February 1953 page 14

[photo of Tom Shirley reading, spans both columns]
DISPATCHER SHIRLEY of the South
Carolina Division is an ardent de-
votee of square dancing. When he's
not pounding the oak he's likely
to be thinking or reading about it.

[Headline, spans both columns]
Square-dancing Dispatcher . . . . . he's a fancy stepper

THERE are more square dancers per
mile of track on the P & N and the
D & S than on any other railroad in the
country.

That statement can be irrefutably
proved once each year when P & N and
D & S railroaders gather for their an-
nual banquets and dances. It is further
supported by the fact that one of the
best and most enthusiastic square
dancers in the country is a dispatcher
on the P & N.

Tom Shirley, lanky second-trick dis-
patcher at River Junction, has already
earned a reputation in the Greenville
area for being: 1) an expert square
dancer; 2) an expert square-dance call-
er; 3) an inspired disciple of the square
dance movement; 4) a man who can
turn a hobby into a profitable business;
5) the owner of the loudest shirt in
town.

Square dancing with Tom Shirley
began back in the late thirties when he
and his wife used to go to a spot in the
mountains called River Falls. It seems
that square dancing was the craze at
River Falls and those who didn't dance
didn't have much fun. Dispatcher Shir-
ley chase to dance, and his lean and
lanky frame seemed to fit right into
the proceedings. In the interim be-
tween those early days in the moun-
tains and today the Shirleys have de-
veloped into expert dancers who are
much in demand at community dances.

Not much time for dancing

Sadly enough, secon-trick dispatch-
ing doesn't lend itself very well to

FEBRUARY, 1953 15