Some weeks ago I wrote regretfully about the decline in attendance at the Saturday night Social Dances at Long Flat (Gympie’s only surviving regular dance venue).
Today I am delighted to report that there are promising signs of renewed interest in what is a wonderful Australian pastime.
There has been a very welcome attendance by a group of seasoned dancers who have added their happy presence to the Long Flat regulars in recent weeks.
And, on this past Saturday, there was a minor miracle.
Early arrivals were amazed at the entry en-masse of probably sixteen adults with twenty or so school-age children.
In my more than twenty years of dancing at Long Flat I had seen nothing like it.
It took me back to my youth in Mungallala when kids learned to dance in the old corrugated iron hall before they even started school.
The visitors, who came from the Sunshine Coast hinterland, joined in all of the dances and clearly enjoyed the experience.
One hopes that they will come back again and, meantime, spread the word about the fun that can be had at Long Flat every Saturday night. In any case, those kids will remember last Saturday night for a long time and hopefully they might lower the average age of the Gympie dance community in the not-too-distant future.
By the way, there is still plenty of room for you at Long Flat if you are looking for an enjoyable night of healthy social activity on a Saturday night.
You too can be part of the Lazarus Effect.
Merv Welch,
The Palms.
