CALL TO ORDER President Tim Keck (Tami Helms)
ROLL CALL Secretary, Lorri McIntosh
Absent: Karyn Buchheit, 1st VP; (Rod Skinner Substituting); George Hermann (Lois Muck Substituting), Past President; Terry Halley, Caller Advisor; Julia Buchheit, Mid-Willamette Delegate (Brooke Davison substituting); Betty Chipps, PAC Delegate (Tami Helms substituting); Melissa James, Goodwill Ambassador; Robert & Young Lumsden Goodwill Ambassador
Guest: Daryl Clendenin
INVOCATION Tami Helms
FLAG SALUTE Acting 1st Vice President, Rod Skinner
MINUTES Secretary, Lorri McIntosh
Motion: Joyce Welton moved to accept the minutes as corrected, Doris Koozer seconded the motion. Motion passed.
PRESIDENT – Tim Keck (Tami Helms)
Here is what I have been involved with for the past 3 months concerning Federation business.
Teen Festival. Tami & I have been coaching the Teens who are competing in the Round dance portion of the competition occurring this weekend. From what we saw, we believe that they have a good shot at winning some trophies. We have heard that our Area Councils and Clubs have stepped up with donations to make sure that they are able to make their travel expenses & then some for next year.
Appreciation Dance. We held an electronic meeting to discuss & decide this issue because of the time sensitive part for advertising of the event. The Committee Chair Marilyn Schmit with Lorri McIntosh and Tami Helms stepped up and provided an excellent proposal for the process. All but two of the voting officers responded to resolve this question.
Election of Officers. Our elections were done online this year. We were able to get responses from almost all the clubs. I would like to thank Tim Roberts and Lorri McIntosh for their help to get this project accomplished.
Caller School. I had a discussion with Daryl Clendenin, a certified caller instructor concerning the Federation’s involvement with holding a callers school. Daryl is interested in presenting something to the Federation, but he was not interested in travelling to Roseburg to do it. He would however, entertain a video conference or possibly be present at the July meeting in Salem to discuss his proposal in detail.
Communication. I have been busy talking to several officers in the area councils and clubs on a variety of subjects. My main source of contact has been through emails and by phone. I have relied mainly on the information supplied through the Club information database. This is one that is updated using the Club info form on the website. When I ran into problems, I worked with the contact person to fix it. I did have occasional problems when I could get no response from my emails and from a phone call, even leaving a message. We will need to work on that.
Membership. I have heard that our overall membership is on the rise, despite hearing that some clubs have folded or have gone to being a travelling club, kind of a mixed blessing so to speak.
Current Motions. During the meeting we will be deciding what to do about future summer festivals. I would like to thank the committee chaired by Karyn Buchheit with Tim Roberts & Cece Glidewell for their efforts in compiling this information.
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT – Karyn (Matthew) Buchheit
The committee working on the question of recommendations concerning Oregon’s Summer Festival did research into the pros and cons, short term and long term. The full report and recommendations from the committee are submitted under Old Business.
2023 MIDWINTER FESTIVAL- Lisa Kious
Hey everyone. We had a great festival. We had 707 dancers. We took a $1823 loss so our Treasurer turned over a check to Marilyn for $5088 to help repay the $6000 loan. I'm sorry it's not all of it but we did have more dancers (250 more) than 2022. So, I have positive hopes for 2024 as we continue to regrow square dancing. Thank you everyone here for your support and your backing. We couldn't have done it without you.
2024 MIDWINTER FESTIVAL- Connie (Paul) Seamans
I had our first meeting. We will be dancing until 11pm. Program books will be available again. We are on track and hope to be out of the red. Our next meeting will be June 4th at 1:30 pm, Expo Center in Albany.
Tim Keck asked about the cost of venue and callers/cuers
Connie: The venue cost is approximately $25,000 (includes the halls and the Santiam Building), callers and cuers costs are approximately $3,500.
OREGON FEDERATION NEWS - Tim (Kathy) Roberts
The OFN continues to go smoothly. Just below 800 subscribers, remind clubs of free advertising.
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT – Patrick (Cherie) Cox
No Report
SECRETARY - Lorri McIntosh
Need to replace the BMI/ASCAP name plate to read Licensing, I will contact SqDini to make another nameplate as well as name badges for new officers when known.
TREASURER - Marilyn (Ron) Schmit .
The Corporation renewal has been completed, and the last of the checks from Mid-Winter has been received. Our share of the loss from Mid-Winter is $911.56. As of the writing of this update, the books are done through February and March will be completed soon. Hoping to get April done before the May meeting but it will be close. Depends on the date the bank statements arrive and my time to do the accounting. I will bring the report to the meeting for distribution. Financials are done through the end of April.
MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN – Cherie (Pat) Cox
Last Friday I went through the membership and we have 57 clubs, including the caller and cuer clubs and 2 traveling clubs. Valley River Dancers (TVC) has folded.
Zola Jones- what is the physical year for membership of clubs? Cheri- September to August.
Zola- can a club belong to the Federation without belonging to a council? Tim R. – No. There is a special chapter in the P&P’s that deals with that.
INSURANCE CHAIRMAN - Marilyn (Ron) Schmit
We have gone over the 1350 mark of primary insured dancers. The notifications of upcoming events are coming a little more regularly and the clubs are insuring their new members as they graduate and join their clubs. As of 5/7/2023, there are close to 1400 insured primary dancers.
Tim K.- we are increasing membership correct? Marilyn- yes
PAST PRESIDENT – George (Patty) Hermann
Not much to report from the Past President. No requests for grant funds or scholarships have been received. It has been a quiet late winter. As I write this, it is still not spring like weather. Hopefully spring will come soon and I can get out and get some yardwork done.
On a personal note, I have chosen not to renew my music license so I have retired from calling. It was a tough decision because square dancing has been a big part of my life for over 40 years with calling about 37 years. But my time is now needed at home, so that is what I had to do.
PARLIAMENTARIAN - Tim (Kathy) Roberts
No report
EDUCATION/PUBLICITY - Kathy (Tim) Roberts
I’ve updated the 2023-2024 Oregon Square Dance Festivals that last 2-4 days flyer. It’s been posted on Facebook with the front page of all of the festival. If I have missed a festival, please send me the information asap so I can include your festival in the list. Once I have all the flyers for each festival, I’ll post the OFN links to each flyer so people can find the 2nd page registration form easily. I will be sending it to the June OFN and to the OFSRDC mailing list with an article about the festivals. Delegates, if you want additional information included in my article about your festival, please send me your information prior to May 15. The spreadsheet prints on one piece of paper so you can post it on your refrigerator for easy reference. Please help me promote all of these festivals by referring dancers to the OFN, Facebook or by forwarding the flyer to your area clubs and dancers.
This summer I will be updating the lessons flyer that I’ve distributed the last few years. Please ask your area clubs to give you the information for your July report or send me their lessons information by August 15th, so I can have the flyer ready for the State Fair. For lessons, I need where the lessons will be (venue address), the start date, type of lessons, teacher, start/end time, and contact information. If lessons are added or changed, I will be updating this flyer weekly through the middle of September. Ask your clubs to notify me of changes.
I will also be creating a jamboree flyer so hopefully jamborees in the same area will be scheduled so they do not overlap. Please ask your clubs to send me the following information by August 15: Where the jamboree will be (venue address), date, time, type (square, square with rounds, rounds), the level of each jamboree, and who will be calling/cueing the jamboree. This flyer will also be updated weekly so please notify me of any changes/additions.
The Federation Facebook page is up to 925 members. I have changed the rules for our Facebook page due to the large volume of span that is being posted. If someone posts a joke or nondancer information their post is deleted and the poster is given one warning. If anyone posts spam, their post is immediately deleted, and they are banned with no warning. I am monitoring our Facebook page several times daily and somedays delete as many as 5 spam posts a day. If I miss a post, please notify me.
HISTORIAN - Marilyn (Ron) Schmit
No activity since last meeting
LICENSING – Brooke Davison
At the last meeting I received the Mid-Winter licensing fee check and provided that to Marilyn. SESAC dues will be due in early July, I will coordinate with Marilyn accordingly to get that paid. Since our last meeting I researched our three contracts with a focus on special dances such as the one scheduled for July and provided my findings.
YOUTH ADVISOR - Karyn (Matthew) Buchheit
At the time of report submission, there have not been any scholarship applications received. But there is still time until application deadline.
Brooke Davison-The youth did very well yesterday. About 60 kids participated this year with about 40 from Silver City.
ORDTA - Tami Helms (Tim Keck)
Our April meeting will be a video conference. Tim has been researching several venues and has found a Google site that we can use at no cost for our meeting.
At our Midwinter meeting we voted to donate $500.00 to help cover costs for the Teen Festival in May.
A committee was formed to check on the availability and location for a Round Dance Weekend. So far, the committee has not met.
ROUND DANCE SCREENING - Tami Helms (Tim Keck)
“PENCIL FULL OF LEAD “May Oregon Round of the Month was chosen by Central Oregon Council it’s a Phase 2 Two Step.
The March Classic selection was accidentally overlooked so we are presenting the Classic this year in June next year. We will be back on schedule for March.
Tami Helms, Round Dance Screening
CALLER LIAISON - Terry Halley (Betty Chipps)
No Report
WEBMASTER - Tim (Kathy) Roberts
No report
GRANT FUND COMMITTEE - George (Patty) Hermann
Tim K. spoke to George. There is a potential for a caller grant in the future from someone that wants to go to a Caller School. So far, nothing has been submitted.
STATE FAIR - Marilyn (Ron) Schmit
An email to the contact person went out April 14th to let them know we are interested in dancing at the Fair for 2023. I will aim for three days and see what happens for sign ups. We won’t hear back until at least June. Their entertainment coordinator has not been put on board yet. That should occur about mid-June when I am at National.
BACKGROUND CHECK - Tim (Kathy) Roberts
We’re all caught up, until we get results of the election.
DELEGATE MEETING - Doris Koozer
We focused on the Caller School that Daryl is putting on through Zoom. We can encourage attendance by allowing the students to call at a dance. Encourage new callers by using them.
Summer Festival- they were not thrilled about supporting Washington’s festival without supporting our own festivals. It might be good to use one of the state festivals for our state meeting as long as they have hotels. Summer Festival began in Roseburg in 1957, predating MWF in 1969. Using Blanchet School when possible was discussed, with the Federation or 2 or more councils hosting Summer Festival. Or making it 2 days instead of 3.
Lorri- why can’t you use Diamond Lake? Doris- in years past you had to make reservations at the beginning of the year. Lorri- they usually have rooms available and a big room in the lodge.
MOTION: Dave Cooper moved and Marilyn Schmit seconded the motion to destroy the ballots. Motion passed.
We are losing dancers and callers at a steady pace. Tim R. has done a search for me concerning dancers, by 2026 square dancing will be at 000 with the decline. Part of the reason is callers; we don’t have enough callers. Dancers belong to a club for a reason and the callers help make the clubs. In Portland, the new callers are not getting the opportunity to call with about 25 clubs in the TVC and Pac area, The experienced callers cannot call the dances and teach the classes. We need to make changes. Luckily today we can use Zoom to teach the callers what to call. What I cannot teach them on-line is how to call. The only way to teach how to call is on the microphone in front of the dancers. Having the ability to make the mistakes and learn during one tip is not enough. The new callers need an incentive. As a Federation and councils, we need to set up dances for the new callers to call.
Tami- H. it would be nice if we had a mentor program where experienced callers brought new callers up to learn and mentor that new caller.
Zola- if a new caller does not have his license are you talking about an experienced caller being there to cover the new one under his BMI/ASCAP umbrella? Daryl – good question. We need to get something done.
Daryl is asking what we need to do to change things and improve the participation. He has about 9 people interested in learning to call. His idea is to split the state down interstate 5 into 3-4 areas that the Federation could support new callers and call dances. The new caller must be on the microphone.
Dave Cooper- most important thing is these people must learn how to teach and not just to call. They need to learn how to teach and then to call.
Daryl-If we have one dance a month for just the new callers sponsored by the council. That would be better for the callers and dancers.
Tami Helms- PAC for the council to do is a good idea, council would have to sponsor more dances, I believe the clubs volunteer to present these dances.
Brooke- have you presented this to the Callers’ Association?
Daryl- I’m going to the callers of Oregon to try and form a caller’s association for Oregon.
Patrick- it was suggested to have dances on Sunday.
Doris- lessons on Sunday. We have used to teach lessons on Sunday. We have lost our callers in this area, we are interested in new callers and need communication on who is looking and wanting to call
Daryl- good callers make it look easy, it’s not easy. New callers find it’s not easy to start calling.
Brooke Davison- has any research been done about this concern in other place and what has been tried?
Daryl- We do not know of anything else has been tried elsewhere. I do know if we don’t do anything it’s going to die.
Dave Cooper- If I know someone that wants to be caller how do I let them know who to call?
Daryl- they call me.
Doris-Can you read the motion? I was unsure about supporting Washington Festival.
Tim K.- stated that the motion was whether or not to continue Summer Festival. A yes vote supports Summer Festival as we have done up to this point. A no vote means we no longer have a Summer Festival. Call for the vote- Motion carried to continue to support Summer Festival.
At the last meeting no motion was made about this.
Motion: Dale Brabham - policies be included with the procedures. Cheri Cox second the motion. 5 in favor, 7 against. The motion fails.
Motion: Dave Cooper moved to remodel the webpage to be more modern. Brooke Davison second the motion.
Dale Brabham- a lot has changed in the last 10 years. We need a website that looks better and flows better for the Federation to the councils to the clubs. We need a website that allows improvement in communication. There is a lot of fear about people not being able to get onto the web and access what’s available. We need to find ways to help those who have trouble find ways to get onto the website.
Cece- I can see how people who are not computer literate can be confused on the Federation website,
Brooke- do we have information about the traffic on our website?
Tim R.- We get about 300 hits a week.
Brooke- if a revamp were done, could there be a possibility of a mobile app?
Tim R- that’s possible
Dave Cooper- if this motion passes, what is the cost of revamping the web page?
Tim K- the website review is to come up with a plan to come up with a more modern website.
Blake- could we have tutorial on the website?
Lorri- is there a committee that would look into the feasibility and costs?
Tim K- we would form a committee if this motion passes.
Brooke- is there a cost?
Tim R- there would be no cost if we have volunteers do the work, if we hire a consultant there would be a cost.
Zola called for the vote- motion carried.
When Tim K. asked me to do this, he provided a list to investigate. As of right now we have 2, $25,000 CDs at Key Bank which mature in 2024.They get approximately $1 a month in interest. Washington Federal’s CD matures in 2025. All CD’s have a minimal amount of funds returned from interest. Marilyn’s responsibility is to look at different possibilities to invest the CDs for the best available rates available.
Connie Seaman- look into Edward Jones for the CDs, the interest rates are higher, and money can be obtained at any time.
Motion: Zola Jones, I make a motion that the postal mailing address be included in the 2023-24 Directory. Dave Cooper second the motion.
Dale B. -I would like to support this motion. If anyone wants to opt out, they have that available to them.
Pat C. -my limited understanding is it will add pages and add costs.
Brooke D. – I don’t like having my address available in the directory. We should ask what each person’s preference.
Zola- Amend Motion: we include postal mailing address in the 2023-2024 directory from the Federation, and it can be optional for the mailing address to be there. Dave Cooper agreed to amend the motion. Motion passed with 3 opposed to the motion.
Motion: Dale B- I motion that the Federation makes a public release announcement or video about square and round dancing and send it to the media. Dave Cooper second the motion.
Dale Brabham- the media could bring attention to the public about square and round dancing.
Joyce Welton- are we talking about purchasing ads to the media?
Dale- a lot of the TV stations have public service announcements that they present what is happening in the area. We could coordinate this with events happening in the state.
Dave Cooper- If we decide we’d like to promote square dancing, this is one of the best ways to do it. You get a CD, each council can purchase it. September is National Square Dance month, I would like to see a day in September where every TV station agrees to at least 2 spot ads for square dancing with contact information.
Lorri- the caller and cuers of Rogue Sis Q went together with the Federation to make a public broadcast CD. A copy was given to the Federation.
Pat C. – I was invited to be part of a movie that is supposed to be released on television. This was professionally made about square and round and folk dancing. I am unsure when the release date is.
Cece- I have a copy of the Rogue Sis-Q’s CD at home. Hunter Keller was the caller. It was filmed at the Grants Pass Square Dance Center and each delegate received a copy. The contact information can be changed for a small fee.
Dave Cooper- information needs to be for each area, not with information from other areas.
Tim R – I have the video on our website; it’s from 2016.
Doris K.- I’d rather have the CD sooner rather than later.
Brooke- Is there music on that video? That can be problematic.
Call for the vote- motion failed.
Cheri Cox has agreed to make a proposal about possible media information. She will put together available information to present at the next Federation meeting.
Tim Roberts asked if ORDTA would host, Tami Helms replies “yes”. Brooke- what does the P&Ps have to say about this. Response: “The P&P’s use the word festival; since our organization is a Square, Round and Line dancing organization, it would be acceptable. Lorri McIntosh asked is the proposed dance would be open to square and round dance or just round dancing? The response was just Round dancing.
Motion carried.
BLUE MOUNTAINS COUNCIL - David (Sally) Stutzman
No report
CENTRAL OREGON COUNCIL – Joyce (Roger) Welton
The Central Oregon Round-Up is BACK! We’ve not held the Round-Up for the last 3 years but we want everyone to know it’s on for 2023 the second weekend in August. There are flyers in the Council folders for your promotion. Thanks in advance for getting the word out.
The High Desert Dancers (combined club of Bachelor Beauts and Swinging Mountaineers) are holding Plus lessons currently. It’s going well and hope that this will provide new dancers for their Plus club. Because of the harsh winter, they had to cancel two dances. Their Mainstream dances in January were held in the afternoon instead of evening to mitigate winter driving conditions. They are considering continuing this practice next year for December, January, and February when it’s the darkest and difficult driving conditions are more common.
This year the HDD club in conjunction with the Redmond Club, The Red Rocks, are holding a few “double down/triple up” weekend events. This helps with attracting out of area callers to Central Oregon.
Red Rocks completed their mainstream lessons in February graduating 4 students. The Red Rocks held a visitation (2 squares) to HDD. Visitations haven’t been happening for a long time and its good to see that tradition coming back.
Sagebrush Shufflers celebrated their 55th Anniversary at a special dance with Craig Abercrombie calling and cueing. It was also a benefit dance for Shiloh Binder, a young student at their last lessons, who tragically lost his arm in a farm accident. He was present and joined in the fun. There was a donation jar plus the Shufflers donated the door to his fund. They had over 5 squares, which for our area, is huge.
Their club is also planning on participating in the Crooked River Stampede Parade on June 24th. The Council owns a flatbed trailer that they will dance on.
Sundown Ridge Riders Round Dance Club, a newly formed club, is providing lessons every Sunday (5-6:30) and dances the 1st and 3rd Thursdays. In fact, originally the dance was only on the 1st Thursday, however, the participation has grown and Mark McDonald has added the 3rd Thursday dance to the schedule. Nice to see a club growing.
Country Rhythm Rockin’ Outlaws is continuing their mainstream workshops every Sunday afternoon with Jim Steele calling. They also have Plus workshops every Wednesday evening. Jim Steele is continuing to encourage all Central Oregon dancers to come to the workshops to improve their dancing skills no matter which club they belong to.
This club sponsors the Country Fever Dance/Campout Weekend (flyers in your folders) in October. They have a new venue at the Camp Sherman Community Hall. Caller is Jim Steele and Cuer is Mark McDonald. It’s a fun weekend full of dancing and good food. Jan loves to cook and they provide every meal!!!
After the club reports, there was a great discussion about consolidating lessons here in Central Oregon. Instead of each club holding their lessons, we’d have one set of lessons thereby increasing the energy level at the dance and providing the opportunity to meet other dancers from area clubs and perhaps resulting in an increase of visitations. There’s always a tendency to “stay in your club” when you’re new but the
new dancer loses the opportunity to spread their wings and meet more dancers. Square dancing is a social event, don’t forget. This will be the beginning of more discussions.
Another discussion was coordinating door fees area wide. All the delegates agreed to take this up with their clubs and bring back at the next Council meeting.
Central Oregon Round- Up and Kountry Cut-ups Festival by the Steele’s-,I have flyers available to take home.
Joyce Welton, Central Oregon Delegate
EMERALD EMPIRE AREA - Zola Jones
The Whirl-A-Ways club has had two very successful "Community Dances" where public advertisement invites people to come to a free dance to see and try out Square Dancing. The first dance in March on a Saturday, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., 19 persons came. Many hard badgers from Whirl-A-Ways and also Single Trees attended to help the new people try this dancing, and there were always 5 squares on the floor. And some new people even stayed to watch when club's regular square and round dancing began. We asked for emails and/or phone so contact could be kept. Then at the second Community Dance in April, again on a Saturday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. 40 people came, and the club's regular dance was not done in order to keep helping all the new people experience square dancing! And contact will be kept for them also. And another Community Dance is in the planning before regular lessons start.
Some of our clubs go "Dark" in July and/or August, so if anyone is in our area and wants to go to a dance; please contact the club first.
Our next Council meeting is Monday, May 15 at the Emerald Square Dance Center in Hall 'B', and we will start our plans for hosting the September 9th & 10th State Federation meeting also at the dance center.
Zola Jones.
INTERSTATE HIGHLANDERS - Cece (Sarge) Glidewell
The Klamath Country Squares have found a new dance location. It is the Knights of Columbus building located at 1910 Greensprings Dr. Klamath Falls, OR 97601. The official start night was February 9, 2023. However, there were several cancelations due to snow storms in February and March. April has fared better weatherwise but the club is still struggling with attendance.
The KCs 52nd birthday dance was successful with a full square in attendance. A couple from Alturas, CA saw our advertisement and made contact with Cece Glidewell. They attended the birthday dance and will be coming to the Tuesday night workshops, weather permitting. The April 20 workshop was converted to a dance party. Mark and Bina Krebsbach, the current USDA President, called ahead and said they were on their way to Yuba City for that Festival and were looking for a dance in Central or Southern, Oregon. The club was pleased to have this visitation. A good time was had by all. Unfortunately, the club historian forgot to get everyone together for a photo for our records and bragging rights. Perhaps we will see them again at some point and get the photo.
Sarge and Cece Glidewell attended the Friday night session of the Pear Blossom Festival in Medford. It was a fun dance and they wished they could have stayed for the whole festival. The Glidewell’s did manage to get Jim Steele contracted to call the 2023 Potato Festival while at Pear Blossom. More details on “Spud Fest” will be coming at a later date so mark your calendars for the 3rd weekend of October, 2023.
Club/Council mailing address reminder: All club and or Council mail will need to be in “Care Of” The Glidewell’s and sent to PO Box 1928, Klamath Falls, OR 97601.
It is also best to email sargenceceg@outlook.com with any correspondence regarding the club and council. The KCs email address is not actively monitored at this time.
The club and council got rid of the PO box, they are now using Cece address- see in the directory. We are dark for July and August.
Respectfully Submitted, Cece Glidewell, Area Delegate
MID-WILLAMETTE AREA COUNCIL - Julia Buchheit
As my alternate delegate is also attending the PNTSDF with me, I have asked Brooke Davison to stand in for me.
The Mid-Willamette Area clubs are doing ok. There are some clubs who will be going dark over the summer. Others are dancing through the summer. Please watch the OFN for updates from the individual clubs.
Lebanon Square Circlers will be having their normal Strawberry Festival Dance the weekend of June 2nd-4th. They have flyers posted on the OFN and they can be contacted directly for more information.
Re-Vu-N-Q is hosting a Summer Dance Event at the Salem Square Dance Center July 15th. There are flyers available by contacting Marilyn Schmit or on the OFN. The OFSRDC meeting will be at the Salem Square Dance Center July 16th.
PORTLAND AREA COUNCIL - Betty Chipps (Terry Halley)
Tami Helms, PAC’s Alternate State Delegate will be filling in for Betty Chipps at this OFSRDC meeting.
PAC’s current President, Robert Lumsden, will retire as of our next PAC Meeting on May 15th. Jeff Knapp (also PAC Treasurer, PAC’s OFN News Editor and member of Rosetown Ramblers) has stepped up to serve as President, on an interim basis, until someone desires to take the role. All other PAC Officers are unopposed and will repeat their term in 2023-2024.
What a difference the March & April PAC visitations have meant to Clubs - the attendance on the floor was reminiscent of old times when 5-6 squares (and more) was the norm. President Lumsden’s encouragement for Clubs to turn out and support PAC Club Anniversary dances has generated Club profits through increased attendance and split-the-pot donations. Thank you, Robert, for your inspired leadership.
Scott Zinser, PAC Caller Liaison, encourages dancers to attend the Central Oregon Round-Up on August 10-12 (held for the first time since 2018) in Sisters at the High School.
PAC Visitations for the month of MAY-JUNE are:
• Happy Hoppers 64th Anniv. dance is Saturday at Washington Grange, Vancouver on 5/6/2023.
Daryl Clendenin will call & cue Pre-Rounds 7-7:30 and MS (w plus tips) 7:30-9:30.
• River City Dancers 33rd Anniv.dance is Saturday.at Milwaukie Community Club:on 6/10/2023.
Darrell Kalmbach & Tami Helms open Pre-Rounds 7-7:30, MS 7:30-8:30, 8:30-9:30 Plus
- FREE to all, encouraged attire: Red/White & Blue.
PAC 5th FRIDAYs Dances in 2023:
June 30, 2023 - Co-host is River City Dancers at the Milwaukie Community Center.
September 29, 2023 - Co-host is Buzzin’ Bees at Oak Grove Community Center, KC Curtis calls.
December 29, 2023 - DARK
CLUB REPORTS
• BnB’s elected officers April 5th: Pres. Bev DeLaBruere, VP-Melissa James, Sec & Rep.-Kathy Polley, Treasurer-Cynthia Ekberg, etc. Their 58th Anniv. Dance on April 5th & PAC Visitation had 5 squares.
• Buzzin’ Bees will co-host the PAC Sept. 29 Friday dance at Oak Grove Comm. Ctr - KC Curtis calls.
Their 65th Anniv. Dance on April 8th & PAC Visitation had 6 squares.
• Chaps & Petticoats added one new member in March. Our first ever “Hillbilly Dance” on April 21, was a success. Though we had three squares, dancers responded to the casual attire and added to the joyous atmosphere. Thank you Mark Wheeler and Tom Klug (loved the floppy Hillbilly hat!).
• Country Cut-Ups’ Spring Fling weekend was April 28-30 with National Caller Andy Allemao - Tami Helms, ALT State Delegate (and Spring Fling Cuer) will have a report!! Their annual Barn Sale is May 12-13 (donations accepted). The current Cut-Ups Board will remain for one more year.
• Jim Hattrick, Happy Hoppers caller, is still recuperating from a damaging fall - visitors are encouraged:at: Manor Care, 2811 NE 139th St., Vancouver, WA.
Craig Abercrombie, Mark Wheeler or Ian Craig will call in his absence.
• Heads to Center is dancing Plus & Advanced (taped music), each THURS. 7-8:30pm.at Milwaukie Gr.
• River City Dancers will co-host, on June 30, with PAC - dance theme is “Show your Colors.”
• Rosetown Ramblers Board remains for another year, 7 students graduated -May 13 “Plaid Grad dance has Eric Henerlau calling.
Happy Summer, Betty Chipps
ROGUE SIS Q COUNCIL - Blake Smith
Rogue Sis Q Council has a council dance scheduled for June 30 at Rogue Valley Square Dance Center in Central Points with Wayne Weave calling and Bob Dingman cuing.
The March council dance was very successful, held in Yreka and Evergreen Elementary school. Dean Black called Advance, Plus, Mainstream, and SSD. Elaine Funk did a beautiful job cueing rounds
Charlie Brown Squares are preparing for Boatnik weekend, May 26-29.
Be sure to put Boatnik Festival on your calendar during Memorial Weekend - this fun party is a 3-day event and this year's featured talent is Joe Saltel & Randy/Marie Preskitt. Adam Christman will join Rikki at her Monday class on April 10th for a Spring Dance Party with squares and rounds. Looking farther ahead they have Buddy Weaver calling our birthday dance in December.
June 3rd Charlie Browns are hosting a Cancer Benefit Dance with Roger Putzler calling and Rikki Lobato cuing.
The Charlie’s and Star’s are combining together in Grants Pass, Oregon to celebrate “Arizona Bill” (who would have been 100-year-old) on May 20 with Dean Black calling and Rikki Lobato cueing per Bill’s request. Bill was going to treat everyone to this dance because it was such a milestone in his life. He passed before this could happen. So, Charlie’s and Star’s are going to carry out his request and celebrate his birthday on May 20, 2023. The dance will be at Josephine County Square Dance Hall in Grants Pass. There is NO charge to the dancers. A donation jar will be placed to help pay for the expenses and caller/cuer fees. Rikki secured a posthumus “centennial” award for Bill. Marilyn Schmit will attempt to be present at the dance to present the award. Bill was a strong advocate for square dancing and an example of what it does to benefit the body,
As always - information is available at charliebrownsquares.com
Circle N Squares have been holding square dance lessons at the Karuk Tribe Community Center.
Star Promenaders are gearing up for Diamond Lake Festival July 19-22, 2023, with Ray Brendzy calling and MayAnne Callahan cuing.
The March 25th SSD dance was successful with stuffed animals donated for the Sheriff’s Department. They provide stuffed animals to kids who are homeless or under undue stress due to losses. There were approximately 3 large black bags of stuffed animals collected for the Sheriff’s Department.
Pear Blossom Festival is April 14, 15, 16 at The Star Promenaders Hall in Central Point. Dan Preedy called advance through SSD, and Deb Vogt cued. The festival was very successful.
SOUTH COAST COUNCIL – Dave (Patty) Cooper
South Coast dancing is coming out of winter's cocoon. It has been a long stretch of rainy cold weather this winter and the enthusiasm for dancers to get out and support club activities has shown that. We are getting around 2 squares at dances with the basic core of dancers in Port Orford, Coos Bay and Coquille supporting each other’s dances. Hopefully, we will see a commitment from more dancers now that the weather is nicer, and the flowers are blooming. Maybe local dances will be as attractive as other activities that have taken everyone’s time. It is discouraging for those who spend the effort to keep it all going.
TUALATIN VALLEY COUNCIL - Dale (Linda) Brabham
IN GENERAL, TVC clubs are reporting success at dances and lessons at our monthly Zoom meeting. However, we lost another club in February, as Valley River Dancers closed with a final Anniversary Dance celebrating 22 years. We are sorry to lose another club. What we are seeing is this. When clubs decline their leadership takes on more and more burden of keeping the club going, until they burn out and no one will take on the tasks of putting on dances. We must consider how to revitalize clubs that are struggling. The councils must step up efforts to help.
LOSS. We are sad to report the loss of two long time members of TVC clubs: Frank Collett, and Harlan Flint. You can find Frank’s obituary in the May OFN. Jim Hattrick died recently.
OFFICERS NEEDED. Although we have good participation and attendance at TVC meetings by the member clubs, at this point we are struggling to find candidates for Treasurer and Vice President for the coming year. However, we are optimistic that volunteers will step forward by our election in May.
POSTIVE NOTES. I can report that clubs are graduating mainstream dancers and gaining new members. Sunset Promenaders and Tri Squares each report graduating 12 mainstream students and Eager Beavers report 8 completing plus lessons. Other clubs have had good success with lessons too. Hayshakers have lessons now with 16 students and the Wave Steppers are back to dancing every Tuesday. We see the enthusiasm of the new students and their eagerness to dance. They have given a lift to our clubs’ visitations. This shows up not just in increased participation in special dances in the TVC, but to PAC dances where, for example, the TVC had a good showing for the PAC 5th Friday dance in Boring in March. When we experience the success of well attended dances our enthusiasm and satisfaction for the work that we do in our clubs and councils is enhanced. Encourage your club to visit!
DANCES. Our fifth Saturday dance on April 29 at the Kinton Grange was well attended. Kathy Roberts was instrumental in organizing baskets for auction. All the proceeds for this dance go to the Silver City Squares youth travel fund. We note that the Kinton Grange donated the use of the hall for this dance to support them.
The TVC has a tradition of supporting our clubs’ anniversary dances. Here are some results reported:
And some anniversary dances coming up are:
The TVC has two dances scheduled for the 2023:
• September 30th will be the Hahn Barn Dance featuring caller MC Mark Wheeler and cuer MC, Lane Clem at 5p.m., Potluck at 4p.m. before the dance. At the Hahn Barn. Details tbd
• December 31 will be our traditional New Year’s Eve Dance with Darrell Kalmbach and Tami Helms. Details tbd
We can report that two festivals are planned for the fall by TVC clubs:
• Fall Festival (formerly Oktoberfest), weekend of Oct. 14, R Square D in Kelso,
• Seaside Sashay, weekend of Oct. 27, Hayshakers and Sunset Promenader in Seaside
For all other special dances please check the OFN.
ENCOURAGEMENT. We are proud to report a strong response of the TVC and its member clubs to the request for support by the Silver City Squares youth to help finance their upcoming trip. We are pleased at the success of this youth program and are eager to learn how to create such success in our clubs. We wish them a safe and joyful trip and look forward to hearing about it on their return. We had good participation at the last dance at Kinton Grange with Silver City Dancers participating. All the proceeds for that dance went to the youth trip for the teen festival.
Dale Brabham TVC Delegate
UMPQUA AREA COUNCIL – Doris (Neil) Koozer
Umpqua Area Council Report for May 6th Meeting
The clubs in the Roseburg area are rapidly winding down this season of dancing. The Buckeroos had their 72nd Birthday dance on April 1, with Jim Steele calling and Neil Koozer cueing. With help from our neighboring areas, we had a reasonably good turn out. They are working towards the Buckeroo Roundup on June 9th & 10th, which is combined with the outdoor dance at Wildlife Safari in Winston on Sunday. They will have Eric Henerlau as the featured caller and Randy Lewis and his partner Debbie as the cuer. The Wildlife Safari event is a fund-raising event for the Safari. We dance to the featured caller & cuer in the morning, and volunteer callers and cuers in the afternoon. There are raffle prizes to win throughout the event, and your ribbon entitles you to a trip through the compound.
The Buckeroos will have a new President in July, Dan Jones, and a new Vice President, Brad Seder. Secretary and Treasure will be elected on even years.
The Timber 8’s will have had their Birthday Dance on April 22nd. They will be ending a series of plus workshops April 30th. Since we have only a beginning caller in the area, Glen Nielsen, the president of the club, conducted a combination of plus classes on Sunday afternoons, where for some classes he talked the dances through the moves, and other Saturday and Sunday afternoons he has taken advantage of visiting Callers. This way he has been able to at least review all the plus moves, both refreshing and
introducing our new dancers to plus calls. Their last dance before the summer break will be in combination with the Buckeroos on April 29th with Scott Zinser calling & Neil cueing.
The Dancing Friends Round Dance club was the most active club in the area during the Covid shutdown period. Rod Skinner, the president of the club, has also joined the rank of Round Dance Cuers. He and Neil Koozer have kept classes going and dancers are interested in acquiring new skills. These dancers are our most active square dancers, and many are traveling up and down I-5 for dances both north and south of Roseburg. Neil has a beginning Waltz class on Mondays, followed by a intermediate Rumba class. Rod is teaching a Tango class from 6 to 7 pm on Tuesdays, proceeded with higher
level intermediates and followed by lower-level mixed rhythms. The entire class is from 5:30 to 8. They will wind down these classes at the end of May.
We invite everyone to Buckaroo Round-up with Wildlife Safari on Sunday.
Tim K -thank you Umpqua for hosting this meeting.
Melissa James
Since Mid-Winter Festival square dancing has been lots of fun at regular club dances, special dances and club Anniversary dances. Slow but sure, our activity is picking up.
While some dances only pull in 2-3 squares, several have attracted pre-pandemic numbers.
I’ve been fortunate to attend many very upbeat, energetic dances this winter. Danny & Carol Williamson’s anniversary dance in February at the Boring barn was very well attended by dancers from all over Oregon and Washington. B & B’s anniversary dance was well attended, but several others knocked it out of the park. I was at R Square D’s Anniversary last Friday with 94 others in attendance! Buzzin Bee’s Anniversary had over 6 squares and was a very fun time. I heard great reports of Tri-Squares, Chaps and Petticoats and Hoedowners’ dances. All these numbers are gradually growing and that is a great sign for our wonderful activity!
At this time, I am excited to report that special dances involving out of area callers are also beginning to happen again. Dan Preedy, from Washington State called a great A & Plus dance last week with Randy Dibble to about 5 squares. I am really looking forward to dancing to Andy Alemao from San Diego at the Spring Festival sponsored by the Country Cut-ups in Boring. If we want to have these wonderful callers come into our area we need to support their dances and the clubs willing to bring them to us.
I will not be in attendance at this meeting in Roseburg, but am planning to be at the July meeting. I have plans already to attend the WA State Festival in June and the USA West Festival in July. Exciting things are beginning to happen and that makes me optimistic about the future of square dance, at least in our area.
Happy Trails! Melissa James
Robert and Young Lumsden
Since our last report, Young and I have danced at a lot of anniversary dances. We have spread the word and encouraged people to attend every anniversary dance they can. These dances ranged from 5 to 12 squares. They were all fun dances. It was very encouraging to see how many dancers can show up at a dance.
The largest dance we attended, was George Hermann's farewell dance at the Independence Wagon Wheelers. It was crowded dancing in that big hall. George's calling was superb. The energy and fun levels were through the roof. We have always enjoyed dancing to George and will miss him very much.
After seeing how many people can show up at dances, it is very apparent square dancing is still very much alive. If we could figure out a way to get people to come and watch a big fun dance, we would probably have all the new dancers we could handle.
Thank You
Marilyn Schmit- 2 weeks from this weekend I will be in Grants Pass to award the prestigious award to “Arizona Bill” on behalf of the USDA.
ADJOURN: MOTION: Lorri moved and Cece seconded to adjourn the meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 11:21
NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING
Sunday, July 16th, 2023, 9:00AM
Salem Square dance Center
Salem, Oregon