WDVA Barn Dance Danville, Virginia

Radio station WDVA sponsored a Saturday night barn dance at the Danville, Virginia Fairgrounds beginning in March of 1949. By 1950, attendance was between 750 and 1,000 each week. Glenn Thompson and his six-piece band, called the Playboys, were the featured band at the beginning. Glenn and his wife lived in the small trailer park on the banks of nearby Sandy Creek near the intersection of US. 58 (Riverside Drive and “Alternate” US 29 (Piney Forest Road). This area was in Pittsylvania County until 1951 when Danville annexed a large amount of land. When this booklet was prepared the Fairgrounds where the Barn Dance took place and the "Trailer Park" on the grounds near Sandy Creek were across the river from Danville in Pittsylvania County.

Glenn and wife had two dogs of each extreme. One was a 100-pound pit bulldog that only Glenn could handle. The other was a tiny dog called “Little Bit.” Homer Thomason “Homer T.” began his comedy act with the barn dance and soon picked up his stage name of “Little Bit” after Glenn’s animal. Here’s are some of the regulars in October of 1950 on Saturday nights.



















Thanks Bobby Ricketts for these images.
For more on the Barn Dance see:
http://wdvabarndance.blogspot.com/