Big Boss and I met on the campus of a teeny tiny Southern Baptist college in my hometown…not Baylor! :)
Walker Memorial Library, Howard Payne University. Photo courtesy of hputx.ed.
Howard Payne College boasted that it was a school where everyone knew everyone and that was pretty much a fact. The Vice President’s son had worked for my daddy, my mother had sewn for many faculty members and I had babysat professor’s children during my high school years.
I began working in the Student Aid office on campus two weeks after I graduated from high school, with the advantage of meeting a lot of people during those four years. Not only did I hobnob with the students but also the faculty and administration.
I also was a member of a service sorority. Did I shock you? I’m really not the sorority type, but the gal who I was replacing in the Student Aid office had my better interests at heart and insisted that I join this particular bunch of college women. She adored the new sorority’s members even tho she had belonged to their rival sorority! Delta Chi Rho was new and instead of being a pep squad like the other sorority, DCR majored on service to others. I liked that. I was invited to pledge and found a wonderful group of friends in the process.
One of my sorority sisters was a gal named Cynthia Clawson. Now you might not know the name, but if you’re into Southern Gospel music at all or the Gaithers, you may recognize the name and most certainly the VOICE! The other thing Delta Chi Rho did was sing. A lot. So I ended up not only singing with her but accompanied her on the piano several times. How lucky was I?!!
Cynthia appeared on the “Ed Sullivan Show” her Senior year and the entire campus was a flutter. One of our own was making it big!! And she did. She cut several albums, appeared numerous times on Gaither productions and performed “Softly and Tenderly” for the soundtrack of the movie “The Trip to Bountiful”, while also receiving several Dove Awards.
Having one of the most powerful and pure voices I’ve ever heard, she can belt out a song with the best of them and then turn around and sing something so smooth, so soft, your heart just melts. This video is probably my favorite Clawson song ever. It’s old but true. Treat yourself and listen…
And Cynthia can soar with eagles in this song…
Did you know Buddy played bass for Cynthia? I think he is listed on an album of hers–maybe something that was put together while they were in school. We were planning to go to her concert here in Austin before Christmas, but it was re-scheduled several times because she was sick and finally postponed. I’ll let you know if it is re-scheduled–maybe a Texas trip?
I did not know that. Wouldn’t that be fun? Didn’t she have cancer a while back?