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Puxico Homecoming: Home is where the dance is
For the past 75 years, on the second Tuesday in August, the Puxico, Mo., VFW Homecoming kicks off a week-long event, bringing more than 10,000 people to the town with a population of 871. As is typical of small-town festivals, the week-long slate of events includes beauty pageants, baby contests, carnival rides and games, a church service, 5K run, car show, live music and parade. However, what sets Puxico Homecoming apart from other festivals is the nightly square dancing.
The dancing starts around dusk to avoid the heat of the day and goes late into the night. According to Emily Johns, an avid square dancer who has been attending the homecoming since she was a small child, each “set” lasts approximately 30 minutes, giving enough time to go through all the couples four times. They take a 15- to 20-minute break and then start again. Puxico mayor Rick McLean says the band stops playing at midnight, but they sometimes bring in a sound system so people can dance longer.
Folks set up lawn chairs around the stage long before the dancing starts, and the crowd filters over as other events wind down. People value the good, wholesome fun and the opportunity to catch up with friends and family they haven’t seen since the previous year. According to McLean, other communities have tried to get square dancing going at their events, but they can’t get enough people to dance. There is just something special about the multi-generational participants and the passing down of traditions that makes square dancing the highlight of the Puxico VFW Homecoming year after year.
The homecoming began in 1935 when Mayor Ned Reed first organized the event and invitations were sent to all former and current residents. In 1947, the Puxico VFW Post 7822 became a sponsor to honor the veterans from World War II. George Sifford, 95, is the only surviving charter member of the Puxico VFW, and this year, he had the honor of sounding the horn for the official opening of the 75th Homecoming.
Sifford recalls the early days of Homecoming and setting up for the event: He says they had to pick up railroad ties and carry them across the highway for people to sit on, and in the original days, the square dancing stage was about one-fourth the size it is now. Sifford says they went from “pure old man labor getting this set up and then on Saturday night after everyone went home, they had to carry it all back and have everything ready for Sunday services.”
Mayor McLean says the square dance stage was set in three different places before they settled on the current location. As the event continues to draw more people, they keep building more sections. This year, the stage consists of 16 4x8 sections, and the lumber company brought two forklifts to help volunteers move materials. Building the stage is almost as big a tradition as the homecoming itself. People of all ages come out to help or watch as the stage goes up.
“Back in the day, square dancing was the dance, and country music was country music,” McLean says.
McLean and his wife dance almost every year. The dance is not a competition, and dancers include young children all the way up to folks who are 70 years old and older.
The Punch family of Fredericktown, Mo., has provided live bluegrass-style music for the past several years. McLean says 15 to 20 years ago, dancers were charged a quarter per person so they had money to pay the band. Now, First Midwest Bank donates $2,000 for the band to play every night of homecoming.
During the early days of the homecoming, Sifford says, “Mainly, older men danced. They knew how to do the square dance, but now, there are lots of different age groups.” He says the style of dance now is entirely different. “The old guys wouldn’t call this square dancing,” he says with a chuckle.
Sifford is quite proud of the Puxico VFW’s instrumental role in helping the community thrive, as the money raised during the homecoming goes right back into the community. He recalls many years ago when it came time to organize a kindergarten, the school district did not have enough money to build a space for it, so the VFW allowed the school to use their building. The VFW has also been instrumental in developing local industry and bringing a mobile home factory and a clothing factory to town. The homecoming also provides a significant boost for the economy when people come back to town for the event.
The nostalgia and traditions passed down through the generations keep the homecoming thriving. Emily Johns, 23, is pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Nevada and started square dancing when she was 7 or 8 years old, as soon as her brother and sister would take her on stage. Johns comes home every year for Homecoming. She most enjoys dancing in the family sets, where her whole family, including her sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew, all participate. Johns has also spread her love of square dancing by teaching her graduate cohort how to square dance in Reno, Nev.
Luke Robertson, 24, is a volunteer fireman and a farmer who started square dancing as soon as he was old enough to drive to Puxico.
“I saw a lot of teachers up dancing, and they looked like they were having a blast,” he says. “Everyone out here is not judging you. They’re just out here to have fun.”
Robertson learned to call dance moves six years ago; the guy he learned from took him in and showed him how to call and then build his own, starting with a few people who love to dance and a few people who want to learn. When calling, Robertson says, “It’s all about timing — saying it fast enough to do it on beat before they have to move.”
Robertson knows seven different calls, with some requiring more experienced dancers who know which way to turn and other calls more suited for beginners.
“Different callers will sometimes change it up and find a new rhyme, and some old-timers don’t even call because everyone knows what to do,” he says.
Tradition runs deep in the small town of Puxico, and even though its residents over the years have spread far and wide, the Puxico VFW Homecoming is truly a home coming, with square dancing at its heart.
