Colleen Haynes Rongey:
The sleepy little Ozark Mountain Village of Lurton, Arkansas was beginning to wake up. It’s Friday night, the weekend is coming...the sound of old cars and truck gears can be heard grinding and straining to climb to the top of the mountain. They come loaded with all ages out of the creeks and hollers in Eastern Newton County, for the music and dance that was usually held somewhere.

Lurton street scene, taken standing in the front yard of the Sutton home, looking south toward the hotel...Thank You Harry Sutton for this picture...great view of the street and vehicles...

The smell of wood smoke is in the air as the little houses holding on to the hillsides begin their supper smells. Yeast bread baking and fresh pork frying, ready to make red eye gravy for the evening meal. I flew down the road the mile home from the store with the box of soda mother sent me for, and wanted desperately to stay and see who was coming to the dance tonite at the garage. Stella Rose and Lucille Gregory are coming to stay all night with us so they can go, and maybe mother will let me go with them to the dance.

Comb my hair and slip on some lipstick, just in case one of them good lookin Judy boys shows up...if they can get a ride out here, they’ll be here. Most of the mama’s won’t let their girls come because they think it’s wild out here at Lurton. Don’t know where they got that idea, looks pretty tame today out here to me.

Only a good fight to watch would make it any more exciting. And this would probably take place if some of those from Bass and Judy showed up at the same time. Or if some of the folks from Treat and Camp we go to at Bullfrog Valley show up...

Ted Tatro and Colleen Haynes, in front of Dance Hall at Lurton

Ted Tatro:
The men from the CCC Camp would come in to town on Saturdays to spend what little money they had. And my uncle that lived next door had a garage and he sold beer and they had dances there. Uncle Mitchell and Aunt Lucy had a big hall that they had dances in, and the boys from the base, the CCC Camp, would come and Uncle Mitchell would have someone go out into the country side and bring in the young girls to dance with them...he would have someone to drive his flat bed truck to the outlying areas, bring in the girls from far and near to dance with the boys from the camp. One thing, we had plenty good music. 'Ole A. Hefley and Ox Head would play their fiddles and someone would sing, there would be plenty dancing, plenty beer...and fights.

And my dad, being the constable in Lurton, he was in charge of the law enforcement. One night there was a disturbance or fight at the garage. You can't mix girls, beer and dancing without somebody getting upset. My dad was called and he got his Billy Club and then he got his gun and it accidentally discharged. The bullet went through the floor and the ceiling in the lower part...we had an apartment in the basement. Uncle Ace and Aunt Nancy lived down there at that time. The bullet went right between Uncle Ace and Aunt Nancy, and hit the floor. I imagine everybody was quite shook up. Anyway, the disturbance got taken care of and everything went back to order. The boys from the CCC Camp was a quite impressive part of Lurton during these times.

picture from George Bickner...James Harmon Smith playing the mandolin, Ernest Daniel on the right with the fiddle. Uncle Andrew Smith, dancing with George Bickner's wife, Juanita.

A cousin dancing with Aunt Cressie Cooper Smith (Andrew's wife). In the back to the right is Andrew Smith, dancing with Ruby Sutton (Uncle Irving Sutton's wife). In the center toward the back, sitting down is Stanley Smith, another cousin. To the left side near the back is Margaret Daniel, sitting down.

The dance pictures were made at the Old Bickner House...which became the Ernest Daniel House...

Thanks go to George Bickner for the two dance photos and Lloyd Sutton for the captions. And Thank You Colleen Haynes Rongey and Ted Tatro for recalling Saturday nights at Lurton...