Come Join In The Touchet Two-Step!

WAITSBURG - - Most Waitsburgers know Mickey Richards as "Izzy's Dad."

But what many don't know is that the affable owner of the town's iconic dromedary is as good a dancer as he is a camel handler.

If you'd have set foot in Walla Walla's Heath & Co. (now Barnabees) in the 1980s, chances are you'd have seen Richards practice or teach the two-step, waltz, polka or any country dance routine as often as six days a week.

"I practically lived there," he said. "It was a bad day when it closed."

But despite the distractions of work and family, Richards, now 50, never lost his love for dancing and wants to gather others with that passion around him at Coppei Cafe this Saturday night for "Touchet Two- Step," an event that could become the start of a regular new dance night in the area.

"I think it would be a draw for Waitsburg," said Richards, who laments the absence of a place to go country dancing in the Walla Walla Valley and says the closest venue now is the Cowboy Club in Tri Cities.

Richards said he will offer dance instruction to patrons of his first dance night at Coppei Cafe, starting at 7 p.m., then turn newbies and veterans alike loose to the country dance rhythms around 8:30 p.m.

"I've been wanting to pick it up again," he said. "It's such a good activity, particularly for kids. It builds confidence."

Richards himself knows all about that.

Describing himself as a painfully shy, awkward and somewhat nerdy youngster, Richards said dancing helped him win acceptance by others. "I'm still really shy," he laughed. "I just hide it well."

It helps that a knack for nimble limbs runs in the family.

His father, who was a factory efficiency expert in the garment industry and traveled all over the country, taught ballroom dancing in the 1950s and 1960s. It was well before Richards was old enough to shake his hips on the dance floor, but he recalls how Roland Richards and his wife Lois (now Winchester) would light up the boards like the ballroom equivalent of a "Saturday Night Fever" couple.

"They'd come on and everyone would clear the floor," he said about his parents.

Roland Richards died when Mickey was still in high school in Nebraska, after the younger Richards had begun running with friends on the rodeo circuit and attend town dances after events in the corral.

Part tribute and part therapy, Mickey and his mother Lois would go out and dance together four or five times a week, something. They continued after mother and son moved to Walla Walla in 1982.

"It was a great way to meet new people," said Richards, who was soon invited to teach dancing at Heath & Co.

After Richards was married the first time, life got busy with more time for kids and less time for dancing. But many years hence, the 50-year-old antler designer has picked it up anew, thanks in part to his new wife Tawnya and more time to kick up his heels.

The couple had their wedding reception at Coppei in December and danced up a storm with the help of a DJ from the Tri Cities, who played the Richards' favorite songs by artists such as Johnnie Cash, Hank Williams and, last but not least, Patsy Cline.

"I love Patsy Cline," he said. "The kids always knew: If she came on the radio in the car, no one could talk."

Richards said anyone with any inclination to try dancing should come down to Coppei Saturday and give it a try.

"Beginners are welcome," he said. "Most people have a sense of rhythm and I've worked with some who had none. I know people get insecure about it, but it quickly builds confidence. It's all about having fun and enjoying it."