Submitted by:
Isabelle Wright Green

In the early fifties I belonged to a Spokane Folk and Square Dance group, the Silver Spurs, directed by Red Henderson and sponsored by the Spokane School District and Parks and Recreation Department. We performed many times in the lobby of the Davenport and it was always a thrill. Entering down a staircase or out of the adjacent ballroom, the combination of period costumes, music and the eclectic elegance of the Davenport Lobby always brought oohs from the audience who would line the lobby edges and look down from the balcony. We performed stately English Contras in wide skirted gowns with matching bonnets on that beautiful marble floor, presented lively Spanish folk dances—moving barefooted around the flower filled fountain in the lobby center and whooped it up with cowboy squares. They all seemed to fit with the history and tradition of the Davenport. It was a venue never topped in our travels across the country, which included Southern mansions, huge arenas and even the Ted Mack amateur hour.