The Lindaa Barn Dance in Mayville, North Dakota

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'Can’t waste a good waltz'
Ryan Bakken - 06/11/2010

MAYVILLE, N.D. — Rarely does anyone arrive fashionably late to a Lindaas barn dance. Instead, they arrive eagerly early. Even before the old-time music of waltzes, polkas, schottisches and two-steps, the guests are toe-tapping in anticipation. The non-dancers are itching to find a seat among the mish-mash of folding chairs and sofas, love seats, recliners and rockers that are rummage sale rejects. Eighty seats are available, and the summer dances routinely attract 100, some coming from as far as two hours away. With already a big and captive audience, host Elroy Lindaas and The Hayshakers start playing at 7:15 p.m., 15 minutes before the appointed time. Shoulder-to-shoulder on a barely-raised platform in a corner of the hayloft, the musicians strike up “The Tennessee Waltz.” Gordon Carlson and Loretta Wendilck, dance partners and pinochle partners from Finley, N.D., climb the winding steps and hit the plywood dance floor before she can set down her purse. “Can’t waste a good waltz,” explains Loretta, who at 81 is an average-age crowd member. Dancing isn’t the only attraction, says Gordon, 85. “It’s a community thing; we come to visit our neighbors, too.” A 20-year tradition Last Saturday marked the 21st year that Janice and Elroy Lindaas have welcomed all comers to their summer Saturday night dances, which number seven to 10 per year. They’re held in the hayloft, long ago free of hay. The classic-look barn, built in 1949, mostly from lumber recycled from the family’s 1900-built barn, hasn’t held livestock for ages, either, because of the changed face of Red River Valley agriculture. Retired farmers spot the hay carrier, a system of ropes and pulleys, on one end of the barn. Combining old-time music and nostalgia has been a big hit. The price — free — is right, too. “It’s the romantic old charm of something out of the past,” Lindaas said about the attraction. “It gets the older crowd thinking back.” Far from a capitalistic enterprise, it’s more of a socialistic operation. The seating, in a wide array of loud prints, is donated. When the original hayloft floor became too rough for dancing, a hat was passed and $600 was collected to build a plywood floor. Guests bring homemade cookies and bars to share during the 3½-hour dance. A donation jar sits on a table, near the guestbook. It all started in 1989, in a round-about way. Twin daughters Naomi and Roberta, then high school freshmen, asked if they could hold a barn dance. They could, dad said, if they cleaned the loft. They did, and the loft held a record-spinning event in the fall. At the time, the singing, guitar-playing Elroy Lindaas was part of a musical group that “liked to jam” and was always looking for somewhere to play. The newly clean loft became that spot. “After a while, a few people started showing up with lawn chairs to listen,” he said. “Pretty soon, some started dancing. Word spread and it just progressed from there.” Adding to the informality, none of the musicians read music, instead playing from memory. The Hayshakers’ name is a tribute to their farming background and the former use of their dance hall. “Even if it’s some work, no one is enjoying it more than me,” Lindaas said. Guest band members welcome Barb Nohrenberg traveled 100 miles from her home in Pingree, N.D. “Worth every mile,” she said. Playing the piano, Nohrenberg was one of eight volunteers joining The Hayshakers core group of five. Every night is open-mic night at the barn, with a standing invitation for anyone to be part of the band. On opening night, the band swelled to 13, with one each playing the piano and harmonica, two on the banjo, three on the accordion, three on the guitar and three on the fiddle — which shouldn’t be mistaken for a violin. Conrad Tande, a 92-year-old from Grand Forks, played the banjo and wore a dust-coated “World’s Greatest Grandpa” cap as he sang “In the Good Old Summer Time.” The oldest dancers — but just barely — were the Kroeplins, Edwin (94) and Wanita (91). They were each married 60 years, were widowed and have been married to each other for 10 years. “We’ve spawned lots of matrimony here,” Lindaas said. In their younger days, the Kroeplins remember attending barn dances and house parties. “At the barn dances, they moved the hay out of the way and at the house parties, they put all the furniture on the lawn and you danced in the house,” Wanita said. But none of those dances long ago can beat the barn for good, clean fun. “We like to dance,” Wanita said. “The music is great, the floor is great and the people are great.” And, Edwin whispers, “There’s no alcohol. That’s wonderful.” No alcohol is the barn’s only rule, in the interest of preserving a family atmosphere. Bars are usually the only places to hear old-time music, attendees say. But they prefer this rural setting without the booze, the smoke or the occasional rowdiness. Plus, the barn conjures memories for many of growing up on the farm. “You had to have everything in the olden days,” Edwin Kroeplin said. “You had hogs, milk cows, chickens and hay land. I remember my barn held 50 tons of hay.” These days, one barn holds 50 tons of fun. Reach Bakken at (701) 780-1125; (800) 477-6572, ext. 125; or send e-mail to rbakken@gfherald.com.