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Show Mary Bird January 17, 1980 - The Springville Herald - Page Eleven Vouching ivory !wys mi lives "To us of yonrsaff in foueh of ivory ktys, Wt fool tho light coross, tho loWng hoM To which your fiit(r cling, Tour gonoroHt hoort it ipanf in deepening chords, Tour tendernen in perfect hormony. Camilla Woodbury ivii Sitting in Mary Bird's white and rose Victorian living room, watching her hands brush lightly over the ivory keys of her baby grand piano, the visitor can easily see that this stanza from a poem written in her honor captures the essence of her life and personality. Mrs. Bird's small back is straight, her hands deft and sure as exquisite strains of a medley she says "isn't written down anywhere" fill the room. The 50-year resident of Springville is tiny, only a petite 92-pounds, but she has filled the lives of people throughout Springville with a lifetime "medley" of service that seems to go far beyond her physical stature. "I love life," 75 year-old Mrs. Bird says in a soft, gracious voice. "If I can do something to help someone else, it only makes it better." That "something to help someone else" has included playing free of charge for well over 1,000 funerals (sometimes, she says two a day), in addition to playing at innumerable community and church programs. Last month alone, she recalls, she played for seven Christmas programs. Mrs. Bird also taught piano lessons from the time she was 18 until she was 62, she says, not for the money, but for the enjoyment she received from it. "I taught for the love of it, to watch I the children blossom." "I've never asked for pay for my playing," she says. "I've felt like it was a gift from my Heavenly Father and I had better make use of it. If I feel like I've brought a little comfort or compassionate com-passionate service to anyone or made their day better, I feel good inside." The compassionate service Mrs. Bird has given hasn't stopped with music, though. She is the wife of former county treasurer Maurice Bird and helped campaign him into seven straight terms (28 years) in that office. She has planned and gone on drives for the Red Cross, Heart Fund, Polio and Cancer Society. She served as block chairman on city beautification projects, and canvassed districts for the Art Membership Drive. She has served on committees, arranged music and performed for many art teas held in Springville and for senior citizens and rest homes. - She has served and given gifts and Christmas programs to forgotten patients at the State Hospital and sent food and clothing to needy and ill Springville residents. She has served as Home Culture Club president, vice-president, program chairman and secretary. She was president of the Springville Federated Music Club, president and state officer of the Firemen's Auxiliary, music chairman of the Fine Arts for the State Federated Clubs and honorary member of the Companions Club. She is also an honorary member and accompanist for the Springville Kiwanis Club and has received the Distinguished Service Award from Kiwanis International. She has produced Kiwanis shows and fund raising projects for underprivileged children in the community. She was president of the Springville Junior High School Parent Teacher's Association. She has served in positions in the LDS Church ranging from Primary and ward organist to stake board positions in Sunday School, YWMIA and Relief Society. These civic and religious activities were sandwiched in between raising four children, baking bread, doing needle point which now covers several chairs in her living room, tatting yards of exquisite delicate lace, knitting, sewing and a variety of other hobbies. Starting to play the piano WHEN SHE WAS ONLY FOUR YEARS OLD, Mrs. Bird became the school organist when she was in second grade. Her childish legs were unable to reach the pedals, she remembers, so two pupils were asked to pump for her. She began to accompany her father, who she says had an Irish tenor voice and was often asked to sing in communities com-munities throughout Idaho and Utah. During World War I, she remembers, when many people died of flue, she and her father once performed at 14 funerals in 11 days. "That's a lot of practicing," she says. When she graduated from high school, Mrs. Bird went first to Utah State University, but then returned home and attended Brigham Young University so that her father could have an accompanist handy for his many singing engagements. She remembers going to dances as a young girl and then coming home and playing by ear the popular tunes she had heard. Her rare ability to sit down and play any tune she heard backfired on her more than once, however. She remembers hearing her piano teachers play a piece of music and then sitting down to play it perfectly by ear after he left. At her next lesson, he listened to her play it and told her she had done it well, but in the wrong key. Listening to tunes on the player piano at a silent movie one day, she went home and tried to play them. Not realizing the player piano was playing the equivalent of a duet, she burst into tears of frustration at not being able to duplicate the music. The baby grand, bought with money she inherited from her father, has hundreds of tiny scratches above the keyboard made by childish hands struggling to reach a chord. Mrs. Bird has never advertised for a student, but has had up to 60 at a time, she says. She has taught children in the mornings before they went to school, in the evenings after school and on Saturdays. Her daughters, she says, took over many household responsibilities respon-sibilities so that she could teach and play at community functions. Her experience playing at funerals and other events has brought some anxious moments as well as touching ones. Once, turning the page of a sheet of music, she discovered the page she was supposed to be on wasn't there. "I was worried that I wouldn't be able to remember one of the chords, but it went okay," she says. j Another time, at a funeral of a man who was mentally handicapped, the speaker referred to the deceased as a child of God. Mrs. Bird changed her piano selection to an arrangement of "I am a Child of God," bringing tears to people through the congregation. Since retiring, the Birds have had a chance to travel widely. So far, Mrs. Bird smiles, she has been able to realize two of her three lifelong "suppressed desires" going to Hawaii, and owning a grand piano. The third, attending the Metropolitan Opera in New York City is yet to come. The several trips the Birds have made to New York, she says, have not been in opera season. Delicate notes from music by a European composer drift off her fingers as she touches the keys lightly. Sunlight filtering through embroidered lace curtains reflects rose highlights from the carpet into a crystal candelabra can-delabra on the piano. In spite of her busy life of service and work, Mrs. Bird and her home carry a serene, refreshing attitude of old-fashioned old-fashioned graciousness tempered charmingly with a zesty love for life and all of its goodness. Short tax forms save tax dollars The so called "rhort form" can only be usmI by taxpayers who report nothing more than wages as their source of income. It works under the concept that you have $3,400 worth of "standard" "stan-dard" itemized deductions deduc-tions (for married persons per-sons filing joint returns and surviving spouses) $2,300 for single taxpayers tax-payers and $1,700 for married persons filing separate returns. An easy way to estimte whether or not you should file short form is to get a copy of the itemized deductions. Then estimate what you think your expenses are in each of the various areas (i.e. medical, interest expense, ex-pense, taxes etc.). Once you've made a fairly good estimate, add up the total and compare it to the standard deducation (i.e. $3,400, $2,300 or $1,700). If your estimate is more than the standard deducation - recompute Schedule A using exact figures and compare again. If the new exact total is still more, itemize. Is not, you will most likely save tax dollars by using the short form. Be aware, however, that if you have partnership part-nership income, rental income, capital gains or any other source of income in-come or loss other than wages, you must file a long form (but not necessarily itemize). CTfLfLS , INDIVIDUAL $25.00 HUSBAND AND WIFE $25.00 THIRTY YEARS EXPERIENCE WARREN G. WOLF ATTORNEY AT LAW 75 CANYON DRIVE SPRINGVILLE, UTAH PHONE 489-7088 km PHARMACY PHARMACIES AflMffCO's fafJJlf voluntary chain CITY 164 SOUTH MAIN 489-5618 STORE HOURS: 9 AM TO 8 PM CLOSED SUNDAYS 18 mm Mary Bird plays with one-year-old granddaughter Melinda. Mrs. Bird's hands are deft and sure as she fills her home with strains of a medley of her own composition. (ValuMRite) i i v VITAMIN C 250 Omg 100 COUNT BIC DISPOSABLE RAZORS PKGOF FOR 3 2 CAKE & CHEESE PLATTERS REG. $5.98 a - NATURAL VITAMIN E VR-; 100 TABLETS 400 I.U. ovlR-Wl SMN J VASOLINE INTENSIVE CARE LOTION 10 oz. SIZE u SILK SCREEN GRAPHIC PICTURES DECORATE ANY ROOM $14.95 VALUE 19"x25' REG. $4.99 ALL SILK SCARFS u Q-TIPS 170 COUNT 7 DRIED FLOWER ARRANGEMENT $13.98 VALUE DECORATOR TRAYS $6.99 J BURNTWOOD & CANE MAGAZINE RACK I PORCELAIN PORCELAIN CLOWNS OR 3-FACE DOLLS REAL COLLECTORS ITEMS YOUR CHOICE VALUES TO $13.99 PINEAPPLE CANDY DISH REG. $6.00 ART CITY PHARMACY AUTHORIZED 164 SOUTH MAIN 489-5618 3-PACK CASSETTE TAPES 30 MINUTES U |