Ghosts

Can you hear it?  Can you hear the fiddle music, the tap-tap of shoes keeping rhythm to the beat, the chant of the caller in the set?  Can you see them circling the floor, bending to pass under an out-stretched arm, swinging and smiling and moving as one?

Square dancing as we have known it in Ozark County died a natural death a few years ago.  It expired with a smile on its face.  Memories of by-gone days, of full platforms and floors full of friends old and new, all gone and now just a faint tune you hear now and then on the wind.

Andy and I learned to square dance in 1985, thanks to Verda Faye Hambelton.  She took us under her wing and taught us the moves...and Andy learned the calls.  And so many other people helped us along the way.  We danced in ElkCreek, Cabool, Mountain Grove, Ava, Norwood, Forsyth, Taneyville, Branson, Kissee Mills, Bradleyville, Springfield.  You name a town, we probably danced there.  Sometimes it was once a week.  Often times it was two or more.  If a fiddle was in the band and they could keep the beat, we danced.  

Why did it die?  Why are we still dancing?  The answer to the first question is easy.  So many of the dancers just couldn't dance anymore.  Some of them passed away, others would have liked to have continued but their bodies just wouldn't let them.  We have danced with young people, middle aged people, octogenarians and some who had hit the 90 mark.  But now the crowd has thinned to the point that it is hard to get enough people together to make a square.

Hootin an Hoolarin used to be the place to meet and greet all our square dancing friends.  We kept adding platforms because there were so many dancers.  On Friday and Saturday night you would have to wait your turn in order to find a place to dance.  We danced until after midnight on Saturday..not wanting to let it go.

Why are we still dancing?  Now that is a good question.  There is just something about hearing a good square dance tune. Your feet naturally start tapping.  We enjoy teaching anyone who wants to learn how to go through a set.  We are open to welcoming new dancers to the floor.  Lessons?  Everyone has time constraints these days.  Other things that need to be done.  And we understand them.  The best way to learn how to dance is to come to Hootin and Hollarin, or the Old Time Ozarks Festival in West Plains.  We are more than happy to include you in a set...to start you out.  It isn't hard.  Even if you think you have two left feet, you can do it.

A ghost?  Yes, square dancing, as we fondly remember it, has joined those things that "used to be".  We understand that time has passed us by.  But as long as we can revive that ghost, we will be out there doing our best to keep up and make the night sing with calls and laughter.

And somewhere those long ago dancers are smiling and keeping up with the tune, tapping their feet and listening to the call.

Legacy

Good teachers are all around us.  Great teachers, ones who live with you long after you have become an adult, come along rarely.  And this is to honor two of them.  One, a high school teacher, the other an elementary teacher.  But both had such an impact on the lives of their students, an impact that will always be remembered in their communities and beyond.

"To teach is to touch a life"  How very true.  We become teachers not because it is a just a job.  It is a true vocation...a calling.  We feel it in our hearts before we even step into a classroom on our own.

And these two women were so dedicated to their lives of teaching it was not hard to tell what a difference they would make.

Tributes are written now that they are gone.  How she loved her students and went the extra mile to see that they felt important and wanted.  How she put in extra effort to make sure that her pupils were well prepared.  Listening.  Offering advice.  Caring.  That servant's heart that we all seek in our life.  These two women had it all. 

It is hard for me to write these lines.  One of these teachers was my very best friend.  Last week we talked about how she taught her students about shadows on Groundhog Day.  Always creative.  Never willing to let any opportunity pass to teach and love and touch her kids with kindness and hope for the future.

The other teacher was so involved with her students.  Especially those who needed extra help.  She recognized their strengths and helped them find a way to succeed.  When I interviewed her about one of her pupils, her eyes shone with unshed tears as she described this young woman's potential.  A true teacher...always with the future in mind.  What a wonderful asset.

And so we say good-bye.  Tears flow.  We miss them.  But their lives live on in what they helped to mold.  Futures bright with promise.  Bright stars shining above.  Guiding these people to a better way and fuller lives.  A true legacy.  And one of which we can be proud.

Rest in peace dear friends.  Until we meet again.