So when you were in high school [Southern University Laboratory School, Baton Rouge, Louisiana], like what did you, what were you thinking in terms of career, future career? What did you see yourself becoming, or did you have those kind of (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous) Well, when I was in high school I wanted to be a model, or a dancer, all the creative things that, you know, you want to be when you're involved in that, an actress, you name it, and actually I had the opportunity of going--let's see, where were we--we were at a friend's home and one of our neighbors had a tennis court in the yard and a pool and so we used to play tennis and swim and stuff, and, I forget, he was a professor at the university [Southern University; Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana] and the Ebony Fashion Fair came to town, and there, at Dr. Bernard's [ph.] home, which was around the corner--friends of ours. They had a reception or a dinner or something for the Lottos [ph.] and for Freda DeKnight, who was running that years ago. And so I went to the dinner, had been playing tennis with my girlfriend, who wanted to be with the Fashion Fair, but I did not and had no desire to necessarily do that and I knew my sister would not let me go anywhere out of Louisiana, so we went over and she was trying to talk to them about being in the show and Freda says, "Well, you really, you know, you don't--."-- I was really tiny at the time and she wasn't--and she says, "You, Sonjia [HistoryMaker Sonjia W. Young] is the one that I'd like to have in the show." And I'm like, "Oh," She says, "There's a young woman who is leaving who looks like you." I've forgotten her name now, but she was, it was like the first or second show they've done for Ebony. And, I can't remember the young lady's name but she was on my (unclear) and so she said, "I'd really like to have her in the show," and I'm like, "Oh, that'd be great." My sister said, "Oh, no. You're not going anywhere. You've gotta finish school. You can't do anything, finish school, finish school." Because, you know, my mother [Bernadette Honore Amar] said that we all had to get an education and so it left her to take that responsibility for me and my sisters. So, you know, I just figured I couldn't go. Then I started thinking. I'd really like to go on that, you know, I'm seventeen years old, I can go to New York [New York] and you say like, "Oh no, you're a--."-- So Freda kept calling and finally she said, I convinced her that I should go. Only if you come back and you go directly and you finish your education.$$So, this would take you out of school for a year or something?$$Yeah, um-hm.$$For a better part of the year, or? When did you go?$$Well, I had to go, you had to go to be fitted by all the designers and trained and everything. So, that's when I, I convinced her and, of course, all of my uncles thought that that was a horrible thing to do, for any young girl to go to be model (laughter).$$How old were you then?$$Seventeen.$$Seventeen, okay. So, were you a senior in high school?$$Um-hm. I had just finished.$$All right.$$It was in '59 [1959].$$Okay. Okay, so you hadn't, you had just finished high school.$$Um-hm.$$Okay, all right.$$Um-hm. I had just finished high school. I was in love with, actually the guy [Walton Waller, Sr.] I would wind up marrying, and so I was like really torn between should I go, should I stay, should I go on to school, and finally I thought, if I don't go I will never know that, you know, what I missed. So, my sister agreed that I could go. I was the youngest, actually, on the tour. There was one other girl who was a couple months younger than me but she didn't last. They put you on a trial and so you go to Boston [Massachusetts] and, at that time, you would go to Boston and some other smaller shows and if you didn't make it through, I don't know how they judged you, by audience participation or something when you came out or something, and so she didn't make it, but actually that young lady is an anchorwoman somewhere in New York. It's funny, because I saw her one day and I know her, I know her, you know, like, it's been a long time. You know, she was with the Fashion Fair for a couple months. I'm like, that's who it was. So, you know, things go around. What comes around, goes around, they say, so you see people that were involved in your previous life (laughter) but, yeah, I know, I made it through and so I lasted and I, I was really a little country bumpkin, hair down to my back and scared of everything, you know, thought that everybody in New York--first day I got there we were up at Ebony's office and I looked down and the cop, a policeman shot somebody robbing a bank right in front of me and I'm like, "(Makes sound) I want to go home, it's time to go home."$What have been some of the highlights, n- now when you were, when you started Eventions [Eventions, Inc.], Atlanta [Georgia], was really, well, it had been booming for about ten years, I guess?$$Yeah, Maynard [Maynard Jackson] was mayor. I have a picture of us, I mean I really don't know what those pictures are, but it's so cute. We were like, (laughter) we used to dress, some of my friends that are still my friends now that had started off with me, so we'd get these good-looking women who were hostesses and we'd dress alike at every event and so it got to be a thing that you could have the Eventions staff or hostesses working for you. So, they were all gorgeous girls, young women and some of them, one of them, actually, my friend, worked with me for a long time and she's doing this too and the other is married to Nate Goldston [HistoryMaker Nathaniel R. Goldston, III], Valerie Goldston [Valerie Hampton Montague Goldston], and she is, they had a surprise birthday party for me the other day and we were reminiscing and just enjoying talking about how far we've come and how long we've been friends, like thirty years, I mean, so it's all good.$$Okay. So, what are some of the events, I mean, when you started out did you, was there a, who was getting most of the convention business then? Was it somebody else?$$Well, nobody, I don't think they really, I think they did a lot of in-house, but they weren't any minorities doing it. There were general market people, a few of them that were doing some, not a lot of them but, tour gals and stuff like that, were, had just started business too and planning a lot of the convention stuff. I would- I would not ever do another tour in life (laughter). We have some real stories to tell about this.$$From tours, really?$$Yeah. Because I thought, well, we're gonna do the tours, and we're going to do, you know, the city with the conventions, and I took on this big tour as a part of the meeting planning part, and we (laughter) the people, the tour gals didn't show up. The tour women that we hired, two of them didn't show up, so they said, "Oh, my god, Sonjia [HistoryMaker Sonjia W. Young], you're going to have to do this." I'm like, "I can't do it. I don't know all those dates or anything." So Michelle [ph.] was working with me, another one of my friends was here working with us. "Oh, yeah. We can do this. We can really do this." So, I said, "Okay." The people were librarians. They wanted dates for everything, so we get on the bus and it was a tour from hell (laughter).$$Was it the American Library Association?$$Yeah, something like that. I mean, you know, sticklers for dates and times. So, we get on the bus and I'm going, oh, my god; you know, "To your left is the High Museum [High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia] and--." You know, "Well, what year was it built?" "Um, well, around--," (laughter). So, we get to, so I'm going, "Okay, now how many of you here are from California?" And they go, "Yeah, yeah, I'm from California." "How many from Chicago [Illinois]?" "Yeah, I'm from Chicago." Then, they go, "Okay now, what was the date of that again," I'm trying to distract 'em from asking me these questions. (Laughter) So, I'm like okay, when we get to the Carter Center [Atlanta, Georgia], we go to the bathroom and we get in the stall and we get this book, and we start reading it and writing down notes. Then the bus breaks down. I'm like, that's--the bus broke down? I can't even believe that (laughter). So, it was like, no. This is not going to be a part of what I do. It was really funny. One lady says, "We want our money back." And I said, "Is that right? Well, why do you want your money back?" She says, "That tour guide we had was terrible." And I said, "Really? Who was your tour guide?" And they said, "You." (Laughter) I'm like, "Here's your money." It was terrible (laughter).
