Page 12 THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1977
focus
ountry
dancing, dressing
Aggie style
By MARY ALICE WOODHAMS
Battalion Managing Editor
7 work at a factory ten hours a day
I make good money but I work like a slave
The pressure’s been building all week long
But it’s Saturday night
And they’re playing our song.’
—from “Slow Dancing” by
Vern Stovall and Bill Palmer
Outside the country-western ballroom, two middle-aged women
with dangling earrings climb out of a new pickup truck. One carries a
bottle, concealed in a sack, and the other holds open the door. They
can’t remember how long they’ve been going to dances on Saturday
nights. But their West Texas home town had a Veterans of Foreign
Wars Hall, and that’s where they learned how to waltz.
They say that was just about the only nightlife in those days. A local
band, a wooden floor, and a man with good dancing feet in his boots:
that’s the recipe. Back then, you never needed much excuse to have a
dance. But nearly every good country wedding would find Grandma
dancing with Grandpa, Mom waltzing with Dad, and Little Sister
trying her luck with her first polka.
Now the women remember: they learned “kicker dancing” when
they were schoolgirls, at a country wedding.
The experts of country-western lore say that kicker dancing proba
bly began the first time someone played a fiddle. Since then,
songwriters have produced music to dance to and lyrics that deal with
the dancing itself.
Some writers, like Stovall and Palmer, view dancing as a magic
salve that alleviates pressures of the working world. But others, like
television star Mary Kay Place, describe the dances as opportunities
for meeting eligible mates. Her song, “Baby Boy,” tells how she met
the blue-eyed man of her dreams at a VFW Hall dance.
Inside the ballroom, the two women are seated at a table near the
dance floor. Tonight the ballroom is high on couples, low on stag
men. They quietly watch the dancers move to the strains of “Please
Release Me.”
par*
NEW YORK SUB-WAY
IS COMING!
TO COLLEGE STATION
Keep Watching This Space
For More Information On
NEW YORK SUB-WAY!
The couples linger on the floor when the song ends. One woman
wears a long, polyester gown adorned with an orchid corsage; her
partner wears a suit and cowboy boots. Behind them, a pair who look
at least 60 are clad in western-style apparel. Another man, wearing an
Aggie t-shirt and a cowboy hat, bends to kiss his petite dance partner.
On the dance floor, the difference in individual skill is most appar
ent. Some can fake their way through a basic two step, imitate a
waltz, stumble through a Cotton-Eyed Joe. But a fast-paced polka or
schottische separates pseudo-dancers from their genuine counter
parts. One solution is dance lessons.
Terry Leone owns and manages Arthur Murray Dance Studios in
Dallas, Fort Worth and Odessa. Although his customers usually ask
to learn disco and ballroom steps. Leone says there’s an increasing
demand for country-western dancing. In Ft. Worth, 80 percent of the
studio’s phone inquiries come from people who want to learn kicker
dancing. But in Dallas, that figure is only 40 percent.
Dance lessons at Texas A&M take the form of Pam Morton’s PI
classes (social and folk dance) or the Social Dance club, which Morti
sponsors. Here students can polish up on their dance steps
making public appearances.
Morton teaches some kicker dance steps, but notes that C&W
dancing is not really an accepted dance form.
Morton says she stresses ballroom dance skills because she m
kicker dancing is only popular in this part of the country.
Leone says his instructors have names for certain types of dancers
and warn their students against them.
“Pump-handle Pete” is the man who keeps time with the musicln
working his partner’s arm like a water-pump handle. “Show-'
Sammy” dances so fast that his partner can t keep up. “Two-i
Susie has had so much to drink that she can hardly stand up, yetslie
Continued next page
QUESTIONS
Questions? I had a thousand
questions within me. What do
you want to do with your life?
What will the future bring?
Why is the world in such bad
shape? As I grew older ques
tions were generated within
me. I began to see that life was
not as simple as it was when I
was a child. My friends and I
would stay up until the early
morning hours to “rap” about
our questions and ideas. We
had a lot of questions with
hardly any answers. It seemed
that we could not be satisfied
with the answers supphed to us
by society and religion.
So the search began. I started
with education and sports and
stayed very busy, eventually
winning an athletic scholarship
from a small university. I
played for one year and was
disappointed. I was busy but
knew this was not the answer.
My activity was only putting
off the issue. I left school and
football; my family and friends
were shocked.
At this point in my life I was
exposed to the drug culture
that was prevailing among the
young people at the time. My
friends and I found ourselves
swept up into this trap. At first
we thought that this was the
answer. When we were on
drugs it seemed that all the
questions were gone and we
felt warm and peaceful within,
but as we went on we became
emptier and colder. I was for
tunate to eventually realize
that there was no answer in
drugs either. They just made
things worse.
I was living in Houston at this
time and was tired of all the
people, noise, traffic, etc. May
be this was my problem?
“That’s it, I need to get away
from here to a small town
where life is slower,” I said to
myself. So I quit my job and
moved to a small town in Wis
consin. There I lived quietly
for almost two years. It was up
in the hills of Wisconsin that I
realized that the problem was
not something objective, out
side of me, but subjective.
Something within me would
not allow me to be satisfied. I
would sit with friends for
hours enjoying the beauty of
nature in the peaceful hours of
sunset. We would talk about
nature, peace, love, life, joy &
beauty. But I realized I needed
peace inside of me. In man
there is something deeper, a
deeper need. We are not mere
animals that can be satisfied
with physical things nor are we
just psychological beings that
are satisfied with certain stimu-
li. Man has a need that only
God can satisfy.
I came to these conclusions
on my own through a lot of
searching and thought and
questioning. In Wisconsin I
received letters from friends in
Houston almost every week.
One day I was told in a letter
about a friend that was very
close to me. He had changed.
Something was different with
him now. He had met the living
Christ. I had to investigate. At
first I was very skeptical. I had
heard about Jesus—how He
lived on earth about 1900 yrs.
ago, and died on the cross and
shed His blood for our sins and
resurrected from the dead. I
knew there was a God, just a-
bout everybody in America
knows that. But to me they
were just stories of something
that happened a long time ago
and in no way could affect me
today.
One night my friend and I sat
for hours talking about how he
met Jesus. He didn’t say he had
learned about Jesus or that he
had decided to follow Jesus’
teachings. He said he had met
the Lord Jesus, received Him
with everything He accom-
plished on the cross and now
Jesus Christ was living within
him. He said to be a Christian
didn’t mean to follow some
outward regulations or rules
but it was to have Jesus Christ
living in you. From within He
would be all that you needed.
As I was listening to him my
heart was telling me this was
right. So I went home and sit
ting on my bed, I said, “Lord
Jesus I beheve in you. Please
forgive me for my past. Lord
Jesus I receive You.” It wasn’t
a religious prayer but simple &
from my heart. At the moment
I spoke the first word, the
Lord Jesus came and flooded
me within. I felt so clean and
full inside. My first realization
was, “Lord Jesus, you’re the
one I’ve been looking for all
these years. You are the answer
to all my questions.” I had
found the answer. Finally I had
all the things we had talked
about for years within me.
Jesus is my peace, life, joy,
happiness. And everyday He
becomes something more to
me because He is within and
will never leave. That was al
most six years ago and I have
never been the same because
Jesus has never left me. He is
no longer just God far, far a-
way but Jesus Christ within,
very near and close.
Rick Yeager, ‘79
846-9708
Paid for by Christian students on
campus.
Find the Aggie
Peace Corps
Office!
Use this little map
to locate the Soil
and Crop Sciences
and Entomology
Building, Room 239,
or
Phone 845-7111
-. .And find out why
Peace Corps needs Aggies!
SEBRIHG
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COURTEA
Hair Designers
3808 OLD COLLEGE ROAD BRYAN
Next to Triangle Bowl
846-3877 or 846-2924 for appt
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The Best Pizza in Town (Honest)
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AIR FORCE
ROTC
The facts of the matter.
With something as important as your future being discussed,
it’s very urgent that you get and understand all the facts. Air
Force ROTC can be an important part of your future, and we’d
like to take this opportunity to outline some of the lhain factsol
that matter and invite you to look further into the subject.
The U.S. Air Force needs highly qualified dedicated officers.
Both men and women, and we need people in all kinds of
educational disciplines. Air Force ROTC offers 4-year, 3-year
and 2-year scholarships with $100 monthly tax-free allowance,
and contrary to what some people think, there is no military
obligation during the first two years of the Air Force ROTC.
Upon college graduation you’ll receive a commission in the
U.S. Air Force and the opportunity to compete for a challeng
ing job with advanced educational opportunities.
Let’s get together and discuss Air Force ROTC further. Well
give you all the facts and clear up the fictions. It could be one
of the most important talks you’ve ever had with anyone.
Air Force ROTC
4
YOU
M
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