PAGE 20 - INTER-COUNTY LEADER - NORTHERN CURRENTS, SECTION B - AUGUST 6, 2008
Sales, food, street dance, kids activities set for Gandy Dancer Days by Harriet Rice WEBSTER – The Webster Area Chamber of Commerce presents its premier community summer event, Gandy Dancer Days, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 8 and 9. Food, fun, sales, fireworks and a street dance highlight the two-day celebration. Kicking off the weekend are Friday sidewalk sales up and down Main Street in Webster starting at 8 a.m. Fuel up for the fun at the pie and ice-cream social at Grace United Methodist Church starting at 10 a.m. They’ll be serving sloppy Joes at lunchtime and selling extra pies. The Webster Lionesses are holding a bake sale starting at 8 a.m. with a sandwich sale to follow at 10 a.m. The sidewalk sales and the Lionesses sale continue on Saturday morning starting at 8 a.m. The Burnett Community Library’s Friends of the Library are selling used books from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. For the kids, there’s the Coin and Candy Craze Sawdust Pile at the community center on Main Street at 9 a.m. along with the Burnett County Humane Society’s Pet the Pets. Across the street at the Webster Fire Department, there will be a bike and safety program and tours of the emergency vehicles
starting at 10 a.m. and face painting. The first clue in the Hunt for the Golden Spike will be posted at 10 a.m. at Gandy Dancer Book (Main Street), with a new clue posted every hour until the spike is found. The individual who finds the golden spike will receive a $50 cash prize. From 10 a.m. to noon, meet some very special dogs trained to help people. Therapy Dogs International dogs and their owners will stroll along Main Street. The public is invited to view entries to the fourth-annual faces, places and spaces photo contest at 5 p.m. following the photographers reception at 4 p.m. in the Webster High School Cafetorium. The 2008 Miss Webster and Little Miss Webster Pageant is in the same location at 6 p.m. Tickets to the pageant are $3 at the door (children under 5 admitted free). Capping off Gandy Dancer Days is the street dance, 9 p.m. to midnight, with music by The Dweebs. Fireworks will start the evening off. There’s a $3 cover charge. Local bars, restaurants, and nonprofit organizations will sell beverages and food. For additional information, call 715222-2195.
What is a “Gandy Dancer?” Historical background and origin of the term by Harriet Rice WEBSTER – Local and seasonal residents in the area are very familiar with the 98-mile long Gandy Dancer recreational trail that runs from St. Croix Falls to Superior. But how many know the origin of the term “Gandy Dancer”? A Google search brings up 118,000 references to Gandy Dancer, including a link to the Gandy Dancer Trail Web site. The link to Wikipedia provides the most comprehensive definition, placing the origin of the term in the late 19th century. Some sources say the name derives from the Gandy Shovel Company, a Chicago-based tool manufacturing company, but there is no record of this company’s existence. Railroad tracks were held in place with wooden ties and the mass of rocks underneath them. Every time a train rounded a corner, centrifugal force and
vibration would cause tiny shifts in the tracks. If these shifts accumulated, they could cause derailments, so work crews routinely had to pry the tracks back into place. Railroad hand crews used “gandys” to lever railroad tracks into position. A worker would lift his gandy and force it into the rocks to create leverage, then throw himself sideways with his full weight (making the “huh” sound in the song below) so the gandy would push the rail toward the inside of the curve. A group of workers repeating this process created a rhythm; they sang songs to keep the rhythm going and their morale up: hence the term “gandy dancer.” The songs they sang were later recognized as a major influence on blues music. These are the words to one such song: Pick an’ shovel..huh Am so heavy..huh Heavy as lead..huh Pickin’, shovlin’…huh Pickin’, shovlin’…huh Till I’m dead…huh Till I’m dead…huh
Senior booth at Polk County Fair The senior building was active at the 2008 Polk County Fair. Kristine Brede, a volunteer with Interfaith Caregivers, stands by one of the many exhibits in the building. – Photo by Wayne Anderson