The Manitou Waltz

 This is a true story with a little dramatic embellishment, but not much.  The Club Manitou is a real place near Harbor Springs, although it has since been sold and renamed.  The Bliss Fest people usually held a "cabin fever concert" during February or March, and last I heard they were still doing it.  This time they chose the Club Manitou as the venue, and the owner was happy to allow it because it was a slow time of year for his business.  It was a big place and we packed it, resulting in the sale of much food and drink, which made the owner so happy that he asked us to do it again and again.  All told we spent a dozen or so Sunday evenings there, and then had to quit because we had lots of work to do preparing for our big festival in July.  The owner wanted us to come back after the festival, and I brought it up at a meeting, but our director was against the idea and my motion died for lack of support.  The toddler in question and his parents were well known to us all, as was the raven-haired beauty who slipped him some lettuce.  She had just finished her meal, and had some lettuce left over which she offered to the kid.  Once the kid started munching on the lettuce, he forgot all about dancing.  

I composed the song over the subsequent week and presented it for the first time during open mic on the next Sunday evening.  Our director asked if he could join me on the stage, to which I agreed.  He said, "What are we doing?", to which I replied, "Generic waltz, key of C".  He then proceeded to add a mandolin part, which he spontaneously composed on the spot.  Several people commented on it later and found it hard to believe that we had not rehearsed the number together.