Two-Step Dancing with Ghosts at Arizona Club

Two-Step Dancing with Ghosts at Arizona Club

The students have returned to classes at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. But they cannot spend all their time just studying. On Wednesday nights, many of the students like to head out for a little dancing at a famous local “honky-tonk” called the Museum Club.

Honky-tonks are dance and drinking places with reputations for getting wild and sometimes even a little dangerous. Country-western music is played and the crowds do the two-step dance. The energetic and tricky¹ dance is also sometimes called the Texas two-step or the country-western two-step.

The Museum Club is an iconic business along the historic U.S. Route 66. Two-stepping and drinking were not the club’s first attraction. The building went up in the early 1930s. The owner, Dean Eldredge, built it to be the biggest log cabin in the world.

First, a museum...

Mr. Eldredge was in the taxidermy business. He displayed the animals he stuffed along the walls and beams of the business and called it a museum. Visitors back then also called it “the zoo,” a nickname that remains² today.

Signs of the Museum Club’s past as a taxidermy business still remain. The heads of animals killed in hunting still hang in the club. They surround the dance floor as if to watch the dancers below.

Rhylee Helsper is a manager and bartender at the Museum Club. She is also passionate³ about dancing. “When I first started here I had no idea how to dance and now I’m a pretty great dancer,” she said.

She also noted⁴ the increasing interest in line dancing. This is when a crowd divides into straight lines to dance together. The dancers all carry out the same set of steps and move in the same direction at the same time.

“Definitely more songs are becoming line dances. It’s shocking -- every week there’s a new line dance,” Helsper said.

Later, dancers and ghosts...

The Museum Club became a night club after Dean Eldredge died. It was a popular spot among the many thousands of people who traveled Route 66 each year. The club’s atmosphere got rougher as the years passed. “Bar brawls” were not uncommon⁶.

And the club is said to have ghosts. In 1973, Don and Thorna Scott owned the business. The couple lived on the second floor. One night, Thorna Scott fell down the stairs and broke her neck. She died a few weeks later. Her husband never recovered and his business suffered as well. Don Scott shot and killed himself inside the Museum Club in 1975.

Manager Rhylee Helsper says there are reports of sightings of the ghosts of Don and Thorna.

“She (Thorna) is often seen at the back bar,” Helsper said. “They (the ghosts) both hang out. Don’s not exactly a friendly character. But Thorna’s a sweetheart.”

The Museum Club has live music at least three nights a week. Friday and Saturday is for country music. On Sunday night, the club features Latin music. The Museum Club also offers two-step lessons on weekdays. And Wednesdays are reserved for local college students to relax and have a little fun. 

Words in This Story

reputation – n. the common opinion that people have about someone or something : the way in which people think of someone or something

taxidermy – n. the skill, activity, or job of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of dead animals so that they look like they did when they were alive

passionate – adj. having, showing, or expressing strong emotions or beliefs

bar brawl⁵ – n. a rough and noisy fight in a bar (a public gathering⁷ place where alcohol is served)

hang out – phrasal verb to be or stay somewhere for a period of time without doing much

sweetheart – n. a kind or helpful person : someone who is very nice

1 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 brawl   

n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂

参考例句：

• They had nothing better to do than brawl in the street.他们除了在街上斗殴做不出什么好事。
• I don't want to see our two neighbours engaged in a brawl.我不希望我们两家吵架吵得不可开交。

6 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

7 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。