by Faye Dalton

The Chivaree

Wikopedia defines a Chivaree as a noisy serenade or teasing of a newly wed couple. It came to America with the French colonists and quickly caught on in rural communities where newly weds did not leave home for a honeymoon. Most people today could not tell you what a chivaree is. I’ve attended only one in my life. I was eleven years old and completely innocent as to what was going to take place.

Everyone who attended Mt. Union Christian Church was excited. It had been announced that “Uncle Noble” would be married at the church on the next Sunday morning. Called Uncle Nobe (long o) by most everyone, Uncle was actually my great-great Uncle (My grandmother’s uncle). Most everybody who attended this small country church was related to each other in some way, but those who were not still called him Uncle as a sign of respect .

Uncle was well known in the community. He lead the singing at Mt. Union and had, on occasion, attempted to give singing lessons to the reluctant youth. He would try to teach us to sing the notes and we would sing anything we could think of but do, re, me. We often behaved badly, but he seemed not to notice or either he was wise enough to know that it would be a losing battle to expect us to behave perfectly. At any given time there would be a reluctant youth under the pews tying someone’s shoe laces together, another hiding behind the old organ, and still another turning a handful of crikets loose so the girls would scream and jump when they encountered them.

It took a lot of patience to get our attention but Uncle tried to train us to sing the notes. Mt. Union is well known for its love of singing and in those days we could be heard on WANY radio regularly. Some of his love of singing must have rubbed off because if you happened to stop by Mount Union on Sunday morning you can still hear his descendents “rocking the rafters.”

Uncle ran a small country store on the Grider Hill Dock Road above Seventy Six Baptist Church and most of the church members had stopped there for a cold drink. The old store was dark with one bare light bulb that drew bugs at night. He lived in the back of the store and on summer evenings when I spent the night with my Grandmother and Garfield (my step grandfather) we would go to Uncle’s store and sit on that old high porch.

The adults would usually discuss politics and I would play with Dick Nixon his old dog. I would feed Dick part of the peanuts I poured in my Dr. Pepper and half listen as the adults gave the democrats hell. Uncle had long been widowed and over eighty so most members were surprised to hear he was getting married. Christine, his soon to be wife, was from Creelsboro, Kentucky down on the Cumberland River and had never been married.

My mother made my sister and I matching (she loved to dress us alike) red plaid skirts for the occasion. I remember I wore it with knee socks and a white blouse with roll-up sleeves (very popular at the time). We had to wait until Sunday to wear our new outfits, and like most of the church, we were looking forward to the wedding. Sunday morning arrived and the news spread quickly that the newly weds had decided to exchange vows at the Sunday School superintendent’s home that morning. You could see the disappointment on everyone’s face when they heard the news.

On Sunday we always ate dinner at my Grandmother’s house. She always had fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and often my favorite desert: strawberry jello with bananas. Of course the main topic of discussion that Sunday was the wedding. I recall that the men began to whisper and I was quite curious as to what they were discussing. My Dad and Uncle were beginning to laugh and nod their heads in agreement. Looking back I doubt they intended it to be such a well attended event, but disappointment can draw a crowd.

Evening came and several church members had arrived at our house. I don’t known exactly how many kids climbed in the back of our old green station wagon, but we were sitting on top of each other and glad we didn’t have far to travel. My mother rode in the car that was to drag an old car door down the road in front of Uncle house. We were to pull in a old dirt road above his house and stay out of sight and watch. Several of the bigger boys decided to crawl down the ditch opposite his house so they could get a better view. The smaller children and older girls stayed where the cars were parked. The preacher and several other adults kept us quiet as we waited. I didn’t know what to expect, but I do know that I had never seen the preacher so excited. He nervously paced back and forth and appeared to be extremely agitated.

It wasn’t long until we begin to hear in the distance a noise that would truly wake the dead. The sound of the door hitting and bouncing on the blacktop was bad enough, but when it came into view it looking like a mechanical monster. Fire was shooting out from all sides as it bounced and slid from side to side. It looked like it was getting ready to explode. As they passed the old store they shot three or four times in the air, just to add to the over all effect.

They quickly pulled in the road where we were parked, turned around and went flying back down the road. As they got even with the store the porch light came on and Uncle appeared on the porch in his “full body underwear” and his shot gun. The boys who were lying in the ditch quickly ate dirt as Uncle fired at the commotion, but the most fascinating sight of all was the preacher. He and the other adults were completely beside themselves.

Laughing, slapping their legs, and beating on the side of the cars in total abandon. I just stood there and watched. I could not understand. Why did they find this so funny? My grandchildren often say “I don’t get that joke”. I know what that is like. I guess adult humor is one of the rewards for growing up.

Needless to say the Chivaree was the talk of the neighborhood for quite sometime. Uncle and Christine continued to come to Mt. Union. Christine helped with Bible School and was a gifted story teller with the flannel board. I recall these characters from my past with fondness. As I look back as an adult I see Uncle as he turned to go back in the store that night with a big grin on his face. After all having a chivaree at his age would be cause for a smile don’t you think?

Faye Dalton