Hyla (Smith) Skudder

One of my favorite activities during the summer months our family spent at Silver Bay while I was growing up (when I was not in or on the lake that is) was square dancing. The Burdicks provided dance instruction twice a week in the evenings at the Silver Bay YMCA Conference Center. The dancing was held in the huge old wooden gymnasium near Slim Point. The indoor basketball court had a fabulous wooden floor that was perfect for dancing. The first hour was dances for young children up to age 12, where we learned simple fun dances like "Pop Goes the Weasel." Then after the children cleared the floor the adult square dancing began.

 

My sister Heather, cousin Kathy Parlin, and I were enthusiastic regulars at the kiddie dancing. I can't remember when the three of us started staying to watch the grownups dancing. But we were fascinated by the whole thing. Mr. Burdick, wearing his Western style string tie, would teach the steps of each dance first, and do the "calling," and Mrs. Burdick would assist in the teaching, and demonstrate some of the moves. She wore a beautiful  traditional Western square dance outfit with a wide skirt held almost horizontal with layers of stiff crinolines underneath, which swirled magnificently when she turned. I wanted one of those skirts in the worst way! We three girls watched avidly at every dance session, and therefore quite quickly learned many of the steps and dances by heart. Frustratingly for us we were consigned to the sideline chairs to watch only, since none of us was yet 13, the magic age to be allowed to square dance. But eventually during the summer there would be times when a square of adults was one couple short, which meant that the other 6 people would not be able to dance unless another 2 people volunteered. At one such point Heather and I brazenly raised our hands from the side lines and called out "We know how to dance this one!" And Mr. Burdick took a risk and let two of us go out on the floor to fill in the square. We did not make a mistake! So after that we were more frequently allowed to fill in as opportunities came up. Heather, although younger, was by far the tallest so she got to be the "guy." She mostly didn't mind except, as she says in her own words, "when some of the rather robust women would grab me for the 'swing your partner' - not by the elbow as we kids did, but in a full ballroom-like swing and I was squashed up against their quite ample cushioning!"

 

One of the most complicated dances was "The Grand Square." It had many individual sequences, and a main formation that gave the dance it's name, that occurred four times during the dance. During the Grand Square formation all 8 people in the dance simultaneously moved in their own individual square pattern but also kept turning and moving in and out of others near by who were doing their own squares. And then you repeated the whole formation again in reverse, where everyone (hopefully!) ended up back in their proper place. The whole interlocking pattern if looked at from above would have looked like the constantly shifting pieces in a giant kaleidoscope.  We loved watching that dance! One evening when the Grand Square dance was called, we could hardly believe our luck when one square raised their hand letting Mr. Burdick know they were a couple short. He called out to the audience sitting around the sides for volunteers, but nobody responded. Heather and I of course were practically out of our seats waving our hands frantically to get his attention. He pretended he did not see us and asked again for volunteers. No dice. So finally he reluctantly  turned to us and said, "Alright girls, you can come on out." So Heather and I walked out and took our place in the square. We could see doubtful and disgruntled looks on the faces of our fellow dancers, to have to be saddled with two little kids for such a dance! But the music began, and Mr. Burdick gave the first calls, "Bow to your partner, bow to your corner." And off we went, weaving in and out and back again, over and over, through all the figures, with the other dancers looming taller over us. We never missed a step! At the end of the dance, after everyone had done their final bows, Heather and I were grinning ear to ear, and all the grownups in our square were grinning back at us. It was a triumph!

 

After the three of us had finally reached 13 and were "official adult square dancers", we next turned our attention to convincing our brothers and male cousins to come give square dancing a try. It was a pretty hard sell for quite a while, until we got to the age when the boys began to realize that there were going to be more girls at these dances besides their sisters and cousins! As a gang of cousins we always made up at least one square ourselves, often a square and a half, and had a grand (and sometimes rowdy) time. Years later when I got married to my husband Chris in the Chapel at Silver Bay, after the wedding luncheon at Grandpa and Grandma Parlin's Big House, instead of any formal dancing, we had a square dance down at the Silver Bay Association in the old gymnasium. Friends of Chris' came to play live music for us at the dance as a wedding present. And this time around, as I heard the opening call, "Bow to your partner," I was dancing with my husband and best friend!