Oregon Federation News
January, 2018

A publication of the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs


Your 2018 Randall Award Nominees


Elaine Funk
Charlie Brown Squares
Rogue-Sis-Q Council

Bill and Elaine Funk started square dancing in 1969 in Grants Pass. They attended their first festival in Klamath Falls in 1970. All 3 of their sons also danced.

In that year, Elaine took round dance lessons and was asked to become the teacher. She started cueing at the same time and was one of the first to cue in the state. Bill and Elaine founded the Oregon Round Dance Teachers Association with the Parrotts and the Wards. They conducted a round dance weekend, Spring Soiree, that continued for many, many years.

Elaine and Bill were asked to do festivals in all of the western states, Canadian provinces, and Alaska. They attended, taught and cued at many National Conventions. They attended the first USAWest Convention, and many more since, and MCed their Showcase of Rounds twice.

They worked on three of the Summer Festivals in southern Oregon; first as afterparty chair, and second and third as the round dance coordinator. She also worked Mid-Winter Festival as round dance coordinator. She will be co-chair of the 2018 Summer Festival. She is a charter member of Roundalab,and a member of ICBDA and several other dance organizations.

Elaine has choreographed more than 20 dances, and every one of them has been picked as a Round of the Month. One even became a second place choice as a Roundalab quarterly selection.

Elaine has been president and council delegate for the Charlie Brown Squares and the Gypsy Squares; Secretary, Vice President and Area Delegate for the Rogue-Sis-Q Council, and Insurance Chairman for the Oregon Federation.


Ferrous & Karen Steinka
Hoedowners
Tualatin Valley Council

Ferrous and Karen Steinka are a shining example of the special spirit of the square dance community.

Their square dancing journey began in 1980 with the Tualatin Twirlers. Over the years, they have had the privilege to dance with Daryl Clendenin's Columbians, learned round dancing from Joyce Hooper, spanned the 30 years of Norm Yoder's Plus Knights, joined the Eager Beaver's mid-day club, and reunited with Daryl Clendenin with the Hoedowners. Ferrous and Karen have visited every club in the TVC.

Karen and Ferrous have chaired special dances, mystery trips, lessons, and club officers and board members. Working with Tony Haskins, they coordinated and organized TVC dancers and callers for the Oregon State Fair for 5 years.

In addition to club level participation, Ferrous and Karen have been the TVC Council Delegates, OFN Area Editors, and co-authored the rewrite of the TVC Constitution, By-Laws, and Practices and Procedures, and the Delegates Introduction.

Ferrous and Karen are also tech-savvy, and have contributed hours and hours of effort in computing. They compiled and formatted the TVC directory. They created, hosted, and now maintain 9 different web sites for clubs from the TVC, PAC, Blue Mountains and Mid-Willamette councils. They are currently webmasters for five TVC clubs.

Ferrous took several months to create lists and links to compile a "Find a Dance Club" and "Find a Hall" web site for Oregon and Southwest Washington. As Tim Roberts wrote on the Federation web page, "Ferrous Steinka of the Hoedowners has created a web site that contains maps to virtually every function in Oregon and southwest Washington that has been used for a square dance in the recent past. This is quite a valuable resource."

Ferrous and Karen received the TVC Recognition award in 2011 for Outstanding Contributions. In 2015, they were awarded the Eager Beavers Swenson Award for "Continued Outstanding Support of the Club and Consistently Promoting Square and Round Dancing in the Community."


Tami Helms & Tim Keck
River City Dancers
Portland Area Council

Tami Helms began her dancing career as a go-go dancer, and then dancing in a chorus line in Sparks, Nevada. She went on to focus on ballroom dancing, and participated in several competitions, winning an amateur swing dance competition. She started square and round dancing in Portland in 1982. Six years later, Tami decided to be a cuer and teach round dancing, something she still does today.

Tim Keck has had an interest in dancing for most of his adult life. Early on, he took part on contra, English country, and international folk dancing. He then added country swing and ballroom dancing to his reportoire. Tim started square dancing in 1980 oin Florence, Oregon, and round dancing in 1985.

In 2007, Tami & Tim were both dancing at Carousel Club #162 in Portland, where they became dance partners. During their dance career, they have given their time to support several organizations, participated in many events, and choreographed several dances, some being recognized as Round of the Month in local state organizations. Tami & Tim keep abreast of practices and techniques of teaching, programming, and presenting rounds by attending workshops.

In the PAC, Tami has served as Cuer Advisor and Alternate Area Delegate. In the Oregon Federation, Tami has served on the Round of the Month Screening Committee and ORDTA representative. Tami & Tim have been chairman, vice chairman, and secretary for the Oregon Round Dance Teacher's Association (ORDTA), and are currently chairman. Tim built and maintains the record database for the ORDTA collection of 6,000 45-RPM records. In Roundalab, Tmi is reviewer for Phase 2 & 3 Round of the Quarter. They taught a round dance at the Roundalab Convention in 2012. Tim is the reviewer for the Technical Advisory Committee for the Cha Cha Rhythm for the International Choreographed Ballroom Dancing Association (ICBDA), and will be assisting with the ICBDA 2017 Convention. They currently serve as secretary and treasurer for the Capitol Hill Community Club.

Tami & Tim have served as as Oregon's Summer Festival Round Dance Chairman in 2011, 2013, and 2015, and are Round Program Chairman for the 2018 Mid-Winter Festival. They have participated in the Mid-Winter Showcase of Rounds since 2010. They were Round Dance Chairman for the 2008 USAWest Convention. For the National Square Dance Convention, they were Chairman of the Day in Portland in 1994, Cuer/Teacher in Denver in 2004, Showcase Chairman in Portland in 2005, Cuer/Teacher in San Antonio in 2006, Cuer/Teacher in Charlotte in 2007, and Sound Program Manager in Spokane in 2012. Tami will be head judge for the the Pacific Northwest Teen Square Dance Festival in Silverton in 2018.

Tami has been features at Washington's Circle 8 Ranch from 2012 to 2015, Lola Montana Mixer in 2002, Silver State in Reno, Olympia's Lake Fair 2010 to 2014, and the Royal Romp in Vancouver from 1992 to 2016.

Tami is cuer for three Oregon Federation Clubs -- Bachelors and Bachelorettes, River City Dancers, and Tumbleweeds. Tami has choreographed 16 dances, three of which were named Round of the Month in several states: "Twistin' the Night Away," "Why Don't We Just Dance," and "Crazy Cajun Stomp." Tim creates and edits the cue sheets for these dances.