Blue Shadows Farm: A Novel

59. New Year’s Eve—December 31, 1949

December 31, 1949 Every New Year’s Eve as far back as Emma could remember folks around Link Lake brought in the New Year at the Lakeside Pavilion, a dance hall located on the shores of the lake and just a half-mile north of town. The wooden building was built during the flapper era of the 1920s and now was beginning to show its age. It needed a coat of paint, having faded from a rather bright white to a nondescript gray. Yet, the place had a wonderful hardwood dance floor that the owners kept in top-notch condition. The pavilion hung partly over the lake—providing a beautiful view of the water, especially nice on moonlit nights. Of course, the place had a reputation. The religious fuddy-duddies in town, mostly overly nosy, pious women, claimed the place was the devil’s playground . There might be some truth to the comment, depending on one’s point of view. Common knowledge suggested a fair number of babies had been conceived in the pavilion’s parking lot or along the sandy beach that led in both directions from the dance hall. When Johnny and Emma were courting, they regularly danced at Lakeside, as the place was fondly called. Lakeside held dances every Saturday night throughout the year and, of course, on New Year’s 344 59 New Year’s Eve 345 New Year’s Eve—December 31, 1949 Eve, no matter what day of the week the celebration fell. Admission was fifty cents. When young people reached eighteen, they could crowd up to the bar, which was located on one end of the dance hall. They could drink beer but no hard liquor until they were twentyone . On the other end of the dance floor was a small restaurant, which filled up about midnight with those who had a little too much drink and needed some food to clear their heads and steady their hands so they could drive home without plowing into the ditch or, worse, into another driver in a similar condition. Emma hadn’t been to Lakeside for a long time, not since Johnny went off to war. But now, another New Year’s Eve was coming and she thought it might be fun just to go there and listen to the music. As an afterthought, she wondered if Jim might like to go along. She was long past worrying about what other people would think if she and her hired man went dancing on New Year’s Eve. At their noon meal that day, Emma asked Jim if he’d like to go with her to the dance. “I don’t . . . think I can dance . . . like I once could,” he said, “but sure . . . I’ll come along.” Emma suggested they leave about nine. Promptly at that hour, Jim stood waiting near her car. He wore nicely pressed gray slacks, a neat blue dress shirt, and black shoes that he’d obviously polished. He had freshly shaved—Emma could smell his shaving lotion—and he had combed back his brown hair. The night was warm for this time of the year, maybe twenty degrees or so; they’d had snow cover since back in November. “Aren’t you the handsome one,” Emma said when he got into the car. She could see that he was blushing. “You . . . look nice . . . too,” Jim said. They arrived at Lakeside a few minutes later, and already the place was jam-packed with dancers. Augie Meyers’s Five Notes band sat on the little stage on one side of the dance hall. The Five Notes had long been one of the most popular polka bands in this part of Wisconsin and beyond. Each musician sat in front of a little cardboard music stand with his name printed in front, along with five notes. Augie played the concertina, Sonny the trumpet, Joe the banjo and guitar, Fritz played a saxophone and clarinet, and Shorty blew on a tuba that hung over his shoulder. A few heads turned when Jim and Emma walked around the edge of the dance floor, where they found a couple empty chairs pushed up against a little round table. Emma wore one of her nicest dresses. It was blue and a little low cut, probably considered a lot low cut by some of the matrons in the community. She hadn’t worn it for several years and...