Barn dance nets over $1K in donations for historical commission

Swinging each other around the dance floor and kickin’ up their heels in true western style was the theme of the night as cowboys and cowgirls from toddlers to senior citizens had a roarin’ good time at the Glenrock Historical Commission’s Barn Dance fundraiser Saturday night, Aug. 10.
The dance – which raised over $1,000 for historic restoration projects – was a celebration in honor of the new 30’x60’ structure now standing behind the Deer Creek Museum,  according to Marilyn Nida, who is the museum’s curator.
The event was put on by the Glenrock Historical Commission (GHC) and the new building was completed the beginning of August.
“It’s brand new. We just got the electricity on this afternoon. The building is owned by the town of Glenrock and sits on town land,” said GHC Board Member and active community volunteer Jim Osborn, who arrived at the venue early to help folks set up.
This was the group’s first barn dance. As people showed up, they signed the guest book, sat with their friends and socialized, ate dinners of pulled pork, hot dogs and salads.
“We’re doing really well tonight. We’ve had approximately 80 (adults) sign-in so far, plus the kids, so right around 100 people,” said GHC Secretary and Treasurer Sandy Kenny, who sat at the entry table to greet people and accept donations for the night.
Once dinner was over, live music, provided by Byron and Nancy Miesse, started up and people moved tables and chairs out of the way to make room for dancing.
“This was the first time we put on a barn dance. It’s a beautiful building. Our board member Rita Redig said we should have a dance, so we did,” Nida said.
Construction on the building started in January. The Deer Creek Museum was full to the brim and additional space for exhibitions was needed, she said.
A definite highlight of the evening was a silent pie auction, with homemade berry, apple, pecan and pumpkin pies up for bid. There were also plates of brownies and chocolate chip cookies up for hungry bidders to try their luck on winning, too.
The top-money grabber of the night turned out to be a sour cream raisin pie, which went for $45.  The second-highest bid was $30, for a delicious-looking peach pie.
“The pie (auction) was fun and the  barn dance was a great success. We had a lot of people saying they want to do it again,” Nida said.
“We will, we just don’t know when, yet. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do it two or three times a year.”
The dance wrapped up around 9 p.m. and Nida said people stayed around to help with clean up.
“We can’t wait to do it again,” Nida said enthusiastically. “It was a great turnout and we all had a lot of fun.”