Linda and Bruce Morrison named Mustang Day parade marshals
By Ryan Fitzmaurice
Mustang Day parade marshals Linda and Bruce Morrison believe a life of service is the best way to repay a community that has always returned the favor.
The two have overseen Mustang Days several times since the 1980s.
The couple have been involved in the community since they moved to Lovell, and the reason they have been involved is simple.
“We like the people here,” Bruce said. “We have a lot of friends.”
In many ways, Mustang Days represents the perseverance and pride of the local community, Linda said, and it has humbled both herself and Bruce to be a part of that tradition.
“There have been really good people all along the way to take it over,” Linda said. “When there is a need, people step in and do their little stint. Sometimes we’ve had to have a group who has rescued it in the past, and it was not just us and a group. There was no money left and the community banded together. We raised money in so many ways to keep Mustang Days going.”
The celebration is a yearly opportunity for the community to come back to its roots.
“People love to come back for Mustang Days, so families that live here want to have something available that families can get together and enjoy,” Linda said. “There have been so many volunteers that have come together over the years and have done a marvelous job. They have all had a part in making it what it is. It’s not just one or two people, it’s the whole community.”
That community pride is something truly worth celebrating, Linda said.
“There’s tireless effort to put together Mustang Days,” Linda said. “There’s always that same drive to bring it back together.
It’s not just us, it’s everyone involved.”
It’s that community that has always drawn the Morrisons to Lovell and has made it a joy for them to be involved in it.
Bruce grew up in Lovell before leaving to attend the University of Wyoming to study accounting.
“I really went to play football,” said Bruce, who transferred to BYU.
As fate would have it, one of Linda’s friends was Bruce’s roommate at BYU, and it didn’t take long before Bruce and Linda met on a blind date in Provo, where Linda was studying early childhood education.
“I knew if this relationship ended up going anywhere, we would be coming to Lovell,” Linda said.
Linda’s premonition couldn’t have been more accurate. They both ended up back in town in 1977, Bruce to join his father’s accounting business while Linda accepted a job teaching second grade.
There were other reasons for returning to Lovell besides work. There were fond memories and the call of the mountains.
“His family loves the Big Horns. Bruce worked for the Forest Service for a time in high school. The Big Horns had a pull on him.” Linda said. “Put him in a pickup and a road and we’re on our way. We explored many roads, many, many, many, many roads. I knew all the back roads. We’ve always loved adventures.”
“Why would you not love to live here?” Bruce added.
From that point on, Bruce and Linda dove head first into community life, and found a community that always uplifted and supported them.
“Accounting never worked out,” Bruce said. “So we’ve done a little bit of everything. We did whatever it took to stay.”
In the several decades since, the two have been up to just about everything. Linda has taught not only second, but first grade, kindergarten and served a stint as a Title One Reading instructor. Bruce opened up an electronic appliance and repair shop in 1981, called Pioneer Service Center, installing car stereos and selling
VHS tapes. Linda stepped in to help.
Linda took up running the chamber of commerce for the first time in that time period. Since there was no designated chamber building, the chamber was instead run out of the store.
The business lasted for seven years. “Walmart and Kmart came,” Linda Morrison said.
Linda went back to teaching, which spurred Bruce to take up the position of being a groundskeeper for the school district as well as driving buses. Bruce also began his coaching career, serving as an assistant coach for both boys and girls basketball. Along with coaching, Bruce also refereed for 40 years.
Bruce also has 26 years of local government experience. He was elected to the town council and sat on it for 10 years, before taking the helm as mayor for 16 years. Bruce’s time as a groundskeeper at the school district gave him the skills needed to contract out for side projects, as well. Nowadays, that has transformed into a full-time business.
“I went from being an accountant to playing in the dirt,” Bruce said.
Linda has since retired from teaching and serves as the chamber manager. Bruce also serves on the chamber of commerce board and the hospital board and is also president of the Foster Gulch Golf Course board.
It’s been a privilege for the Morrisons to be involved in the community, they both said.
“There’s not enough volunteers, and volunteers have fun,” Linda said. “You have a lot of fun. The interaction, the participation and the friendships make it so when you do these things, you do it together. That’s pretty much the foundation of why Bruce and I are here.”