Square Dancing is the Official State Dance of Oregon

What's New?

Sep 17, 2017 - New Officer Installation

At the September 17 meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, the 2017-2018 officers were installed, and began another year of service to the Federation. Each one of these dedicated volunteers deserves our thanks and support. See the complete list by clicking here.

Feb 1, 2017 - 2017 Randall Award

At the Mid-Winter Festival on January 30, the Federation's Randall Award was awarded to Ray & Zola Jones of the Emerald Empire Council. For her biographical information, you may see the Randall Award insert in the January OFN.

Sep 18, 2016 - New Officer Installation

At the September 18 meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, the 2016-2017 officers were installed, and began another year of service to the Federation. Each one of these dedicated volunteers deserves our thanks and support. See the complete list by clicking here.

Feb 1, 2016 - 2016 Randall Award

At the Mid-Winter Festival on January 29, the Federation's Randall Award was awarded to Billie Smith of the South Coast Council. For her biographical information, you may see the Randall Award insert in the January OFN.

Sep 20, 2015 - New Officer Installation

At the September 20 meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, the 2015-2016 officers were installed, and began another year of service to the Federation. Each one of these dedicated volunteers deserves our thanks and support. See the complete list by clicking here.

January 25, 2015 - Mini-Directory Updated

LaDauna Hartzell, Federation Secretary, has just published the 2015-16 edition of the Federation's mini-directory, containing location and contact information for all clubs in the Federation.

Click here to download the booklet.

Nov 18, 2014 - OFN Transition

The Oregon Federation News is transitioning from a tradtional printed publication to an online publication. The January 2015 issue, which should be mailed at the end of December, will be the last printed issue.

Dance information, including special themes and flyers, can be entered using the state directory web pages, on the "Edit" page. For now, please have your area editors send club and council news to as well as to Joyce. You may send photos to Tim as well.

The first online issue is available, although it is still sketchy on details. Click here to see the concept. The December issue will be announced before Thanksgiving.

Sep 21, 2014 - New Officer Installation

At the September 21 meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, the 2014-2015 officers were installed, and began another year of service to the Federation. Each one of these dedicated volunteers deserves our thanks and support. See the complete list by clicking here.

Jun 18, 2014 - Mini-Directory Updated

Lisa Kious, Federation 2nd Vice President, has just published the 2014-15 edition of the Federation's mini-directory, containing location and contact information for all clubs in the Federation.

Click here to download the booklet.

Apr 7, 2014 - River City Dancers Veterans Benefit Dance

The River City Dancers, in association with the Oregon City Elks Lodge, is putting on a benefit dance for the Elk's Returning Veterans Fund on Friday, May 16. All participants are volunteering their time, and all proceeds will go directly to the fund. There will be a dinner beforehand at the Elks Lodge

For more information, download the flyer here.

Sep 23, 2013 - Club Assistance

At the September 22 meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, incoming president Dave Cooper announced a new program called the "Rapid Response Team". This is a group of experienced dancers who are ready and waiting to act as an advisory resource for clubs and councils who are struggling to stay intact. This team also has access to a dedicated fund, if you have some specific need where a little boost of money might get you through a tough spot. Contact Dave for more information.

Sep 22, 2013 - New Officer Installation

At the September 22 meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, the 2013-2014 officers were installed, and began another year of service to the Federation. Each one of these dedicated volunteers deserves our thanks and support. See the complete list by clicking here.

May 24, 2013 - Publicity Flyer Published

Dale and Kathy Worthington, the Federation's 2nd Vice President and Education chairman, have produced two booklets that you can print and distribute for publicity purposes. The first of these booklets is a directory of all of the clubs in the state, along with contact information. The second of these booklets is a list of all of the special dances and festivals for the year.

Sep 30, 2012 - New Officer Installation

At the September 30 meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, the 2012-2013 officers were installed, and began another year of service to the Federation. Each one of these dedicated volunteers deserves our thanks and support. See the complete list by clicking here.

Sep 5, 2012 - Club Name Change

The Coast Swingers club of Garibaldi have changed their name to "Wave Steppers Tillamook Bay".

July 21, 2012 - Officer Changes

Vivian Fairburn has been appointed and approved to fill the remainder of Curt Lundine's term. She is now the Federation's 1st Vice President.

In the special election, Dave Cooper has been elected to fill the 1st Vice President slot for 2012-2013.

May 12, 2012 - Officer Changes

This week, Curt Lundine resigned his position as 1st Vice President for personal reasons. This not only leaves a hole for the rest of this year, but it means we do not have a President for 2012-2013. More will be forthcoming on this issue.

Apr 4, 2012 - Tony Haskins

The Federation was saddened to learn of the passing of Tony Haskins in March. Tony was very active in square dancing at all levels, including several elected and appointed positions on our board. Tony was running unopposed for the 1st Vice President position for 2012-2013; we will be holding a special election to fill that seat.

Nov 10, 2011 - Eugene/Springfield Area Calendar

Elena Rae has created a unified calendar of square dance club dances and events in the Eugene/Springfield and Albandy/Corvallis areas at esqdc.web.com.

Sep 18, 2011 - New Officer Installation

At the September 18 meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, the 2011-2012 officers were installed, and began another year of service to the Federation. Each one of these dedicated volunteers deserves our thanks and support. See the complete list by clicking here.

Jul 7, 2011 - Dancing and Health

Vivian Fairburn, our OFN editor, has contributed a wonderful article on the health benefits of square dancing. Take a look at Dancing for the Health of It for some ammunition when you go to convince your friends and neighbors to join you in this wonderful activity.

Mar 29, 2011 - Square Dancers for Japan

The devastation caused to our friends in Japan by the recent earthquake and tsunami is unimaginable to people living comfortably in the US. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been permanently changed. When Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast in 2005, square dancers all over the world donated food and supplies to help the displaced. The Japan Square Dance Foundation was a large donor.

In response, caller and raconteur Tony Oxendine has eastablished a web site to head up a fund-raising drive for square dancers to help in Japan. Please take some time to look over squaredancers4japan.org and see what you can do to help.

Feb 4, 2011 - Summer Festival Program Book

The 2011 Summer Festival committee have made their program book available for download. Now you can take a close look to see all the wonderful callers and cuers that will be performing at the festival, and make your scheduling plans accordingly. Please note that the PDF file is somewhat large (about 5 megabytes); it might take a minute or so to download over a DSL line.

Sep 26, 2010 - New Officer Installation

At the September 26th meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, the 2010-2011 officers were installed, and began another year of service to the Federation. Each one of these dedicated volunteers deserves our thanks and support. See the complete list by clicking here.

Oct 20, 2009 - OFN Online Experiment

The Oregon Federation News, our monthly publication, is considering making some changes to move into the Information Superhighway. As one step along that path, we are making the September OFN available online as a PDF file that you can view online.

Click here to view the September OFN. The file is about 6 megabytes long, so it will take about a minute to load on a DSL line, and about 20 minutes if you still use a dial-up line.

We are looking for feedback on this. Let us know whether you like seeing the OFN online, or if you hate it. Send feedback to OFN Editor Vivian Fairburn at vivfair@spiritone.com or Webmaster Tim Roberts at timr@probo.com.

Oct 6, 2009 - Club Insurance Forms

There are a few changes in the Federation's insurance program. In the past, area delegates were always required to fill out a 4-part paper form containing summary information about the clubs in their area, to be filed along with the updated rosters and premium checks. This year, that form is available online.

There are two options. You can print out this PDF version, fill it in by hand, and return it with your check. Or, if you have Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Word, you can open this Word template version, type the information using Word, then print out a copy for you and a copy to submit.

As always, if you have questions about the insurance process, contact Kay Rogers.

Sep 27, 2009 - New Officer Installation

At the September 27th meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, the 2009-2010 officers were installed, and began another year of service to the Federation. Each one of these dedicated volunteers deserves our thanks and support.

July 23, 2009 - Dance Location Maps

Ferrous Steinka of the Hoedowners has created a web site that contains maps to virtually every location in Oregon and southwest Washington that has been used for a square dance in the recent past. This is quite a valuable resource. Take a look here.

May 6, 2009 - Summer Festival Canceled

We have received word from the Sunset Empire Council that, due to the extremely low registration numbers, the 2009 Oregon Summer Festival has been canceled. We all share in their disappointment at this turn of events.

More details will be forthcoming.

Apr 6, 2009 - Benefit Dance Results

More than 100 dancers headed to Silverton for the Benefit Dance for a good time in our first 70 degree day since last October. More than $1,300 was raised, with additional funds yet to come. A big "thanks" to the generous dancers of Oregon.

Mar 16, 2009 - Benefit Dance

Every year the Federation holds a benefit dance, where all proceeds go to the Adaptive Riding Institute in Silverton. This year, we are holding our dance at the Adaptive Riding Institute, so that everyone can see how this wonderful organization operates. You can read about the Adaptive Riding Institute (also called H.O.R.S.E.S.) at their web site.

You can find a map to the their location, 18401 Abiqua Rd NE, Silverton, OR, 97381, by clicking on Google Maps.

Aug 19, 2008 - New Logo

Our friends at RiverGraphics, the company that publishes our monthly Oregon Federation News, have constructed a new digital logo for us. Our old logo had been scanned off of 15-year-old stationery, and it was time for an update. You can download the full-size logo (1350x467 pixels) here; it is about a megabyte. Right click on this link and pick "Save target as" or "Save link as" to save a copy on your own computer.

May 17, 2008 - Oregon Square Dance Week 2008

The Honorable Ted Kulongoski, Governer of the great state of Oregon, signed a proclamation designating September 21 to 27 as Oregon Square Dance Week.  If we do our job, you will be hearing a LOT more about the activities planned for this week.

On February 14, 2009, Oregon will celebrate its sesquicentennial, with 150 years of statehood. To help in the celebration, we will have one hour of square dancing in the Capitol Rotunda. Six squares will be allowed. For more information, contact Marilyn Schmit at marilynron@msn.com or 503-623-3479.

Sep 9, 2007 - New Officer Installation

At the September 9th meeting of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs, the 2007-2008 officers were installed, and began another year of service to the Federation. Each one of these dedicated volunteers deserves our thanks and support.

Jul 20, 2007 - Insurance Forms Online

The Notification of Event and Request for Certificate of Additional Insured forms that are key to the Federation's insurance program can now be filled out and submitted online. Note the links in the index to the left.

The Notification of Event form is used to notify the insurance chairman any time you have a dancing event that is not held at your regular hall. The Request for Certificate of Additional Insured form has the same purpose, but it is used when the location where you are dancing requires you to submit proof of insurance. Both forms should be submitted at least 45 days prior to the event. Kay can often get a certificate with less notice than that, but it just raises her blood pressure.

There is also a form for you to submit the names and addresses of new club members. Coverage is immediate, but please remember that you must send a check for $4.10 per dancer to Kay Rogers! We will be adding a form for submitting class members shortly.

Jul 15, 2007 - Summer Festival Report

The 49th annual Oregon Summer Festival, held in Seaside and sponsored by the Tualatin Valley Council, has just wrapped up. Chairmen Gary & Joyce Clark are to be commended for an enjoyable and nearly trouble-free festival. Final attendance stands at 471 dancers, about 12% above the 2006 Festival. The River City Dancers claimed the Wood Award for largest attendance by a non-sponsoring club, and the Valley River Dancers took the Chairman's Trophy for largest percentage of attendance by a non-sponsoring club.

Jan 28, 2007 - Changes from State Meeting

Several of the executive board positions changed today as a result of the reorganization required by the passing of Barbie Cooper. The information on the page is accurate as of today.

Jan 2, 2007 - Passing of Barbie Cooper

We have just learned of the sudden and very unexpected passing of the Federation President, Barbie Cooper. All of us mourn at the loss of such a vital and energetic part of our square dance community. We will post more information as we get it.

Jun 26, 2006 - Club Membership Information Form

One of the annual duties of the Federation is the production of the Federation's all-club state directory every summer. To get information for that directory, all clubs are asked to fill out a membership form in the spring. The form asks that you "type" the information and submit in quadruplicate. How many of you have a typewriter at home?

As a way to get around that, we have created an on-line version of the form that you can fill out. When you submit the form, we will create a PDF page that will be emailed to you. You can print off four copies of this and submit it to your Area Delegate. The form can be accessed by clicking here.

We have all of the clubs' tax ID numbers and 501(c) non-profit statuses pre-printed. Please check with your area delegate for the amount of the check you must provide with your form.

Mar 27, 2006 - TVC Practices & Procedures

The Tualatin Valley Council is in the process of drafting a set of practices & procedures. After a couple of months of revisions, we will be voting on adopting these procedures at the April TVC meeting. Contact Tim Roberts if you have questions, comments, or suggestions, or if your home council has a set of procedures that we might learn from.

Feb 3, 2006 - Federation Scholarship Program

The Federation is pleased to announce that it will be offering scholarships to one or more high school seniors who are members of a Federated club, and have shown a dedication to square and round dancing.

More information and an application form are available on our web site.

Jan 31, 2006 - Website for Dancer Pictures

Dancer Leonard Turner has started a new web site to allow dancers in the state to match a face to a name. He will put your photo onto the web site, along with your name and a short "hello" message. He will even take your picture for you, if you don't have a digital camera near by. Check the information below.

Dec 12, 2005 - Trailblazer Dance

The Portland Trailblazers gave us a wonderful publicity opportunity this weekend. They invited us to perform a square dancing demonstration as part of the pre-game activities for the December 11th game at the Rose Garden against the Houston Rockets. About 40 people attended public square dance lessons earlier in the day at the Rose Garden, and 3 full squares of dancers put on a show for the group of enthusiastic Blazer fans at the game. We hope to be back next year!

July 1, 2005 - National Square Dance Convention® Success!

The Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs would like to thank all of the dancers from around the world who came to Portland to be part of the 54th National Square Dance Convention® on June 22-25, 2005.

When the dust settled, we were pleased to have 8,006 dancers from every state and 16 foreign countries.

August, 2001 - Oregon Square Dance Week 2001

In years past, one week in the late summer was always designated as "Square Dance Week".  Recently, this tradition has been lost.  This year, we are bringing it back.

The Honorable John Kitzhaber, Governer of the great state of Oregon, signed a proclamation designating August 18 to 25 as Oregon Square Dance Week.  If we do our job, you will be hearing a LOT more about the activities planned for this week.  A special dance outside the state capitol building in Salem was held at 2 PM on August 18th.

In all, we had 875 square dancers from all over the state dancing at precisely 2 PM on August 18th.  We will be doing even better next year!