Nearly 100 camping and walk-in round and square dancers enjoyed the annual Labor Day weekend event at Baylor Beach Park recently and are shown above dancing during an early morning workshop.


FRIENDSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP
Square dancer style...

We square danced...and danced...and danced some more; three consecutive nights that weekend with a few dance workshops tossed in during the day for good measure.

There were 37 RVs at Baylor Beach Park over near Wilmot, more or less clustered around their very nice pavilion with a dandy campfire ring smack dab in the middle of that assembly.

We rolled backward into our campsite to the good natured advice of neighbor camper/dancers who directed our arrival technique with enthusiasm. It turns out Mary Kay and Dennis Carey of Grove City were in that crowd of friendly rowdies, were our immediate neighbors to the north—and became super-friends before the first do-se-do.

Sue Powell, the official round-dance cuer for the weekend served as “Wagon master” and smiled her approval for our boisterous arrival ceremony.

She and another co-host Loren Brosie joined us for supper at the just-across-the-road custard stand where I also enjoyed a spontaneous conversation with the young waiter on the topic of local Glock shops.

It was immediately apparent this was shaping up to be a special weekend, indeed!

Callers Homer Magnet and Sam Phillips double-teamed the square dances and the floor was vibrant tip after tip after tip. I felt like my sneakers were nuclear powered.

After Saturday morning’s workshop Sue and I hosted the Careys, and Homer’s wife Sue on a romp through the nearby Amish countryside. That featured a blitz of the Berlin Flea Market, a visit to the outstanding Wendell August Forge and finally, a hilarious wine tasting at a local vintner’s shop.

That’s Sue Magnet (right) giving me a visual scolding for recording the result of her ambitious wine shopping.

All this wrapped around a drive-by visit of an occupied, Lilliputian-like house perched atop a huge bolder deep inside Amish country just outside Trail, OH. –One of my favorite attractions you will not find on any tourist maps.

Then there was a campfire wiener roast and more dancing and a lunch with Homer and Sue and another workshop and more dancing and another campfire and another flea market.

Then, alas, good-byes...

...and hugs were exchanged; lots of them.

I also was pleasantly amused to note my non-camping lady friend Sue had signed us up for a return to next year’s event.

And, the beat goes on....

Camping styles ran the gamut from the little “A” frame pop-up shown behind my white pick-up truck. That’s our fifth-wheel and behind us—a behemoth motor home. Our new friends Mary Kay and Dennis Carey are shown enjoying a hot-dog roast at the campfire above.