Music & Dance Music and Dance - May/June 2018 | Page 6

Music & Dance News
May/June 2018
Withrow Ballroom continued
Page 6
The exterior of Withrow Ballroom will get a new look this summer.
It stayed in the Zahler
family for three gen-
erations, before being
purchased by Marvin
Babcock in 1983, and
then Scott and Kimberly
Aamodt in 2001.
Paul Bergmann, the
owner of Bergmann’s
Nurseries in Stillwater,
bought the ballroom and
the 11.5-acre property in
2009.
Bergmann said he was
thrilled that Mendele
had the winning bid.
Pla-Mor Ballroom
Pla-Mor
Ballroom
Pla-Mor
Ballroom
Dances • 1:30-5:30 pm
MAY
Sun. 6 – Harvey Becker & the Riverside Dutchmen
Sun. 13 – Mothers Day, 3-meat buffet, serving
11am–1pm, reservations required [phone]
Sun. 20 – Dain’s Dutchmen, Gary Wessale’s 80th
birthday celebration, free dance
Sun. 27 – Karl Hartwich & Ryan Herman
JUNE
Sun. 3 – Rhythm Playboys
Sun. 10 – Top Notchmen
Sun. 17 – George’s Concertina
Sun. 24 – Leon Olsen Show
JULY
Sun. 1 – Karl Hartwich & Ryan Herman
Sun. 8 – Jerry & Joyce
Sun. 15 – Chuck Thiel & The Jolly Ramblers
Sun. 22 – Harvey Becker & The Riverside
Dutchmen
Sun. 29 – Barefoot Becky & The Ivanhoe
Dutchmen
Schedule subject to change
1904 Ninth Street East, Glencoe, MN
[phone]
Mendele said she’s
learning more about the
place every day. A lot
of that information has
come from her event
coordinator, Pam Berry,
who had also worked for
Bergmann.
“She’s got this wonder-
ful karma,” Bergmann
said. “She understands
the importance of the
history of the ballroom,
and she’s got local roots,
too. She will be a great
caretaker of the place.”
In time for Thursday
dances
Mendele said she orig-
inally planned on host-
ing only weddings at the
Withrow.
She knew of the regu-
lar Thursday night danc-
es there, but she figured
there wasn’t a lot of
money in them. Besides,
she had never been to
one herself.
But after talking with
Berry, Mendele said she
realized what a big deal
the dances were and
decided to try bringing
them back.
“Even if I break even
on them, I’ll be happy,”
she said.
Mendele and her hus-
band, Tyler, plan to re-
open the ballroom in
time for the Thursday-
afternoon polka dances,
which ran from 1 to 4
p.m., and used to attract
hundreds of seniors from
around the state.
“I have to admit, I
was kind of contemplat-
ing stopping them,” she
said. “I didn’t realize it
was such a huge tradi-
tion until I started hear-
ing about them around
town. Even some of my
relatives said, ‘Don’t
stop the dances!’ It will
be nice to keep the tradi-
tion going.”
Major makeover
In the meantime, the
Mendeles are giving the
ballroom, which origi-
nally opened in 1928, a
major makeover.
Mendele said she’s
moving away from Bab-
cock’s equestrian look
and going for something
more rustic with her
exterior renovations.
Continued on page 7