News Digest for Square Dancing in the United States

News Digest

Recent examples of square dancer news on a variety of topics from various publications around the United States. Excerpts appear below, please follow the link to the original article.

March, 2010

4-H Dance Camp Weekend held at Jackson's Mill News Video: Published in:
WBOY Channel 12
Clarksburg, West Virginia
March 6th, 2010

350 teenagers from around the state were in Lewis County for the 4-H Dance Camp Weekend. Teens spent the weekend learning all kinds of dancing such as Scottish, Appalachian, square dancing and even disco. There was also a live band.; The dance camp is held at Jackson's Mill every year. Organizers say the camp allows teens to make memories and share what they learned with their local 4-H clubs.
Square dancers gather in Odessa: People from all over the state gathered at the American Legion in Odessa to dance round and round — but mostly square. The Permian Basin Square and Round Dancing Association brought the 49th annual Conclave of the Texas State Federation of Square and Round Dancers to town, and dozens of officials and dancers along with it.; The Conclave is one of four annual meetings conducted by the federation, where they elect new officers for the upcoming year and finish planning for the June festival. This year, the theme is the "Dance by the Bay," in Galveston.; Ed Ewbank, Conclave chairman and 2004-’05 president of the federation, explained that when they have to get together for meetings, they make sure to enjoy themselves, too. "Every time we have a meeting, we throw in a dance as well," Ewbank joked. "It’s mostly dancing with a little business."
Dancers step out at Wing Ding: Jim Rammel stood on a small, raised stage Tuesday night in the Soulsbyville Elementary School gym. Microphone in hand, he sang out instructions in a country twang to 24 dancers arranged in three squares scattered equidistant across the dance floor.; "And take your ladies home!" Rammel crowed after a long exchange of moves, and dancers met their partners and brought them to their original positions in the square.; Rammel is a caller for the Twain Harte Twirlers, one of the few remaining square dancing clubs in the area. Sharon Rammel, his wife, is a cuer (pronounced "Q-er"). She calls out commands in round dancing, a related form of American folk dancing.; Both the Rammels and many of the Twain Harte Twirlers will participate in Wing Ding 2010, a three-day square dancing festival held at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds that begins today and runs through Sunday.
Specialty Plates Sing to Vehicle Owners: One of the earlier groups to jump on the specialty license plate bandwagon were the state’s square dancers, whose design featuring a whirling couple was approved in 1991.; Roger Spiese, who teaches at the Kitsap Square Dance Center in Belfair, said the plates serve as a way to connect with others of like mind ... and feet. He and his wife, Jill, own one of the 36 vehicles with square dancer plates in Kitsap County. As they drive around the state, they scout out vehicles similarly adorned and honk or wave as they go by.; "That’s what square dancing is all about anyway. The milieu is about camaraderie," Spiese said.
Be Glad: Boot-Scootin’ Bill Fischer ’66: Newcomers to Yale graduate (that was a lifetime ago) Bill Fischer’s ’66 contra dance in Bethany, Connecticut will feel they’ve ridden a cyclone in reverse and plopped smack in the middle of a Kansas cornfield, plumb out of place in a sea of gingham and bustling smiles and instruments from hither and yon, who need merely declare their names — hog fiddle, bottle-bell-shawm, and the good ol’ washboard — to claim their righteous place in the barn-turned-dancehall.; The monthly Bethany Music and Dance events (BMAD, pronounced "Be Mad" by those in-the-know) began in 1993, when Yale’s current generation was also knee-high to a grasshopper. This was the year that Fischer, an erstwhile doctor, bought a spot on the Litchfield turnpike, began to let his hair grow out, and started covering the walls with art and memorabilia. Now with tangled blond dreadlocks reaching past his shoulders, he is a man in his element, standing at the center of the swirling room, directing friends and strangers alike in the swinging abandon of a Virginia Reel.; It’s hard to move across the dance floor, jam-packed with delegates from every age, spanning the better part of a century. We squeeze together, tighter than pickles in a crock. The pickle next to me has a Stetson hat and a gap between each tooth, and is keeping time with his Justins on the down of two and four. It’s a wonder that, under the stomping of so many feet — booted, be-sneakered, bare — the streamers and art and newspaper clippings don’t all topple off the walls and bury everyone in a big dusty heap.
Hootenany raises $3,500 in funds for Haiti relief and UNICEF: Carnival games, square-dancing and donations for Haiti flooded the UC on Friday night. Sigma Phi Epsilon and Kappa Kappa Gamma collaborated to create a country-western themed fundraiser called the "Cowtown Throwdown" to raise money for UNICEF. Students dressed as hillbillies, cowgirls, cowboys and even farm animals attended the fundraiser with overwhelming enthusiasm.; Mid-way through the dancing festivities, Ruffles and Bows, a professional group of square dancers, led a step-by-step lesson on how to do traditional square dancing. The square dancing group expressed their excitement to teach an old-school dance to a younger generation.; When asked if the Cowtown Throwdown will become an annual event, Toyama said, "Given the amazing response from the student body and the experience of putting this on, I think the second annual Cowtown Throwdown has a nice ring to it."
Mr. Ellis Dances His Way Into Retirement: Published in:
The Whitman Word
Rushville, New York
March 2nd, 2010

Who can forget promenading your partner around the circle and finishing it all with a do-si-do? One person who will certainly never forget is Mr. Bob Ellis. After forty five years of teaching dance to students, of all ages, Mr. Ellis has decided to retire. Mr. Ellis has taught at so many schools that when I asked him what schools he couldn’t remember all of them.; I asked Mr. Ellis, "What will you miss most about teaching students?" He replied, "I will miss working with them and seeing what such young children are capable of. I will also miss seeing the children’s speed of learning."

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