Promenade Left

The other night I watched a documentary on Netflix called Hillbilly. It was very interesting and focused on the poor and middle class of Appalachia. The gist of the show was that it is only a stereotype that “hillbillies” are all lazy, dirty, and worthless.  This got me thinking of the stereotype of my hometown of Slatington as being the hillbilly capital  of the Lehigh Valley.   This is not going to be a defense of my hometown (well, maybe just a little in the last paragraph), but an argument that there may actually be a little hillbilly in me and my fellow Slatingtonians.

That hillbilly tendency may have started in elementary school gym class.  We had a gym teacher named Abby Kane, who was old, wiry, and tough as nails.  We didn’t have elementary school gyms back in the day. Gym class was held in an ordinary classroom with the desks removed.  So basketball and kickball were out.  Gymnastics were out. Baseball was out. Do you know what was in? Square Dancing!  Yes, we learned to do-si-do better than a West Virginian! Looking back at it, it  was kind of  of surreal. We promenaded and allemanded all over the room.  The best part for the boys was at some point in the dance there was always a change partners. You crossed your fingers that you ended up with the cutest girl in class.  We square danced a lot. I wondered, and still wonder, if square dancing was the elementary school curriculum throughout the country or just in Slatington…because, you know, it’s Slatington.

I have defended my hometown all of my life. Here I go again. My little town of 4000 has produced classical musicians that have played in prominent symphony orchestras. Renee Orkin was a successful actress who appeared often on Broadway.  A Slatington attorney became a state representative.  We had, of course, many successful businessmen who turned Slatington into the Blackboard Capital of the World. There is a bridge in Slatington named after a local boy who  attained the rank of general. General Thomas Morgan. There have been many patents secured by Slatington residents, including one that was the forerunner of the mailbag carried by postmen today!

Hillbilly? I don’t think so. But we can do a mean square dance and that is important  too!  Thank you, Abby Kane! Who knows when those dancing skills may come in handy?