Going Traditional: Dancing at the Legion

Dancing at the legion sounds like it should be a Stompin Tom Connors tune. It is not, but there is a reference in the Stan Rogers song Lies, so there’s evidence that going dancing at the Legion is a traditional Canadian behaviour…even if I personally had never done it before. 

My grandparents’ used to go up to the Legion. Mostly to play cribbage, or euchre, but I am sure there must have been a few dances in there at some point. 

Today, the hottest Saturday night ticket in the Niagara Region is dancing at the Grimsby Legion. 

“Everyone dances together and has a great time,” my friend Charity said. “Plus, drinks are cheap and it’s the Legion, so it’s all over by midnight.” 

It sounded like a five star Saturday night out! 

So, we gathered up a small crew of single moms and we set out for the Town of Grimsby, famous for its tender fruit and, now, dance parties. Of course, single mom scheduling meant we had to go on Friday night, instead of Saturday. Friday was 80s night, so that was a bonus. Plus, there was no cover while, on Saturdays, the dance is $5 and, the DJ told me, there is often a line up at the door of people waiting to get into the bar.

Drinks are, indeed, cheap by current standards. My single Blackfly Wildberry Vodka was $7.50, but there is no drinking on the dancefloor. We got in trouble almost as soon as we tried. The bouncer takes his job seriously and there are no sticky spills or slips on his watch, not ever. We know this piece of information because the other people up at the bar told us. The crowd really is that friendly. 

And just as I was rediscovering the pleasant realities of small town social conversation, the smoke machine started pumping. You know, I never realized I had been missing the Humpty Dance, Wild Thing, Tiffany, or Hanging Tough with the New Kids on the Block. I had, in fact, been missing them like old friends I thought might have moved to Alberta to work on the oil sands, but no, they are right here.

The girls and I did not have any fluorescent clothing or accessories. Luckily, the locals did right by the decade and wore enough of it to Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go because that reference mattered. 

While it did not become a debate until the early 90s, we did resolve that Donnie is the hotter Wahlberg brother, but that might be because we like dad bods now. The discussion, however, came to a quiet end as we watched a couple in their 70s dance to Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing. Watching life goals unfold on the dance floor requires reverence. And yes, they did look like they’d just stepped out of an episode of Miami Vice. 

100/100 will go dancing at the Legion again. Next time, we go Saturday night. If you go, don’t tell anyone you are from Toronto. Just tell them you’re from St. Catharines, which is bad enough. Message me. I’ll give you some tips for getting the accent right, eh?  

I have been trying at least one new thing a week. Last week, it was an aerial sling class. The week before was more typical. I played pickle ball. I've also gone ecstatic dancing and tried infrared therapy. Archery was in there. Week two, I was a model and week one got this whole challenge started.