BALLROOMS

There were three large ballrooms in the Fort Dodge area, the Expo, the Laramar and the Bohemia Hall.  They hosted all kinds of dances, including polka dances that Steve and Betty often attended.

As Betty told us the Expo Dance Hall was more popular in the summer because it was cooler due to cross ventilation.  It was located in Exposition Park (Expo for short) that in addition to the dance hall, contained a swimming pool, a racetrack and other attractions.

The Expo swimming pool is where many kids from Clare, including the Miklos, Balls and Yetmars, took swimming lessons sponsored by the Red Cross in the 1960s and 70s. On beautiful summer days we would gather at St. Matthew’s parking lot for the ride on a yellow school bus to the pool.  There was a small grocery store across the street from the pool where we would buy penny candy to eat on the bus back to Clare.

The smallest kids started lessons in the shallow end of pool, where we were taught the basics like the backstroke and the crawl. As we got older we were moved into deeper water. I remember when I was 8 or 9 we were being taught how to dive. When it became time to dive off of the tall diving board, I jumped as instructed and promptly sank to the bottom of the pool like a lead weight.  The swimming instructor had to jump in and rescue me.  I have not been on a diving board since.

Click here to read a little bit about the history of Fort Dodge and the Exposition Park (the Expo is on page 109 and 110):

http://books.google.com/books?id=U4V1ejm0h1sC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=expo+ballroom+fort+dodge&source=bl&ots=3ngRWRonD2&sig=bIASN7aaL1G0zozH2-yJFNSKI8o&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kw56UaWWJo2Q8wSyu4DYBw&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=expo ballroom fort dodge&f=false

The Laramar is located in the building that was originally  built as the National Guard Armory 1904. Buddy Holly performed at the Laramar on Friday,  January 30, 1959. His final performance was just three nights later at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake.  His plane crashed after midnight on February 3 on the way to Moorhead, Minnesota. Click here to read more about Buddy Holly:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died

Sadly, the Bohemian Hall burnt on August 3, 2012. The first Bohemian Hall was built of wood in 1899.  A new Bohemian Hall, built of clay tile blocks, opened in 1939 (the building that burnt last year).  There was a dance to celebrate the grand opening.  I asked Betty if she and Steve had gone.  She told me that they had not, because they were home with their newborn baby, Helen.

Officially the Bohemian Hall was the Žápadní Česko-Bratská Jednota (ZCBJ) Lodge, which translates to Western Czech Brotherhood.  The ZCBJ was a nationwide organization that provided insurance benefits and social gathering places for Czech immigrants.  The organizaton still exists today under the name Western Fraternal Life Association (WFLA).  There were several “Bohemia Halls“ built across the United States, wherever there was a large population of Czech immigrants. More on the Bohemian Hall and our family's connection to it in the next post.

Here is a photo of the fire that destroyed the Bohemian Hall (Fort Dodge Messener, August 4, 2012)