Pokin' Fun
Down by the river
'Doc' Blakely

Lukenbach, Texas is unique. Most of the activity takes place about dark, and people are surprised, as founder Hondo Crouch used to say, that "we have such a large Moon for such a small town."

The local population is about 15 but the crowds number three to five hundred on a good weekend like happened recently at Mike Blakely's Texamericana Fandango, Numero Cinco. Mike, a western novelist/singer/songwriter (www.mikeblakely.com) and I are related only by blood, but I'm privileged to be invited to this nest of nepotism because, as the sign reads, "Everybody is somebody in Lukenbach."

Some of those somebody's include his Mother and his Aunt Bitsy who run the Fandango store that sells CDs from the 16 or so top performers who appear over the three day event, along with Mike's western novels. Aunt Bitsy loves to dance, but since her husband died a few years ago she has fewer opportunities. On Saturday night the big dance hall was on a roll with a hot band. Bitsy was encouraged to join the fun so when a Conga line formed she was swept up in the heat of the moment and joined the young dancers. They made a couple of rounds and suddenly the leader of the Conga went out the door and around the back of the dance hall toward the huge Oak trees that dominate the landscape. The line disappeared in the darkness and suddenly like a comet Bitsy appeared, alone, back in the hall, blushing, on the dance floor.

"What happened?" asked a friend.

"Nothing, but I got out of there when I heard them all agree to go skinny dipping in the creek…and there's no creek down there."

The town was bought several decades ago by the legendary Hondo Crouch, a character/ promoter/performer who transformed the spot into an unlikely watering hole for everyone looking for…whatever it is we are looking for.

The main building is a saloon/ store/post office. I think it may be the only one in America where you can have a beer while mailing a letter.

A small yellow line is painted on the floor to separate the two since it is illegal to drink on federal property. Sweat rings from the beer bottles are all over the counters where people park their beer on the saloon side and step "over the line" to do business with the government.

Before the regular performers take to the stage there is always a group of "pickers and singers" just outside, under the Oak trees, eager to entertain the bankers, lawyers, ranchers, bikers, socialites and riff raff who find common ground here in the Hill Country. There are no screens on the windows and a large opening with a board window is propped open to expose the bartender who can work the inside as well as serve those outside.

I joined in, outside, with fiddle and jammed for hours. The house rule is that musicians are allowed two free beers if they are jamming. One guitar picker picked up the beers for the four of us jamming. After a while I noticed he had on a different hat, a little later a different hat again. Then I figured it out. The bartender kept track of people by looking at their hats. The free beverages kept coming.

My new friend said, "Let's jam. I've got six more hats in the truck."

Doc Blakely is a humorist and motivational speaker who resides in Wharton.