By the time you read this, the Frogs and Family-a-Fair will have celebrated the New Year with a joint dinner, dance and games at the Frog's hall. This is always such a fun event!

Best wishes to all of you for health, contentment and much dancing in 2015!

We look forward to 2015.

We graduated fifteen new dancers from the beginners' lessons! Several angels from the different clubs were on hand Tuesdays and Thursdays to help out and have fun with the beginners. Roger Putzler is the teacher, and we anticipate starting another new dancers' class in February. Here's another chance to bring more people to the square dance fold. The fun and camaraderie of square dancing is unique and for everyone of all ages! Bring a friend or two or even more.

Christina Corelli

Roger Putzler and Jackie Gale will call and cue our New Dancer Dance/Baked Potato Feed on January 9th. Our club will go 'dark' on January 23rd; time for Mid-Winter Festival! See you there.

Marguerite Zolman

We are now looking forward to 2015 with hopes for a new dancers' class starting January 11th. We dance Sundays from 5:30 - 8 p.m., so there is plenty of floor time for all of the levels. Please be thinking of people to invite to lessons. Folks just have no clue how much fun they are missing. We dance in Hall A at the Emerald Dance Center at 2095 Yolanda in Springfield. Please call our president, David Lajoie, for information, (541)520-7311. Tim Mattieson is our very capable caller and teacher.

Happy dancing!

Christina Corelli

We are excited to announce that our next dance will be our Big Foot dance on January 10th. Big Foot has been hiding out in the woods for many years, but he has promised to attend our dance, and he will even bring his family! You won't want to miss this exciting event. The fourth Saturday we will be dark so we can all attend the Mid-Winter Festival! In February we will be dark the second Saturday so we can attend Corvallis Squares' Birthday Party. We will hold our own Birthday dance on the 4th Saturday, February 28th. Come and help us celebrate.

Sharon Arthur

Our caller, Mike Kious gave everyone such a fun time-especially the New Dancers, what a great evening.

At the recent elections to the Hall Board of the Emerald Square Dance Center our members Marilyn Howard continued as Secretary and Carolyn Pape continued as Treasurer. We appreciate their doing these positions. Then on December 6 club members helped with putting up the Christmas decorations at the Emerald Square Dance Center.

Coming up our business meeting in January, and our regular dance on January 10.

Whirl-A-Ways will go DARK on January 24 for Mid-Winter Festival; where we look forward to dancing and re-connecting with friends from all around Oregon once again.

'Z' Reporter.

Every Tuesday night at the Salem Square Dance Center in Salem, we have an eager group of new dancers intermingling with our regulars, and we are rocking! We have two instructor/cuers, Cheri Posedel, who teaches the beginning and intermediate class, and Lori Buckley, who teaches Intermediate plus and advanced classes. This keeps the Square dance Center hopping for four plus hours.

We start at 4:00 p.m. with a group of enthusiastic intermediate dancers who just want a little slower pace to dance and a bit more repetition when learning new steps. The pace is a bit slower but the laughs and giggles are right on cue! This hour of fun is followed by our beginner's class. This year we have more families participating, including some pretty awesome Dads. They are picking things up really fast. We already have a couple of songs under our belts!

We then move right into our intermediate class where our dancers are working on their style and their clogging know-how. We wrap up the evening with our Intermediate plus half hour and our half hour of advanced classes where our dancers are working on learning some of the more challenging styles of clog dance. We all go home exhausted, inspired, and anxious for Tuesday to roll around again. CLOG ON!

Cheri Posedel

Our mainstream lessons are going well under Bruce and Judy's excellent guidance, and we have about 14 enthusiastic new dancers. We're planning to carpool to the Area New Dancers' Dances to encourage as many as possible to attend these fun dances. In December we're looking forward to our Christmas Dance, and then will be dark the fourth Saturday in December. Wishing Happy Holidays to all!

(January) Our mainstream lessons continue this month, with Bruce Lowther instructing. We've attended some of the New Dancers' Dances with our students and it's been a fun and festive time. Our club is hosting a New Dancers' Dance on January 10 and we look forward to it. Coming up in March is our annual Coast Trip, March 13 and 14, when we'll be dancing both nights at Gleneden Beach Community Club. All are welcome! Karen

We celebrated Christmas with a dinner on December 1 with 25 attending. Following dinner, we had our annual game (exchange the Christmas ornament). Five different clubs attended our dance later that evening.

Dolly

Ray missed class on October 30, due to some back issues. Hope he is feeling better as of the writing of this article. Virginia celebrated her birthday on Halloween and Ray celebrates a birthday on December, a momentous one, to boot. We look forward to celebrating many more with both of them.

We encourage Phase 3-4 dancers to come and join us as we get floor time every Thursday working through the various dance styles for practice and getting the steps down through repetition and fun.

The holidays are rolling around and the ReVuNQ dancers wish our friends and neighbors a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Come and join us on Thursdays and work some of that food off the waistline.

(January)Our club is small in attendance for classes but we are having fun anyway. We were dark for Thanksgiving as we will be for Christmas. We are planning a Christmas party for December 18 for something to make the season what it is.

There was an open house at our instructor's house on November 29 for Ray Walz's 80th birthday in early December. Have not heard how it went as I was ill and had to miss it. Drat!!

We are having a meeting after the first of December to discuss future lessons and what we can do to bring the class attendance back up or to discuss what we are doing wrong and driving them away. I will let you know what we find out. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Marilyn Schmit

Our youth are already starting to fundraise for their trip to the Pacific Northwest Teen Square Dance Festival in May. They have festival pins and raffle tickets and they will also have a silent auction at their dance in March. We have some of the kids interested in competing in the rounds this year as well as the squares! See you at a dance soon.

Thomas Buchheit

Sandy

(January) Willamette Squares held their annual Thanksgiving dance the end of November. There was an air of thankfulness as everyone danced and partook of a traditional Thanksgiving feast so ably organized by Nancy Baker and helpers. The fall decorations shed a festive light on the square dance center as memories of previous Thanksgiving celebrations came to light. We were all thankful that we could gather our square dance family together once again.

Jodee Howard

But even before that, we'll be primed up after having been to Mid-Winter. There's something for everybody at Mid-Winter. If you can only make one festival a year, Mid-Winter is the place to go.

January 31st, we'll be at the Evergreen Council Dance, as our long tenured member, Jack Grauer, will be honored for 45 years of dancing. Wont you join us in tribute?

Flory Flounce

In November we had our first Elvis dance. Thank you, Mark "Elvis " Wheeler for a great dance. In December we decided to do a theme dance of Honoring our Seniors. We will collect items to donate to low income residents of local assisted living facilities for Christmas. They can use stationery, shampoo, socks, slippers, large print puzzle books, writing items, lotion. This is a population I work with in my job as a physical therapist so I see the need daily. I want to thank the Buzzin Bees for contributing. It will make a difference in the lives of many.

We hope you had a great holiday season and are ready for a fresh New Year. Some of our upcoming dances include our Pajama dance, Sweetheart prom, Pie eating contest, Honey time, Legends, and our end of the year summer BBQ dance. But first, we are looking forward to Oregon mid-winter in January. The Bees always gather for dinner on Saturday night and the last few years we have gone to Bo-Macks BBQ in Albany. Nothing better than good food shared with good friends. Hope to see you there.

Debbie Broers

Can you believe it is January 2015? We are viewing our last "news-print" published OFN magazine. I, for one, will miss the paper version. While I do business via the internet, approximately 40% of our Club members are not internet savvy. We will need to tag-team to ensure they continue to be informed.

Our January dances will include food served after the dance. On Jan 2, Scott Zinser and Jackie Gale will call/cue, so help us bring in the New Year. Mike and Helen Halley will entertain us on January 16 -- no theme - just dance.

Our February dances are theme dances! February 6, Chaps will host the Tri-council "win-the-TROPHY" dance: the club with the greatest percentage of membership in attendance wins the TROPHY, and thus hosts the next dance. February 18, features Les Seeley calling our "Flintstone" dance. We hope you will attend - we'll make it a memorable time.

Have a happy 2015! Happy Feet,

Betty Chipps

Looking back, we are grateful for all those who have attended dances or other events, like the spring Barn Sale or the fall Pancake Breakfast. Without your support, we could not keep up our rustic, aging barn.

Looking forward, 2015 will find us starting another mainstream class. January 15th we will kick off a free introduction to square dancing in a party atmosphere to bring in potential students. Scott Zinser will be teaching on a Thursday evening at 7:30 at the Boring Barn. Many Cut-Ups will attend the Mid-Winter Festival. We look forward to visiting other clubs, and welcoming them to come visit us. We hope to see many of you at the Barn this year!

Beverly De La Bruere

There are a couple of benefit dances coming up, with the proceeds going to Jim and his family. The first is on Sunday, December 21, from 1:00 to 5:00 at the Milwaukie Community Center. Also, the Hoppers' regular dance night on Saturday, January 17 will be a benefit dance for Jim.

In the meantime, the "show must go on". Our president, Jim Martinez, has been scrambling to find callers and cuers to fill in for our scheduled dances and lessons. It's been a challenge to get that done on such short notice, but Jim M. has found that the sense of community has prevailed, with local talent stepping up to the plate for us. The square dance community is both beautiful and resilient!

We are continuing with the monthly cycle for our Monday evening square dance lessons, with Craig Abercrombie presiding in Jim's absence. Through May, we encourage beginning dancers to start introductory lessons on the first Monday of each month at 7:30. Plus lessons start at 6:30, Basic 1 at 7:30, Basic 2 at 8:45, and Mainstream from 9:15 through 9:45.

As always, we have Plus dances on the first and third Saturdays of the month at the Clark County Square Dance Center. Pre-rounds start at 7:30, with squares at 8:00.

This report is for January, but if you happen to see it before the turn of the year, "A Night in Venice" will be the theme of our New Years Eve dance this year. Dinner will be included (Italian food!) in this special event. Adam Christman and Craig Abercrombie will be calling. Dorothy Lowder will be cuing. Buffet dinner starts at 7:30 with dancing at 8:30.

Marc Kahn

Be sure to read the transcript of an on-air interview with our caller, Mike Halley, on KOD Radio. For a copy of the transcript click on the "December 2014 Newsletter" on our newsletter page of the Oaky Doaks website: www.oakydoaks.com.

Our Oaky Doaks' new year opens with our "Poor Man's Dance" - a fundraiser for Annie Ross House. This is the only emergency family shelter in Clackamas County serving those currently experiencing homelessness. But Annie Ross House is more than a bed. They connect families to the information and support services that help them move from a crisis of homelessness to stable and secure lives in permanent and affordable homes. Donations of non-perishable food will go to their 'pretty bare' food pantry. These donations will reduce your door fee to just $4. If you are unable to attend the dance consider making a cash donation to Northwest Housing Alternatives, Inc earmarked Annie Ross House.

It's January and that means Mid-Winter Festival. We're looking forward to dancing together down in Albany. See you there! With our dancing shoes on and ready to go!

-- Elysa Foxman

Our dance will be a great way for new Plus dancers to get in some more practice before going to Mid-Winter Festival, and Scott and Jeanine always provide a wonderful evening for veteran dancers, too.

Thanks to faithful donators, we are amassing many pounds of aluminum tabs for the benefit of the Ronald McDonald House. Thank You for taking the time to collect for a good cause!

Cynthia

Our dance hall will host a New Dancer extravaganza on January 18 from 2:00-4:30 PM. It will feature the calling of THE CREW. This is intended as a warm-up for Mid-Winter.

See you at Mid-Winter, if not before.

We'll be kicking off our winter session of Mainstream lessons with a "free taste" of square dancing on Wednesday, January 14 at the Ankeny Street Studio, SE 9th and Ankeny, in Portland. Admission is free for all dancers. We'll dance from 7-9 pm. No prior experience is necessary, and singles and couples are welcome. Casual dress.

Our lessons will start the following the Wednesday, January 21, and continue on Wednesday nights from 7-9 pm at the Ankeny Street Studio.

We have our calendar full through June with guest callers--please watch our ads to see who is on our schedule. Dorothy Lowder continues to be our cuer--we appreciate her so much.

Mainstream lessons continue on Tuesday evenings with George Herman doing the teaching. We had a well attended New Dancer Jamboree in November with 7 - 8 squares on the floor most of the night. What a fabulous evening with George calling and Dorothy cueing, showing the new dancers what a fun time can be had when all are working(dancing) to a common goal--fun.

We continue to wish Jim Hattrick well as he continues his recovery. Warm wishes and thoughts to Judy as she continues to care for him. You both are in our prayers and thoughts.

Heres to a fabulous January. Stay safe and Happy Dancing.

Teresa Hill

Our turkey raffle at our November dance was very successful. Preston Clement won the turkey!

Our caller, Sherm Welch and his wife, Carol, are traveling across country by train to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Congratulations to you both! He will be back this month to continue on with our class. Cheri Cox will be substituting for him until then.

Mid-Winter is coming up and many club members will be in Albany for some great dancing.

See you in a square!

We are sorry to see that the hardcopy of the OFN is going away. It was always nice to receive it in the mail each month and then sit down and read about all the club activities around the state. Hopefully the online version will be successful in keeping us up-to-date on current events in the square dancing world.

Happy Dancing!

Linda

Holidays are for celebrating and hope you all celebrated in your own special ways. Hopefully some dancing was included.

Remember, dancing is an excellent way to keep warm so all plus dancers are invited to dance with us on Monday afternoons, 1:15-3:15 p.m., at the Sunset Presbyterian Church, 14986 NW Cornell Road in Beaverton. Please check for up to date information at www.eagerbeavers.info.

Rachel Nettleton

November 19th was our annual New Dancer Spaghetti Dinner. We had a beautiful candlelit dinner of Italian favorite's right down to the tiramisu. Volare, Mambo Italiano, and a little Italian opera serenaded us as we dined.

The infamous Turkey Toss Dance was held on the 22nd. Several techniques were used by potential winners. We had the bowling delivery as well as the horseshoe and slow-pitch styles. I think the bowlers tended to win. The crowd was cheering the winners and losers. Nine lucky dancers left with turkeys for their holiday tables.

January for the Hoedowners always begins with our Black and White Sparkle Dance on the 10th. Most of the dancers will come dressed in black and white and the ballroom will be sparkling with mirrors and twinkling lights. It's a great dance to begin the New Year. Please join us!

The 23rd, 24th and 25th will find a large contingent of Hoedowners in Albany for the Mid-Winter Festival so we will be dark on the 24th. We have club activities planned as well as a memorable dance weekend. Hope to see you there.

Krystal Laas

Now we hope for a winter without weather cancelations. Be sure to check our website if in doubt.

Patty Bonney

The 17th of November found us gathering for our monthly meeting hosted by Charlotte and Cliff Houghtlen, thanks to them both.

On November 22nd we hosted our Thanksgiving dance, Craig Abercrombie gobbled his way through the evening and provided an enjoyable time for all. Lonnie Sykes provided additional cueing and cackling, we trotted the evening away. Visitations were from Stardust, Ruff and Ruffles and Cougar Squares.

R Square D lost a friend and dancer this month. Bill Lammi was put to rest on the 17th with many attending his service. We will miss seeing him come through our dance hall entryway.

Please join us for our Snowflake Frolic on January 9th, hot soup to feed the body and good fellowship to feed the soul. R Square D will be dark on the 24th.

New square dance lessons start January 7th, Ya all come! For more information about the R Square D club please visit our website at www.r-square-d.info or friend us on Facebook.

Stay warm and Happy Holidays.

Marie Geisler

The Promenaders have started a Thursday evening Plus dance featuring Darrel (Erin) Kalmbach as caller, and Ken (Dianne) Pratt as cuer. The times are Intermediate Round Dance from 7:00 to 7:30 pm. Plus dance from 7:30 to 9:30 pm with a finger food break after.

We followed Mike and Julie Stout on a visitation to the Chaps and Petticoats at Maplewood Grange; our own Mike and Julie called and cued for the dance. The weather was terrible for driving with rain and wind but the dance was fun and everything turned out fine; Aurora is a long way from Hillsboro.

We are planning to put on the Seaside Sashay next year with the Hay Shakers and we are starting our planning now. This year's event was quite successful and we hope to have an even better program next year.

The Sunset Promenaders hope that everyone had a great Christmas, and now a happy new year; wow that was a fast year. Now to get going in 2015, God bless!

Tom & Janice Sminia

Toedraggers begin lessons on January 4th. Squares start at 2:30 pm followed by Rounds.

Don't forget to come get your Passports stamped as the Toe's continue their journey around the world dances, first and third Fridays at Kinton Grange. In January we will tour France with a Topsy Turvy theme on the 2nd.

A Happy and Blessed New Year to all our dance friends.

Peggy Hults

We had more pies than we could eat at our Grateful Harvest dance in November, and the ice cream and whipped cream toppings put it over the edge.

Lined up for January, we will have Frosty's Waltz, a black and white ball Saturday, January 3. The third Friday, January 16, we will be celebrating Summer Down-Under. I guess I'll find out what the Aussies wear in summertime. Please join us.

Don't forget - the big Mardi Gras dance will be coming up February 21.

Anita Woodside

Football playoffs are filling the air waves, and our Tailgate Party Dance featured hot dogs, salads and beans for the dancers to work off on the floor. Decorations of Ducks and Beavers eyed one another across the floor. Hoedowners walked off with one of our banners.

Our Welcome Fall dance was small, low-keyed, but fun. Chuck puts passion into his songs and has a great voice. Connie keeps folks circling in the Rounds.

A few of our mates donned pirate attire and raided the Pirates Dance at Chaps and Petticoats.

Hope to see you at our dances January 3 and 17, Aloha Grange.

Patt Hawthorne

It is interesting to take a stroll through the last 63 years of memories for the Buckeroo's and think about the history of our Club. The Buckeroo Barn in Roseburg was once a skating rink located near the Umpqua River and in the mid 50's the skating rink was taken apart by countless volunteers and moved piece by piece to its current location where it was reassembled by those same volunteers to become the Buckeroo Barn. We are very grateful to the dedicated volunteers who worked so diligently sixty plus years ago to see that our local square dancers had a place they could call their own. We are proud to own the Barn and we love the beauty of the maple dance floor.

Like so many Clubs, our membership is only a fraction of what it was when it was first formed in 1952 but our members still believe that square dancing is truly friendship set to music and we honor the friendships that are made through square dancing. Because we are the only square dance facility in the area, we encourage and appreciate folks who visit us at the Barn to dance. We always feel fortunate that folks make the trip to Roseburg to dance with us. Life goes on and things change so as we say "goodbye" to the monthly Federation News publications that have greeted us each month in our mailboxes for the past 58 years, it's time to look ahead to a new and exciting online publication that will be waiting for us on our computer screens.

Keep us in mind whenever you are heading north or south on I5, and drop in and dance with us on a Saturday night!

Hoping to see you on the dance floor,

Rita Schuchard