Chapter 34

In the early ’60s, the Maple Lake town leadership decided they needed to provide something for young teens to do (besides getting into trouble), so they initiated teen dances to be held throughout the summer months, every Wednesday at the Lakeside Pavilion, which was mainly used for adult events . The Pavilion bar was closed, of course. There was live music, provided by local bands playing the current Top 40 hits and occasionally something original. It was a great outlet for the regional musicians. We had our favorites, of course, but they were all pretty good.

Both sets of parents, Linda A’s and ours, thought it was a good idea. Mother loved, loved, loved to dance, and I think was envious that we got to go off each Wednesday and rock and roll. Often times, Linda A’s dad would drive us, though Mother did now and then as well. Sometimes one would drive us and drop us off, and the other would do the pickup chore. The dances ended at 10 p.m., so it wasn’t like we kept them up late.

I have to say up front that my good friend Linda A helped me remember much of this story. She said:

“I remember one night when my dad came in the front door and was chatting with the police officer who was always stationed up by the bar where you could get soft drinks. I was on the dance floor … dancing the night away…when you and Linda ran up to me, pulled me off the dance floor, and we all ran out the door and jumped in my dad’s car. You didn’t want your friends to see you being picked up by a parent.  We were laughing and giggling so hard when Dad came back to his car.”

I’m sure Jim, Linda’s dad, had no clue why we girls were laughing so hard, but then he did experience this phenomenon quite often. Poor man!

Now I have to share another story Linda A told me, and this one is truly a teenage classic. Our routine at the dances was to arrive early, stake out one of the booths, and work from there all night. We would sit and wait, listening to the music and itching to dance. Eventually, some cute boy (or maybe not so cute, but we wanted to dance, so we were not picky!) would come by and ask one of us to dance. At some point, Linda A realized that she would only get asked to dance if she took her glasses off.  Of course, Linda A couldn’t see without her glasses, but she didn’t care. Once, she figured this out, she told us. We didn’t believe her, so we put her theory to a test. When she got pooped out and needed to sit out a dance or two, she would put her glasses on and no one asked her to dance. When she was ready to go again, off came the glasses, and here came the boys! In Linda A’s words, “It was crazy fun. And it happened every time — all night long.”

We sort of made a name for ourselves at those dances. Once I was dancing with some boy, and he just disappeared. I had no clue where he went, but it was a great song so I just stayed out there and danced alone. Once I got back to our “booth” and told the Linda’s what I had done, it became almost “OK” to dance solo, or to dance with just the three of us! Who needed boys? As the summers rolled by and we continued our dancing, it got so people would circle around us as we took turns dancing in the middle of the floor, “cheering us on!” The preparation for these Wednesday evening forays took all day. We would spend hours tanning, setting our hair, and picking out “cool” outfits to wear. My sister Linda and I both had curly, frizzy hair, so we’d make Linda A iron our hair (real iron and ironing board!!!). Crazy. We wanted hair like Cher’s, I suppose!

We all loved the ’60s music and listened to the radio incessantly. Mostly WDGY and KDWB. That’s how we “met” the Beatles.

The ultimate rock ‘n’ roll experience happened on August 21,1965, at the Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota. I went down to Linda A’s house in Richfield (a suburb of Minneapolis) to go and see the Beatles! I am not sure why my sister didn’t go, but this was something I was not going to miss. Linda A’s dad took us to the concert, along with a few other friends of Linda’s. We had the cheap seats, $5. Everyone was screaming and jumping around until they hit the stage, and then it went very quiet for two reasons: We were Minnesotans, and it is rude to make noise when someone is performing; and … we actually wanted to hear the music!

I remember the next day, George Harrison was being interviewed on the radio, and he said they were stunned when the audience quieted down for their songs. It actually threw them off a bit because on this tour they just had to show up, jump around, make some noise, and the crowd went wild. After the concert, we all slept over at Linda A’s house. Actually, I don’t think we slept much … a lot of laughing, dancing, eating snacks, and reliving every moment of the concert. (Did you see Paul when Ringo … blah, blah, blah.) Linda kept their songs playing on her little stereo all night long! It wasn’t the last concert I would go to, but I have to say it was the most memorable one.

Epilogue (Linda): I think I didn’t go to the concert because I didn’t like the Beatles at first. I thought their songs, like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” were so simplistic as to be silly.  I was into poetry and listened to Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, and the like. I didn’t come to like The Fab Four until they came out with Rubber Soul, which had more sophisticated lyrics.  And I don’t like crowds. That said, I probably missed a historic experience.