LDS Scene

U.S. Courthouse Named After LDS Judge

A new federal courthouse was recently named after Judge Lloyd D. George, a member of the Las Vegas Sixth Ward, Las Vegas Nevada Stake, who served as the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada for five years. The Lloyd D. George United States Courthouse was dedicated in a ceremony that honored Brother George for his years of service since he was appointed to a federal judgeship in 1984.

Gary Crowton Named BYU Head Football Coach

Gary Crowton has been chosen as the new head football coach at Brigham Young University, replacing retiring head coach LaVell Edwards. Elder Merrill J. Bateman of the Seventy, BYU president, presented the new coach at a recent press conference.

Brother Crowton comes to BYU from his position as offensive coordinator for the U.S. National Football League’s Chicago Bears. He was born in Provo, Utah, and grew up in nearby Orem. He served a mission to South Korea from 1979 to 1981.

BYU-TV Now Carried on DIRECTV

Brigham Young University Television is now being carried on DIRECTV, the largest satellite television broadcaster in the U.S., viewed in nine million homes.

BYU Television is a noncommercial channel that broadcasts BYU sports and devotionals and concerts provided by the university and the Church. The channel also broadcasts lectures from Education Week, a weeklong conference sponsored annually by the Church Educational System and BYU’s Department of Continuing Education.

BYU Television, available on DIRECTV channel 374, will be broadcast from DIRECTV’s satellite at the 119-degree west longitude orbital location and requires an 18-by-24-inch multisatellite dish and receiver.

Ricks Wins Bowl Game

The Ricks College Vikings defeated the Snow College Badgers of Ephraim, Utah, 45–14 in the Real Dairy Bowl. The Vikings ended their season 8–3.

Ricks quarterback Marc Dunn’s outstanding season earned him Offensive Player of the Year honors from the National Junior College Athletics Association. In 2000 he broke eight school records, passed for an average of 395.5 yards per game, completed more than 60 percent of his passes, and threw for 42 touchdowns.

Because of changes brought about by Ricks College’s transition to four-year status (as BYU—Idaho), this was the school’s final year of participation in intercollegiate football.

Australian Members Aid East Timorese

Members in Australia provided a Christmas aid package to the people of East Timor. A 187,000-pound shipment of gardening tools, food, and clothing was sent from Sydney to East Timor in December.

Australian Church officials presented the aid to Xanana Gusmao, president of the East Timorese National Council, who oversaw delivery of the goods to the East Timorese.

Australian members donated 22,000 pounds of children’s new and used clothing as part of the package, and gardening tools and food were purchased with funds raised from a Church welfare farm in Griffith, New South Wales, Australia.

“This is a great Christmas present for my people,” said Mr. Gusmao, who expressed particular appreciation for the gardening tools. “While it is good to give hungry people food, it is best to give them tools so they can use them to grow their own crops and become self-sufficient,” he said.

The Church provided other humanitarian assistance earlier this year to East Timorese refugees, including hygiene kits, food, and clothing.

Ward Receives Volunteer Award

The Panorama Heights Ward of the Albuquerque New Mexico West Stake recently received an Outstanding Volunteer Group award from the city of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The ward was recognized in 2000 for service, which included beautifying a local park, cleaning up an illegal dumpsite, and assisting with the mayor’s charity ball.

Sea Trek 2001 to Trace LDS Emigrants’ Voyage

Plans are proceeding for a two-month, privately sponsored commemoration of the voyage of thousands of 19th-century Latter-day Saint emigrants from Europe to the United States. On 7 August, ten 1850s replica sailing ships will set sail from Esbjerg, Denmark, making stops in Copenhagen, Denmark; Göteborg, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; Hamburg, Germany; Hull, Liverpool, and Portsmouth, England; the Canary Islands; and the Bahamas before finishing in New York City on 4 October.

Celebrations are planned at some of the ports of call. Festivities will include ship tours, fireworks, maritime exhibits on LDS migration, computer ancestral research demonstrations, history workshops, and a concert. The musical score of the concert, entitled “Saints on the Seas,” is being written by LDS composers. The final celebration will take place at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

For more information, visit the Sea Trek Web site at www.seatrek2001.com.

Five LDS Siblings Study at Juilliard

For the first time in history, five siblings are studying together at the Juilliard School in New York City. Desirae (22), Deondra (20), Gregory (18), Melody (16), and Ryan Brown (15), members of the Westchester First Ward, New York New York Stake, are studying piano at the renowned conservatory, which has only 113 piano students and accepts just one of nine applicants. Desirae and Deondra are seniors, Gregory and Melody are freshmen, and Ryan is in the precollege division.

On 14 February, Desirae and Deondra made their professional debut when they performed the Poulenc Concerto for Two Pianos with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Impressed by the sisters’ first-place performance at the orchestra’s Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition last March, conductor Luis Biava invited them to play as the orchestra’s guests.

In spite of the highly competitive environment in which the five siblings exist, the Browns are noted for the harmony that endures among them even when away from the keyboard. Teachers and friends at Juilliard are struck by it, and national and international newspapers and television news programs have highlighted the family’s unity in feature stories. After interviewing the Brown family and filming part of a Sunday Church meeting, the production crew of 60 Minutes, impressed by what they’d seen, spent two hours of their personal time asking the Brown parents, Keith and Lisa, about the gospel.

Brother and Sister Brown, who moved their family from Alpine, Utah, to New York after all their children were accepted at Juilliard, say the siblings’ common interest in music and their upbringing in the Church have created a strong bond among them.

“They look out for each other,” says Brother Brown. “Everywhere they go, whether it’s to concerts, dances, or just out to pizza, they go together. They’re a great influence for good on each other.”

“The Church really stresses spending time together as a family, and that’s made us close,” adds Gregory. “We speak the same language; we help each other stay on track.”