Date: Tues June 14
Place: Little Red Hen, 7115 Woodlawn Ave NE
Time: 8:40 pm

We walk into this Green Lake institution during the last half hour of the traditional country bar's free dance lesson (held every Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.). An encouraging instructor named Maryann is cheerfully shouting out instructions for the "Cowboy Cha-Cha" to a flush-faced crowd of couples, many of whom are wearing the regulation black cowboy hats and tightly belted dark jeans associated with the scene. The notable exception to this fashion statement is one lively, brave fellow wearing a Utilikilt, whom Maryann playfully slaps on the shoulder as she counts off steps and compliments her students on their posture. As we sip our whiskies in one of the old red-vinyl and dark-wood booths, I observe the extensive array of pull tabs available behind the bar—a gambling temptation worth taking, according to a claim on the Little Red Hen's website that the bar offers the "highest payouts in the area!" Many of the newly accomplished dancers have cleared the floor and are taking a well-deserved break with bottles of Miller Lite while the band sets up. Apparently Maryann is both a teacher and a philanthropist; she's been circulating throughout the room soliciting sponsorship for an upcoming breast cancer benefit walk, a request my photographer and I gladly comply with, handing over a few dollars and signing the pink paper forms acknowledging our contribution. After tuning up beneath a beer-ad banner illustrated with an image of new-country buffoon Tim McGraw, a guitarist in a NASCAR shirt greets the growing crowd warmly and launches into a cover of Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl." Maryann's students do her proud, dutifully filling up the dance floor. By the band's fifth song (Waylon Jennings's "Rainy Day Woman"), the couples are twirling in impressive unison and inducing appreciative rounds of applause. As we exit, I notice the best capacity-regulation sign I've ever seen: "Capacity: 168 persons or 16,805 chickens." HANNAH LEVIN