OREGON FEDERATION OF SQUARE & ROUND DANCE CLUBS
MINUTES OF MEETING dated January 30, 2011
Hosted by Emerald Empire Council
Oregon Room, Holiday Inn Express, Albany, Oregon

President Floyd Bard called the meeting to order at 9:30 am.

"PLEASE TURN YOUR CELLPHONES OFF OR SET THEM TO VIBRATE"

ROLL CALL

Officers: All present except 2nd Vice President, Barbara Tipton.

Appointed Officers: All present except Round Dance Screening, Barbara Schaumburg.

Delegates: All present except Lincoln-Tillamook, Wally Brunelle.

Active Goodwill Ambassadors: All present except Genevieve Churchill, Larry & Barbara Schaumburg.

INVOCATION: Immediate Past President, Lee Ashwill.

FLAG SALUTE: 1st Vice President, Ray Jones.

MINUTES: Dale Worthington: The Minutes were posted on the Website.

David Stutzman: I have submitted some corrections to my last report to Dale.

Dale Worthington: Yes I have received them and will make the corrections.

John Guches: I move that the Minutes be accepted as corrected. Seconded by Bill Rooper. Motion carried.

"THIS MEETING IS BEING RECORDED"

Floyd Bard: Before we get into the Officer Reports Lee Ashwill would like to make a motion.

Lee Ashwill: Mr. President I move that we seat Curt Lundine as the 2nd Vice President for this meeting only. Seconded by Dennis Marsh. There was no discussion. Motion carried.

OFFICER REPORTS

PRESIDENT: Floyd (Jill) Bard

Please check the agenda and the allotted time for your reports. If your report is not completed by the allotted time, then a 30 second extension will be allowed. Then, you will be asked to have the remainder of your report entered into the minutes as submitted to the Recording Secretary 1 to 2 weeks prior to the meeting. Length of Good of the Order will be kept to no longer than 10 to 15 minutes.

Thank you Mid-Winter Festival Committee for a very fun and eventful Festival.

1st VICE PRESIDENT: Ray (Zola) Jones

According to correspondence I have received, Lincoln/Tillamook Area will become inactive sometime this summer and will not be able to host the November 2011 State Meeting. We need to establish a method of replacing this meeting or canceling it. This will continue to be an issue we will have to deal with as other areas are unable to meet this obligation. 2011 Mid-Winter Festival: Larry (Carol) Reetz

At this time Mid-Winter Festival 2011 is in its final hours and it seems like the past 2½ years are a blur, from the initial planning to this culmination. Last year we had a celebration of 50 years of Mid-Winter Festivals and despite the economic downturn we had over 1,300 dancers attend. This year the dancers again showed up to enjoy the 51st Mid-Winter Festival with 1,126 total dancers (to include the committee) in attendance.

We had some computer program glitches with our Used Clothing area, but the team worked through the night, Friday night. By 5am they had the program up and running and the rest of the weekend it performed quite well with only another hiccup. Although there were a number of volunteers who had indicated they would be there to help, they never showed, but as always the square dancers came through to support the team.

Although the numbers appear good, for whatever reason many of these dancers only purchased 1 and 2-day ribbons. We still have some outstanding bills to pay, so at this time we are unable to say how this may affect the overall financial outcome.

We thank you all for attending Mid-Winter Festival. This committee works very hard to ensure that it is ready for you the dancers of Oregon and our visitors. 2011 Summer Festival: Tony Haskins

Well, at the last meeting I spoke on the USO Show and the people who put it together. That same report will be in the OFN coming out.

Today I will speak on the Summer Festival meeting and the OMSI Tours. Bob Bosch from SqDini Badges donated 50 dangles for the Youth/Teen Dance. He is also putting out advertisement for the festival on all his correspondence. A big thank you goes out to Bob and Carolyn for helping out.

Caller/cuer ribbons will be picked up at the registration table when caller and cuers arrive. Be sure and get one or Bill Rooper, Treasurer, will have you arrested and put in jail. His words! Annadale Rooper and Judy Gelmstedt-Bos are putting baskets together for the Trails End Dance and the Summer Festival itself. All clubs are bringing items for the baskets. The directories are available today at the State meeting. You may see me afterwards for pick up. We need to sell 23 T-shirts to hit the break-even point. We did that yesterday. We have made a profit on the directories.

The Portland Area Council, Summer Festival, is sponsoring bus tours to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, OMSI, on July 8th and 9th, 2011. Transportation will be provided by Rick and Penny Summers from the Checkerboard Squares.

You will have the opportunity to tour OMSI and climb aboard the Blue Back Submarine, which is one of the Navy's last non-nuclear fast attack submarines. There are many things to do including the Exhibit Halls and Science Labs, OMNIMAX Dome Theater, the Kendall Planetarium, OMSI science stores and cafes.

This tour will be for 3 hours. The bus will be at the Reynolds High School parking lot at 12:00 pm on Friday and Saturday, July 8th and 9th. It will load and then leave at 12:30 promptly. We will arrive at OMSI at 1pm and stay until 4pm. The bus will load between 4 to 4:30 pm and return to Reynolds High School no later than 5pm.

"Up Periscope"! The Blueback Submarine Tour - this tour takes 40-45 minutes. The cost is $5.75 per person. This is a discount rate for our group. The Submarine Tour can take 14 people at a time.

OMSI Tour takes up to 3 ½ hours and cost $12.00 per person, unless you are a senior and that cost is $9.00. Children 13 years old and under is also $9.00 each.

You may sign up for both tours, OMSI and the submarine. You can do a 40-45 minutes tour of the submarine and then complete the schedule with a 2 hour and 20 minutes tour of OMSI itself. Total price for both venues is $14.75.

Please pre-register for these events. You may also show up as a walk-on. There are limited seats, first come first served.

Please call our committee chairman for reservations. Her name is Sue Shoemaker and her phone number is 503-646-5924 or email her at glister.suzy@gmail.com or you may call Roberta and Jessie Elders, our co-chairs, at 503-651-2245 and/or email them at jrelders@hotmail.com.

Curt Lundine: The tour of the Blueback Submarine requires that persons taking the tour fit through a standard submarine hatch. It is not so much the size of your body, but the agility that makes it more difficult for older folks or folks that are a little handicapped.

2012 Mid-Winter Festival: Roger (Linda) Putzler

We had a last minute promotion to sell pre-registrations for next year, trying to get 250. Trying to give away a motel or RV spot. Unfortunately we still have them. We only did 140 3-day registrations and about 10 2-day registrations.

I distributed packets to each of the area delegates and we are asking your cooperation and assistance in getting those to the clubs in your area. In those packets is a letter to the club presidents and a number of pre-registration forms. In the letter to the presidents we are offering some more incentives.

Starting tomorrow, for every 100 dancers who pre-register, we will pick from that pool and refund money to one of the dancers from that 100.

If we get 750 dancers registered before September 15th, we will try to give away another motel room or RV spot.

And by September 15th, if club presidents can get at least 50% of their club pre-registered, as defined by the insurance numbers, we are going to give that club president two free registrations. So encourage your club presidents.

After September 15th we have some other incentives that are going to kick-in. We do have some incentives for new dancers and when classes get closer we will bring those out.

POOF Meeting Report: Ray (Zola) Jones

We did have a POOF Meeting. I don't believe that we discussed anything that needs to come up until we get to the next item on the agenda, which is OFN news with Vivian Fairburn.

Oregon Federation News: Vivian Fairburn

There are two OFN subscription dances currently scheduled. The Single Trees in Emerald Empire are sponsoring a dance on February 25th. Mid-Willamette Council dance will be March 6th sponsored by Braids & Braves, Timber Twirlers, and Rounds Are Us. There are several councils who have not yet scheduled an OFN subscription dance for this year.

The OFN is profitable through the first five months of this year. We have 825 current subscribers, which is an increase over the last few months.

There is always room for pictures and articles. This month we printed the contact list for the Area Delegates. It will be printed periodically as space permits.

The Caller and Cuer listing has become so popular that it now fills a whole page.

2nd VICE PRESIDENT: Barbara Tipton - Absent

Floyd Bard: Barbara Tipton has resigned as the 2nd Vice President. She is having health and medical issues and it is very difficult for her. She wasn't able to make it to Roseburg and I thanked her very much for the services she has done for the Federation, the Mid-Willamette Area and their clubs. Wished her their best and a speedy recovery.

RECORDING SECRETARY: Dale (Kathy) Worthington

I would like to take a minute to talk to the board about the job of Recording Secretary. The hardest part of the job, to be expected, is typing up the minutes. It has been made a little easier with all the board members submitting their reports prior to the meeting. I have submitted some suggestions to the Presidents that might make finding a nominee for this position a little easier.

Floyd Bard: I would like to add that we are talking about simplifying the minutes. We are going to go to bullet minutes and abbreviated minutes. We will keep a copy and see how we can work with the digital recorder, but we will keep the entire taped minutes archives for 5 to 7 years, however long is appropriate if we have to refer back to it. We want to simplify the requirements of the Recording Secretary and not have to put out a 28 and 30 page minute.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: Cheryl (Curt) Lundine

Thank you notes to: Umpqua Council, Frank & Rita Schuchard for hosting the State Meeting in Roseburg

Birthday Wishes to: Genevieve Churchill

Get Well cards sent to: Larry Schaumburg, Paul Nesbitt, Lynda Lindsey. Doryce Eggleston, John Feely, Ilana Widders, Lonna Bramhall, Dennis Marsh, Larry Schaumburg, Eva Moore, Kirby Goode, and Barbara Tipton

Sympathy card to: The Neese Family, Jerry & Doryce Eggleston, Oberdan & Vanessa Otto, and Lou Stovern

TREASURER: Larry (Carol) Reetz

Floyd Bard: Larry Reetz asked to be dismissed and I also have a letter of resignation that was given to me last night dated the 28th of January.

MEMBERSHIP: Sylvia Davis

I have no report.

Insurance/USDA: Kay (Jim) Rogers

I have distributed to all the delegates your insurance certificates for 2011. Please make note that you have them and make sure you have the ones that you need and they get to the proper person within your clubs. Every year I get a call from one or two clubs in a panic because they have no idea where their certificate is.

PAST PRESIDENT: Lee (Barbi) Ashwill

Delegates: This past year we only had three nominations for the Randall Award, that's criminal. I know for a fact that there is at least one deserving couple/single in each council who meet the criteria for this award. It is indeed an honor to be nominated for the Randall Award and even more of an honor to be the recipient. Please get the councils to send in a least one nomination. The nominee does not have to be from the council making the nomination.

You all have flyers announcing the Benefit Dance to be held at the Salem Square Dance Center in Salem, Oregon, on April 3, 2011 from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The callers for this event will be Daryl Clendenin, Les Seeley and Randy Dibble. The cuer will be Tami Helms. I am asking you to make a concerted effort to publicize this event. Our charity of choice, The Adaptive Riding Institute (H.O.R.S.E.S.) has been hit with the recession as well as everyone else. The contributions to this organization have been reduced, but their needs have not. I would like for the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs to set an all-time high with our contributions this year. Please let the dancers know that if they are unable to attend this event, they can still contribute by sending their check/cash to me and I will get it to The Adaptive Riding Institute. Also, please remind them that the checks should be made out to The Adaptive Riding Institute and can be claimed as a tax deduction if they file the long 1040 with the IRS. Following the dance, we take the callers, cuer and their spouses/significant other to dinner at a location to be identified. All dancers attending the Benefit Dance are invited to go to dinner with this group.

January has been a busy month for our household. Our National responsibilities saw us in Spokane, Washington, from January 13 to 16, 2011. The next Sunday, January 23, 2011, we flew to Kansas City, Missouri, to help them prepare a bid to host a National Convention. We returned on January 26, 2011, in just enough time to repack and get down here to Albany to enjoy this festival.

Kay Rogers: I just wanted to say that the Randall Award is a very prestigious award. We always give it to a couple who more than deserves it. In the last few years in an effort to cut down on the ceremony and the length of Mid-Winter ceremonies, the Randall Award recipient has been kind of just "Here you go, Thanks!" In Washington they hold dances to honor their Randall Award winners from their clubs and their councils. They show their pictures and they make a big deal about it. In Oregon somebody goes "Oh-eh" and I feel that we have lost a lot of that in our effort to speed things up. Some of our ceremonies are for a purpose and certainly Kathy and Tim do so much for us, so much of their time and efforts they deserve more than a 30 second hand-off.

Zola Jones: Thank you very much Kay that was a well-deserved comment and I really appreciate it, especially those of us from the Emerald Empire Council who knew Buddy and Nancy Randall. There are not very many people left here today that are active dancers that knew Buddy and Nancy Randall, for whom the award was named for. They were a wonderful couple and I think it would also be nice to have something printed, maybe, in the OFN about Buddy and Nancy Randall. You know a short thing about who they were and what all they did for this Federation and the dancers in the State of Oregon, so people would more appreciate and realize what this award really means.

Floyd Bard: I understand the issue here and I will make a comment about Buddy and Nancy. Jill and I had worked with them for a lot of years. The insurance was one of the biggest things I handed off from Buddy into the Federation. This is nothing to slight the award, but I will tell you right now. Buddy was the person that did not like to have the limelight placed on him. He did the work because he loved the organization, he didn't do it for himself. So if anybody rights an article on it about Buddy and Nancy you have to be very careful that was the type of people that both of them were. The recipient of the award is very special because it tells everybody, and it is like Lee said, this recipient did more behind the scenes. If you don't know Tim then you don't know how much work he spends at home, work, and other places doing things for the Federation. That was exactly what Buddy Randall was all about.

Janet Belcoff: As a recipient of one of the Washington awards in the past, Roy and I were honored by our own Evergreen Council and it is not the State Federation that has that dance and the award recognition. It is the home council that sponsors the dance or the recognition in our State. We have four awards and it is always the home council that does that award recognition in Washington State for each of those awards each year. So it is not the State Federation. They do the recognition at a State function State wide but then the advertising and the recognition is done in their home council area sponsored by the home council. Yes the recognition is done in the State magazine.

Floyd Bard: If you know, Buddy was Emerald Empire Area member and the Mid-Winter is predominately hosted and worked by the Emerald Empire Area and felt that was a part of the Emerald Empire responsibility to recognize our own at the largest venue that we could find so everybody in the State would recognize and be there to see the recipient of that award.

PARLIAMENTARIAN: Tim (Kathy) Roberts

Kathy and I would like to thank all the members of our square dance family for bestowing this honor on us. You know how in the airlines if you fly like 100,000 miles in the air they put you in a special club where you can go to a special lounge in the airport and get free drinks. I kept telling all the other Randall awardees that I was looking for the Randall lounge so I could go get some free drinks. So far I haven't been able to find that.

PUBLICITY/STATE REPORTER: Tony Haskins

To start the New Year off we have right here a 'Lil Bit O' Heaven in 2011. Thank you goes out to Larry and Carol Reetz and Roger and Linda Putzler for doing such a fine job this year with this venue. Like the rest of you who have been involved for a while these festivals are a lot of work.

Upcoming events to be aware of are as follows:

- Evergreen Council club the Buzzin' Bees, who are also a PAC club, is having their 42nd Annual Pie Eating Contest and Dance on February 5th at the Hazel Dell Grange at 7509 Hazel Dell Ave/. Vancouver, Washington. Information call Carol Zellmer at 360-695-1467.

- Oaky Doaks goes to the dogs. This is a reigning cats and dogs dance, February 19th at the Oak Grove Community Center at 14496 SE Cedar Ave., Oak Grove. Information please call 503-515-8182. This is to help seniors feed their animals. Bring dry cat or dog food.

- Checkerboard Squares will do a Black Light Dance on February 12th at the Rockwood Grange at 183rd and Stark Street in Portland. Scott Zinser and Ken Pratt calling and cueing respectively.

- Diamond Lake Square Dance Festival hosted by the Star Promenaders from Medford, Oregon. This will be on July 20-23, 2011 at Diamond Lake, Oregon. Callers will be Daryl Clendenin and Wayne Weaver and the cuers will be Christina Corelli and Kirby Goode.

- 11th USA West Square Dance Convention on August 18th - 20th, 2011, in Longview, Washington, at the Cowlitz Conference Center will be another great venue this year. The theme is "Cascade Promenade". Please mail registrations to Mr. Tim Roberts at 2011 USA West Square Dance Convention, 14985 SW 144th Ave., Tigard, Oregon, 97224-1541. There is lot of RV parking, motels and hotels, restaurants, and other activities for everyone to enjoy.

- And most of all don't forget the 2011 Summer Festival to be held in Troutdale, Oregon, July 8th, 9th, and 10th. There is a Trails End Dance on the 7th of July at the River City Dancers Club in Milwaukie, Oregon. I have been telling you for the last two meetings that the program books would be out at Mid-Winter. First, open the front page and it says JUNE 8th, 9th, & 10th. Please change that to JULY. The "x"s in the dance schedule means it's a round dance that is there. Tami Helms never got the cuers in to me for the book. She will make an insert and it will be there at the Summer Festival. More will come about this venue.

Floyd Bard: We had an agreement with Tony that he had a guest speaker that has been working on some issues in the Portland Area to effectively improve square dancing in marketing square dancing so I have allotted some time for the guest speaker.

Tony Haskins: Please welcome Jerry Brenden. He is going to talk to you about East Media Video.

Jerry Brenden: Thank you very much for having me. I started off in 1997 in Seattle doing videos. I did my program and another group did their program in another room and they talked about square dancing and round dancing. I was doing my talk about square dancing as they were going out the door and they come to me and say "what". I was telling about square dancing and showing square dancing and they say those are Western Dancers talking about square dancing and round dancing.

I was injured in Washington and I've come to Oregon. I've had my direction and I am glad to hear that Oregon and Washington are working together. I am doing my program with videos. Any videos that we can get on TV is not going to do the square dancing any wrong. It is just going to advertise it all the more. So I am working on it between now and next year for the next couple years trying to promote square dancing. It is the right time now to do it. The other issue I have is about kids dancing. Felt many tears last night, yesterday, and videoing one couple just having fun square dancing. It was hard for me to figure out how to do it but I was able to follow them all the way around the round dance floor. This last summer festival was really great and really good. A lot of people missed it. It is the first time that I know of that a family has come forward in square dancing and put on a festival for square dancing. This is a family function and America's dance. I have been intimidated with this "Dancing with the Stars". Salem has put on their stars as a single club there starting in Salem and I went dancing and put in on properly on videos where there is public television or whatever. But then my issue with the teens is the teens organization that is going on 60 years has given Oregon credibility for being part of their organization all over the United States.

Floyd Bard: Thank you very much. I would charge Tony as the Publicity/State Reporter to work with the proposals to get square dancing more visible on our local media, whether it is cable, local TV, or however we can work through a production/operation here and follow square dancing. I will say that the National Convention that we had in Portland, the last one, we did do some tapings and it was put on OPB and we did receive some benefits from that. So Tony you need to work with this gentleman and then come back and come up with a proposal on what we can do to promote that.

Vivian Fairburn: Oregonlive.com yesterday, Aloha Grange, Hoedowners, we had The Oregonian come out and what they did was a really wonderful article and video of us dancing and interviews with some of the callers and some of the people of the progression of the Granges. From where they use to be used as Grange Halls and agriculture to where they are now. They interviewed Bill and Bea Cook and I think if you guys just mark oregonlive.com and put in Aloha Square Dancing and it was a really big production he did.

Floyd Bard: This is all good to promote square dancing. I think this is where we are at right now and I think it is one of the main goals and mission statements of the Federation is to help promote square dancing and help the areas move in that direction, build our membership up in our new members. One of the issues is the attendance here at the Mid-Winter. We were about 1,126. We see a lot fewer RVs out there and one of the reasons is that a lot of the RV'ers are not coming down for the full 3-day festival. They may only come down for 1 day or maybe 2 days so they don't RV. But our youth and our younger dancers they are the ones that are excited and motivated and the new blood that is coming to our dances in the areas and to the Summer and Mid-Winter Festivals.

FINANCIAL ADVISOR: Bill (Annadale) Rooper

I have audited the records of the Federation Treasurer for the year ending August 31, 2010. I found no unaccounted for expenses and all the income appears to have been properly reported.

It appears that the amount of cash in the checking account is more than needed. I would suggest that a substantial amount be transferred to a time deposit. Although interest rates are quite low at this time, even 2% is better than nothing.

I have also prepared Form 990EZ and mailed it to the IRS before the deadline of January 15, 2011.

EDUCATION ADVISOR: Curt (Cheryl) Lundine

There were 35 attendees at the education seminar held here yesterday on 29 January. The panel presenters were: Bill Rooper, Financial Advisor; Tim Roberts, Parliamentarian; Barbi Ashwill, Committee Member; and Frank Schuchard, Umpqua Area Delegate. The attendees asked many pertinent questions about tax-exempt status for their clubs and areas. The panel provided information from many Revenue Service forms helping to clarify a difficult subject. This seminar will be presented once more at the next Summer Festival in Troutdale, Oregon.

Floyd Bard: I think the educational seminar that we put on and the Mid-Winter hosted for us was so applicable and those of you who attended I know it was confusing and I think through the discussion we clarified a lot of things and we know there will be follow-up information. Also I want to reiterate again what I said there is use your Federation officers and subject matter experts to ask questions if you still don't understand, because that is why we are here. I feel a lot easier and a lot more comfortable with how we can simplify and still stay within IRS's legal requirements of filing as incorporated or non-profit. They are different but there are different ways for other clubs to go and it was great information and I am sure the Summer Festival will clarify it even more.

HISTORIAN: Zola (Ray) Jones

We have set up the historian display in the front lobby as you come in the main doors at the convention center. We still need 'Histories' from many of the clubs and most of the councils; so everyone please keep reminding your clubs and councils to get their histories to us. Also any photos or articles of their special events. Thank you, your efforts do help as we've received one or two club histories since the November meeting.

STATE TRAILERS: Floyd (Jill) Bard:

The State trailers will be located at my residence, at 2000 River Loop 1, Eugene, Oregon. They may be reserved by emailing me at floydbard@live.com or, temporarily at Jfbard@earthlink.net or by calling me at 541-688-4172. One-month advance notice is required to assure the trailers will be ready for use. There are instructions in my President's Report in the OFN giving directions on how to get to my place.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Lee (Barbi) Ashwill

I would like to thank our Nominating Committee we were successful in getting at least one person for every position. We have the following nominations: Membership, Marilyn Schmidt, and Norma Sohn; Corresponding Secretary, Cheryl Lundine; Recording Secretary, Kay Rogers; Treasurer, Vivian Fairburn; 2nd Vice President, Tony Haskins; 1st Vice President, Curt Lundine.

Floyd Bard: I will now ask if there are additional nominations for any of our State offices from the floor? Hearing none we will accept your report.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

BMI/ASCAP: Ralph Lambert

I have turned in the annual invoice from BMI for the Federation's payment.

I have provided the Chair of this year Mid-Winter Festival with a memorandum on how to provide me the attendance information and the checks for the BMI and ASCAP fees.

YOUTH ACTIVITIES COORDINATOR: Kathy (Tim) Roberts

Thank you to the dancers and delegates of Oregon for selecting Tim and I to receive the prestigious Randall Award this year. We are deeply honored. It has been our honor to work with all of the great dancers in Oregon and we are looking forward to continuing to enjoy this great activity. It shocked me that Tim was speechless last night and I couldn't think of anything to say. Thank you very much. We were greatly honored that Lee and Barbi presented it to us.

It was great to see all of the kids who attended Mid-Winter this year. I think there were more youth here this weekend than I have see in the 19 years we have been attending Mid-Winter. The youth dance last night was well attended and a lot of fun.

Thank you Lee Ashwill and Al Wolf for volunteering to be on the Youth Committee with me, or should I say thank you Gail. Our committee met after the last meeting and discussed Ann Skoe's request for assistance in paying for four of her Canby Cloverleaf's membership dues. A check was mailed to Ann after the last meeting.

We received a request from the President of the Silver City Squares for assistance for four of their youth dancers with their Mid-Winter fees. The fees were sent directly to Mid-Winter, who mailed the ribbons to the dancers.

At the last meeting I asked the delegates to go back to their councils and ask for information on the number of youth that are in the different areas. I discovered that there appears to by a large group in South Coast and also in the Portland and Tualatin Valley Council area. So if I don't hear from any of the other councils, I will be talking to South Coast and then arrange one in the Portland/Tualatin Valley area so we can bring dances to where the kids are.

I talked to Liz and Bert Teitzel of Central Oregon about the possibility of them sponsoring another Youth Scholarship Dance this year. Liz is going to discuss the possibility with their council. If the council is in agreement we will schedule the dance immediately after the May State meeting so we can end the weekend dancing together for fun and for the youth.

Thank you to Central Oregon for their donation to the Youth Scholarship Fund. I thought that was really great.

There is still time for your graduating high school square dancing seniors to apply for their square dance scholarships. The deadline for the USDA Scholarship is February 1st.

The deadline for our OFSRDC's Scholarship is May 1st. Students that apply must be members of an Oregon Federated club for at least 1 year. For an application and requirement please go to the Federation Website.

Tony has reserved a spot for the youth to dance at the State Fair in August. Our callers will be KC Curtis and Jonny Roberts. When we know our date we will let you know.

If you have any youth that would like to attend any State supported square dance activity and cannot afford the fees or ribbons please contact me. We have scholarships available to help financially challenged youth dancers.

ORDTA: Ken (Dianne) Pratt

ORDTA presented a gift certificate to Past President, Dennis Smith, in appreciation of his 14 years of service as President.

Nominating Committee presented their slate of officers for the 2011-2012 year. Ballots will be sent out in February. At our next meeting we will vote on an amendment to allow voting via e-mail as well as U.S. mail.

ORDTA asked for volunteers to help Barbara Schaumburg in selecting rounds of the month.

Our featured cuers Pat and Joe Hilton were introduced and shared information about their dance program in Missouri.

ORTDA's next meeting will be Saturday, April 2nd in Springfield.

ROUND DANCE SCREENING: Barbara (Larry) Schaumburg

Oregon Round of the Month

April 2011
"GOING STEADY"
Choreo: Dorothy Sanders
Record: TNT 263
Chosen by: Umpqua Council

May 2011
"WALTZING AT MIDNIGHT"
Choreo: Dorothy Sanders
Record: HH EN017
Chosen by: Blue Mountains Council

All cuers were notified and thank you notes were sent out to the choreographers in appreciation of their dances.

CALLER ADVISOR: Vacant

WEB MASTER: Tim (Kathy) Roberts

Please remember to check your club and council listings on the Federation's website. I don't always get notified of changes in website and dance days. Some times people forget to renew their domain names. There are companies that sit around watching for expired domain names that grab them up and then put unsavory things on those website hoping that they will draw people who were looking for your old name.

I am working to automate more of the insurance process so we can do the entire thing online this fall. Hopefully, you'll just be able to log in with a password and update the roster directly. That should save a lot of transcription problems and will certainly simplify the insurance process.

STATE FAIR REPORT: Tony Haskins

This is the first letter I sent out to Eric Marcuse, Oregon State Fair Entertainment Director, regarding square dancing.

Hi Eric,

Happy New Year!! Hope the Christmas and Holiday Season went well for you this year.

Well, its time to make contact about dancing at the State Fair again this year. The Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs would like to dance 6 times this year if you can swing it for us. We would love to have Friday the 26, Saturday 27th, and Sunday 28th of August and in September we would like to have the 3rd, 4th, and the 5th, which is Labor Day. We may even be able to do Friday the 2nd of September if you need someone to fill a slot.

This will give you something to work with on your scheduling.

Over the last 3 or 4 years we have been doing this venue. I've seen a lot more crowd interaction and participation. Even the square dance clubs are lining up to have the pleasure of dancing at the State Fair. What a great venue!! Thank you and Sara for working so close and hard with me regarding this event.

Keep me informed. I'll be waiting to hear from you shortly.

Clubs wanting to dance so far this year are:

Bachelor 'N' Bachelorettes
Vera Black (contact) at 503-759-4562
cloudrunner@molalla.net

Tualatin Valley Council
Ferrous Steinka (contact) at 503-649-9487

Eager Beavers & Hoedowners
ferrous@frontier.com

Mid-Willamette Dancers
Barbara Tipton (contact) at 503-588-0962
barbaratipton@comcast.net

OFSRDC Youth/Teen Dancers
Kathy Roberts (contact) at 503-590-4187
Kathy@4roberts.us

The following clubs have also expressed an interest in dancing at the State Fair.

Salem Swingin' Stars
Harriet Livingston (contact) at
harrietlvng@gamil.com

Oaky Doaks
Eric Foxman (contact) at 503-659-2715
rohirrim@mymacmail.com

Swap & Swing
Bill & Annadale Rooper (contact) at 541-296-6335
baroop@charter.net

Umpqua Area Council
Frank & Rita Schuchard (contact) at 541-672-0964
schumart@hotmail.com

DELEGATE MEETING REPORT: Dennis Marsh (Lawanna Harper)

Yesterday we had a meeting about the 2012 Summer Festival. We went back through some minutes that indicated how long this has been talked about. Basically the bottom line was that we would like to see that we go back to those Trail Through Dances for going to the National in Spokane and how we can spread that out so it is easier for possibly Highway 97 and then come down the I-5 corridor.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

2012 Summer Festival: Kay Rogers

At the last meeting I was asked to do a proposed budget. What the budget would be if we decided to make this festival a Summer Festival. I have this budget that I handed out to all of the delegates and some of the officers at the front table.

Dancing will begin on Saturday morning at 10am and continue until midnight. Then on Sunday from 10am until 5pm or whenever people are tired of dancing. There will be some vendors.

There will be one dance floor for the weekend with varying sessions and workshops aimed at individual levels. The second room will be used for games such as bingo, poker, miniature golf, etc., which we will have prizes for. They will be organized games by Eager Beavers who are quite clever and experienced at that sort of thing.

The Crew will be our featured callers along with other callers and cuers who would be requested to join us. With one dance floor we don't have to have a lot.

We will have some vender dues and we will have some miscellaneous expenses. This is not a cut and dried budget but it gives you an idea of what we are going to do. We are going to do this but I offer to share this with the Federation as a Summer Festival. I realize that there are a variety of opinions on the matter and the only thing I do is request that each one of you vote how you really think this should go. Whatever wins works, it is okay either way. This might be a wonderful time to bring up the fact that the reason I did this is that no one offered to do a 2012 Summer Festival and that we had cancelled one a couple of years ago. I don't think we should continue canceling summer festivals. Also, I think we might want to consider we go to a venue much like Mid-Winter where they have the same facility the same week and the committee grows and varies year by year making it a lot easier. I happen to have, which is not the only thing available but it is convenient for this purpose, an agreement with the Seaside Civic and Convention Center to have that room that weekend until 2020.

Floyd Bard: My concern is that I don't want the Federation to push or force anything on to anybody. That is the last thing that we want to have happen.

Now before we can move on we have to have a form of a motion and then we can have discussion and then we will vote.

Ray Jones: I move that this Federation cancel all plans for the 2012 Summer Festival and support Washington's promotion of the National Convention. Seconded by John Guches.

Al Wolf: I think the voting should be silent.

Floyd Bard: We have a request for a written ballot. Is there any discussion at all about this motion?

Liz Teitzel: I took it to our council and our council felt strongly that we should support Washington State and the National Convention for 2012. It is like a local dance so we vote to cancel.

Floyd Bard: The report is that the dates are locked in and on the 14th and 15th there will be a dance at Seaside and it is a situation on whether or not the Federation will be involved with that dance and call it a combined dance with the Eager Beavers and the Hoedowners. We would then promote it through the Federation as a cooperative agreement as a combined Federation dance and the proceeds would be shared by the Federation.

A yes vote means no. This is a motion to not have the Summer Festival in concert in Seaside on July 14th and 15th. If no vote prevails we will open it up for discussion.

Ray Jones: The motion was to cancel the 2012 Summer Festival and support the National Convention in Washington.

This is actually repeating history. We did exactly the same thing in September. Then in November we voted to reinstate it because we had this generous offer and we needed to discuss it and have it presented. In September we said we would not do a Summer Festival. In November we said we would discuss it.

Floyd Bard: Discussion for my side of it is that there was enough information and a proposal that warranted further discussion. It is critical when we start canceling dances and we have to make sure that we are always doing that for the right reasons and if there are other alternatives we should always be open for the other alternatives.

Bill Rooper: Some years ago a motion was passed to finance the Federation based on the profits of the Mid-Winter and the Summer Festival and the interest that we earn on our money. If we have no Summer Festival we have reduced our income for the following. Our budget is all out of whack. I don't think we should pass this motion.

Floyd Bard: My budget that I proposed and was passed had to come up with the sources of income to pay for the expenses. I did have the income from the one festival but not the Summer Festival because it was cancelled. So, a good portion of my budget came from the interest and the funds that we received from our investments. Granted you would like to fund your organization on an annual basis with income and dues that you receive. So if we have to use those funds at these particular times, so be it. But, we have to keep in mind, good point Bill, is that if we have to do that very often, then we are setting a precedence and we need to have our festivals be successful and support them as a Federation and have them as much as we can. This is so we can maintain our organization financially as solvent as possible.

David Stutzman: I don't know who can respond to my inquiry, but it is not clear to me how canceling our Summer Festival supports a National Convention?

Floyd Bard: We have in the past gone dark on that date so we didn't compete. Some dancers are going to pick one or the other. Typically when the National Convention is this close and that is the only time that we have done it when it has been in Washington or in Oregon that we have done that. We never have done it at any other National Conventions because the percentage that would travel to attend the Nationals usually did not distract from the Summer Festival. But, this is a neighboring state that we have supported because they supported us and one of the issues here is that if we have a Summer Festival it might detract from the support of the National Convention.

Vivian Fairburn: I would like to comment on this. Did we not have a Summer Festival in 2005 put on by the Board and did we make money? (Response: No.) Okay, so we cancelled one and had one in 2006 that was put on by the Board. Now we have six festivals from the end of May through the end of August, including USA West. People are going to be going to these festivals and if you remember with Pendleton are we forcing people to say like Pendleton was a long ways away for people on the coast. So many clubs went dark in each council and there were some councils that there were no dances. So now these people had no place to dance at close to home and I think somebody wrote a letter to the editor. What we are saying is that we are trying to make decisions for dancers who are not going to Spokane and this is a month later. If this was a week later, I could see it. But this is a month later, a week after that is Diamond Lake, and two weeks after that is Central Oregon.

Floyd Bard: One of the comments that was made in the discussion was to promote the Trails Through Dances and have the areas do the promotion which would provide more dances in support of the National Convention.

Vivian Fairburn: Right, but this is a whole month later now.

Floyd Bard: I understand that, but it is two weeks. It is actually the end of June to the middle of July.

(In response to Jerry Brenden wanting to talk.) A point of Order! Discussion from a non-Federated member, I would probably like to hear what you've got to say but I am going to have to say, as the President, that being a non-member of the Federation I am not going to allow you to have a comment.

Ray Jones: The point of this that I am looking at is that we have hosted two National Conventions here in Oregon and we have got a heck of a lot of support out of Washington. I can remember on more than one occasion our leadership telling those folks that when they did it we would be there for them. I am kind of old-fashion I believe you should keep your word. Now the problem isn't the fact that there is two weeks difference in these. The problem is that this is the Oregon State Federation. We cannot tell any of the clubs what they can or can't do as far as when they hold their dances. But I don't like to see us in a position where we would be both promoting the National Convention and promoting a Summer Festival in which this organization is involved. In my mind it is just not right to do that. I checked on Map Quest, from Eugene it is 465 miles to Spokane. Now it is going to be quite a while before Oregon dancers have the opportunity to attend a National Convention that is that close. I think we should do everything in our power to promote our dancers going to this National Convention. I know that they can't all go, they never have, but we should do our best as a State Federation.

Call for the question!

Floyd Bard: Going to revalidate. A yes vote is saying that we will not do the Summer Festival in 2012. You will now cast your ballot on a piece of paper. We will count these ballots and give the results at the start of New Business.

RECESS

NEW BUSINESS

  1. Voting for 2012 Summer Festival: Floyd Bard

    The vote was affirmative we will not have a 2012 Summer Festival. Motion carried.

  2. Financial Advisor P&P changes: (Bill Rooper) - Floyd Bard

    This motion was heavily discussed Saturday and as Tim reported and as Bill reported they are not ready for that motion and those changes to be made because of the results of the discussion yesterday. So the May meeting it will come up on the agenda and the P&P changes will be presented at that time.

  3. Resignations of 2nd Vice President and Treasurer: Floyd Bard

    As the President and with the By-Laws and the Practices and Procedures the President is authorized to nominate replacements when there is a resignation in office.

    My replacement for 2nd Vice President is Curt Lundine.

    The other resignation is the Treasurer. The direct appointment is Barbi Ashwill. .

  4. USDA Delegate Appointments: Floyd Bard

    We have the National Convention for 2011 in Detroit, Michigan, and we have delegates that go there and votes for the Federation. Dale and Kathy Worthington have stepped up and said that they would be our delegates and representative.

  5. State Square Dance Directory Proposal: Ray Jones

    I move to contract with Best Impressions Printing in Eugene to digitally compose and print the State Square Dance Directory for the Federation. Seconded by Lee Ashwill. Discussion: Now that the State Directory is created in digital format, it has become a challenge for a 2nd Vice President to have the knowledge, skills, and software to construct the State Square Dance Directory. Here is the proposal to be effective July 31, 2011.

    - The 2nd Vice President will be provided a template in a word processing format on which to record ONLY the changes and corrections to the previous State Directory. The 2nd Vice President can coordinate with the OFN Editor for the inside and outside cover ads and the ballot pictures after the election.

    - Best Impressions will charge to assemble the directory. It is assumed that it may take them 8-10 hours the first year. It could be a little less or more as this would be the first time doing the work.

    - This outsourcing may increase the cost of the directory.

    - Best Impressions graphics designers have the knowledge, skill, and necessary software to accomplish this task.

    - This would provide continuity for the Federation from year to year.

    Lee Ashwill: Vivian, this question is for you. Where it says it may take 8-10 hours the first year and outsourcing may cause it to be increased 30 cents. Does that include that charge or would that be in addition and the Federation should pick that up so we don't have to charge our dancers quite so much for that publication?

    Vivian Fairburn: This would be in addition to that so we would incorporate it into the cost of the printing. It would just be one bill and it would be incorporated in the price of the directory. We think we can do it in 5 hours so it might be less we really won't know until this year. The word processing template I realized that we could do an Excel spreadsheet. The Vice President is still going to do the work. I am not taking away the Vice President's duties. It is still up to the Vice President to know who is in the clubs, the councils, and everything else. What I have been talking to for several years is pooling our resources, working together, creating a spreadsheet that you could just type in the changes and then have it go because the original is still there.

    Floyd Bard: I would like to make a comment that Best Impressions have done our directories. They have on file all of our stuff and so having them having knowledge of doing our directories in the past and also doing the program books for the Mid-Winter they know us better than any printing company in the State of Oregon. So with that knowledge I would say these costs are high and they would probably be lower.

    Ray Jones: I have heard one concern and that is the fact that when we do this we loose a certain amount of control over this directory. If in the worst-case scenario, say Best Impressions went out of business. We have to have a way of making sure we get copies of everything they have every year to keep it current.

    Vivian Fairburn: Okay, the same as with River Graphics. We have created ads, logos, and things and we are entitled to that because we paid for it. I have other alternative sources. Now if they go out of business Mid-Winter is going to be hit first before we are. Don't forget that this is a P&P thing. Right now this is a proposal. Now the control is there. It is a Publisher file and if at any time somebody needs that file, Best Impressions we paid for it we get it back.

    Floyd Bard: The motion is to contract with Best Impressions Printing in Eugene, Oregon, to digitally compose and print the State Square Dance Directory for the Federation. Motion carried

  6. Vendor Hospitality Room: (David Krause) - Floyd Bard

    We have a request that came from Dave Krause who is the 2012 Chairman for the Vendor Hospitality Room of where there is an incurring cost that has to be budgeted and paid for by his committee to supply the Vendor Hospitality Room. The reason for that is because the hosting facility for the National Convention in Spokane will not allow any outside food and very limited on what the vendors can and cannot do as far as having a place that they can have drinks and food. This cost is outside the cost of the typical registration and funds have to be raised. There are at least two, maybe three, other hospitality rooms that are in a similar situation. If we are expected to put money into it, is this a direct benefit to the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs and to our dancers and to promote square dancing in the State of Oregon?

    Mike Duyck: I move that the State Federation support the 61st National Convention by assisting them with the Vendor Hospitality Room. Not supporting totally directly, but working through the councils and the clubs to involve the dancers in supporting the Vendor Hospitality Room through contributions in the State of Oregon. Seconded by Dennis Marsh. Discussion: What I want to see is our dancers, all the way down to the bottom, being brought in to this. The State could match it similarly or something like that but just to get our dancers involved so they know the 61st is being supported by them and us but by them primarily.

    George & Sharon Broom: Sharon and I are the Business Chairman for the 61st National Square Dance Convention. We have items that we need to be paid for outside of our regular budget for the National. One is the hospitality. We have a letter that is going around to try to help to get funds for us. We would like if the clubs or individual dancers would like to contribute we would like that to help us for these different things that we have.

    Lee Ashwill: I would like to address what George said. Jim Burnside is a very active fellow and he wants to do the very best he can for the vendors. The vendors contribute a whole lot of money to these Conventions. Without them we would not be able to put those on. He wants to give them the best he can in the hospitality area so they will feel really good about coming up to Spokane. I would like to see this from a dancers standpoint. Get this information out there and any of the dancers that want to make a contribution to it should do so through the council and the councils can bring it back.

    Bill Rooper: It seems to me that since Washington helped us during the 1994 Convention and didn't get any reimbursement or any share of the profit, the Federation kind of owes Washington some money. I would suggest that we could pay the whole thing out of Federation accounts.

    Barbi Ashwill: I think it would be really easy to go online, find an apple, and it can go on the front of a coffee can or whatever you want. We can then start getting these out to our individual clubs and bring the money back at our next meeting. But, equally as important, they need registrations so it is not just a matter of helping fund money for the hospitality for the venders, they need Oregon dancers to register for that Convention.

    John Guches: I agree with Bill because the money we have in our account right now actually comes from the majority of the Oregon dancers. What better way to show the Oregon dancers that we are supporting them by using a little bit of that money to support a convention that they can go to!

    Dennis Marsh: I also agree with Bill and John just in the idea that the dancers are still paying for it. The one addition that I would put on that is instead of putting it to just one hospitality room that we put it for all hospitality rooms because they are all going to need help too instead of sponsoring one area.

    Floyd Bard: The motion was directly for the Vendor Hospitality Room and I think where we are at right now is we are looking for support. I will tell you being fiscally responsible this is not in my budget. Now, I don't want to use the budget as an excuse because we could go in and modify budgets. I see an issue here where we want the dancers to feel like they are part of this. The actual getting the dancers to register and wearing the ribbons and promoting the National Convention, is probably the most important thing. Take the delegates and take it to your areas and have somebody put together the can and have the delegates actively make sure their clubs are willing to take this can or cans and put it in to their hall to collect money for donations. I would say the motion is for the Federation to actively support that, not financially support it, but to actively support it at this time. If later on it is determined, because 2012 is a little ways away, it hasn't happened then maybe Ray can look at the budget and look at maybe doing the financial portion of his budget.

    Lee Ashwill: I feel if the dancers are making their monetary contributions to this they are going to absorb some pride in ownership and that may very well generate registration forms.

    Vivian Fairburn: How much is it?

    Floyd Bard: The motion did not talk monetary, I want to make this perfectly clear. The motion is asking for our support. We are supporting the vendors but I think if we say that the cans can just say hospitality room the money we collect would be, do we want to modify the motion and say for hospitality rooms instead of specific vendor hospitality? I will entertain an amendment to the motion.

    Mike Duyck: So moved. Seconded by Dennis Marsh.

    Floyd Bard: The motion has been amended that it is to support hospitality rooms and that we will give the support from the Federation for supporting the collection of funds and there will be no funds coming directly out of the Federation budget. Amendment carried. Motion carried.

  7. Callers Grant Request: Floyd Bard:

    We have a request for a person in the Blue Mountains area that attended Mike Sikorsky's Callers School in California, and has graduated and it is after the fact. As much as I think we would want to support this, again it didn't meet the initial criteria of an application prior to and setting forth the requirements for the grant. Because we have already denied it once after the fact I am hesitant to say how am I going to allow this to happen unless we basically decide that there is another criteria of which the State Federation can give individuals money out of our budget.

    Kay Rogers: Last summer when we were working on the Summer Festival over there and trying to get callers and dancers they approached me with the fact that they didn't have any callers in their area and that was one of the reasons they were having trouble dancing. I suggested to them that we had this program where we could help a caller. This young lady is now a caller for the Muddy Frogs and she went to callers school. She is now asking for some reimbursement for some of her expenses.

    Ray Jones: I move to disapprove this request for funds because it just does not meet criteria.

    Tim Roberts: The right thing for you to do is move to approve it then argue against it. We cannot do a negative motion.

    Lee Ashwill: I move that we approve this request to help this caller with her financial obligation from the callers' college. Seconded by Gary Sohn. Discussion.

    Floyd Bard: What are the funds? How much is the money that they are requesting? It is not clear, they said she had out of pocket expenses for school, airfare, and car rental. I would approve that some of these funds should have come out of her own pocket and as there were other sources that helped her so I would say that I would approve the amount...

    Dennis Marsh: Point of Order. The President is making his judgment on the council and should not be presented that way.

    Floyd Bard: We need to amend the motion to include the amount that you think is fair.

    Lee Ashwill: I would like to amend that motion to include the costs that this caller incurred to a maximum of $267.00. Seconded by Gary Sohn. Discussion.

    Steve Murphy: It is my understanding that the Federation has two purposes one is to provide insurance and the other one is to support its dancers. If because of the letter of the law we are not supporting the dancers then I would suggest that you do not advertise that the Federation supports the dancers.

    Lee Ashwill: I disagree with Mr. Murphy because if we do pay a portion of this, which I was paying half of the callers school and half of the air transportation. By doing that we are supporting square dancing in the State of Oregon.

    Liz Teitzel: I thought it was pretty clear when they talked about the grants, the process to go through. Maybe there is another way we can support giving her some money for the tuition. I also thought the way the grant worked it was partial reimbursement for some of the things.

    Ray Jones: What I was a little bit concerned about is setting a precedent of doing something like this after the fact. I would like to see us support this caller and her request but we need to send a strong message out there that we may do this once but not to expect it in the future. We can help them but use the process.

    Kay Rogers: An article could easily be written and submitted to the Oregon Federation News about our callers assistance program and what the guidelines would be.

    Floyd Bard: My feeling is that the section in the P&Ps needs to be, not totally thrown out because we need to know how money is going to be done, reduced and remove all the requirements. I would rather see a request come to State Federation and if it is so applicable and it could be approved at that meeting and if he needed to do research it would take no more than one more meeting to approve the funds. I think the issue is the process, the timing it was over a year ago she attended the school, and how it was brought up to our attention.

    I would like to vote on the amendment. The vote is to amend the motion to include the $267.00 limit. Amendment carried.

    The motion is to approve the request to help this caller with her financial obligation from the callers' college. Motion carried.

  8. Trail Through Dances: Dennis Marsh

    Were you going to talk anything about Trails Through Dances since I brought that up?

    Floyd Bard: I think when we brought that up we said that we would support the Trails Through and it is up to the areas to go to their particular areas and you have to work through the 2012 Chairman on any Trails Through Dances.

    John Guches: How soon do we have to have information back to you to have that included in the National Squares about Trails Through Dances?

    Don Pruitt: The Trail Through Dance can be advertised in our program book. National Squares will advertise it for us. Our Program Chairman is the one that has a Trail Through Committee that works on this.

    Floyd Bard: The question was Don, what date would you like to have the Trail Through Dance submitted?

    Don Pruitt: February 2012 is our deadline when we need that in. Anything that you would like in Oregon we can put it in there that is no problem. Our Program Chairman, Kenny Freeman, has a committee that handles Trail Through Dances. Kenny and Patty Freeman live in Puyallup, Washington, the number is 253-820-9237, email address is kfree001@aol.com.

  9. State Trailers: Bill Rooper

    We in the northern part of the State have a problem with having the state trailers down in Eugene. What I am suggesting is splitting them. Leave one with you and move one closer to the metropolitan area.

    Floyd Bard: Right now I am not going to entertain the fact that we do that. If you want to off-line come to me as the State Trailer Coordinator and come up with a proposal I will switch hats and we will talk about it.

DELEGATE REPORTS

Blue Mountains Council: David Stutzman

Elkhorn Swingers: The Elkhorn Swingers is continuing their activity dancing to records. They have also invited guest callers to call some dances this winter. There were some club members and people from the community interested in nightclub dancing. One of the club members was willing to teach a class and it has been a success with 20 to 25 participating.

LaGrange Star Promenaders: The Star Promenaders had a good time at the Christmas Dance hosted by the Elkhorn Swingers. This month has been the start of beginner lessons. The club is continuing sprucing up the Grange hall. Improvements are in the works for the front porch and for the vestibule.

Muddy Frogs: The dedication of our callers is unbelievable! The Muddy Frogs' new caller, Tina Allaway, recently secured a new job which has her working 6-days a week. She has continued her commitment to the club with only a slight change in the schedule. Sundays are a workday for her so the 3rd Sunday dance has been rescheduled for 3:00 pm.

Zola Jones: I have a question for the Blue Mountains Council. I think you received an email or a copy of emails that I sent to a gentleman by the name of Richard and Lee Ashwill did. He had an old telephone type turntable and speaker. Did he ever get in contact with you about getting that to the Federation?

David Stutzman: Yes contact was made and that is something I forgot to accomplish.

Zola Jones: Okay, if you would stay on it we would appreciate if you can get it here for him. I didn't know if he had been able to get in touch with you or not.

Central Oregon Council: Liz (Bert) Teitzel

My report will stand as submitted. What I want to talk about is the State meeting in May. It was originally going to be held at Powell Butte Community Center. We were not able to get an agreement on the cost for that facility. It was very expensive so we changed it to be at Pine Forrest Grange. I have put flyers in everybody's things. You will notice it is location, location, and location, not Powell Butte. So that is where the meeting is going to be held and there is not RV parking at that location but we will be getting information out about RV parks and motels.

I am pleased to announce the Central Oregon Council is hosting the May meeting. It will be held on May 15th at the Pine Forrest Grange in Bend, Oregon. On the Saturday, May 14th, the Council will host a potluck at 5:30 and the Sagebrush Shufflers will host a dance starting at 7:00. These will also take place at the Pine Forrest Grange in Bend. This is a change of location from the Powell Butte Community Center where we originally planned to hold these events. Also that weekend the Swinging Mountaineers would like to invite delegates and State officers and all Plus dancers to join them on Friday the 13th of May for their birthday dance. So come over early for the meetings and dance to Jim Hattrick and help them celebrate at the Pine Forrest Grange.

Lessons are underway for Central Oregon Dancers.

- The Bachelor Buttes are giving Mainstream lessons on Thursday nights at the Pine Forrest Grange.

- The Red Rocks are giving Beginning square dance lessons on Sundays at the Redmond Grange.

- The Swinging Mountaineers are giving Plus lessons/workshops on Sundays at the Pine Forrest Grange.

- The Sundown Round Dance Club will be offering round dance lessons later this spring after all the square dance lessons are done.

Special Dances:

- Sagebrush Shufflers' Birthday Dance - March 12th, Powell Butte Community Center, George & Patty Hermann calling and cueing.

- Bachelor Buttes' Luau - April 2nd, Pine Forrest Grange, Dan Preedy calling and Ken Pratt cueing.

- Central Oregon Council Dance - April 30th, Pine Forrest Grange, Les Seeley calling and Tami Helms cueing.

- Swinging Mountaineers' Birthday Dance - May 13th, Pine Forrest Grange, Jim Hattrick calling and cueing.

Floyd Bard: I need to ask a question. Is Eastern Oregon an active council at this time?

Kay Rogers: Yes, they have paid their corporation dues they have paid their insurance they are a member in good standing and he has a report.

Eastern Oregon Council: Jim (Kay) Rogers

The boys and girls of Eastern Oregon Council have decided to stay in the Federation and hope to hold one or two dances a year. There might not be a dance now until April 2012. We will let you know.

Emerald Empire Council: Dennis Marsh (Lawanna Harper)

The Emerald Empire is having a benefit dance April 30th on the fifth Saturday. The callers and cuers from our area are donating their time for the Habitat For Humanity.

The other is something the Wolf Pack is going to try to do because February is Presidents Day. All presidents current with a badge gets in to our dance free the third Friday of the month in February. We will be in Hall "A", the front hall and we invite everyone to come. And you can be a National/State officer too.

Interstate Highlanders Council: CeCe (Sarge) Glidewell

The Interstate Highlanders got 2011 off to a great start with our New York New Years Eve Party and breakfast buffet. Larry Sprout called a fun dance and did a good job of counting down to "Midnight". Sarge Glidewell cued pre-rounds at 7pm with a nice teach and rounds between tips. There were lots of sparkles on the clothing and in smiles. We had some non-dancing visitors for breakfast as well.

Klamath Country Squares: The KC's had a very productive business meeting in the back room of the local Winger Sports Bar on January 10, despite the noise from all the Duck fans in the Sports Bar. Our officers for 2011 are: President, Doty DeGarmo; Vice President, Bob and Carol Potucek; Treasurer, Carol George; Secretary, Sue Fisher. The KC's new officers were installed at the January 15th dance. Plans for our October 2011 Potato Festival are underway. Workshops have resumed to the normal schedule weather permitting. Roger Putzler is our caller for the Potato Festival and Christina Corelli and Kirby Goode are the cuers.

Lincoln-Tillamook Council: Wally (Sandi) Brunelle - Absent, No report received.

Mid-Willamette Area Council: Gary (Norma) Sohn

Here we go again, another Mid-Winter Festival and the start of another year of square dancing.

Mid-Willamette Area did not have a meeting in December, but here are the highlights of what went on in our area.

- Mid Willamette clubs did a great job of getting in their insurance forms on time, which greatly pleased Kay Rogers.

- Over the November/December period we had several members sick or recovering from surgery. Our Council President, Bob Wachter, was recovering from shoulder surgery while our own Barbara Tipton was recovering from foot surgery and health problems and Jack Herring (IWW) was in for heart surgery.

- Our Fall Festival went very well with 83 dancers showing up. We had six callers and six cuers from the floor.

- Sandy Harris of the Caller's Co-Op announced that the Caller's Co-Op has decided to discontinue their dances in Salem due to lack of attendance.

- Since some of our clubs have to schedule their callers a year in advance and needed to know when they would be hosting their New Dancers Dance, Mid-Willamette Area decided to go ahead and schedule these dances a year in advance.

- We had many Christmas dances and several New Year's Eve dances to choose from this year. It really made it hard to choose! They were all great!

- If you haven't had the chance to dance to a new caller group called "Girls Night Out", you have really missed out! They consist of Jackie Gale, cuer; Nadya King, newcomer; Sandy Harris, caller; and Charlotte Jeskey, caller.

- On March 6th Mid-Willamette Area is hosting an OFN Subscription Dance at the same time as their New Dancers Dance, all in hopes of getting many of our new dancers to buy a subscription and start their new dance career off on the right foot. Three of our clubs will be hosting this dance for the council.

- I polled all the clubs in our council as to their feelings on the lack of a Grand Parade at Mid-Winter. All agreed that standing on the floor for such a long time was a real pain, but would like to see some form of recognition of each of the clubs attending and came up with some great ideas to be presented to new years chairman.

- I also polled the clubs on their feelings on the Federation having a Summer Festival in 2012. All felt that there are lots of festivals that time of the year and people will attend those that they can afford, but feel that we should have our own Summer Festival regardless of other festivals. We do not want to lose another Summer Festival like two years ago!

- Open officer positions on the Oregon Federation board was announced and everyone was asked to consider putting their name in for one of those positions.

Portland Area Council: Al Wolf (Gail Domine)

Most clubs will be completing lessons within the next few weeks and will be graduating their dancers. Hopefully, many will join their clubs. A few clubs started lessons this month.

The PAC Christmas dinner meeting held on December 20th at the Spaghetti Factory in Clackamas was well attended. There was lots of good food and comrade.

The PAC mad a profit and the clubs made the same total amount for the sale of entertainment books. Each club's profit varied depending on the number of books they sold. A total of 101 books were sold. In 2009 there were 197 books sold. Many organizations are selling these books and it is getting harder each year to sell them.

The Nominating Committee is hard at work to secure a slate of officers for 2011-2012.

The Country Capers will have their annual Elvis Dance on Saturday, March 5th with "Elvis" Mark Wheeler calling.

The Recycles Plus Club will have Tony Oxendine calling a "Plus Fest" weekend of dancing on March 25th and 26th.

The winner of the drawing for one free admission to the 2011 Summer Festival was Ed Cummings, immediate Past President of the River City Dancers.

The Tri-Council Dance will be April 30th with Randy Dibble calling.

The PAC is selling "T" shirts for the Summer Festival. Any size or color you desire. However, only pink and light gray are available. If interested see me after the meeting. I have a supply of some sizes.

The next fifth Friday dance will be April 29th with Bill Lundin calling and Tami Helms cueing.

We are working hard to finalize our plans for the 2011 Summer Festival to be held in Troutdale, Oregon, on July 8th through the 10th.

If any council needs some State Directories I do have some. Some of the clubs after they ordered decided not to get as many. I have quite a few extra if you need they for your clubs.

Rogue Sis-Q Council: John (Glory) Guches

Happy New Year to all and wishing everyone a good year! Thank you to Larry Reetz and his staff for an excellent Mid-Winter Festival.

Charlie Browns celebrated their 43rd Birthday December 4th and 5th with a great dance Saturday night, Dan Nordbye calling and Ed Phillips cueing. Sunday morning everyone enjoyed a pancake breakfast with a gospel dance. They sold ribbons for it and they had five squares pay for both days. Dan Nordbye and Denny Lantz called the dance. From reports I am getting back about it, it was a great time. It is something for Birthday Dances people can think about.

During the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to New Year's, all our clubs; Charlie Brown Squares, Circle N Square, Lantz Dantzers, Ronde' Vouz, and the Star Promenaders held season theme dances for the holidays.

Each of the clubs classes is doing well. Most of the clubs are gearing up for new classes, which will start in January.

Glory would like me to say thank you for all the well wishes. She has been down sick all weekend. Looks like I will be taking her to the doctors when I get home.

South Coast Council: Cathy (Ron) Woodworth

The New Year's Eve Dance on the South Coast was hosted by the Sets in Order in Coquille this year with local callers and cuers sharing the program. Cathy Houston also came and taught and led some line dancing during the evening. Everyone had a wonderful time.

Saints 'N Aints: Lessons are almost finished and several of the new dancers plan to attend Mid-Winter Festival. All their dances are being held at beginner level except their one Plus dance a month, which is at beginning Plus level. Round dance lessons have started again. The 3rd Saturday in February will be their annual 50-60s dance.

Sets in Order: Lessons are about to end with 12 new dancers graduating, several planning to attend Mid-Winter Festival. The club is looking forward to some fun changes with all the young new dancers joining the club.

Beachcombers: Are still dancing the 1st Friday of each month with guest callers and cuers. For the January dance they had a potato bar before the dance and had a great turnout of four squares. The February dance will be a Tailgate Party with tailgating food before the dance and everyone decked out in their favorite team t-shirts. Lessons are set to begin in February if there is enough interest.

Sunset Empire Council: Kathy (Dale) Worthington

I have no report.

Tualatin Valley Council: Mike (Sally) Duyck

On Saturday, April 30th, 2011, Tri-Council will host the 5th Saturday Dance "April In Paris". The feature caller is Randy Dibble and Jackie Gale as cuer. Connie

Clark will have a waltz class at the Aloha Grange beginning Monday, February 7th at 7:30 pm. Randy Lewis is teaching Phase II - III rounds on the 2nd and 4th Thursday and Sunday afternoons with higher-level rounds later on Sunday. Daryl Clendenin will be teaching all position Plus on Friday nights.

Coast Swingers: Next scheduled dance is the Sweethearts' Swing on 12 February 2011, with club caller Michael McMuller, 7:00-9:30 pm squares with workshop. All dancers are asked to please bring non-perishable food items to the dance for the food bank.

Get your tickets for the Shamrock Swing with national caller Wade Driver and regional cuer Connie Clark on Saturday, 12 March 2011. Two fun dances, space is limited to 13 Mainstream squares.

Eager Beavers: Dances are on Mondays at the Elsie Stuhr Senior Center. Monday holidays at the Aloha Grange.

Hayshakers: Square and round dances are suspended until further notice. Plus dancing on 2nd and 4th Fridays in Swenson with Harvey Hunsucker.

Hoedowners: New dance format is Plus with Intermediate rounds from 7 to 8pm. Mainstream will be 8 to 10pm with phase rounds. Dances are: February 12, "Romance with Chocolate"; February 26, 6:15 pm dinner before dance, Anniversary Dance, Daryl Clendenin and Randy Dibble; March 26, "Rock n' Roll" dress to the '60s and '70s era.

Mix 'N Mingle: Plus dance nearly every 1st and 3rd Saturday at the Winona Grange in Tualatin, Oregon. Caller is Randy Dibble and cuer is Jeanine Norden. Normal dance schedule is 7:30 to 8:00 pm upper level rounds; 8:00 to 8:30 pm phase II & III; plus dance from 8:30 to 11:00 pm.

R Square D: Lessons will start Wednesday, February 2nd at 7:00 pm. Craig Abercrombie is offering plus at 6:00 pm running for 16 weeks, which will include all position. From 7:00 to 8:30 pm will be basic and from 8:30 to 9:00 pm will be Mainstream. New set of lessons start every 8 weeks.

Dance schedule is 2nd Friday and 4th Saturday Plus dancing 7:30 to 7:45 pm, Mixed level rounds 7:45 to 8:00 pm, Mainstream dance 8:00 to 10:00 pm at the Longview Square Dance Center. February 2nd will be all position dance class and February 11th Valentine Dance.

Sunset Promenaders: Dances are on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays. The dances on the 1st Saturday start with a Mainstream workshop at 7:30 pm. Dances on the 3rd Saturday have Pre-rounds from 7:30 until 8:00 pm. Both are followed by a Mainstream dance until 10:00 pm and then refreshments. Dances are at the Hillsboro IOOF Hall.

Ken Pratt is the cuer for the Promenaders and will have Phase III waltz classes on Sundays. The first dance will be February 19th.

On February 5th is Cupid's Capers Dance and on February 19th the Teddy Bear Dance.

Sunset Promenaders have donated to the scholarship fund this period.

Toe Draggers: Classes began on Sunday afternoons in January 2ith 23 students at the first class. They dance on the 1st and 3rd Fridays 8:00 to 10:15 pm. Pre-rounds start on the 1st Friday from 7:30 to 8:00 pm. On February 4th, is the "Western" Dance, February 18th is the "Be Good to Your Heart" dance, March 18th, the Ice Cream Social/Sock Hop, and April 1st the April Fools dance.

Tri Squares: They dance on the 1st Saturday and 3rd Friday of each month at the Tigard Grange. Square dance or casual attire can be worn. Plus dance is from 7:30 to 8:00 pm with Mainstream and rounds from 8:00 to 10:00 pm with the last tip Plus. Caller is Terry Halley. Gained 14 new members from the fall Mainstream class. 2-step round dance classes started on January 9th with Jackie Gale as the teacher. Last Sunday, the 17th, they had 25 people.

Valley Squares: Their 62nd Anniversary dance will be on Friday April 8th with Mike Sikorsky calling and Connie Clark cueing. Plus and Phase III rounds will be from 7:00 to 8:00 pm. Mainstream and Phase II rounds will be from 8:00 to 10:00 pm. Admission is by ticket only.

New club caller is Chuck Garner, who is teaching Mainstream classes as of January 4th. February 5th is the "Carribean Dreaming" dance and February 19th is the "Cherry Pie" dance.

The Hayshakers are list as suspended for all Mainstream dances currently, but are dancing Plus the 2nd and 4th Fridays in Svensen with Harvey Hunsucker.

Umpqua Area Council: Frank (Rita) Schuchard

You know since I have been on the council here I have felt kind of discriminatory here. I am always last. Which is the furthest away from the coffee and the food. So I think one of two things should be done. We reverse the order like they do in class so the kid with the last name doesn't get it last or we are going to change the name of our council to the AAA Dancers of Umpqua Valley. Obviously that is in the P&Ps correct? (Response from Floyd: Actually it is in the minutes too.)

Thank you so much. I am going to have a brief report because I asked for about an hour and he said that I could have about one minute. I wanted to give a quick summary on the dances we tried this year. I did mention that we had been giving free lessons all the way from October through now. Free dance lessons and we have been having some bad turnouts over the last couple of years. I was against it but right now I think it has worked out well. We still have 18 to 24 new dancers coming to the Buckeroos. I had asked, regarding the grant money for promoting square dancing, if there would be any grant money available if we had to pay the callers to do free dances for the areas that are trying to get new dancers because we actually had 40 people show up and we are still maintaining 18 to 24. If there was a reason to promote square dancing, sometime the effort doesn't apply, but in this case it would be. I am just wondering if the Board would consider something like that.

Floyd Bard: I think in the process that we are working with grants and to promote square dancing I think that is totally appropriate. So if you put together a proposal and bring it in it can be put in a motion.

Frank Schuchard: We just had a New Dancers Dance, which was successful. Star Promenaders from Medford sent almost a square of dancers. Eighteen students attended plus our regular dancers. The council donated two ribbons to Mid-Winter Festival. Our class should be completed by the end of February.

Buckeroo: Their 59th Birthday Dance will be on April 2nd with Dale Roberson calling and Neil Koozer cueing.

One of the annual fund raising projects is the annual Barn Sale, which is happening next month.

They have anywhere from 18 to 24 students showing up for lessons. A great class with both Dale Roberson and Don Marshall instructing.

Dancing Friends: No report.

Pioneer 'N' Petticoats: No report. They have been struggling to find a place to hold their dances in Canyonville. They are now dancing at the VFW Hall in Tri-City.

Timber 8's: Their 31st Birthday Dance will be on May 14th with Denny Lantz calling and Claude Butler cueing.

ACTIVE GOODWILL AMBASSADORS

Genevieve Churchill:

Absent, no report received.

Bill & Annadale Rooper:

There has not been a lot happening at the Rooper household over the past months. We've watched it snow then freeze, and then rain, and blowing dirt with trash and leaves, and some beautiful warm sunshine. We've enjoyed watching the birds at the feeders with the various kinds flitting around. Spring is around the corner, I hope.

Travels have been limited but we have attended the PAC meeting and the Christmas dinner and the meetings with the 2011 Summer Festival Committee. The ice cream socials after the meetings hit the spot.

Thanksgiving with the son in Washougal and Christmas Eve with everyone at home was warming. We saw the New Year in with the annual Gorge Dance and slept most of the rest of the day. The Christmas tree and decorations came down that day.

Our regular dances have been fun. Usually, the January 4th Saturday dance has been cancelled because of Mid-Winter. This year there will be a casual Plus workshop to catch up on moves we don't do very often. Non-perishable food items and baby supplies will be collected for St. Vincent DePaul at this dance.

Gorge dancers will gather at Clem's home in the hills back of Goldendale for a fun/work party where we will be making key chains to be given to guests at a luncheon held at the Pre-Convention in Spokane.

Bill is studying the AARP Tax Program and I am collecting money for the Wasco County Pioneers.

We have been running up and down the gorge until we know every corner there is on that highway. But it has been fun and we will continue to do so as long as we can.

Larry & Barbara Schaumburg:

Absent, no report received.

Steve & Valerie Murphy:

December was a busy month for us. It started with the Charlie Brown's 43rd Birthday Dance with Dan Nordbye calling in Grants Pass. A lot of dancers showed up from all the clubs in the Rogue Sis-Q Council and attendance was very high. During the dance I heard a loud thump and looked over to see Maxine Center lying on the floor. The square that John Gutches was dancing in immediately surrounded her and did the proper procedures. Dan stopped calling and an ambulance was called. She was released from the hospital later that night with just a bump on her head. This should remind us all about educating new dancers in our clubs about the proper procedures for an incapacitated dancer in a square.

The next week we were in Bend cueing a dance for the Swinging Mountaineers. Ron Bliven called. The next evening we went to Lantz's Dantzers' Christmas Party. There was no dancing but the food was awesome. We had a small musical combo to accompany us while we sang Christmas carols. We have been doing that for several years and it is always neat. It is 45 minutes of Christmas carols and they give us the words so we don't have to remember.

We spent New Years Eve in Medford at the Star Promenaders' New Years Dance. What a great way to spend New Years, it really was.

The second weekend in January I cued for the Bachelor Beauts in Bend at their annual Casino Night. The next day before we went home we stopped and visited with Don and Lonna Bramhall. Lonna had just had her first chemo treatment and they were both very upbeat about the next few months. For the most part they will skip functions with a lot of people because, during chemo, Lonna's immune system will not be what it normally is. So she wouldn't be able to fight anything that we would gave her. So they will be going out but not to large groups of people until her chemo is over.

When we leave here today we'll go home and spend a day packing for our annual trek to Mesa, Arizona. We'll be back about the first of April, just in time to do our taxes.

Until then, Happy Dancing.

Al Wolf & Gail Domine:

We both spent the Holidays with our families. My oldest son and his family were able to come from New Mexico for Christmas. My other children had not been able to spend Christmas with them for five years. It was nice to have all of them and their spouses as well as my grandchildren together for the Holiday. The grandchildren don't get to see each other very often.

Gail spent Christmas with her son and his wife and two grand daughters as well as her daughter-in-law's parents. Another granddaughter from Wyoming has joined the Navy. She will be graduating at Great Lakes, Illinois, on March 4th. Gail will attend the ceremony along with her son and daughter-in-law.

Support of our new dancers class has always been a priority and has been again this year. We also attended the New Dancer Jamboree sponsored by the Northwest Callers Association.

We attended the Christmas dinner sponsored by the Portland Area Council at the Old Spaghetti Factory, which was very festive and enjoyed by all.

Two weeks ago we enjoyed the sun and about 5 inches of rain with thunder, lightning, and strong winds in Maui with my brother and his wife. Three days after we came home I had surgery to remove an aneurysm on my carotid artery. The procedure was very successful and as you can see I am recovering well. I spent one night and one day in the hospital and they almost didn't let me do that. I was not able to dance this weekend but spent time visiting old and new friends and assisting in the registration booth for the Summer Festival. I cheated and danced four tips.

Next month we will spend two weeks in Arizona. We plan to attend the Yuma Festival and advertise our Summer Festival. We will dance in other areas of the state as well and visit friends and relatives.

Floyd Bard: So, Lee went through the aorta artery issue here so it is not something you play around with.

Al Wolf: I have had it for about 35 years. It was very small and last summer I had a TIA mini stroke up at our campout in Cougar, Washington. They had to haul me all the way down to Vancouver. I am glad I didn't have to pay the ambulance bill. They discovered at that time that my aneurysm had grown to about walnut size.

Floyd Bard: Thank goodness that you had an event that was recoverable.

GOOD OF SQUARE DANCING/ROUND DANCING/CLOGGING/YOUTH

Kay Rogers: I would like to remind you all that USA West will be this summer the 3rd weekend in August. We are going to be in Longview, Washington, with the Crew and the Ghost Riders and a lot of callers and cuers from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Hawaii, California, and we will have exhibition groups and some seminars. Kathy is going to do another one of her terrific Sew & Saves so, get registered.

George Broom: I would just like to thank the State of Oregon for helping us with the 2012. You are very generous and we really appreciate it. Thank you very much for supporting our Ways & Means down here and we are coming to your Summer Festival. One other thing I would like to tell you why it is so important for Oregon to help us with the 2012 as far as registrations. We're going to Detroit here in a few months and we now have almost 2,100 dancers signed up. Detroit is down a little bit. They have a bad name and they are a wonderful city and they have a very nice facility back there. We hope to sign up 500 back there we hope, we would like to get 1,000. If we don't get that much we rely on our sister state down here and we would really love to have you folks come.

Lee Ashwill: I would just like to go on record it was great to see the youth at this festival. They were outstanding last night. I would also like to voice my opposition and get it on record that I was opposed to the cancellation of the Grand March. I think we loose something by canceling that and I would like that noted.

Dan Allen: I belong to the Sweet Home Squarenaders. A few years back I brought to the attention of this body of the handicapped. We had a blind person in our club and there is one in the Emerald that are still dancing and we have a deaf gal that I brought to the council last year and is now our Vice President. I was just kind of curious of what you people thought of what has been brought up over the years and if there is any promotion going on to help these other people get involved in square dancing?

Floyd Bard: Thank you, I was aware a little bit about the issue with the handicap and not knowing for sure what the handicap is, but promoting square dancing we have never eliminated anybody in square dancing. It has been an open activity for families and anybody and everybody. I think it becomes a club issue because of the member belonging to the club and an area issue. By definition it can be presented to the Federation and asked if there is there ways we are making people aware of the handicapped issues and how can we mitigate the impact and to promote that. I will tell you, it would behoove the Federation to look at what we can do to help promote square dancing into the handicapped arena. Granted, I know that I have seen people square dance in wheelchairs before and it takes a special square to be able to do that just like it would take a special square to handle somebody that is deaf or blind to be able to do that.

Dan Allen: This young lady has danced out on the floor without any of our club members. She does a lot on sight. The people that she gets in to she has told them that she is deaf or sometimes some of us will get in the square and tell them that. There are a lot of people in the handicap of the wheelchairs of the blind and of the deaf. If this body was to send a letter and said we do have people that are deaf that can dance, square dance. My name saying that we do this in our club doesn't mean a thing but if this body sends out letters to different organizations that this can be done. This does help this does work and look how many doors you open up. I am sure we all know some one who is deaf or handicapped that if they realized that they could do this it could be done.

Floyd Bard: I appreciate that and I think that it is a membership issue within the club that the dancer would belong to. We do need to promote that and be actively involved with that.

Barbi Ashwill: First thing I want to say is, and Lee and I did not discuss this ahead of time, but I also was saddened that there was no Grand March. I knew ahead of time there would not be a Grand March. I would hope that this would be taken into consideration for next Mid-Winter and future Mid-Winters. If nothing else, you hear the pros and cons you hear people say I don't want to stand out there for an hour, I don't want to march in that. Well if you don't, don't! But don't stop the rest of us who do from doing that. Plus the fact that it is such a sad thing to have the enthusiasm with the new dancers you bring to this festival and for them not to be able to participate in this for the first time. I still remember my first time as a new dancer coming in to the Grand March. It just gives you goose bumps or did me at least. I think you all know Lee and I are extremely passionate about this activity. We find some times through the National Conventions and I had heard there was a possibility one of the reasons this had been done away with at this particular festival had to do with the Fire Marshall issue of safety, you couldn't have that many people in the area they were going to gather in, I don't know. But at some National Conventions they limit the states to one square of dancers. I would hope if it were a safety issue that maybe this Mid-Winter Festival group could look at limiting it to a square from each club that comes plus all of their new dancers. At least get something back out there that we can have them participate in.

The other thing I ask is for clarification. This is in Tony's book for Summer Festival. On page 24 it says the State Meeting at Summer Festival will start at 9:00. It has been my understanding that Federation meetings at festivals start at 9:30. (Response from Floyd: It is 9:30 just like it was here and it has been. Now sometimes others will think that at the next meeting it will be at 9:30 but that is not true. It will be at 9 o'clock in May.) Maybe we need another blurb in the OFN to get out to people.

Kay Rogers: I just want to make mention of the ceremonies last night. The presentation of the flags and that entire flag ceremony and the singing of the National Anthem by the retired military it was quite impressive, well done, well organized, and it had your name written all over it. (Response from Floyd: Thank you Kay.)

Roger Putzler: Since Tony took so much time on his report he asked me to remind you that there are program books over there and that he has ribbons for you that you can take and give away free (Uproar), no he has ribbons as well.

If any one wants to take some registration packets for 2011 (for 2012 Mid-Winter) there are no ribbons in here, no pressure. If you want to take them for your halls or any other purposes if you are going to some festivals between now and who know when. I have got them over here on the side.

John Guches: I have two things. While working on the education seminar for the National in 2005 I was in charge of panels. Some of the things that we taught at those festivals had to do with what is called Handicap able Dancing. The USDA has brochures that we can print out off of the computer. We can also have them brought by Marilyn.

The other comment I want to make and this goes back to what Dan brought up here a little bit ago. I danced with this gal at the mall on Friday. I did not know she was deaf until last night when Dan told me. She did a great job. We need to support the handicapped.

Gary Sohn: A couple of things I would like to bring up. The training session that we had I think was fantastic. I like the training sessions that we have at Mid-Winter and hopefully at Summer Festival too. Vivian did one several years back on club newsletters or something to that extent. That was very interesting. I get a lot out of these and I would like to see them incorporated in to our festivals at every one of them. I think doing it again at Summer Festival will really be handy. I know there was a lot of confusion on tax-exempt status. This eliminated part of my confusion but you will never remove all of my confusion.

The second thing is, Lee, there is some proposals that have been passed down to next years Mid-Winter Festival to maybe have some kind of a modified Grand March. I have turned in some ideas so maybe we will come up with something.

The last thing is that something happened in the Plus Hall that I think we need to take to all of our clubs. There were a couple in there that were new plus dancers and they got out on the floor and of course being new making some mistakes. One of the couples in the square or woman made the comment they ought to know those steps or they shouldn't be in this hall if they don't know how to dance to that level. The couple almost walked off the floor and quit plus level. I think that is a terrible injustice to anyone that is on the floor and we should never allow that to happen. Unfortunately I wasn't there or I might have approached her myself but I think we need to stress this to all of our clubs and all of our dancers that you never bad-mouth some body out on the floor. You don't know what type of damage you might be doing.

Floyd Bard: Unfortunately we cannot control or legislate what individuals say and do but I know that you are preaching to the choir when you say that. I think the best thing that we can do is if we experience that is, we don't want to cause a scene on the floor as well, but just walk away and apologize to the person that was affected by that type of a comment.

Cheryl Pruitt: As far as the Grand March goes, I agree with Lee and Barbi. As a dancer one of our first Grand Marches was at our state festival. It was outside and then we have been coming to Mid-Winter approximately every year since '85. To me the Grand March is the frosting on the cake. It is exciting, it is fun to see, and I have never set up and watched because I have always wanted to participate because I have a lot of fun.

The other thing is him talking about people bad-mouthing other dancers in a square when you are beginners. I always like to tell them that if they mess up that is okay because we have to learn how to put it back together. You just keep on going. That is part of learning how to square dance and stuff and even those of us that have been dancing since '85 we can do real well at screwing up, especially Cheryl.

For 2012 we do appreciate everything you are doing down here. If you don't want to get involved at the level of directors or vice-chairman or whatever, there are lots of small jobs. If you are tired walking around, although our facility is not huge, but we need people that can count dancers in the hall. It is a sit-down type of job watching every body coming through the door. We need those and we also need people can carry a stick around that has an apple on it if they need dancers in a square. There are lots of little jobs and we would appreciate every one of you helping us. How many of you in here are registered? (Response by show of hands about 80%.) Very good! So we really do appreciate it and we really enjoy down here. We look forward to it.

Barbi Ashwill: Cheryl, could I ask a brief question? If they want to help for an hour or two who do they contact?

Cheryl Pruitt: We have a Volunteer Coordinator, Barbara Schneider, and on our website 61nsdc.com there is a volunteer form. You go there and you fill it out or print it out and send it to her she will find you a job. (Question: Can we volunteer once we get to the Convention?) You bet you can.

Don Pruitt: I just want to say thanks to Oregon and we appreciate you help. (Of the Belcoffs.) You guys have anything to say? (Response: We cover the meetings when you guys aren't here.) What we have always said from when we started this thing 5 years ago, we are goin to get 'r done.

Marilyn Schmidt: I was in Virginia Beach, Virginia, last weekend for the winter meeting of the United Square Dancers of America. It was cold, didn't get to walk on the beach because it was too cold and the wind chill factor didn't help any either. As Western Region Vice President I do have a big wire rack that holds USDA publications and with the permission of Central Oregon I will bring my wire rack and stuff. So if I could have a table at the May State Meeting I will bring my big wire rack with all my USDA publications and you guys can go through and pick through it and actually look at the publications that are available. If you want to go home and print them off the website you can or you can pick through what I have and empty out what I have. I will bring it for the availability for you to look at.

Floyd Bard: If you want to go ahead and coordinate with the area delegate and work with Liz and have that taken care of.

NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING

Sunday, May 15, 2011, at Pine Forest Grange, Bend, Oregon. It will start at 9:00 am.

ADJOURN: MOTION TO ADJOURN


Floyd Bard: I do not need a motion to adjourn. I want to thank all the Washington people for coming down here. We enjoyed you and thank you very much.

Adjourned at 1:10 pm.



Dale A. Worthington
Recording Secretary

(For a complete copy of the January 2011 State Meeting Minutes, contact the Recording Secretary)