Mexican Fiesta with Taco Bar Dance

 Our Mexican Fiesta  Dance held Friday, May 9 at the Emerald Square Dance Center was a terrific success.   A great deal of that was due to the wonderful taco bar set up before the dance.  We gathered at 6:30, bringing all the items and condiments necessary to make delicious tacos: hamburger meat, shredded chicken, beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream taco sauce, etc.  So good!  

 

We danced as usual from 7:30 to nearly 10 to the fine calling of Mark Wheeler who definitely was calling to the floor.  We have newer dancers in our club and in attendance who needed to review and workshop some calls.  Mark always does a nice job for us of calling and Sandy Harris did the same with her cueing.  Both enjoyed the taco bar as well.

 

We had visitors from further north like Lebanon and Corvallis as well as from our sister club, the Whirl-A-Ways.  It was so good to see so many people.  We counted 34 there for the taco bar with more arriving for the dancing and those unable to dance leaving.  At one time we had four squares on the floor which hasn't happened for a while, but mostly we had 2 to 3 squares dancing. 

 

 

As you can see from the photos above, we had a very colorful crowd of happy dancers.

 

We do not have another dance planned for May as the 4th Friday falls on Memorial Day weekend and many people will be out of town, enjoying the holiday weekend or have visitors here for the holiday .

 

In June we will hold our usual 2nd and 4th Friday dances with  Shaun McKamey and Sandy Harris on June 13  and on June 27 we'll have K.C. Curtis and Dave Cooper calling and cueing.  The latter two make quite a dynamic duo in my estimation.  Please come join us.

Crazy Hat and T-Shirt Dance April 25

 Single Trees held their rth Friday dance on April 25 at the Emerald Square Dance Center.  We had two squares on the floor most of the evening, including the last tip, but at one time we actually had three which was great to see.  We had quite a few Single Trees in attendance including some who needed to rejoin the club during our membership drive.  It was so great to see them.  Two of our visitors really got into the crazy hat theme: Angi from Cottage Grove and Dick from Roseburg.  Bruce Lowther and his wife Judy, called and cued that night.  We all had a great time.

 

 

 

In May we will only have one dance on May 9, our Mexican Fiesta Dance with Taco Bar.  We'll gather at 6:30 to set out all the fixings and eat by 7 if not earlier.  Our dance begins at 7:30 with either plus or pre-rounds and mainstream begins  at 8PM.    Mark Wheeler will be calling and Sandy Harris cueing.

This coming Friday April 25

The dance this Friday April 25 will feature Bruce Lowther and his wife Judy Russell from Albany.  They make a good combo, this pair.  We enjoy their calling and cueing very much.  Please come out and join us from 7:30 to 10PM at the Emerald Square Dance Center in Springfield, 2095 Yolanda.

 

On May 9 we will hold our annual Mexican Fiesta Dance with taco bar which will start early at 6:30 so we can eat and converse and be ready to dance at 7;30.  We always start our dancing with a plus tip until 7:45 when pre-rounds take over.  At 8 we start mainstream and rounds with every third tip plus.   Some people like to wear Mexican themed outfits if they have them.  This should be a well-attended, fun dance with Mark Wheeler calling and Sandy Harris cueing.

Mar. 14 Irish Dance with Potato Bar

On March 5 the Single Trees board met to install our new officers for 2025-26.  Here is a photo taken after installation.  We look forward to the new year and new leadership from brand new officers and some returning ones.

 Our new board members:  Linda Neuschwander, Larry Reetz, Chris Brown, Connie Seamans, Roger Tendick, Margaret McVey, Chris Vanderlinde, Betty Aukerman

 

 On March 14 Single Trees held our annual Irish themed dance with a sit down potato bar for guests and members.  It was held from 8 to 8:30 and seemed to be enjoyed by many.

 

Darrell Kalmbach with his wife Erin was there to call for us and Sandy Harris cued.   Darrell always calls a great dance and Erin fills in as necessary in the squares.  We always enjoy having them with us.  Sandy cued some good rounds for us as well.

 

Here are some photos taken during the break.

 Our newly installed president Connie Seamans with her husband Paul Gates

 

 Our new vice president at the potato bar

 Some members enjoying the break.

 

Our newly installed treasurer Larry Reetz celebrated his 3rd retirement with us.
 

Our next dance will be our Welcome to Spring Dance on March 28 with K.C. Curtis calling and Christina Corelli cueing.

Feb. 28 Dance

Friday night Feb. 28 we had such a fun dance with Mark Wheeler calling and Christina Corelli cueing.  We had 3 squares on the floor on and off all evening.  There were newer dancers from our area as well as from the clubs to the north of us.  Many new faces were out as well.

 

Mid-way through our president Melba Walker presented some gifts to a number of members who had shown their loyalty to the club in various ways--some have helped in the kitchen dance after dance (Margaret and Roger); some have devoted themselves to committee work and functions, keeping our bulletin board up-to-date as well as our albums, (our Historian, Vonda Clayton); sending out birthday and get well cards as well as sympathy cards (our Sunshine lady, Betty Aukerman); floor cleaning detail (Ross Isobel).  Melba will be due a get well card herself after she has surgery on her shoulder in a few weeks.

 

 We also held our annual election to bring in a new board of officers.   Thank you to all who ran for office and to all those who have helped out over the years and are now stepping down.  Our new president will be Connie Seamans with Linda Neuschwander as Vice President.  They will be installed into their respective offices at our March 5 board meeting this Wednesday.  We also have two people serving on the board for the first time:  Chris Brown will be our secretary and Renee VanDole will be our Hall Delegate. to the ESDC.

 

Here are some photos taken by me of various squares on the floor having a great time.

 

 

Here is a photo of our new President Connie Seamans with her husband Paul Gates chatting with our new Treasurer Larry Reetz and our new Vice President Linda Neuschwander.

 

Our next dance will be March 14 with Darrell Kalmbach calling and Sandy Harris cueing.  The theme will be Irish with a potato bar for everyone to enjoy.  We love Darrell's calling.   Be sure to come join us for a really fun night of dancing.  Wear your green!

 

My thanks to Mike Baker for providing the photo of the gift recipients.

 

Gaynor Hintz

Club Reporter/Blogger

 

Single Trees' Sweetheart of a 61st Birthday Dance

 

What fun we had last night on Valentine's Day at our 61st Birthday Dance featuring caller, Shaun McKamey and cuer Christina Corelli.  They certainly were at the top of their game last night.  Shaun is an up and coming newer caller from Dallas, Oregon.  He and his wife drove quite a distance to call for us, but luckily the bad weather that came through on Thursday didn't last.  The roads were quite good, and we didn't even have rain to contend with.

We had 3 squares on the floor for mainstream but only one or two for plus.  Still for us lately that was a good turnout, but we couldn't have done it without our good friends to the south in Roseburg.  Three couples drove up I-5 to dance with us and add to the festivities.  We also had some of the folks from the Alliance clubs to the north join us to support their caller.  It was good to see them all and Christina had a full round dance floor as well which was good to see.

Here's a photo that Melba got of Shaun and his wife, Lila.

 

Melba, our president, and her sister Joy had decorated with lots of balloons  and hearts and had brought a big cake with ice cream which we gathered around to sing the birthday song to ring in another fun year.

 

If you missed Shaun's calling this time, he will be calling for us in June and next fall too.  I highly recommend his calling.  He gets everyone in new positions and allows plenty of time for dancers to complete the calls.  Please come join us next time you see he is on the schedule.

We have one more dance this month on the 28th with a new theme--Your Favorite Cartoon Character. Mark WheelEr will be down form Portland to call add Christina Corelli wlil cue once again.

We heard from our former cuer, Jackie Gale who moved with her husband Bill to Fernley, NV, to be near her brother.  They are settling and getting acquainted with the local club.  We all miss Jackie and her cueing.  We wish them well in their new venture.

 

My thanks to Melba for her photo of the two couples from the Buckeroos of Roseburg.

See you in a square soon,

Gaynor

Club Reporter

Mid-Winter Festival 2025

 I just wanted to say a little bit about the highlight of the square dancing winter for myself and many others here in the Northwest.

I was there at the Lin County Fairgrounds from Thursday evening for the Trails End Dance through Saturday night.  I did not go on Sunday as there was no advanced being offered and my legs and feet had had enough.

In times past we used to have loads of dancers from our home club up in Albany dancing, but this year not so many: Larry Reetz, Linda Neushwander were the first I saw, Joy Pitts was there with her niece, Janet, who called,  and Janet's fiance, John Olson, all of whom worked hard on the used clothing they submitted for sale on behalf of the hall,, Connie Seamans working for the EEAC, Chris Vanderlinde, who was in charge of the Trails End dance, Patrick Welborn and his wife Mika, there for the weekend of dancing, and me.  I heard that Janice Sugar was there both Friday and Saturday and Paul Hash and Diana Hodges came on Saturday.   Also Ross Isobel came with his friend Sharon.  So we had a good representation there but not like it used to be.  If I missed anyone my  aoologies.

It appears the numbers are on the rebound for MWF.  When I first started dancing in 1985, we had over 5,000 in attendance, but nowadays we are lucky to get 1,000 and  often far fewer than that especially since COVID.  But the halls were fuller than I have seen in recent years so I am hopeful we will hear that the festival made a good profit and money will be there to fund next year's event.  According to Connie Seamans who informed me last night Na. 27, only five or six more ribbons were sold than last year.  Well, at least we are holding ou own, but it would have been nice to see over 900-1000 dancers there.  Oh, well, maybe next year.

We had a lot of great callers and I believe people enjoyed the featured caller, Jaden Frigo, who was from Australia and has called all over the world.  We also got to dance to some of our favorite callers like Randy Dibble and Scott Zinser.  So much fun.

In February Single Trees will celebrate its 61st birthday on Feb. 14.  Please come dance to Shaun McKamey and Christina Corelli.  There will be birthday cake and ice cream too, I'm sure.  Plus starts at 7:30 followed by pre-rounds and then mainstream at 8. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gaynor Hintz

Club Reporter