Jan. 10, 2025 New Dancer Dance

We held our annual New Dancer dance on Jan. 10 this year with at least two couples and several singles refreshing their skills in attendance.  It was such a pleasure to see the two younger couples there enjoying themselves.  I wish more people had come out to support them, but we have had quite a few members out with physical injuries or under the weather for one reason or another.  My thanks to Nancy Gowins and her husband, members of our sister club Whirl-A-Ways, for staying to support the new dancers.  Nancy does a good job of recruitment herself and is tireless in her enthusiasm for our beloved activity.   She like so many wants to see our dances continue for  a long time into the future.

 

Bruce Lowther called and his wife Judy Russell cued the dance.  Bruce watched the floor carefully to make sure the newer dancers were able to keep up.    There were some break downs but people regrouped quickly enough and I could tell they were having a good time by seeing all the smiles on their faces.  If we had had a few more guys there we could have had three squares on the floor but unfortunately we simply did not have enough so some like me stepped in to do the guy's part and that of course can be confusing for new dancers.  Still as I said we had a good time and that is all we can ask for at times.

 

One of the newer dancers who has been refreshing her skills had her 40th birthday so her grandmother provided a beautiful birthday cake for her and all of us.   She was quite pleased.

Here are some photos I took during one tip when I wasn't dancing.

 

 

 

 Next month on February14 we will celebrate our 61st birthday with our "Sweetheart of a 61st Birthday Dance".  Shaun McKamey will be calling that night.  He is a newer, up-and-coming caller who has good timing, a great singing voice with lots of clarity.  You will really like him if you don't already.  On Feb. 28 Mark Wheeler will come down from the Portland area to call for us.  We all like Mark who has a very genial personality and always gets right into the theme of the dances.  This one will be "Your Favorite Cartoon Character".  Perhaps we'll see some Minnie or Mickey Mouses or Donald or Daisy Ducks.  Christina Corelli will be cueing both dances for us.  Christina also likes to get into the theme!  It should be fun.

 

We just learned that our long time cuer Jackie Gale who hasn't been able to join us all that often lately is going to move with her husband Bill to Nevada to be closer t family.  We will miss you so much, Jackie and Bill!  We wish you every success in your new home.  Nevada's gain, our loss, for sure.

 

Hope to see all of you dancers at Mid-Winter.  Our club like others will go dark that weekend.

 

Gaynor Hintz

Club Reporter and Web Master

 

In December Single Trees only had only one dance on Dec. 20, our last third Friday dance since we resume our old schedule of 2nd and 4th Fridays starting in January 2025.  Dec. 20 we held our annual Christmas dinner and dance.  It was well attended with three squares in the hall and two on the floor.  The food was fabulous, much of it provided by members and especially our president Melba Walker.   Everyone had a good time eating dinner together before the dance and then dancing the calories off.  We had visitors from Lebanon Alliance clubs as well as from the south--Roseburg area.  Thank you to all who came and  participated in  making it all so much fun!  This reporter was in Mesa, AZ so it appears no photos were taken.

 

On Dec. 31st some Single Trees members gathered at the hall in Springfield to welcome in the new year with all our square dancing friends.  There were five squares in the hall and often four on the floor so that was a good turnout by today's standards.  b3esides Roger Putzler and Christina Corelli calling and cueing, Sandy Harris and the Coxes also called and cued.  We hope that 2025 will find everyone back out dancing and bringing in new dancers to lessons.   This is such a great activity and a very healthy one too.

 

My thanks to Margaret McVey and Roger Tendick for helping pass on these reports.

 

Our next dance is January 10.  It will be a New Dancer dance, and we hope to see as many new dancers out as possible.  Bruce Lowther will be calling and Judy Russell will be cueing so we hope any Alliance new dancers will join us.  We will probably have half an hour of plus at 7:30 and then the rest of the evening will be at new dancer level.  See you all there!

Happy New Year to all!

Gaynor Hintz

2024 Christmas Decorating at teh Emerald Square Dance Center

 

  2024 Christmas Decorating

On Nov. 30 a group of square dancers gathered once again to decorate the hall for the holiday season. There was a mixture of Whirl-A-Ways and Single Trees, and we managed to get quite a bit done in the two and a half hours that I was there. Melba came prepared with extension cords, two sided tape, scissors and extra decorations with hangers for the pegboard.. The tables in the dining area got decorated with the small Christmas trees Joy had brought in quite a few years ago now and many corners and the stage got groups of poinsettias. Lights and garland were added also with Christmas motif objects hung from the pegboard surrounding the used clothing area. It is all set now for the various clubs and other renters that use Hall A throughout the month of December. Thanks should go to Melba, Betty, John and Carolyn Pape, Scott and Gail Sandgathe, Janice Sugar, Ron Gates, Chris Brown, Margaret McVey and Roger Tendick, Chris Brown, and me Gaynor Hintz. Do try to make it to a dance or to the Single Trees potluck dinner Dec. 20 to see how lovely it all looks.

Happy Holidays,

Gaynor Hintz

Club Reporter

 

 

Judy Melendrez' Celebration of Life

          

 

 Today, Nov. 23 many square dancers joined Judy's family and co-workers and customers from Selco Credit Union for a beautiful celebration of her life re in Springfield-Eugene-McKenzie Valley .  The memorial was held at our square dance hall and featured a slide show which incorporated many photos of her life (she had many).  It was a wonderful chance to say good-bye and acknowledge the fact that she will be greatly missed by her home club and other members of her wide-spread community.  One of her granddaughters read a poem she had written for her grandmother.  That was very touching.  

 

It was so good to see many square dancers who no longer dance there to commemorate her passing.  She lead a long and fulfilling life but one still feels she had more life to live and passed too soon at the age of 84.

 

Gaynor Hintz

Club Reporter

 

Thanksgiving Celebration Dance

 Hi, just a few words to describe our Friday, Nov. 22 dance.  While the turnout was not great we had a really fun night dancing to Bruce Lowther and Sandy Harris.  Bruce put some good calls together for us.  We had one square for the plus tips and two for the mainstream tips with three on one occasion.   We had visitors from the Alliance clubs to the north of us, supporting Bruce.   While we do enjoy dancing plus, given the fact that we have quite a few newer mainstream dancers it might be good to consider changing the format of our dances so the newer dancers can be on the floor more.  We would like to see them get as much floor time as possible.  Many of them are now taking round dance classes too.  Good for them!  Our cuers will be happy to see more on the floor during the round dance tips.

This was the last dance for us in November.  We will only have one dance in December--our Christmas Dinner and Dance. on Dec. 20, the third Friday.  We will NOT have a dance on the 2nd and 4th Fridays that month.

In January on the second Friday, Jan. 10,  we will hold a New Dancer dance.  It should be a good one and we hope to welcome new dancers from our area as well as other areas.   Bruce Lowther will be calling and his wife, Judy Russell, will be cueing.  Come on out and join us!

Honoring Our Veterans

 

Honoring Our Veterans Dance

Last night Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 we held our “Honoring Our Veteran’s” dance. While it was a very small turnout, we still had a really great time dancing and honored the three veterans that attended with a speech given by our president, Melba Walker, who had been married to a veteran, her late husband, and a photo taken of all four of them (see below). We thank you for yur service. 

Many wore red, white and blue for the occasion. Thank you to Mark Wheeler who called a fun dance and to Sandy Harris who cued some fun rounds for us. They both tried to find songs in keeping with the theme. Below are some photos of the one square on the floor at that time (we did have two at one time and a six couple “square” too which was really different and fun.

We will have our Thanksgiving Celebration dance next week on Nov. 22. We hope to see quite a few dancers wanting to dance in preparation for all those calories on Thanksgiving Day itself.

In December we will only hold one dance ,our Christmas Dinner and Dance on the third Friday Dec. 20. We always have a potluck dinner with ham and rice prepared by our president this year. We sit down at 6:30 before our Christmas dance which starts at the normal time at 7:30. Hope to see many out to celebrate with us and check out our beautiful hall at Christmas time

Gaynor Hintz

Club Reporter 

 

 

 

 

 An executive decision was made that we will continue our 3rd dances for November and December drop the proposed 2nd Friday dances in Nov. and Dec.and only have our 3rd Friday dance in December.  We will start having 2nd and 4th Friday dances in the new year.  

 

So in November we will have the Honoring Our Veterans dance on Nov. 15  with Mark Wheeler calling and Sandy Harris cueing.  On Nov. 22 we will have a Thanksgiving Celebration (dance off those calories!) with Bruce Lowther calling and Sandy Harris cueing.  On Dec. 20 we will have our Christmas Dinner and Dance with a potluck dinner at 6:30PM (gather at 6 to put out the dishes and prepare the tables)followed by a dance at 7:30 with Darrell Kalmbach calling and

Christina Corelli cueing.  

 

We always start our dances with a plus tip at 7:30 followed by 15 minutes of pre-rounds until 8.  Mainstream with every third tip plus and rounds in between will be from 8 to 10 at the Emerald Square Dance Center at 2095 Yolanda.  Be sure to put our Christmas dance on your calendar or come to one of he other dances at the hall during the Christmas season as we always decorate to the hilt for the season. It is sure to raise your spirits. 

 

Gaynor Hintz

Club Reporter