These days it’s harder and harder for young people (many people) to find good fun that doesn’t involve alcohol, ear-busting music and aerosol sprayed-on clothing intended for ensnaring a mate. It’s not so common anymore to have nice, happy, carefree, sunny, natural fun!

My family and friends have come up with a way to fulfill the desires we all have to meet new people, hang out with old friends, dance and have a great time: we held a barn dance----in our own barn!

This past Saturday we spent the morning setting up for our 2^nd annual barn party. For a dramatic contrast with the rustic barn interior we had elegant green, rose, and purple-ish fabric drapes and two iron candelabras hanging from the beams. A wash line with choice country clothes on it (overalls, authentic one-piece long underwear and so on) added a humorous touch. On the crude wood plank floor we set up little round café tables with matching drape tablecloths and bouquets of wild flowers on each. The whole room was framed with bales of hay.

At the dinner hour, all our guests arrived with a picnic they packed and a pie for later. Everyone found a place to sit with their friends and eat, either in our barn "café" or outside by the campfire that was already ablaze. 140 people came including honoured guests such as our dear friend Toni Baumann with his wife and family, Sybille Forster-Rentmeister with her husband Rolf and our fellow Donauschwaben youth group dancers with their families. Guests from as far as Kitchener area and Kincardine by Lake Huron came to experience our barn party: these were the Rosewood home-schoolers who I told you about in an article earlier this year.

The Rosewood Home School Rosebuds

These 11 children and young teens opened the evening with some pretty Celtic and German folk music. As the sun was setting we cleared away all the tables and the dance floor was ready.

Two fiddlers, a keyboard player and a guitarist, called the "Toe Tappin’ Fiddlers", set up and soon began to play their Canadian old-time fiddle tunes. Wayne Loden, our caller for the night began calling out directions and teaching us the terms and moves of square dancing.

One can learn a lot from a square dance, like how a common goal---like an ol’-fashioned good time--- can bring a variety of different people together.

On the sidelines

Rachel A. I. Seilern