Ask the folks at Olympic Peninsula Steam what the Big Brass Yule Ball is, and they’ll tell you — it’s an excuse. “It’s an excuse to come out and dance during the darkest part of the year,” said Nathan Barnett, director of Olympic Peninsula Steam, as the Big Brass Yule Ball was hosted by the Marvin G. Shields Memorial American Legion Post 26 Hall in Port Townsend Dec. 15. Barnett said about 60 revelers attended for the fourth annual event. “We all need a little warmth in the cold winds of winter,” Barnett said. “We get everyone from local folks to people from Seattle and Olympia. College students are stepping out onto the floor alongside fabulous septuagenarian dancers, who are showing them how it’s done.” Barnett said Olympic Peninsula Steam tends to charge just enough admission to cover the costs of renting the hall, supplying drinks and paying for the Olympic Express Big Band, which has performed during the event since it started. “Unlike other events we’ve played at, where people just show up and take in the music, these folks dress up and create a festive atmosphere,” said Al Thompson, one of the band members who has played all four Yule Balls. “It’s nice to have a theme and really have fun with it.” This year’s Yule Ball drew first-time attendees, including U.S. Coast Guard Seaman Elijah Johnston, a Port Townsend resident who heard about the event from friends. While Johnston disdains the “stupidity” he often sees in the partying habits of his own generation, he praised the Yule Ball as an “art form” among parties, conducted with “maturity and precision.” “I believe precision can be applied to all areas of one’s life,” Johnston said. The steampunk society’s traditional Christmas trappings were complemented by the presence of a Father Christmas, Don Talmadge, whose run as Santa began as the stage manager of a production of “A Christmas Carol,” when the actor playing the Ghost of Christmas Present was fired. “The role reverberated with me,” said Talmadge, who worked with a professional costume designer to develop the Victorian-era Father Christmas costume he’s donned for about 20 years. “Kids will run up to me, and I’ve had 80-year-old ladies touch my chin and pull my beard and tell me, ‘You’re the real one.’”