First in a four-part series on the 2008 Heritage Court.
For Margaret Barton Murdock, representing Blaine County royalty is nothing new. In 1939, she represented the city of Hailey in the one and only Miss Blaine County Competition held to celebrate the grand opening of Sun Valley Resort.
In the competition, Murdock donned a swimsuit and high heels, posed for photos around Sun Valley and wowed the crowd at the Liberty Theatre with her performance of the 'Beer Barrel Polka' on the accordion.
Now, almost 70 years later, Murdock is being crowned again—as a member of the Blaine County Heritage Court.
Murdock, who is representing her hometown of Carey, will be presented to the public and crowned on June 22 along with Anna Faye O'Donnell, Lois Heagle and Mary Lou Michelson, who make up this year's Heritage Court.
The women will wear tiaras, carry flowers and ride in a number of local parades. No bathing suits or polkas for Murdock this time, though.
Born in 1920 in a log house just one mile east of Carey's Main Street, Murdock was the sixth of eight children. She remembers having no electricity, no cars and, of course, no snowplows.
"We used to have to ride a horse-drawn sleigh to school during the winter," Murdock said. "If my mom and dad could see me now with the microwave and refrigerator, they'd turn over in their graves."
What she and her family did have was music.
"I just love music," she said. "My dad loved music. He played the piano and wore a harness around his neck with a harmonica. I played accordion, my sister played the piano and my brother played guitar and we would just have jam sessions at home."
As a young woman, Murdock left Carey to go on a church mission trip in New York. One day, the group went to Philadelphia to meet with other missionaries. There, Murdock met her husband, Verd. He took to Margaret and soon a letter-writing courtship began.
"There was no hanky-panky. We were on a mission."
Although he lived in Utah, Verd ventured to Idaho each weekend to see her and on June 2, 1943, they were married.
Ten months later, the Murdocks had their first child, and when the child was just two months old, Verd left to fight in World War II. After two years in the Pacific Theatre, he returned, and the two made a life in Utah and later Carey. Verd worked as the manager of Adamson's, a store in Carey, while Margaret raised their eight children and taught piano.
Margaret, a grandmother to 37 and great-grandmother to 57, said, "I loved the job of raising a child, watching each of them learn to walk and to talk. There is just such a love you feel."
That love may explain why, after raising her own eight children, Murdock turned to teaching first- and second-graders in Carey. She taught for 20 years and says she loved every minute of it.
While her teaching days are over, Murdock still plays the organ and the piano, especially at family gatherings.
"Every time a grandchild gets married, he or she requests that I play at the wedding. Usually I play 'Cherry Pink Apple Blossom White' or 'Side by Side,'" she said with a giggle. "They're oldies but goodies."
Now, the days are quieter. Margaret and Verd live together in Carey, attending church, feeding their 50-plus great-grandchildren chocolate ice cream and popsicles and tending to their fruit and vegetable garden.
"I'm happy to be where I am. I loved raising those kids, but I'm lucky I have all good kids, all good citizens. I think I did well."
Did well, for this Lady of the Heritage Court, is an understatement.
On June 21, the entire Murdock family will descend on Carey for a family reunion. They will come from all over, from as close as Carey to as far away as Oregon, to celebrate Verd and Margaret's 65th wedding anniversary, Verd's 90th birthday and, of course, Margaret's special coronation.
2008 Heritage Court
The Blaine County Museum will honor a quartet of ladies this month as its fifth annual Heritage Court.
Each lady was chosen for her longevity and commitment to her town. The new court will be honored from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 22, at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey. There will be a reception after the event, at which the ladies will "hold court" to meet their public.
The four ladies will ride in a vintage carriage in Hailey's Fourth of July Parade, Carey's Pioneer Days Parade, Ketchum's Big Hitch Wagon Days Parade and Bellevue's Labor Day Parade.
The ladies will ride in the Hailey Fourth of July Parade, Carey's Pioneer Days Parade, Wagon Days in Ketchum and the Labor Day Parade in Bellevue.
Margaret Murdock is a member of the fifth annual Blaine County Heritage Court. Photo by Della Sentilles
