"It's Haudenosaunee dance time at Lyle Anderson Sr memorial"

The annual Plank Road Smoke Dance and Haudenosaunee Powwow is growing, with attendance at the second annual event on Sunday reaching around 500 people.

A grassy knoll beside the Plank Road grill on Hwy. 6 on the outskirts of Caledonia turned into a much-an­ticipated gathering spot, with hundreds of people gathering for the festivities even before the 7 p.m. start time.

The event is now held in honour of the late Lyle An­derson Sr., an accomplished smoke dancer and singer from Six Nations who passed away in October 2012 at age 35.

"He loved to dance and he loved to sing," said Plank Road Grill owner and organizer of the event, Derek Sandy, who was a good friend of Anderson's.

Many passersby on Hwy. 6 pulled over, intrigued, to watch the competition.

The event began with Sandy welcoming everyone to the event.

"You're on Six Nations territory," he said to loud applause, before a Standing Quiver Dance got underway, Haudenosaunee social dances, traditional dances and round dances intermingled with the much loved smoke dance competitions for people of all ages: tiny tots to Golden Age dancers.

The crowd went wild when the teen boys and men's smoke dance competitions got underway even with ominous clouds threatening.

But the storm held off long enough to finish all the categories before the skies brought down buckets of rain. Dancers hung around under the tents while rain poured from the skies waiting to hear who the winners were and to collect almost $3,000 in prize money.