Richmond Times Dispatch, Monday, August 2, 1999, Section B, page 6 "Residents can now dance the night away" from the Associated Press Pound (VA) - Terry Boggs knows of no finer way to end the work week than to put on a pair of cowboy boots and dance the night away to his favorite country tunes....Dancing isn't something Boggs and other boot-scooters take for granted in Pound, a town of about 1,000 people in the southwestern Virginia mountains. Pound's churches and its elected leaders see public dancing as something to be tightly restricted, lest it lead to cheatin' hearts and ruined marriages. And dancing was effectively shut down until June 29 when a federal judge struck down Pound's 18-year old dance ordinance as unconstitutional. Since the ruling, couples in cowboy hats and boots have turned out in droves to kick up their heels at the Golden Pine in defiance of Pound's official aversion to dancing. It was William Elam, owner of the Golden Pine, who took Town Council to court over its dancing strictures. He grew weary of explaining to out-of-town patrons why they couldn't dance at his night spot. "They would get mad and a lot of them would flat out refuse to sit down," Elam said. For at least 18 years, Pound banned dancing in any place open to the public that did not first obtain a dance hall permit from the council. The ordinance was a way to crack down on the boozing associated with public dances. No one has ever been ticketed for dancing. Neither has anyone ever received a permit and, until Elam and the Golden Pine came along, nobody had sought one, said town attorney Gary Gilliam. Elam bought the Golden Pine in 1996. Pound's proximity to a dry Kentucky county makes it a good place for taverns and night spots. The nearest dance club is some 20 miles away in Norton. Elam applied for a dance permit about a year ago, but withdrew the application out of fear that it would be rejected. More than 200 people showed up at the council meeting to oppose granting Elam a permit. Elam then hired a lawyer and got the law struck down. "We got the court ruling on Wednesday and we were dancing on Friday," said Elam. U. S. District Judge Glen Williams wrote in his ruling that the case amounted to an unconstitutional restriction of free expression. The council is busy drafting its ordinance more narrowly to pass constitutional muster. Town building inspectors also say the Golden Pine does not meet the state's fire code for dance halls and could prosecute him and close him down because of it. Competing bars haven't opened their dance floors yet, but applaud Elam's court victory.