Don’t be shy: Go ‘Dancioke” one night

July 28, 2005 - The News Sentinel Ticket!
Featured in What's on Tap, a column by Lou Henry

Most bars offer only karaoke. But Deer Park Irish Pub offers something a little different. Dancioke. You read that correctly: Dancioke (pronounced dance-ee-oh-kee).

Dancioke is the brainchild of Tony Henry, owner of Deer Park. It came to him one night while he was pondering why everyone was so crazy about listening to other people sing off-key at local nightspots.

“We’ve seen them sing, now let’s see how they move.” Tony told me over the phone.

I heard about Dancioke through family, and I didn’t believe it to be true. But just from word of mouth, Tony had a full house on Saturday night.

Tony, who is my uncle, recently bought back Deer Park after selling the business two years ago. His patrons are mostly regulars that have known Tony or one of his many siblings.

Deer Park is a small working-class “watering hole” that only offers beer and wine, but it has a cozy atmosphere.

The walls are covered with black and white pictures of different landmarks and businesses around Fort Wayne. Tony has also taken the liberty of keeping a statue of the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, behind the bar amongst all of the regular bar clutter.

His newest addition and Dancioke co-host, Bucky the talking deer, also hangs comfortably behind the bar.

Tony has had an annual St. Patrick’s Day parade for the last several years, and it’s popularity has grown so much that a small pub parade has grown larger than even Fort Wayne’s own parade. St. Patrick is also there to keep an eye on the patrons and to deter dancers from getting too steamy on the stage.

“Keep it clean, St. Patty’s watching!” Tony exclaimed while going over the rules for Saturday’s contest.

I pulled into the parking lot on Saturday not expecting the crowd that had gathered. I was meeting not only my regular “bar buddies” – Andy Choka and Mike Ostermeyer – but also family like my dad, “Big” Lou Henry, and my cousin, Jim Todoran.

I arrived there just after 10:30 and I had to park in the lawn because every spot was occupied in the small parking lot. I walked in the side door and was quickly taken aback because everyone in the pub was elbow to elbow.

The jukebox was thumping a song, and Tony was on the microphone trying to get a dancer up on stage.

“Dancioke is okey-dokey, c’mon, first-time dancers, get a free pint of Budweiser or Killian’s!”

It didn’t take long, and my Aunt Jessica shimmied up to the stage for her first dance. Jessie is know as “The Queen of Dancioke.” She moved and gyrated to the music, and the crowd was falling in love.

After a few more dancers I heard “Lou Henry, my brother Louie, come on up.” An anonymous person put my dad in to dance. The song was “Louie, Louie” by The Kingsmen. I figured, for research, I would join my ol’ man, and we brought the roof down.

If you need to relax, or watch other people dance (and it gets more entertaining through the night), then make your way to Deer Park Irish Pub, where every day is St. Patrick’s Day.

Deer Park Irish Pub:

• Where: 1530 Leesburg Road by University of Saint Francis
• Hours: 3 pm – midnight Monday thru Thursday
  noon to 2:30 am Friday – Saturday
• Phone: 432-8966

House Specialties:

• Personal pizzas every night: $4.95
• Mondays: Wings, five for $2.50
• Tuesdays: Tacos, $1 each
• Drafts, $2.25
• Selection of 54 beers (23 imports)
• Port wines, but no hard liquor

Entertainment:

• Every Tuesday, karaoke
• Second Friday and fourth Saturday of the month, Dancioke
• Live acoustic music when booked, no cover

What’s on tap: Every Thursday, Lou Henry describes a one-time experience at an area bar or nightspot. This column is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of The News-Sentinel. You can send messages to Lou Henry by writing to nsfeatures@news-sentinel.com by email. If you drink, please do so responsibly.