2008-05-03 Zane Grey Twirlers
May 4th, 2008The Twirlers dance a long way from home. Their badges say Payson, but they currently dance in Pine. So, at at a quarter after four o’clock on Saturday, Martha and I took a drive.
It was a scenic drive, to say the least. A scenic drive with few gas stations. I did not run out of gas, but it was a little closer to happening than I would have liked. What saved us was a small sign that pointed to a side road. It took us past a rest-area/park to a “country store” like place. There was a bar next to it with some live music playing. Surreal to say the least.
We got there with time to spare, so stopped for a beverage. It was on a reservation, so while they had few choices for drinks they had a room full of cigarettes to sell. That was an odd thing to see.
I drove by the dance hall and had to back track a little bit. Once we got there, people started to trickle in. That is, everyone but the person that had the key. We enjoyed the cool mountain air and socialized a bit at about ten minutes to seven, the “keymaster” arrived and let us in.
I set up pretty quickly. There are few round dancers in the area, so no rounds at this dance. I was also asked to alternate tips… Mainstream and Plus. Initally, I thought I’d keep my tips short, but each one lasted about ten minutes including the singing call.
There were some visitors from other clubs, as well. I don’t remember where everyone was from, but I do know that one group from Show Low (Linden) was there.
We had four squares of dancers total. One woman was back after recovering from a stroke. She struggled a bit, but she did well. It was great that she works at dancing while going through recovery. Another woman was back for her first time after a fall that broke her shoulder. She wore a brace mostly to tell people “hands off!”
I did a variety of songs both as hoedowns and as singing calls. Nothing too new, I think. I figured that I’d stick with some of my favorites and stay in my own comfort zone. It paid off, I think, as I got a number of ncie compliments all evening. (Including one of my favorites… “will you come back and call for us again?”)
It was a good evening and everyone had fun, including me. The ride home (with a full tank of gas) was uneventful. The exception being that a few people need to learn how to use and adjust their accelerators. I love my cruise control.
Up next is a dance in Cottonwood. Hope to see you there!
Anyway… until next time, keep dancing.