Yakima Town Hall Series: A history of divas, bores and red-carpet treatment

When they heard Henry Kissinger was visiting Yakima, ultra-conservative groups planned a frosty welcome.

They denounced him. They made posters of his face covered with a swastika, and they planned to confront him during his talk at the Capitol Theatre.

"People thought he was too right or too left," said Peggy Lewis of Kissinger, who served as secretary of state for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

"One thing for sure, he liked all the ladies," Sue Rich added.

That was 1984. Lewis and Rich were board members for the Yakima Town Hall Speaker Series, an annual event featuring talks by actors, writers and other celebrities.

Because of the controversy surrounding Kissinger's appearance, the women welcomed the security provided by police officers. But even that didn't stop a protester from marching toward the stage.

When Rich couldn't calm him down, her husband rushed to her defense by tackling the stranger and throwing him out the door. In response, Kissinger jokingly offered her husband a job on his security staff, Rich said.

That's just one of countless experiences board members have had since creating the speaker series in 1972. They remember a prominent -- and married -- attorney who came to Yakima with his girlfriend, a pianist who sat through dinner with a crooked toupee and an American author who "launched the f-bomb on stage."

These and other guests brought the outside world to Yakima, Lewis said. They are why she and numerous other women have worked to make the series a success.

"There wasn't an awful lot going on back then," Lewis said about Yakima's cultural offerings. "We just thought it would work."

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Describing their ages as "somewhere between 40 and death," Lewis, Rich and Bobbie Dwinell of Yakima were among the 15 board members who helped make the series what it is today. Dwinell and Lewis are founding members; Rich joined the group in 1980. Dwinell served on the board for nine years, and Rich and Lewis served for 16 and 25 years, respectively.

After hearing journalist Mike Wallace speak at the Bellevue Town Hall series in 1970, Lewis wanted Yakima to have speakers of its own. So she and a friend hosted a brainstorming session, accepted guidance from the Bellevue crew and completed necessary paperwork.

Before long, they had their own nonprofit organization and had scheduled their first speakers -- including movie star Vincent Price and singer Kitty Carlisle. Season tickets sold for $12, with proceeds funding speaker fees and travel expenses.

For its inaugural year, board members -- all friends and acquaintances -- easily sold 1,200 tickets and filled the theater -- a goal achieved by hosting a dinner party and marketing the event to their peers. That, and prominent news coverage, ensured an auspicious beginning, Lewis said.

"We wanted content that was intellectually stimulating and entertaining, and we needed the celebrity factor for at least one speaker," she said. "We committed ourselves. We knew it would sell."

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The series featured four speakers the first two years and expanded to five through 1995-1996. Then, due to rising costs, the board reverted back to four presenters.

Lewis said the cost for the four speakers was about $5,000 in 1972. Today, the price tag is closer to $100,000, funded with the help of corporate and private sponsors.

Rich said the board learned early on to book speakers that gave other, regional lectures, so they'd be less likely to cancel. But even that tactic didn't prevent former White House reporter Helen Thomas from canceling not once, but twice.

Each time Thomas canceled her visit, she cited health reasons, Rich said. But on the second occasion, Rich remembers watching the news and seeing the reporter at a dinner party.

"I was livid. I went crazy," Rich said. "We never had her again, which is a good thing because she turned out to be a terrible person."

Other speakers -- those who showed up -- were memorable for equally unflattering reasons. Lewis didn't care for Oliver North's message of "Any Means to an End," while Lewis and Dwinell disliked attorney F. Lee Bailey, who came to Yakima with his mistress in 1981-1982.

"He was very, very rude," Lewis said. "But the girlfriend was nice."

And then there was William Proxmire, a former Wisconsin senator who thrived on exposing frivolous federal spending.

When Lewis received his bill, she saw he had booked a limo to drive him 40 miles to the airport and back. She paid it, but in light of his stance on wasteful spending, she wrote him a letter questioning the expense.

Shortly thereafter, she received a response from Proxmire's wife.

"She was outraged," Lewis said. "She said he would never step foot in Yakima again."

"Peggy got in trouble," Rich joked. "We all laughed and laughed and laughed."

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Despite the occasional bore and diva, Dwinell said most speakers were sensational.

One of her favorites was Olivia de Havilland, who played Melanie Hamilton Wilkes in "Gone with the Wind." Flustered by the visit, Dwinell planned to host the perfect dinner party by following recommendations outlined in a "Ladies Home Journal" article.

From there, she got the idea to have someone make crab mousse -- which turned into a gelatinous fiasco. But on the plus side, Dwinell learned that de Havilland was a woman who knew her vodka.

"She was so glamorous, so Hollywood," Dwinell said.

"She was very charming," Lewis agreed. "She admitted she was a little chubby, and when she said this, it helped the audience endear itself to her. She was a major, major star in her day. Huge."

Nearly all speakers flew into Yakima with a first-class ticket and stayed at the former Chinook Hotel and another hotel now known as the Howard Johnson. From there, board members divvied up responsibilities, with some acting as party hostesses and others as tour guides.

"My goodness. We gave them wine and apples and we drove them around the Valley," Lewis said. "We gave them the red-carpet treatment."

Rich remembers how she couldn't help but like feminist Gloria Steinam, who talked with her hands. Lewis said Dwinell said advice columnist Abby Van Buren had a great eye for fashion, and former presidential candidate Barry Goldwater -- overcome by the recent death of his wife -- wasn't capable of giving a speech when he visited in 1990-1991.

"He eventually remarried and got better," Lewis said. "I think that perked him right up."

Although the number of ticket holders have dropped from a high of 1,200 to roughly 850 today -- for reasons they can't explain -- Rich, Dwinell and Lewis said they're thrilled with the series' evolution and the work of their successors.

For them, the Yakima Town Hall series brings a piece of the world to Yakima, and they can't wait to see who's speaking next.

"I think they are doing a wonderful job," Lewis said about the current board members. "It (the series) has every possibility of continuing for years."

by Erin Snelgrove, YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Posted April 13, 2011

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Yakima Town Hall - Yakima Town Hall Series: A history of divas, bores and red-carpet treatment

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