Kicking It Up at Local Barn Dances

Long ago, when big barns dotted the countryside, barn dances were a popular way to get together and dance to the music of the local musicians.

In Montgomery, the Beyer family regularly played for public functions. The late Al Beyer talked about the instruments they played. 

“Father played the violin, mother played the guitar and also chorded on the piano, and Fritz played harmonica and guitar," he said.

"One of the sheep shearers from the Montgomery Sheep Yards, Lou Shearer, used to stay at Slip Meyers boarding house when he was in town. He played the violin, and Frank Widdifield joined in with his violin and banjo.”

The late Emmett Smith Sr. told of the many dances he attended in the barn at the Heath farm, just west of Montgomery on Aucutt Road, where hayrides were part of the fun.

The Van Alstine’s barn was another scene of well-attended dances held as far back as the late 1800s. An old board was rescued from the barn when it was torn down and is in the possession of an Oswego family.

It contained a list of names of the young men from both Montgomery and Oswego who attended one of the dances. The list included several Wormley boys, a few Kecks, a Carpenter and many other names from the surrounding areas. 

This barn was just west of Route 31, on Base Line Road, where the Phillips family later lived. 

After 1900 there were two dance pavilions at Riverview Park, and although they were well attended, they were only open during the summer season. They employed a big band for nightly ballroom dancing.

Another popular spot was a ballroom at the cheese factory at Mill and River streets in Montgomery. These dances were more elaborate, by invitation only. A rather formal invitation is in the collection of the Little White School Museum in Oswego. 

Chicken Jack’s Rainbow Gardens on East River Road at Sherman Avenue, where the present day Elmer’s is located, was a very popular place as well. They advertised dancing and entertainment, specializing in private dinner parties. They served fish, steak, their famous fried chicken and frog leg dinners.

The Riviera Café stood at the corner of River and Webster streets, where George’s Restaurant is now, and advertised the finest of liquors and Miller’s High Life Beer, with fresh jumbo shrimp cocktail served at all times.

This was a late-night destination for people seeking certain types of entertainment. It was rumored that the lack of strict law enforcement was favorable for business.

Even when Prohibition came, it didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm. Most of the many roadhouses in the area had a dance hall. The economy was booming, people were spending money on entertainment and luxuries, and the country was on a roll.

While the country partied, Wall Street was on a spree of its own, with nobody guarding it. 

Along came the “Roaring Twenties,” when women bobbed their hair and the hemlines crept higher. The dances became wild and the young people loved it. They could always find places to dance. Barn dances were losing their appeal, and the music began to change. The Charleston was the newest craze and honky-tonk piano reigned.

It isn’t clear from any stories and documents available how much the citizens of Montgomery participated in these later activities.

Certainly, there were not enough locals to really keep even one dance hall operating in the black, and most of the Montgomery families were pretty conservative for the most part. Obviously, most of the business depended on outsiders.

Locally, the refreshments usually included cider from Les Palmer’s cider mill. Palmer’s establishment was down the alley from the Methodist Church.

Every fall, the local farmers would bring their apples to the mill to be made into cider. According to Al Beyer, when the local kids found out there was a faucet on the outside of the building, they quickly spread the word and this became the place to get a drink of fresh cider.

The amusement park, by now called Fox River Park, closed in 1925.  This seems to have been a hint of things to come. Then came the big crash.

Next week: How Montgomery weathered the Great Depression.