I became involved with the Governor’s Mansion Foundation because we (my husband
and I) knew Nancy and Dan Evans very well. They had been to our home in Sequim and
eaten crab and clams with us while sitting on the floor. That was before he was
governor, or running for governor. We were friendly with them and Nancy got me involved
right away. Then Lorraine Gandy got me involved as well. That was a long time ago.
It was the very beginning of the Mansion Foundation.
In the Governor’s Mansion, I watched Lorraine Gandy (first Chairperson) very carefully,
but I didn’t have a particular role at first. I became Chairman (President) in 1978
and was in that position until 1981.
Dixie Lee Ray was the Governor then and she, being a female Governor, had her sister,
Marion Reed, as the person who was in the mansion helping with everything that went
on there.
One of the first times I got a call from someone at the mansion, it may have been
Dorothy, I’m not sure, but they said Dixie wanted to put her caps and gowns and
certificates, diplomas and all of these things up in the mansion. So, my oldest
daughter, Edie, and I went down there and decided to put them in the upstairs hallway,
as you went up to the guestrooms. They were all mussed up and folded, wrapped and
you name it. So, Edie got out the iron and the ironing board. and we hung them all.
They looked quite interesting. You saw them as you went up the stairs. It was quite
a challenge.
Governor Ray also had a collection of art that she wanted hung in the family living
room. And it was Indian, and I didn’t know a thing about hanging Indian art. So
we called Don Foster, who was the art expert on the board. He said, “Well, I’ll
go down, but I’m going to make it just as fast as I possibly can.” He came charging
in and hung this art and I think we were out of there in probably an hour. He didn’t
want to hang it there, because he didn’t think it suited the room. But, that was
what she [the governor] wanted, and that was her living room. She had definite opinions
about what she wanted hung and displayed.
Marion Reed used to sit in on some of the meetings we had and she always had something
to say. She was a very nice person. A librarian. Very family oriented and supportive
of her sister, of course. She realized that Dixie couldn’t do anything with the
mansion, really, because she didn’t have time.
The Governor had dogs, but they went to work with her. They weren’t around when
we had meetings, as I recall. They weren’t around much when I was there.
There was a large rug that we were given by a very important person. The rug was
an Oriental rug and I didn’t know what to do with it. It was big. There was nothing
in the first upstairs bedroom. So, we put it in there, and it came practically to
the very edge of everything. So it was sort of temporary. I don’t know what happened
to it. We kept it for a while. It was comfortable underfoot.
I think it’s a good idea that there is a committee now that makes decisions like
that and does those things, because, I mean, there’s only so much you can fit in,
in the first place.
Dixie actually wanted to furnish the public rooms with her furniture, which posed
a bit of a problem. I got a phone call one day and they said, “We don’t know what
to do, because she’s put her desk and her officer chair in the parlor, in the drawing
room. What do we do?”
I said, “Well, I’ll come down and tend to it.” And you know, you just had to forcibly
do it, because Marion didn’t quite dare do it. It was a big office chair and a big
desk and they were right as you came in, practically in the front hall. No big problems
or anything that I recall.
There’s a beautiful chest upstairs that my family donated. It’s up in the hall.
At least, it was in the hall upstairs. A big tall one. My mother, Elizabeth McBride,
was selling her house in Connecticut, and she didn’t have any place for these bigger
items. So I suggested that they donate them to the mansion. And Mother did. It was
very nice, because I could go see the piano they donated and see that chest. She
was living in Greenwich, Connecticut. My father had died and she was moving to California.
She couldn’t take everything with her, and she didn’t play the piano. My father
had. It was a beautiful piano. I think it needed tuning by that time. The McBride
piano was the first of the two grand pianos donated. It says in your green book
that it is seven feet circa 1929 and has been rebuilt and painted black. Yes, but
it wasn’t black when it was donated.
I enjoyed the job at the mansion because of the people involved. I thought they
were all such wonderful ladies from all over the State, even though I only saw them
once a year, at our annual luncheon, mostly. But they were just awfully wonderful
people. At the luncheon, the tables were all spread. It was very nice. Sit down,
round tables. Very well done. We had wine. I don’t know if they do now or not.
I think that luncheon was the only meeting. We did a lot on the telephone. But there
wasn’t an awful lot going on really. It was fairly quiet at that point, because
you know, it was settled. Mrs. Gandy had done a fabulous job, and I just kind of
settled into that. It wasn’t that much that we had to do, I don’t think. So it was
not a very hard job.