LENA, Man. – Running his hands along the stone walls of his barn, Charlie Baldock marvels at the workmanship that kept the structure standing for more than 70 years.
The walls were built in 1927 using stones plucked from farmers’ fields. The loft, complete with dormers peering out to the north, was built a year later.
Charlie and his brother Jim bought the barn and the farm that went with it in 1990. The barn was leaning, most of the windows were gone and the shingles were rotting. But Charlie was confident it could be restored.
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“When we came to look at the farm, we really fell in love with the barn.”
Charlie, Jim and their father George worked to reverse the ravages of time. Friends also pitched in.
The barn walls were painted red, the roof was clad with metal, and windows were found to replace those that were lost. Crumbling mortar was patched up and the loft walls were winched back to where they belonged. Extra bracing now keeps the loft from shifting.
The work, which took three years and at least $10,000, gave the Baldocks more shelter for their livestock. And Jim now stores his collection of horse-drawn wagons in the loft, safe from rain, sun and snow.
But the story doesn’t end there.
A few years ago, the Baldocks decided to host a barn dance, a rural tradition that was vanishing from the Prairies.
Last year, the dance was held to welcome the return of riders from the Boundary Commission trail ride. The year before, the dance gave riders a fitting farewell before they set off to retrace the trail that stretches from Emerson, Man., to Fort Macleod, Alta.
Profits from the dance help promote the Boundary Commission trail, which cuts across the Baldock farm not far from their house.
“If we break even, that’s fine,” said Charlie. “We’ve had the fun of doing it.
“I don’t enjoy doing something if someone else
doesn’t enjoy it with me.”
The Baldocks were busy last week getting ready for their next dance, to be held Aug. 21 at their farm west of Lena.
With the band and caterer hired, the biggest task was washing down the barn and getting it spruced up. The Baldocks clean the barn from top to bottom, sweeping away cobwebs and the musty smell that seems to linger in barns during the summer months.
Friends help with the decorating. Margaret, Charlie’s wife, keeps the volunteers well fed.
“She’s on the go with her famous cinnamon buns and stuff like that,” said Charlie, a semi-retired farmer.
Dozens of other tasks keep the Baldocks hopping in the days leading up to the dance. A piano is hauled in, the grass is mowed, a temporary washroom is erected, and the stage is made ready for the band.
As a final touch, flax seed gets sprinkled on the loft floor. Oil from the seed serves as a dance floor wax.
This year, a local trail ride will coincide with the barn dance. The riders will arrive at the Baldock farm on Saturday afternoon for a meal and then an evening of dance. After a Sunday morning breakfast, they’ll ride to the nearby town of Killarney.
The barn dance usually draws upwards of 300 people. Many are regulars from the old-time country and western dance crowd. There is no alcohol bar.
Charlie sees the dance as a family event, a chance for people to share in a tradition passed down through generations.”At one time they used to have house dances and granary dances,” he said.
“Wherever there was a good floor they’d gather a few together from the community to play, they’d hang up their lanterns and dance.”
