving on Marlene's faith and inspite of my "better" judgement.

Surprisingly to me, the closer we got to Palmyra the lighter the rain was. When we got to the Hill Cumorah it was still raining a bit but definitely not enough to stop the show.

In 1977 highway 21 went straight past the hill through what is now the visitor center parking lot. The bowl we enjoy today had not yet been built. So we pulled into the parking lot across highway 21 from the hill and parked the car along the fence. We decided we would watch the pageant from the car in the parking lot rather than getting out in the rain and getting wet.

And the show went on proving Marlene's faith and causing me to admit I was wrong.

The pageant in 1977 included the story of Ammon saving the flocks of King Lamoni and then converting the King. The actor portraying Ammon would stand at the bottom of the hill and the robbers would come running straight down the hill to fight Ammon. Just before this scene the decision was made that the hillside was too slippery and they didn't want any of the missionaries playing the robbers to break an ankle or a leg while running down that very wet hill. So just before the Ammon scene which was about halfway through the show the ended the show. So in the end I was justified in my lack of faith. But I did mostly have to admit that Marlene was right. The show did go on.

Submitted by Dwight Schwendiman
Rochester, NY