A Step Back into Yester-Century

I will challenge you to try to remember just when the last barn dance was held in Wichita County. Until last night, most of us probably cannot remember when.

Over the past couple of years, Kelley and Aimee (Wilbur) Burch purchased two antique barns and moved them onto their property just west of Leoti. At some point later, Cheryl Jaeger asked them if they would be willing to "lend" one of them for a dance if any of she and her husband, Tim's, children decided to get married in Leoti and have a dance afterwards. The Burchs were very happy to oblige that request.

This thought became a reality yesterday when their son, Matthew, married the love of his life. It had been a fairy tale weekend. Something similar to a royal wedding. People from all over came to Leoti to watch the couple wed. An elaborate feast was held on Friday night for the bride and groom's families and the wedding party. A good number of teenagers, including our daughter, Leighlyn, were asked to help serve the various courses of the rehearsel dinner. The bride and groom purchased blue shirts for the young men and women to wear. They also furnished cumberbands for the men. The girls all wore black skirts while the boys wore black pants. Karen Walk and Darcy Smades sewed really neat aprons for the girls to wear. To personalize the aprons, each girl discovered that her name had been embroidered onto her apron.

On Saturday afternoon, those young men and women were invited to the wedding and then served dinner to the wedding guests. After everyone had enjoyed a great dinner, everybody was invited to the Burch Barn. It was a hot evening so dancing in the barn may not have been such a great thing. Instead, the barn housed all of the drinks and refreshments. A sideless tent was set up with beautful lighting where everyone danced and enjoyed one anothers company.

This was such a great idea! I hope that there will be a re-birth of barn dances in our area. In rural areas such as Wichita County, these social events were used often for weddings, engagements, birthdays, house and barn raisings, anytime people wanted to have a good time.

VLE-B