LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / February 2, 2000

Chuck Goodman had a dream, and he made that dream come true with Bar None Ranch Estates – a community planned for square dancers.

They were known as the Bar-None Saddle-Ites, and for more than 30 years every Friday night was a festival.

Bar-None Ranch at one time was a real ranch, owned and operated by Ed Given Davis, where palomino ponies were bred and raised and rodeos were held from time to time.

Davis died in 1955, and Goodman bought the property in 1962 from Davis’s wife, Geraldine. Goodman was determined to bring all his dancing friendstogether into a tightly-knit, family-oriented community, so he subdivided the ranch and developed Bar-None Ranch Estates, selling as many as possible to square-dancing friends.

In 1963 Goodman built “the best dancing facility anywhere,” which was at that time the largest privately-owned square dance club, according to his long-time neighbor, Audrey Giardina. That first club was demolished byHurricane Betsy in 1965 but immediately rebuilt.

Giardina and her husband, Charles, have endless memories of the dance club, which was 750-members strong at one point. Born and raised in St. Rose, theformer Audrey Palmisano met her husband at Destrehan High and the two families (who both trace their ancestry to a tiny island off Sicily) joined in the New World.

Countless themed parties, dance competitions, Carnival events and lessons were held at the pecan oak-floored Palomino Club, which still stands in St.

Rose at the front of Bar-None.

“The floor is floating on a layer of grease,” Giardina recalled. “You can danceand dance and never get tired.”Goodman got his start in Chicago, where he was in the night-club business. In1953 he began working as a caller at square dances, accompanying himself on the banjo, calling for an average of 13 clubs a month. For nine years hehad his own square-dance band which made several records.

He migrated to New Orleans and quickly appeared on “TV Time in New Orleans” for more than a year in prime-time.

By 1960 Goodman was the first president of the Callers Club and helped organize the first NORD Teenage Festival. He received a certificate of meritfrom then-New Orleans Mayor Victor Schiro.

Goodman remained active in the square-dancing world for years. In 1969 hewas presented an award at the Alexandria State Festival for significant contributions to the square-dance scene. In 1974 he and his wife, Opal, wrotean article for LSU which was placed in a time capsule about their work in square-dancing.

Goodman retired in 1983. Now 96, he lives quietly with his daughter in theNew Orleans area.

Giardina also remembers the restaurant which stood next to the club, with a tree growing in the middle of it, the scene of many apres-dance parties in the “good old days.”There were long waiting lists to become a member of the Saddle-Ites, including a mandatory 30 weeks of lessons and evaluations. “He made sureeveryone could really dance,” she said.

There were rules about proper dance attire and artists and choreographers completing the setting for every event. Des in the beginning were only $5.Members gladly contributed their talents toward the shared success of the nationally-renowned Saddle-Ites. “It was just a fun thing to do,” Giardinaadded.

However, with Goodman’s decline, the Saddle-Ites moved on to new horizons in Jefferson Parish, and the club now stands derelict, awaiting almost certain destruction. The restaurant was torn down four months ago. Opal Goodmandied in the early 1980s.

Among Giardina’s proud possessions are a large painting of Davis on his prize Palomino, “Clipper,” and an original Bar-None Ranch branding iron.

And Giardiana lives on with her memories of square-dance glory and her still- spritely dancer’s legs.

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