BOXING DAY DANCES
Following the prairie custom, our parents and all our relatives took their children to all the Boxing Day dances in the old Community Centre in Oliver. When the kids got tired, the folks made a bed on the floor with their coats and there we slept until it was time to go home. In the meantime, we had tons of fun dancing around with our Dads and Moms too and sitting by the old wood stove watching all the merriment.
It was also customary for my Dad and my Uncle Bruce Collen to have the first dance! No one really knows why, but they would get up and dance together for the first dance and then it was off to dance with everyone else. Uncle Bruce passed away in August of 1972 and Dad never danced with another guy until the Boxing Day Dance of 1976.
None of us knew that night that it would be our last dance with Uncle Bill Taylor but as usual, the family gathered together at the new Community Hall, grabbed a couple of tables, pushed them together and everyone got settled in.
Dad, Uncle Bill Shaw and Uncle Bill Taylor went to check out the bar and were back in 30 seconds fuming mad. There was no way in he** they were going to pay those ridiculous prices for liquor. Dad had been involved in a “buy a bottle, get a bunch back” scheme and had thirty or more bottles of liquor hidden in the closet in the bedroom.
Dad said, “Cmon Bill, c’mon Bill…we’re going to my house and get stocked up! Off the three guys went and in about an hour they were back with every pocket of their overcoats and suit jacket and pants had a bottle of some kind in them. They had rye, gin, vodka and bottles of beer…into Auntie Fran’s purse, into Mom’s purse, into Auntie Lil’s purse went the bottles and everyone knew you got your drinks from the “Shaw” stash! They did buy pop from the bar for mix though!
We had a wonderful party going on and of course the Shaw/Taylor table was the loudest by far! Lots of laughing, jokes being told, teasing and of course much dancing. We were a dancing family for sure. There was Mom and Dad, Auntie Fran and Uncle Bill, Auntie Lil and Uncle Bill, Sandy and Frank, Bill and Kathy, Judy and Glenn, Bobby and Peggy, Kenny and Ann, Lynn, Diane, Rob and Belinda, Norma and Brenda..Bill Shaw Jr and his wife Shona were the only ones not there as they were stationed way up northern Alberta and couldn’t make it home for Christmas that year.
Part way through the night, the liquor supply ran out so off they went back to the house and refilled all the bottles and back to the hall. I am surprised that no one figured this out but nothing was ever said.
After their second trip back, Dad and Uncle Bill Taylor were sitting talking with Auntie Fran and Mom and the subject of Dad dancing with Uncle Bruce came up. Well!!! “If Russ can dance with Bruce, he can darn well dance with me,” said Uncle Bill. The next thing you know, Dad’s foot came smashing down on the table, he was barely able to stand at this point, but he managed to tie up his shoes pretty nicely and off they went. A nice waltz, too! Those two goofs danced across the floor and they made a big circle around the hall just so everyone could see them dancing together…there was a lot of laughter at the sight of two guys barely able to stand cutting a pretty fine rug!! We all sat back and guffawed…Auntie Fran probably laughed the loudest as Mom was quite used to this.
And on went the party until it was time to go. When the dance was over, everyone got their coats on and kissed and hugged goodnight..see you tomorrow…another little party probably at Lil and Bill’s in the making.
When we got home, Mom hollers…”anyone want a turkey sandwich?”…a chorus of voices greeted her and Mom and Sandy made a platter of sandwiches and put on the coffee. We all had our fill and then it was off to bed. This was about 1:30 in the morning by now!
Things were all quiet when we hear a commotion coming from Mom and Dad’s room. Sandy and Frank were sleeping there. Next thing we know, Sandy is shouting at Frank and Frank is making a dash to the bathroom. Now, we are all up again and Sandy is just furious! It seems that Frank was feeling sick but couldn’t remember where the door of the bedroom was. First he ran into the wall, then he fell off the bed, then he ran into the windows and finally he ended up throwing up on the carpet…he said to Sandy in a sick little voice…”oh, don’t worry about it, just cover it up with newspaper!” That made Sandy mad and when she told us, we all laughed so hard we didn’t get much sleep that night. And of course, it had to be told the next night when the families had gathered together again! It has been brought up many times in the years since.
Uncle Bill Taylor passed away the following summer – Jun 26 1977 at Campbell River while on a fishing trip with Mom and Dad…a trip he was not supposed to go on because of his bad heart, but a trip that he knew he had to make. On that trip, he handed out presents long before they were due…to Auntie Fran, Mom and Dad’s anniversary, Dad’s birthday etc etc. It was as if he knew this was the end of the road for him. He died in his sleep that night after the gift giving.
The next Boxing Day dance was not the same, nor were they ever to be the same again without our beloved Uncle Bill…still miss him now! But we all remember those Boxing Day dances and the fun our families had just being together.