History of the Candy Dance

Editor's note: The following was written for the 1997 Candy Dance.

In 1919, when many towns were coming into the age of streetlights, Genoa residents, feeling the need to have the new electric gadgets installed, had to figure out a way to either pay for them outright or be assessed for the expense.

All sorts of ideas were tossed about. While on board a cruise ship, Lillian Virgin Finnegan (1878-1939), of Genoa, attended a shipboard dance where candy, served on silver trays, was offered free to the guests. This sparked the idea that perhaps a dance with free homemade Genoa candy would make an excellent fundraiser for the streetlights.

The townspeople set about preparing for a dance to be held in the old Raycraft Hotel Dance Hall. Admission was $1.50, which naturally included free homemade candy served on silver trays, and a midnight supper. To everyone's surprise, more than enough money was raised that year to pay for the lights.

The next year, another dance was held and more candy was made, but this time the money went for the maintenance of not only the streetlights but road repair. As the years rolled by, the Genoans began calling the event the Candy Dance. And more uses were found for the money they raised, some of which paid for the purchase of the Raycraft Dance Hall after the hotel was torn down. The old dance hall became Genoa's Old Town Hall.

It wasn't until the early 1970s that a few artisans set up some outdoor booths to display and maybe sell their handiwork, for a small fee paid to the town, of course. This became such a hit with visitors that more booths were added the next year. Finally, the booths moved to the park.

The one-day affair turned into two, and the candy was boxed and sold at its own special booth. So what once was a handful of artists has now turned into 300 fine arts-and-crafts artisans from across the country; and what once was a little event which brought 50 to 100 people around the area has turned into an event that brings in tens of thousands.

The main attraction that makes this now-famous outdoor event so appealing for all who attend is not only the homemade candy and the dance with the complimentary dinner, but also the fact that the artist or "crafter" must be present at his or her booth throughout the event to meet and sell to the public.

Over the years, many of the artists and crafters who have sold their work at Candy Dance have gone on to become well-known in the art-and-collectible world.