New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2012 with Scott Zinser

As you all know, Scott is an excellent caller and we really are thrilled that he will be calling for us again at the Single Tree's hosted New Year's Eve Dance to ring in the new year.   To keep you going to midnight, a buffet gourmet sandwich bar with fruit and desserts will be available as well as some bubbly to toast in the new year.  Round dancing with our cuer Pat Hintz starts at 8 pm with intermediate rounds followed by regular rounds at 8:30 pm.  At 9 pm Zinser will call mainstream with every third tip plus until a bit after midnight. Join us for a fun evening.

Scott is a "regular" on the circuit of clubs in neighboring Oregon and southern Washington cities. He has called for clubs in Tacoma, Vancouver, Salem, Eugene/Springfield, Roseburg, Grants Pass, Medford, Redmond, Bend, Prineville, Coos Bay, Port Orford, Toledo, Rickreall, Seaside, and Yreka. He travels from 8,000 to 9,000 miles per year around Oregon to dances.

 Scott has been on the program at Oregon's Summer Festival and Mid-Winter Festival for many years. He also attends and calls at Central Oregon Round-up each year. Besides all that, he has been the caller on a number of parade floats in Oregon, including General Canby Days in Canby, the Rose Festival Star-Light Parade in Portland, and the Grape Festival in Milwaukie. And, he was also the caller for "International Showcase of Dancing" held in Portland each year for several years.

For more information on Scott, go to: this link.  Thanks to Scott for this information about his calling background.

December 14th Christmas Holiday Dance and Potluck

George Hermann returned to call for us on December 14th for our Christmas Holiday Dance and potluck.  Hermann hails from the Portland area and has been calling for more than 26 years.  He kept us moving all night and on our toes for sure.

And of course, our round dance cuer, Pat Hintz, got us spinning and twirling, dancing the two-step, waltz, fox trot, cha-cha, and jive. The potluck dinner at 6:30 was a big hit and the desserts were yummy. The hall decorations put us in a festive mood.

And we had a BIG visitation from the Independence Wagon Wheelers Square Dance Club. They dance in Rickreal at the Polk County Fairgrounds. Thank you for adding to our festive evening.

November 2012 Dances

Nov. 9th - Veterans Remember Dance with caller Terry Halley. He has a sharp and clean calling style that we’ve enjoyed several times before.  Terry calls for the Tri Squares in Tigard, Oregon. He will also call with the Wild Cards at our 49th birthday dance in February 2013.

Please come and fill the hall. The food barrel will be out - bring your cans to donate to Food for Lane County.

October Dances - 2012

12th - Octoberfest - caller is Renee Ruud.  We will also have a Food Barrel for donations for Food for Lane County.  Bring your cans.  Cash donations also accepted.

Renee is becoming a good caller and is more adapted to plus each time she graces our hall. Les Seeley might show up too, if he has the time available.  They like to do duets at each other's gigs and we always enjoy the possible surprise. Renee has a very good singing voice which is always nice for those singing calls.  :-)

28th - Halloween Dance - caller is Scott Zinser.  Let's see more costumes this year!  Scott is one of our favorite callers, when we can get him, since he is very popular with other clubs. He called for several of our dances last year and we always had a great time. Looking forward to having him again - and we hope to get a good crowd out to dance to his tunes. We expect to have lots of finger foods for the festivities. Did someone say we might have prizes for the best costumes?

September Dances 2012

Sept. 14th:

It is time for our School Daze Sock Hop to kick off the 2012-13 season and our fall program.  K.C. Curtis with his deep baritone voice will be calling for us along with our own Pat Hintz, cueing.  Let's get out our 50-s poodle skirts, jeans and t-shirts with rolled-up sleeves and have a blast!  We give out prizes for best dressed.

7:30 Plus; 8:00 Mainstream with rounds until 10:30 pm; 9:15 approx. Break time. Don't forget, Single Trees, to bring your finger foods.

Sept. 28th:

Craig Abercrombie will join us with his fun musical dance program for the real "end of summer" dance. Same times as above. Craig calls for regional and national dances as well.  He is a hard caller to get for a dance in the Emerald area, so come and take advantage of his good calling. And, we always learn a thing or two in the process.

August Dances 2012

August 10th Bob Ewing is calling for our Hawaiian Beach Party Dance. I think we might even have some sand - but not on the dance floor.  So put on your casual summer dance wear or a Hawaiian luau outfit and come and have a wonderful time.  Members - remember your finger food, and anyone else who attends can bring food too - it is up to you.

And on the 24th, Mike Kious is our caller. We haven't seen him in a while, but he now calls for the Happy Rock'er Square Dance Club in Oregon City. I'm sure his wife Lisa will be coming along and we might even see his grandfather George Hermann if we are lucky.

Ewing calling for July dance

July 13th - Freedom Dance and ice cream social.  Bob Ewing, the Whirl-A-Ways caller, is coming to call for our dance since W-A-W's are dark in July.  If you went to their last big dance, you will know that Bob is a fun caller that we all know and love.  Celebrate freedom and let your feet resound on the dance floor as we all have a good time.

Note: We will not have our 2nd dance of the month since we will be dark for Diamond Lake this year.

June 2012 Dances

8th -   Terry Halley is visiting us again from Gresham to call for our "Reigning Cats and Dogs" benefit dance for  Greenhill. Bring dog or cat food, checks are good made out to "Greenhill" or cash or kitty litter, or old towels - they can use them all.  Our guest caller for this day, as many of you know, is a member of the square dance callers group the "Wild Cards" composed of KC Curtis, Mike Halley and himself who call in harmony.  In February 2013 they will call for our birthday dance.

22nd - Wear your craziest T-shirt and come dance casual at our Crazy T-shirt dance with caller Craig Abercrombie who needs no introductions.  If you haven't danced to Craig's calling, you haven't been out square dancing much.  So come and find out what you've been missing! You will move to the beat of his great music and steady calling technique. And he will always surprise us with a new (or an old) move to keep things fresh.

May Dances!

11th - Roger Putzler is calling for our Mexican Fiesta Dance.  We've been waiting for him to have a spare moment to call for us and finally it has arrived.  When he retired he thought he would just call once in a while, but now he is busier than when he was working and it is hard to sign him up for a dance. We will have a taco bar and/or Mexican-oriented finger foods, but we depend on all our members bringing something, so stay in touch.  Roger is a fun caller and we all look forward to seeing him again.

25th - K.C. Curtis is calling. K.C. has called for the Toe Draggers in Kinton, Oregon, just outside of Beaverton since 2006.  He has one of the nicest singing voices around and a good sense of humor. He also sings (and calls) in harmony with the Wild Cards.  We have all enjoyed K.C.'s calling whenever we are lucky enough to have him.  So come out in full measure and enjoy a fun night of dancing. (Note, he and Peter Wood switched dance nights.) So, if you couldn't come to dance to K.C. in April ... you have another chance in May!

April Dances

April 13 - Spring Fling was called by Renee Ruud from Oregon City.  And we had an added surprise with Les Seeley showing up as well.  What at night!


We had the pleasure of Renee's wonderful voice when she came down with Les Seeley for our birthday dance last year, and also for our Black Cat Dance this January.  She has called for the Bachelors and Bachelorettes, the Mix and Mingles in Tualatin, and co-called with Les Seeley and Randle Dibble at the USA West convention and has also co-called with Daryl Clendenin.  Reneé been co-teaching plus, basic and mainstream lessons for the River City Dancers, the club she belongs to. We had a good group that just danceed their hearts out and have a great time with Reneé. Thanks Les for adding your harmonies.

April 27 - Peter Wood filled in for K.C. Curtis for this night and he did a great job on such short notice.  Thank you Peter.  We will see you again.  Everyone had a good time and really appreciated your being able to come.  We just don't know what we would have done, except beg Pat Hintz to also call a few mainstream dances, and although she can call, cueing round dancing is her thing.  You saved us all from disappointment.  :-)

March 23 - Gospel Dance with George Hermann

George Hermann returns to call for us on March 23rd for our Gospel Square Dance.  He hails from Portland area and has been calling for more than 26 years.  A lot of you are familiar with his style, which will keep you moving.  He always tries something new, keeping the dancers on their toes.  We always have fun when George shares some good songs with his unique calling patter that keeps us moving.  His wife Patty should be there and may cue a round dance or two as a guest cuer.

And, we always have our round dance cuer, Pat Hintz, to liven up the scene, getting us spinning and twirling, dancing the two-step, waltz, fox trot, cha-cha, or jive ... and you might even get a chance to tango. So come join us and have a good time. Check out the video of George calling for our Christmas dance. 

March 9th - Wearing of the Green/Baked Potato Feed

Our guest caller was Mike Halley, on March 9th for our Saint Patricks dance called "The Wearing of the Green" I saw quite a bit of green that night.  It was a fun dance and the baked potato feed was also a hit. See us all whirling and twirling to some foot-stomping music. (right)


About Mike Halley:  He began square dancing in 2000 and in 2007 he was calling. He participated in caller schools and seminars with Daryl Clendenin,  Wade Drive, and Deborah Carroll-Jones.  He is also a member of the "WildCards with his brother Terry Halley and his friend K.C. Curtis. The trio has called many dances including the "Seaside Sashay" square dance festival. Last May he and his wife Helen were hired as caller and cuer for the Oaky Doaks Square and Round Dance Club in Oak Grove, Oregon.  He enjoys calling for the club and still makes guest caller appearances, at our club, for example. He just keeps getting better.

The dance started with Plus Squares at 7:30 and then Pat Hintz (left) started cueing round dance with a couple of dances at 8:00, followed by mainstream and the pattern continued until 9:15 or so with a break for that baked potato feed.  We didn't polish off all the potatoes, so some went home with our guest dancers for a nice weekend breakfast.

Sandy Harris (right) showed up that night and did a guest tip calling some fun square dance moves.  It is nice to mix it up a bit.  We'll have to ask her to call for us in the future when we work up a new roster of dances and callers.

Great Video by Tess Freeman

Tess Freeman made a wonderful video she wanted to share with us. You might remember her doing videography a few weeks ago. Enjoy! Just click on the link below.  It is called "A Lifetime of Do-Si-Does" and says a lot about what makes square dancing fun. The video features Larry Lauderdale.

http://tessfreeman.com/a-lifetime-of-do-si-does/

Feb. 10th - Caller Les Seeley for Sweetheart 48th Birthday Dance

Join us when Les Seeley calls for our Feb. 10, 2012 sweetheart birthday dance.  Since 1990 he has been the primary caller for the River City Dancers in Milwaukie, Oregon.  Club members say that he is not only a good, patient and fun teacher, he is always an innovative caller.  He has been calling since 1987.  He is a favorite caller for many other clubs in Oregon.

Les called for two caller run clubs for many years -- the Columbians, a Plus level club in Portland, Oregon; and the Shadow Casters, an advanced level club.  The Seeleys continue to call regularly for the River City Dancers and have an all position / dance by definition group for Plus dancers known as the Diamond Cutters.  Les does lots of guest appearances for other clubs, time permitting, and calls regularly for the Tumbleweeds, Plus and, once each month for the B & Bs.  Les’ favorite thing in calling is singing with other caller friends.  Les is one of the founding members of The Crew which is Daryl Clendenin, Randy Dibble, Jim Hattrick and, himself.

We are looking forward to a wonderful Single Trees 48th Birthday dance. We invite members from other clubs to join us to celebrate our best dance of the year!

We're all going to Mid-Winter Festival

January 27-29, 2012:

 

This is the time of year when we all get together from the Emerald Area and sashay up to Albany to have a great time with lots of fellow square dancers.  Hope to see you all there.  Single Trees will be dark on January 27th for that reason. Find out more about the festival by clicking on the link below.

 

Mid-Winter Festival

Linn County Fairgrounds

Albany, Oregon

January 13, 2012 - Black Cat Dance and New Dancer Dance

Our Black Cat dance is lots of fun when the blacklight goes on and we dance with white gloves, or white shirts with most of our clothes being dark.  It is a challenge, but we only do it for a few dances.  I wonder if we will have the black cat wandering around between squares this year?  We hope all the new dancers show up and have a great time.

Our caller this time is Reneé Ruud from Oregon City.  We've had the pleasure of her wonderful voice when she came down with Les Seeley for our birthday dance last year.  She has called for the Bachelors and Bachelorettes, the Mix and Mingles in Tualatin, and co-called with Les Seeley and Randle Dibble at the USA West convention and has also co-called with Daryl Clendenin.  Reneé been co-teaching plus, basic and mainstream lessons for the River City Dancers, the club she belongs to. So come and dance your hearts out, support our new dancers, and have a great time with Reneé. I'm sure you'll be glad you did.