It was only five years ago that the George Osmond family was living peacefully in their Huntsville, Utah home (“It’s so peaceful and heavenly up there in the mountains” Mrs. Osmond says wistfully.)
Friday nights were reserved for “family night” when the 11 gathered around a candle-lit dinner table and each member of the family would present a poem, dance, or sing.
Then suddenly four of the family – Alan, Wayne, Merrill, and Jay – found themselves singing on the Andy Williams Show. The boys were 13, 11, nine, and six at the time.
Now, five years later, their voices have changed or are changing (“They juggle parts during the change – the singing goes on!” Dad explains). Alan, the oldest has graduated from high school and their quartet has grown one with the addition of Donny, 9.
Other things have changed too.
“We always had a close family life and wanted to keep our home life as natural as we could,” Mrs. Osmond recalls.
So it wasn’t long after the boys were signed to a five-year contract with Andy Williams that Dad sold his real estate and insurance business in Huntsville and the whole family moved to the San Fernando Valley in California to be together.
Here the family still enjoys “family night” when they gather ‘round the dinner table for a business meeting, discussion of problems, and an entertainment session. |