Kick up your heels!

We belong to the local Peoh Point Grange #882. Grange is all about farmers helping other farmers. Getting together to discuss issues they are dealing with and making a plan to solve them. Every month there is a business meeting. Mostly the adults attend, but even though they are duller than the 5 o’clock news, I like to tag along.

During the winter months when farm life slows down a bit, the granges host gavels. My favorite is the Manastash Grange. They’ve got the best dance floor. The adults have their usual business meeting but everyone comes all gussied up. The ladies are in their best dresses with their hair all big and poofy from being in curlers all day. They've used an entire can of Aqua Net hairspray to get it to stay up. The men swap their plaid work shirts for plaid dress shirts, polish their boots, and dust off their Stetson knockoffs.

During the meeting kids hang out in the dining room playing games or snitching from the bounty of food all the ladies brought. These ladies can cook. It’s entirely worth getting caught to sample from the best cooks in the county. Once the meeting is over, everybody helps get chairs set up in front of the stage. The hosting grange always puts on a variety show: singing, guitar playing, skits, jokes, and such. The show lasts an hour or so and then we all head to the dining room to fill our bellies with all that great food.

Once bellies are full, the floor cleared of chairs and sawdust spread on the hardwood, the dancing begins. Mom and Dad are always one of the first couples out there. Dad is a good six foot tall and mom barely makes it to five feet. I watch as they two step their way around the dance floor. My favorite is when they come to a turn and dad picks mom up and sweeps her over. I love to watch her little feet lift off the ground when dad swings her ‘round. They look like they are floating on air. They are magical, my mom and dad.

It’s traditional to trade partners to dance with so that folks can socialize with each other. It always amazes me how they know the right steps when you dance with someone new. I secretly hope someone will ask me to dance, but I know I’m just a little kid and wouldn’t be any fun to dance with. Maybe next year.