Murray parade to celebrate a special birthday

MURRAY — In the 1940s, Beth Smith sent her new husband to Germany to fight the Nazis during World War II.

Smith marched alongside him in parades as part of the women's volunteer firefighter auxiliary.

The 89-year-old great-grandmother also sent a son to the U.S. conflict with Korea, and she has braved teenagers as a lunch lady at Riverview Junior High School.

But Wednesday, the seasoned woman approached a Studebaker carriage and 17-year-old Amish horse with extreme caution.

"I'm not too fond of horses," she said, settling into the red-upholstered rear seat of the show carriage. She was lovingly helped up by her son and grandson, who had to cajole Smith almost every step of the way.

The family was doing a test run of the carriage for Saturday's Independence Day parade in Murray, when Smith will ride with her son, daughter and daughter-in-law to celebrate her upcoming 90th birthday.

"It's going to be a new adventure," said Smith, with a twinkle in her bright blue eyes. But the parade will be uncharacteristic of Smith's "always backward" life, she said. "I don't know whether I'm going to like this or not."

The parade will be Smith's first since the early 1970s, when she performed in full regalia as part of the women's auxiliary unit.

The group of firefighters' wives competed against wives from other cities in parades around the state. Sometimes, they would wear semi-formal matching dresses, all homemade. Another time, the women dressed as cartoon characters, complete with round, oversized masks made of papier-m?he.

"We won quite a few of the parades," Smith said, gleaming with pride. She dressed as Raggedy Andy and has blurry color photos to prove it.

Beyond parade marching, the volunteer women's group also prepared meals for the firefighters during disasters.

A book of photographs got Smith and her family reminiscing about times gone by. When Smith was young, she and her friends would take the street car to Salt Lake City, she said. The group of young women also spent a lot of time at Murray's large city park, still used today.

Back then, the kids would play games like "Run, Sheep, Run," plus jacks and late-night hide-and-go-seek.

"We could go all over the neighborhood without being afraid," she said. "You can't do that anymore."

Smith works to keep her old neighborhood in touch through regular meetings of a "club" of wives who gathered while their husbands were out hunting. Only four of the original members are still alive, but they continue to love and support one another as always, Smith said.