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Frescobaldi-Benhad Nuptials |
| Annual Rain Dance Festival Scheduled to Start August 5
The annual rain dance will start Friday August 5th. Since the first Medieval settlers homesteaded east of Hevalock in 1908, this dance has taken place. The rain dance has changed my times since the dance was preformed for the first time. Originally the dance was performed by all of the virgins over the age of 18. In those days that was anyone not married. It quickly became very popular for the single men in the area to find themselves brides. It was in the mid twenties when it became a festival. Now it's the last big fling before harvest starts full time in the fall. Popularity dropped significantly during prohibition. About that time it was also suspected that not all of the girls dancing were still virgins. Suspicion was raised particularly with several of the older and 'popular' girls so they were asked not to dance anymore. The organizers felt that it wasn't fair to the younger and more innocent young ladies. Since the more 'popular girls' were dancing increasingly provocative all of the time. Some of them would actually shorten their dresses up to their knees. Without those three girls and no alcohol the festival wavered and the next year the original organizers lost any interest in organizing any future festivals. That was when the three girls kicked out the prior year managed to take control of the festival and make the changes that have made this one of the more popular events in the area each year. The next festival, with very little community control, featured the three "popular' girls dancing topless and they served moonshine. The festival only lasted two nights but word of mouth traveled quickly and the second night was the most successful ever. All three of the girls had received at least a dozen marriage proposals the last night of the festival. Some of the men who attended were already married and several of them were even observed proposing to the girls. Although it was probably the moonshine talking. One of the girls accepted a proposal. He was one of the more successful farmers from the Classic area. The other two decided they had enough dates lined up to carry them over until the next year so they decided not to get married. When the next year came about, there were four other 'young ladies' asking to dance. They wanted husbands. One of the 'young ladies' was actually encourage by her parents. It seems that they were anxious to get their married. Out of curiosity, her mother dressed up as a man and attended. The was the first time a women attended, other than the dancers. There was also another first that year. The married gal of the original three also danced along with her two partners. Again, it proved to be a raging success. All of the girls received marriage proposals. The next year was just as popular as the previous year, but there were a few problems. Moonshine was being served and it had finally drawn the attention of the 'Feds.' The local sheriff at the time didn't give a rat's ass about the liquor. In fact, he had two of his deputies stand guard so no one would touch the ladies and otherwise get out of control. Fortunately for him and the organizers, the Feds did not know about the local sheriffs participation the prior and they asked for his cooperation finding the location of the event. The event was held on the north side of Lake Beethoven, whereas the State Park and all other public access was located on the south side. A fact that the sheriff forgot to mention to the Feds. The sheriff, along with several other community orientated gentlemen and one ladies were not happy with the Feds intruding in local events. It didn't really matter if there was nudity or drinking. What mattered was these folks just don't like the federal government sticking their damn nose into their business. If it took a little nudity to get a few of the older girls married off that was something the people were willing to overlook. The married women in the area were more concern about women who were not married interesting their husbands than they were about a few unmarried women dancing topless for one week of the year. One of the local 'men of the cloth' was even heard saying that if the dances resulting in marriages it wasn't so bad. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to let the boys have a little fun either. Besides, it was only single men that were suppose to attend. The community thought the sheriff was doing his duty by making sure everything was kept under control. And so, with a little help from the Hevalock community the sheriff organized another dance where only lemonade would be served. The only dancing was between couples and to the music of the gifted J Strauss, Sr. This dance was on the south side of Lake Beethoven. Miles and miles away for the real festival. Needless to say, the Feds were upset they found no moonshine. They never did learn the real secret and they never come back again either. Hevalock is just like any other community in the country, over the years their attitudes have changed. The idea of only virgins dancing was, well, just abandoned. Virgins past the ago of 18 were just becoming harder to find. Several more years passed and the topless dancing turned into total nudity. It was only for one weekend, what harm could come from it. After prohibition some of the married men started to bring their wives. Nobody seemed to mine. The women thought it was better they attend and keep an eye on their husbands than have their husbands sneak out by themselves. Some of the girls who did get married kept on dancing each year and before long there were separate performance for married women. Only two evenings a year did not allow everyone who wanted to dance with enough time. Therefore it was expanded to a whole week. More food was added and businesses started to set up booth. It had truly become a festival. Incidentally, there is no exotic dancing in Hevalock. Several bars tried it, but since everyone gets it out of their system once a year, there was no demand. Last year over six thousand people attend the 9-day event. Some of the dancers are in their third generation. They were even thinking of adding a category for more than one generation but that seems just to weird. Although some of the families have one dancing in the married section and another dancing in the single section. It's still the 'Annual Rain Dance,' but now they hope it doesn't rain. To Top |
| Frescobaldi-Benhad Nuptials
Mr. and Mrs. Norman Frescobaldi were pleased to announce the wedding of their daughter Innocents to Jonathan Edwards Benhad. A happy and impressive wedding was consummated at the altar of the Perpetual Penitence of Sinners twice Reformed and Free Church of the Lord, Independent. The church was founded in 1917 when the Baroque community was established on the north side of the Cannonball River. It was originally called the Perpetual Penitence of Sinners but during prohibition they did not want to give up their wine at services so they broke away from the national organization of the Perpetual Penitence of Sinners. Twelve congregations in the Midwest followed them. They than became know as the Perpetual Penitence of Sinners Once Reformed Church of the Lord It was in 1958 when the issue of their late Saturday night services began to be criticized by the other congregation of the Perpetual Penitence of Sinners Once Reformed Church of the Lord. The other congregations felt that a little wine was appropriate if they were going to have Saturday night socials. However, the all night Saturday night keggers were just a little too much. Maybe they were ahead of their time, but the congregation felt that it was better to have them drink at the church instead of driving around intoxicated pretending to behave themselves. Since there were too many hangovers Sunday morning to do justice to the Sunday morning services, they started to have services Saturday evening before they tapped the keg. It is a little known fact that they were the first ones to reinitiate Saturday evening church services in modern times. The Catholics latter stole the idea and made it popular. It was at that time that they broke away from the remaining 11 congregations and called themselves the Perpetual Penitence of Sinners Twice Reformed Church of the Lord. It was in the early seventies when wine became popular and hence the price of wine started to increase that many of the congregations wanted to start using beer as a replacement for wine during the services. It was a bitter fight at first and it finally resulted in the congregation spiting up. Looking back it was maybe a sign from the lord because the church had grown to over 200 families and was starting to loose it's personal touch they were so well known for. It ended up being a friendly split-up. Rumors have it, but the congregation refuses to admit it, it was during one Saturday all-night keggers when someone allegedly served brownies laced with marijuana when the decision was made. That night they decided to raise enough money to build another church and split up into two congregations. They did agree at that time to rotate their very popular keggers between the two congregations. The keggers provide enough revenue to pay for all other expenses in running the congregation. Again, rumors have it that they still serve those brownies to members occasionally. Again, the rumors say those brownies still their most profitable fundraiser. That was when the new congregation became known as Perpetual Penitence of Sinners Twice Reformed and Free Church of the Lord. The word Independent was not added until 1982 when the state determined that they should purchase a liquor license since they were charging admission at the door for their keggers. It wasn't just the beer but they starting to invite some of the more questionable Jazz musicians to play with their traditional Baroque musicians. The case was actually settled several years later by the US Supreme Court. The PPSTR and FCL as it had become known lost their appeal. They were ordered to purchase a liquor license. Due to popular demand of the keggers, the county made a special license for churches that hold all night keggers. It was about that time when they added 'Independent' to their name. No one can remember why they did it. The bride and groom were both tastefully dressed, as were the wedding party. The mother of the bride could have dressed a little more appropriate. Most of the men (and some of the ladies?) and some boys, couldn't help but to look whenever she would bend forward. But in all fairness, she did have the figure for it and the dress was cut a little low. No one, including the bride didn't seem to mind. A little cleavage has never bothered anyone in Havelock. Not like those snobby folks from Mott! The church was eloquently decorated in array of seasonal flowers. After the services, a dinner was held in the church basement. They served roast beast and lamb, mash potatoes and gravy, green beans and fresh corn on the cob. As a gesture of good will, the Renaissance community donated several kegs of mead. The Renaissance community has had vineyards for years and just recently started raising bees for the honey. At first, they start raising honeybees just to help pollinate the grapes, but for some reason the Renaissance community was drawn to making mead. Everyone involved was having such a good time it hard to break up at 9:00 PM so they could go to the dance. The dance was held on Innocent's uncle's farm in the hayloft in his big hip-roof barn. Since it was built to hold hay, they could easily hold 500 partygoers. It was a scramble to find busses at the last moment to take everyone out to the farm, since it became obvious after consuming that much mead no one was fit to drive out to the farm. Sheriff Wilbur Tickets and the sheriff's department was very cooperative in lining up the busses with such short notice. It was observed that Sheriff Tickets was at the wedding and he did take the first bus out to the farm. This was one hell of a wedding dance. One of their neighbors, Johann Sebastian Bach could never turn down a chance to play. Another one of their neighbors, Arcangelo Corelli played his violin with his usual perfection. Although Bach lived a little farther north than Corelli does and their style is slightly different after a little mead for dinner and some beer on the bus ride out to the farm they found it easy to play together. One of the neighbors from the west, Francois Couperin, who arrogantly calls himself 'The Great,' joined in. It was about midnight, when some of the lightweights took one of the busses back to Hevalock, when the place started to rock. At that time, the BBQ hog was served with more mead. When everyone thought the party was going to break up Johann Bach's friends from the jazzy part of town drove up. You can't have Jazz's with beer, wine, and mead and not have them playing music. Even the stuffy Couperin who only sticks with other Baroque's played with several Jazz musicians. As the night disappeared, and the morning became eminent, the crowd slowing start to leave. When the new bride, Innocents Benhad uncle's cows started to come home to be milked the wedding dance finally came to a close. That is what we call out in this part of the country "partying until the cows come home." Sheriff Tickets decided to stay until after breakfast. To top of page |