The Old Community Hall
The late 70’s and early 80’s were busy years for the life styles of contra dancing and cooperatives. Arriving in Merrimack in 1977 from California, I found myself almost
immediately immersed in the Merrimack Food Co-op. It was healthy and “hip” and I was grateful for like-minded people in, what to me for a short time, was a tree-laden land of
wariness towards newcomers. In retrospect, I was the one who was wary.
We were a busy, dedicated group with 20 or so families from all points of life in southern New Hampshire. Our seasonal produce and grains came from in and around Boston
arriving weekly in Harrisville where the Seventh-day Adventists gladly spread the word of living as naturally as possible. We wallowed in hand-picked Maine blueberries in mid
to late summer, cooked with maple syrup at $8.00 a gallon in order to eschew sugar, ground our own bread flour from hard red winter wheat berries - bread which my two boys
hated due to its proclivity for falling apart just when the eating got good.
When it was my time to host the co-op in my cellar, the house wafted with fresh vegetables, fruit and grains of all kinds and the sound of our rusty antique scale and humor-
laden repartee of those of us who had packaging duty. But – I digress. As the co-op grew, we moved to the old Community Hall, a building in South Merrimack, built and
functioning as School #12 from 1847-1947, at which time it became the Community Hall. It is now the Merrimack Historical Society.
In a scheme to raise money, we decided to throw a contra dance with the help of the Father of all musician/callers of barn dances, Dudley Laufman. Dudley hails originally
from Massachusetts and, after arriving in New Hampshire in 1947-48, began calling dances and has never looked back. He is still playing and calling, living proof that one can
be gainfully employed in New Hampshire doing what one loves in a creative fashion. It is a strong state for the arts. In 2009, Dudley was made a National Heritage Fellow by
the National Endowment of the Arts. We claim him as our own.
The dance was advertised, we cleaned the old wooden floors to a tarnished sparkle, made sure the lamps were working, filled a wobbly table with baked goods and cider,
scraped the snow off the walk and held our gala. As it was winter, the wood stove was jumping and the outhouse, sketchy and freezing by nature but attached to the building,
was available to braver souls.
Dudley had plans to record an album of original contra dance tunes featuring New Hampshire songwriters. I was honored to be included in that request. I had absolutely
nothing in mind until that evening as I was new to the notion of the dance but not to Dudley’s music, www.laufman.org. I noticed him talking to a woman between sets and it
was apparent from their response to each other that they had been friends at some point in time. Their meeting was coincidental and unexpected in nature. They spoke of old
times, turned a step or two, parted ways and a tune was born, “The Old Community Hall”. I took artistic liberties but it’s mostly true, at least in envisioning the warmth, graceful
movement on the giving, creaky planked floor and the laughter and friendship with which the old hall rang.
I performed this song infrequently until I joined the acoustic band, Off the Cuff. It was rearranged and is now one of our signature tunes. I have fallen in love with the simpler
pleasures of the lively music and steps associated with contra dancing and feel fortunate to have been able to translate my thoughts into song. The lyrics are below and a
recording can be heard on the Off the Cuff website (click on the following link: www.gogetcuffed.com ). As long as I’ve lived here, I have been granted few more lovely
evenings than that night at the old Community Hall and its quintessential sense of the heart of New England.
Old Community Hall - by Pamela Smith, copyright 2007
Laughter seems to sing as the music rings,
Through the dark and wintry night.
The old hall waits at the back of the hill,
A warm and welcome sight.
The wood stove glows and it seems to know,
Its time has come again,
To embrace its fold of young and old where strangers can be friends.
Chorus
Dancing to and fro, a do si do, then bowing to your own.
Soft shoes on the old wood floor, a hand to bring you home.
The old lamp sways as the fiddler plays,
Dancing shadows on the wall.
For we all can come together at the Old Community Hall.
Tapping of the feet to a warming beat, a flash of whirling skirt,
Strangers can’t resist the call to try for all their worth.
Dancing towards each other, in ever-changing lines,
Reaching for the touch that means so much,
To tired and distant minds.
A couple turns, an old flame burns, as the caller sees her face.
The years fall off and his love recalls her everlasting grace.
As the music fades into the past, the young girl dances through,
And the memories rise in reflected eyes,
Of the beauty they once knew.
The Meandering Mind
by Pamela Smith - contributor
by Pamela Smith - contributor
