The three-day dance party at Forest Park Museum stepped out in high style Wednesday, with classic swing and polka songs filling Baldwin Hall and dispelling all heavier inter-holiday spirits.
The Dallas County Conservation Board is hosting the dance smorgasbord from 1-3 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with music sources ranging from a vintage Victrola to LPs, CDs, music videos and a dance/dance revolution mat.
Dallas County Conservation Naturalist Cindy Blobaum dusted off the 1911 Edison Victrola and spun some 78 RPM disks for Don Strassburg of Perry as the event began Wednesday. Strassburg, a U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War who served on the U.S.S. Frontier, was soon twirling the lightsome Blobaum with a nimbleness belying his years and recalling the words of a later wartime classic:
Turn on channel six, the President comes on the news,
Says, “I get no satisfaction, that’s why I sing the blues.”
His wife say “Don’t get crazy, Lord, you know just what to do.
Crank up that old Victrola. Put on them rockin’ shoes.”
Dallas County Conservation Board Administrative Assistant Sherry James said the three-day event is intended as a fun activity for multigenerational families.
“Whether you want to practice your moves for a New Year’s Eve party, shake off a post-Christmas slump or take a trip down memory lane, Baldwin Hall will be the place to be!” James said.
Several new hands-on activities are also available in the other of the Forest Park Museum buildings during the Wednesday-through-Friday event at 14581 K Ave. in Perry.
The event is free and open to the public. No pre-registration is required.
