When it Madura's Danceland opened in 1929 it was the Premier ballroom in northwest Indiana and even had a dance instructors club. Mike Madura and his son, Mickey, managed the ballroom and enforced the policy of no alcoholic beverages and no rowdiness.

"He (Mike Sr.) was so strict," said his daughter, Evelyn Madura Halik.

"If couples danced to fast or too close he would single them out," she said.

His daughter-in-law, Henrietta Madura, remembers how Madura would police the dancers.

"If my father-in-law caught anyone with a bottle, he poured it right down the toilet and kicked them out and they could never come back," she said. "They begged him to come back but he always said no. He was a tough man but he always had that music somewhere in his head too."

Madura also made sure that the girls that worked at Danceland stayed away from the musicians who played there. He actually drove the girl's home from work every night to ensure their safe arrival. And the wonderful musicians he had!

Tex Beneke, Russ Morgan, Vaughn Monroe, Gene Krupa, Paul Whiteman, Jim it McHugh and vocalists Glen Gray and Tiny Hill were among dancelands roster during the big band era. From 1937-42 Danceland featured more name bands than any other time. The House attendance record was set in 1949 by the Glenn Miller Orchestra under the direction of Tex Beneke. The house numbered 3300 dancers. But the popularity of ballroom dancing dimmed at the end of World War II.

During the war, fewer name bands were featured and there were fewer nights open for business because so many of the men were away fighting the war.

There were enforced midnight curfews as well as transportation problems due to gas and tire rationing. During the war, Madura's advertised on his posters: "Buy bonds, buy stamps and then let's dance" The 1950's brought a new phenomenon: rock-n-roll. It changed the atmosphere at Madura's but they changed with the times, having weekend dances with live bands during the '50s and '60s.

Mike Madura died in 1960 and Mickey Madura became sole proprietor of Danceland for the next seven years. On July 27, 1967, a bolt of lightning struck the ballroom and like Madura's first big venture the Indiana Garden's Skating rink, Danceland burned to the ground. It was responsible not only for pages in the story of big band history and its personalities, but for the personal romantic stories of so many of the ballroom dancers who danced or fell in love there during its 38 year run.

Madura's Danceland has left its own legacy. Mike Madura's granddaughter Patrice Madura Ward-Steinman, has her doctorate in music. She is working on a book about Madura's Danceland, tracing its history back to 1929 until it's waning days of the late '50s so Mike Madura's dream will live on.

"He was a man who took chances. All his life he took chances," his daughter, Evelyn, said. "But dance land was his greatest love."

Gayle Faulkner Kosalko is the executive director of the Whiting Robertsdale Chamber of Commerce.