The Community Improvement Association, probably better known as the CIA Hall, in rural De Soto has a 70-year history filled with good friends and good times, and association members hope for even more fun in the future.
While the organization hasn’t held many events over the past year, members hope to revive the group and spark more interest in the hall, at 13468 Hwy. JJ, which recently was renovated.
CIA president Don Rogers, 82, and lifetime member Rose Spires, 84, both have belonged to the association for more than 30 years and have many fond memories of the time they spent at the hall.
“As soon as you walked in the door, you were happy,” Rogers said. “It was just like coming home. There was a big meal and music.”
Spires said everyone knew everyone, and they were just like family.
“Everybody forgot their troubles. They knew they were going to have a good time,” she said.
Several of the organization’s key members who kept the club running had health problems earlier this year, but they are back in the game and hope to again see friends gather in the hall for special events and are working toward that goal.
Over the last five years, members have remodeled the whole interior of the club to give it a clean, light look. It has new paint, flooring, and tables and chairs.
The organization also will have some new leadership.
Myra Litel, 53, of House Springs will begin serving the association as the vice president after the election next week (no one is running against her).
Litel said she wants to open the doors wide for people who like music, dancing and their community.
“I told them I’d help them get activities back up, participation back up and do everything I can to bring in new members,” she said.
She plans to put the power of the internet to work for the CIA, using social media to let people know what’s happening.
The fuel that has always energized the club is friendship, even back in its earliest days.
The CIA, which has a kitchen and large dance floor, originally was just a small hut that housed a farmers’ coffee klatch.
In 1947, the late Harold and Emily Matthes donated two acres from their large farm for the shelter. A small building was constructed so local farmers could stop in, warm up and visit, Spires said.
“They would have coffee and talk,” she said.
“I imagine there was a little corn liquor now and then,” Rogers added.
In 1952, an addition to the building was constructed so members could play music and dance there on the weekends, Spires said.
Rogers first came out to the CIA shortly after, in 1953, to see his uncle, Lonnie Hileman, a former president of the club. Rogers was 18 or 19 years old at the time.
“It was always a good time. They had square dances, broom dances and whistle dances,” he said.
In a whistle dance, couples dance across the floor until someone blows a whistle, Rogers said.
“Then you see how quickly you can grab another partner,” he said.
A broom dance starts with an odd number of people and someone has to dance with the broom. When the music stops, everyone grabs a new partner and the slow man or woman on the floor is left alone with the broom for a partner.
Polkas were also a favorite in days gone by, Rogers said.
The bread and butter of the CIA, however, has always been country music, Spires said.
Don Byers, 82, another lifetime member of the club and former president, spent 28 years providing that country music for the CIA with the Don Byers Country Band.
The sounds of Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Merle Haggard and Vince Gill led dancers to the floor every month, and the music was never so loud that guests couldn’t hold a conversation, he said.
Byers played lead guitar and steel guitar.
“The people made it a great place to play, and I always played what they asked for,” Byers said.
The strategy earned the band fans that followed them everywhere, he said.
Byers said Betty Buxton, a vocalist for the band, was a great addition.
“She had a really good range. It was Nashville stuff.”
Rogers also took some turns at the mic.
“I used to sing ‘Don’t Squeeze My Charman’ and ‘I Just Don’t Look Good Naked Anymore.’”
Spires said crowds also like it when the hall holds special music events featuring different music genres, like 50s Rock and Roll, bluegrass, classic country and gospel music.
“Curly Lane pulls in a large crowd with his gospel show,” Spires said.
Another popular event includes Marty Ray’s Elvis, she said.
In addition, club activities include jamming, singing, line dancing, chicken and dumpling dinners, holiday events, cake walks and other social events, Spires said.
They are probably most proud, though, of the their contributions to the community, including Christmas food baskets, contributions to the De Soto Food Pantry, benefits for veterans’ causes, help for people who lose their homes to fire, and a free space for funeral dinners.
Upcoming events will soon return to the calendar, members said, and the hall is still available as a rental for weddings, anniversary parties, showers, or family holiday dinners.
For more information, contact Rogers at 636-208-3100.
