Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

that ear.” So I’d go around to the other side. And that’s when I was young. So she had a
hearing problem, and she got hearing aids. That was in the 1960s.
Hughes: And they were big and clunky.
Evans: Hearing aids were not like hearing aids today. And it was her issue. Because
oftentimes she was in a crowd of people at the Mansion, and it’s really hard to hear in
a crowd. It’s just a babble of noise. Dan didn’t realize it at the time when he became
governor, but he quickly found out that there were several hundred commissions. I think
some of them have since been sunseted, but there are still a lot of commissions. At that
time, there was the Mattress & Bedding Commission. They were supposed to inspect
hotels and motels and whatever. And there was a Hearing Aid Commission, so Dan
said, “Ah, I’ll put Gom on that commission.” I would run into people who were on the
commission, and they said, “Your mother is just a breath of fresh air. She comes in and
tells it exactly like it is. And she tells the manufacturers what for.”
Hughes: That’s great.
Evans: So Mother enjoyed that experience. I thought Dan was really brave to put her on
there.
Grandma's 80th birthday at the Mansion brought out all the Bells. Evans family album
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