By BRIGID PARKER
On the evening of Friday, October 25, my friends and I wandered a near-empty Coughy House, having had our fill of pool for the night and now eager to partake in the line dancing lessons we’d been promised. What then met us on Chaus’s projector screen was a frightening sight: the line dancing lessons in question included a mere video of two western-attired folks on-screen line dancing at a frighteningly fast pace, no instructions or steps given.
Immediately, I figured this must have all been part of a spooky pre-Halloween prank, as there was surely no way the line dancing I’d been looking forward to all week was more than a video too fast-moving for an amateur like myself to follow.
Before the disappointment of my situation could settle, a hero arose from the smattering of Chaus patrons. Gabriella Willis’27, presumably sick of seeing our miserable attempts to follow the video on screen, informed us that she had an easy line dance she could teach us. The evening had been saved!
Gabriella, an adept dancer and teacher, graced us with a routine simple yet rugged enough to make even my suburbanite self feel like a true cowboy. As we continued dancing, a slightly larger crowd continued to build, and two more heroes, Ella Walters‘27 and Ben Xiong’25, revealed themselves amongst the growing mob of cowboys, pulling out their own dances to teach. The night of boot-scootin’ and boogiein’ was accompanied by a rich mix of country music, spanning multiple decades and subgenres, with something to please everyone, from the casual enjoyers to the true outlaws.
Though my hankering for dance had been satisfied, I still couldn’t leave country night not knowing who among us had the most country outfit. The other contestants and I lined up on stage, flaunting our country-inspired outfits and most rootin’ and tootin’ accents. With about 10 dazzling contestants, the decision wouldn’t be easy. This probably explains the confoundingly long period of time needed to judge the pastoral contestants.
At long last, us country folk gathered to hear the winners announced. The two runners up, taking home one of Chauses’ prized grocery store pumpkins, were Ryan Novak’26, Beloit’s very own resident cowboy, and Svea Jones’25, Beloit’s very own resident Svea. Coming in at first place and taking home the grand prize of $25 big ones was… ME! Brigid Grace Parker! Suck it, losers and freaks! I’m the rootinest tootinest boot scootinest cowboy this campus has ever seen!
I’d like to give great thanks to whatever system (if there was one) used to judge the competition. Clearly it was very objective and awesome. Additional thanks to Chaus for a wonderful night of music, dancing and winning $25.
However, I owe the most thanks to the invaluable dance instructors of Country Night. The night wouldn’t have been what it was without them. It really goes to show that everyday heroes are all around us, quietly making the world a better place, one grapevine at a time.
Featured Image: Sophia Nitsche’25
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