Editor's Log

Editor’s Log Polkadate May, 2021. It’s been a year since the shuffling of feet on a dance floor has been heard. The sound was stifled completely, returned briefly, the silenced again, however the sound, like the slow waltz, At the Spring, is returning hopefully to resume to a full polka gallop.

The absence of places to dance has been mostly under the control of the government during this helldemic. With their myriad of hall definitions, crowd sizing, and the general failure to craft an impossible “once size fits all” regulation controlling entertainment venues, the spirit of the people was not taken into consideration. Several live music/dance venues investigated and whenever the gummint barn door was cracked open, they shot out the gate, with a ready band and dance hastily announced only to be shut down again by clueless regulators. By early 2021, a few halls had found their way through the regulations, most notably Blase’s Hall outside of Hallettsville, and Sweet Home Community Center, both in Lavaca County. The American Legion Halls of Sealy and Wallis kept plugging away when the low Covid numbers of the area permitted.

The lifting of the restrictions has been a mixed blessing. One hundred percent occupancy was needed both financially and psychologically by the halls and dancers, however the mask issue wasn’t handled very well. Socially responsible businesses still require masks which is fine by me, we still aren’t out of the woods yet. All previous pandemics have continued killing long after the crisis was declared under control. The Spanish flu disappeared out of the public eye after several years by morphing into what is now thought of as “the flu,” from which 35,000 Americans died in 2019.

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