Members Only

Up

Home Page

THE SCOOP

SWINGING SQUARES

NEWSLETTER

May 2010

Hi every body-
       

It is said as one door closes another opens.  This marks the end of the 2009-2010 dance year. As such, we find ourselves saying good bye to some members of the board…

 Kat, our Chairperson. With her vibrant, outgoing personality she brought a new energy to the club.  Her imagination and creativity sparked some wonderful ideas.  She helped bring us into the community’s focus with the idea of our benefit dances.  While she is no longer a member of the board she will always be a member of the Swinging Squares family.

 Ruth, our activities person.  Ruth really livened up our non square dance activities. She understood that friendship extends past square dancing.  She proved that by planning some great activities for us over the last two years. The club really appreciated her efforts and it showed by the large number of people in attendance at each event. 

 A special note of thanks and appreciation goes out to Marge, our Vice Chairperson.  While she is not leaving the board, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank her for the wonderful job she has done for the past two years.  She has proven to be invaluable to the club and to each of us individually.  As Vice Chairperson, when called upon she willingly stepped up as her position called for, no questions asked.  It’s a true mark of the wonderful person she is that she did so with laughter and smiles the entire time.  Her love of this club and its members, and her commitment to both, carried us thru a potentially difficult time with no fuss.  It was a seamless transition that never wavered.  She went above and beyond the call of duty and will forever have this clubs love and appreciation.

 We had our transitional board meeting Tuesday night and the new board is as follows.

Chairperson:                 Stephanie

Vice Chairperson:         Marge

Secretary:                     Lisa

Treasurer:                     Steve

Programming:               George and Helen

Publicity:                       Daphne

Activities:                      Ruth and Helen

Sunshine:                      Mittie

Banner Chairperson      Mariann

Class Coordinators:      Edythe and Eric

Parliamentarian:            Joan

April 9 was the Country Chicken Dinner and Square Dancing event at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Woonsocket.  It benefited the ELCA World Hunger Agriculture projects.  We made a large showing and really had a good time.  The homemade food was good and definitely plentiful.

April 10 was the away dance at Killingly Grange.  We had over two squares in attendance, and definitely dominated the small hall. A number of people approached me throughout the dance and told me how much they were enjoying the dance. 

April 19 was our class graduation and pot luck dinner.  We had a full hall, with lots of family members joining us.  Our class Coordinators found a new graduation ceremony and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  There was an air of celebration and togetherness in the hall, and much smiling and laughter.  It really was a good time for everyone.  Congratulations to all the graduates, and welcome to the Club!

April 23 and 24 was Convention.  As always it was a fun time.  We have a budding star in our midst.  Our newest member Mariann was sitting on the sidelines watching a plus tip when someone came and asked her to dance.  She told him she was newly graduated so a bit unsure of herself, but he was persistent and able to coax her into joining him on the floor.  Mariann did phenomenal!  She was solid thru out the tip (the square never broke down) and really enjoyed herself.  That just goes to show you that with basic knowledge, a dancer who knows how to listen and follow other dancers within a tip can do anything.  Great job Mariann!

May 16 was SEMCA's King and Queen Ball.   Congratulations to Bob and Denise as our King and Queen representatives, they made it to first runners up.   SEMCA’s new King and Queen are Marie and Kieran Hardiman of the DoSiDoers. The food table was a big success, with lots and lots of food.  Thank you all very much for the food and time donated.  I always have my hands full at this dance.  It was nice to be able to do what I needed to do, knowing that the food table was taken care of.  Thank you again everyone, and especially to Mariann and Elaine for coordinating it all.

May 24 is our last workshop and it will be an Ice Cream Sundae night.  Right on its heels the summer plus workshop begins on June 7th. We hope to have all our recent graduates join us. 

June 27 is a dinner date set at the Medieval Manor in Boston.  The tickets are $35pp.  If you’re interested please see Ruth.  

August 22 (Sunday) is our annual club picnic at Colt State Park. It’s open to dancers and non dancers alike.  It’s a rain or shine event.  Bring a folding chair, a food item to share, your best card or domino strategies and a smile.  It’s guaranteed to be a fun time.

July 17 -There’s an outdoor dance at Mattapoisett coming up.  This too is a rain or shine event.  It’s a beautiful area to just sit back and visit with others, or enjoy a tip or two in the moonlight. There will be many callers and cuers in attendance, and it will be a mainstream dance.  Mattapoisett at one time hosted over 20 squares. It would be nice to see a large colorfully dressed group of people dancing outside, like the times of old.  With that in mind we ask that you wear square dance clothes for this event. To this day I still have people from the area approach me telling me of their memories of those dances.  It will be nice to refresh those memories, and have a good time in the process.

And that’s all the news for now.  Looking forward to seeing everyone at the plus workshop!

Lisa

Club Secretary