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Show Fridoy, August 3, 1984 Vflmal hpfBSt 9 SmoEie does no? kill her courage The life of a dollmaker may seem like one of leisure, but not for a Vernal Ver-nal resident whose sole determination is keeping her business open. About three months ago Patsy Lut-trell, Lut-trell, her husband and son moved into their present home, 722 W. Main. She moved her business, Classic Dolls and Ceramics, into the basement. The business basically consists of porcelain dolls and chalked wildlife ceramics she sells. She also teaches classes in how to make these things. Two weeks ago her mother called her as she was working in her shop downstairs and asked her to bring some medication to her. When Patsy pulled up in front of her house a few minutes later she saw smoke billowing billow-ing out of the roof of the house. She went to the front door to unlock it and get in to see where the fire was and as she started to unlock the door, the doorknob was blown out of the door and onto the sidewalk. Patsy pushed the door open and walked through the smokey house to the rear to the stairs to her shop. She looked down the stairs and, at that moment, the windows blew out of the back door. She ran out the front door and down the street to get help. She called the fire department depart-ment from the Kid's Body Shop, and they soon arrived to put out the fire. During this time Patsy's concern was for her students, that they might have to make a trip to class needlessly, needless-ly, and for their materials and dolls that were in her shop. Patsy said the fire department was exceptional. They were sympathetic and polite. "Three young firemen stayed after the fire was out and offered of-fered to give any help they could," said Patsy. "They were apologetic and sorry for the things that had been broken in putting the fire out. I've never seen anything like that before." When the smoke cleared and she began assessing damages, she realized realiz-ed that most of her dolls were broken or damaged beyond repair. She found her kiln basically intact, with many of the dolls of one of her students in it, unharmed. The wires of the kiln were burned off and will have to be replaced. replac-ed. The heat shattered some of her ceramics and warped some of her molds. She believes the loss to be between bet-ween $15,000 and $25,000, and she said that they had neglected to transfer their renter's insurance to this new residence. Most of her household items were not damaged, other than being extremely ex-tremely smokey. This would be enough to undo most normal people, but Patsy said that shortly before the fire she had found her freezer unplugged and all the food stored in it had spoiled. Also, she had returned home the day before the fire, having spent three weeks in the hospital, and she had spent that day painting and hanging new wallpaper in the house. 'So... Patsy pitched tents in the backyard, and they moved into them. , ' ' ( ' ' ' ' ,,.'. r : ; . . M:. :-. V-v. ' - - -' 1 At ' : 1 i v ' " 5 I -a . i) il ,.V,. ..'- ,. .... . I" ' r-.'J I i:(V , . i (!' ; :: tnJ, 4 y . . x l L 1 - - u --. i r U Ski THESE ARC thr o( the very few cJo!i$ left in Moit 0 tH do!!$ nd m,Hc!l were dam,ig -j-O oo "I love camping, but where is my creek and where are the fish?" she told her husband after a few days in the new living quarters. They use coal oil lamps for light at night. She said it is a very good chance to know what it was like for our ancestors who didn't have all the modern conveniences. Of course, there are a few differences. dif-ferences. They bathe at her mother's and still have use of the toilet facilities in the home. "People from the ward bring meals to us, as well as some of my students, who have also washed clothes and bedding bed-ding and have helped me by cleaning dolls and molds," said Patsy. "I can't believe how much people have done." "We are selfish," said one student. "We didn't want her to quit. We need a place like this to come." Patsy's students say that she hasn't lost her sense of humor, she can still laugh at jokes. As they were discussing discuss-ing the condition of the greenware, one of her students said, "You won't have to fire the dolls anymore, they've already been 'fired.'" Patsy said she has been working for six years to build her business. She first became interested in ceramics ? when she was a little girl and her mother had a ceramics shop. She has worked with them since then. , Later, her mother and she started ' working with porcelain as a hobby, making dolls. She cleaned greenware for others and would sew cloth bodies for the baby dolls to pay for the materials to work with porcelain. Over the years, she accumulated molds and the equipment and material necessary to go into business. She was later hurt on the job and the doctors told her she couldn't work anymore, so she decided she could make some extra money by going into in-to business with ceramics and porcelain. She has owned her business, Classic Dolls and Ceramics, one year, since last August. She makes and sells porcelain dolls and chalked ceramic wildlife and teaches classes in how to make them. Her classes are very Informal; students pay a fee, which she considers con-siders a lifetime membership' and come and get lessons and help from her as they make their dolls or - ceramics. She presently has about 30 or 40 students who come work with her. She said that every six months she attends seminars taught by a lady from Texas so she can better help her students. Since the fire, PaUy has been working work-ing to build back the Inventory the had befo. She w ould try to keep three or four of each tyy of dull, the is trying now to get one of each poured. She continued on with her ctoiw with very fcule brrak, In fact, he had Dire itudmu ii:n up for her ctaM the day of the fire, WMmxiay, and Uo the neU day and t-gsn cUmts with uVtn oo Mufxtay to the bat k yard, S)-,e hai m?vrl her hfp to the parage r4 tw run brr busmrM from iHrte. Tt aflrffKif ftftrr U.e fire. .V h4 a Hot -r grrrr. are Put m the la b r5J.f.4 il tut Half ffke Afctwucti il II Hack, il ta9 t!-anrJ 6f4 i 1A Ut'-nk It ttfi tf fwn af- Thil l Jvt l- ?Jrr,l lak.f tf ft4 tVaM If f-sm, Thil fci (few I5J 4 ty fvl -tir-i V w fln i'.-Art4 c ft4 tr is r;e ncl4 M lh r . aM pt.r4 ate f .!. y.ftf -w"y I km I r.-v. iv i ttcfl ivy t f-.TT in. f ' j (t i J.c,j TV A J i f t ! f a - '.t-J '.ft C Tt . ft! T-1 t v- tf 7j d-i'-J j5-V fy it A t 4 J r'ttt ! ?i. t.'r I f ; 4 r M a'l IV -4 r-. tt . .' -i T f4' a l ,- f H'E tyrl- p -.f t c -"? 'k-ii- -rP ft f f-l t"1?- !".t "4 it J j r1,; e. fc fts jtJ ! t-f t-ii K f,-rtJ in S t r- t.-'K J" - -f.' " - kS c-rs-f? ffr"t" t c-rsf t -t-r '4(i5r e ; c t - t-.ei f ' Vs Vt r- s - if-- - t i- '! ' t C ' -t f ; n ' t it Tt -t'7n a f- 3 4 I ,v 3 PATSY SHOWS Brenda Fox how to fit the eyes in a doll. Brenda is one of Patsy's students that signed up the day after the fire. PATSY HCLPS Brcndj Anderson with finishing touches on a doll. Cynthia Kidc!l begins the process by cleaning one of the pieces. v " X f y j f - ' i t r ,.' ' -, .r D --13--- 5 ? |