It’s a strange year to find myself President of the Federation. I expected to be traveling the State and enjoying all your club dances, festivals and potlucks and getting to meet all of you personally. Instead I’m “Living the Dream” in NE Montana doing what I like to do on my Brothers Ranch.
These are unprecedented times and as I pick up my pen, or computer, to greet you all, my thoughts are mostly what I have learned being in lockdown. My friends, life is precious and short. While dancing is the world to many of us, there are other things that are so important to and we can use this time to evaluate and change or tweak what we dare to align closer with our dreams.
We have been given a unique opportunity to stop and reflect, to slow down. To quiet our lives enough to be able to think about things that is important, while staying safe. What are those things for you? Your family? Most likely we need each other more than ever and in some more intimate ways, so don’t forget to be loving.
What about our friends? We need each other. We are going through some unprecedented times as we adapt to our new world, we need some social aspects, perhaps in a different way, but it’s a very needed thing to be available for each other. Depression and suicide are up and people need to be reminded of hope and better times.
Your country also needs you right now to stop and think what it really needs in leadership. Your country needs your thoughtful vote on who should be in leadership to guide us into a way of life that will bring about peace and tranquility and a world we want to leave to our children. The decisions we make today will shape our tomorrow, so stay encouraged and keep this in mind.
It may be difficult to focus on our jobs with all that is going on around us, but our employers need us when we are on to give to dedicate our best efforts. Sometimes it takes a little sweat to smooth out the rough spots. To accomplish all of this, we need God. He’s only a whisper away.
I encourage you to reach out to members of your club to check in with one another, to post positive social media on the Federation web site. Make others smile and don‘t lose hope. There are brighter days ahead, and we will be dusting off our boots, fluffing those petticoats and fastening our dancing shoes soon. Keep remembering how special it will be to swing your partner.
If you are excited about dancing again, you could ease into this now by engaging in some round dance lessons. It takes some time to learn dance gracefully, and since there is not a lot of other activities, you could learn some new rhythms. Get some exercise in the meantime.
Make each day GREAT and “Swing Your Partner”.
Be sure to check the "Federation" section below for an important update about Mid-Winter Festival.
As we enter the holiday season, it can be hard to be thankful, with all the challenges we've faced this year. I once read a quote that said, "everything will work out in the end; if things aren't working out, then it's not the end!"
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Inevitably, as soon as the state directory is published, corrections have to be made. Here is the current list.
The next Federation meeting is scheduled to be held January 24 at Mid-Winter Festival. If that festival is canceled, other arrangements will be mad.
We are sad to report that we are going to have to officially cancel Mid Winter Festival 2021. We are unable to guarantee that Linn county will be in stage 3 by January. So, we will miss everyone but looking forward to seeing you in January, 2022.
As of now, no Summer Festival is planned for 2021. Washington's Summer Festival is scheduled for June 17-19, 2021, in Everett, WA.
The 70th National Square Dance Convention® will be held in Jackson, Mississippi, June 23-26, 2021.
The 71st National Square Dance Convention® will be held in Evansville, Indiana, June 22-25, 2022.
The 72nd National Square Dance Convention® will be held in Mobile, Alabama, June 21-24, 2023.
The 73rd National Square Dance Convention has just been awarded to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for June of 2024.
All clubs in the Oregon Federation are required to maintain their status as non-profit corporations with the State of Oregon. The Secretary of State's office mails out a renewal notice about a month before your registration expires every year. The following clubs expire this month:
November 5 -- Sweet Home Squarenaders
November 6 -- Toe Draggers
November 7 -- Crook County Mavericks
November 8 -- Cast A Shadow
November 10 -- LaGrande Star Promenaders
November 14 -- Rosetown Ramblers
November 20 -- Sets In Order
November 25 -- Capitol Callers & Cuers Assoc
November 29 -- Mix N Mingle
Download a complete list of the Federation club dances this month, all sorted by date and city.
Everything in the When & Where is extracted from the state directory information. If you find that your club information is wrong, you can fix that by going to the directory information area and fixing your data.
Click on the title to see the article.
The Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs has been restricted from dancing since the end of February 2020 due to the state of emergency created by the COVID‐19 Pandemic. We will eventually be able to dance again as the restrictions due to the emergency abate. We have outlined the current status and some considerations to use for planning when we are able to begin dancing again.
You may find the text of this article by Federation 2nd Vice President Tim Keck, and useful pages from the State of Oregon and from USDA, https://ofn.club/content/2020-11/Covid%20Guidelines%20(201103).pdf .
Reta Lenore VanDeHey July 01, 1928 - October 09, 2020
Reta L Van De Hey, Washington County resident at Jennings McCall assisted living in Forest Grove OR, passed away on October 9, 2020. Reta was admitted to St Vincent’s hospital with congestive heart failure February 2020 and rallied to return to be at home with her husband, Wayne. At time of her death, she was 92 years old and together with her husband Wayne, daughter Gloria and son Kelly.
Reta was born in Portland Oregon to Hedley Vicors and Eleanor E Cropley. There she attended Holy Redeemer, Ockley Green and Jefferson High School in Portland. She graduated from Hillsboro Union High School in 1946 and went onto Benke Walker Business College leading to employment at Meier and Frank.
She married Wayne L Van De Hey at St. Mathews Church in Hillsboro OR in 1948. They were blessed with 4 children they raised south of Hillsboro.
She is survived by her husband Wayne of Forest Grove, daughter Gloria of Astoria OR, daughter Carol of Tucson AZ, son Kelly (Sara) of Astoria OR, 5 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. All of whom miss her dearly. She lost her son, Danny (Roberta) of Husum WA in 2018.
Reta belonged to the Catholic Church, thoroughly enjoyed square dancing, (she & Wayne were members of Toe Draggers Club, camping and hosting frequent parties. Her favorite toast quoted from her father, Hedley Vicors was…
Here’s to you and yours, From to us and ours, And if us and ours ever come Across the path of you and yours, May you and yours be as good To us and ours, As us and ours are as Good to you and yours!
AND Her favorite saying was: Fine as Frog’s Hair!
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations may be made to… The Salvation Army, ASPCA (giving animals a second chance), St. Jude’s Hospital, or the Sunshine Division
Mass for Reta will be held on Friday, October 23, 2020 at 12:00 noon at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church at 1660 Elm St, Forest Grove, OR Covid-19 will impact attendance. At this time the church is only allowing 50 people in attendance, so if anyone would like to attend you will need to contact Duyck-VanDeHey Funeral Home (503) 357-8749 at 9456 NW Roy Rd, Forest Grove, OR.
You can download this list of callers and cuers who are available and ready to call or cue a dance for you.
Callers:
Cuers:
The Interstate Highlanders Council has chosen the October November Round of the Month: "Let's Dance", Phase II Two-Step, choreographed by the Vancouver Caller/Cuer Association, music by Daniel O'Donnell.
[Download your cue sheet here] (https://www.roundalab.org/CuesheetsDL2/Let%27s%20Dance%2C%20VDCTA%20et%20al_Two%20Step_2.pdf).
For more information on the Round of the Month, please contact .
Please note that, due to the coronavirus, there will probably not be any square dance lessons this fall.
Everything in this section is taken from the state directory information. If you find that your class information is wrong, you can fix that by going to the directory information area and picking to the "Lessons" tab.
Click a thumbnail to download the flyer.
Click a thumbnail to see the full-sized picture.
Click a council name to go directly to that section.
We have heard that there will be no Buccaneers Plus or Mainstream or round dance classes for the remainder of 2020.
Buccaneers will not sponsor the New Year's Eve dance as previously scheduled.
We trust everyone is doing what they can to be safe and that everyone is well and healthy.
Our hall in Springfield was closed around March 9 and will remain closed until further notice.
You can never be too safe with this virus business.
Wishing you all good health,
Christina Corelli, Secretary
Hope everyone is doing likewise and looking forward to dancing once again in the new year--perhaps by next spring.
Gaynor Hintz
Club Reporter
Larry tells us they are moving into town on River Road in the month of October. They won’t have such a long commute to the hall for dances and meetings. We wish them well getting settled in.
There are a few pictures of our September get-together elsewhere in this issue.
One of our members is in rehab right now (Oct. 11) but will be out on the 14th. Marguerite Zolman suffered a mild stroke and has some weakness in her left side. We wish her well soon.
Stay healthy, everyone.
Gaynor Hintz
Club Reporter
Tim Matteson's mom is not doing well. Tim is our caller. Our hope is for Tim's mom to regain health and strength soon.
Stay safe and healthy,
Christina Corelli
Member-At-Large
Carmen
Mary Ellen, our President, did a remarkable job of putting together a newsletter for us all. She had members send her pictures of things they had been doing during the past few months to maintain their sanity, along with a short explanation of the pictures. It was really great catching up on what others had been doing as well as a great way to bring us all together in a time where we can't be together physically. Well done Mary Ellen!
Georganne
Some members are working on setting up line dancing lessons. They will be able to keep socially distant but still participate in a fun activity. The big advantage to line dancing is you don’t need a partner. I did it years ago and really enjoyed it.
LaVerne
Editor’s note: Sounds like fun!
We are talking about a special dance sometime in November but are waiting for more input from the dancers for a date and time. Stay tuned for information and a flyer with the necessary details.
We will need to start negotiations with our cuer to see where we stand as of January 1. We would like to have him continue past that date but will wait to see what the status of his program in the Beaverton/Hillsboro area is and if he wishes to continue with our club.
Thanksgiving is around the corner and we give grateful thanks to the dancers who are supporting our club and continue to come and dance with us weekly.
Marilyn Schmit
November 7 (1st Sat)
Petrina Buchheit
Jodee Howard
Jim
We’ve suspended dues as we don’t have the nerve to ask members for dues to a dance club that doesn’t dance. No dues also saves a lot of time and paperwork.
Jim
Ron Rasmussen
November 7 (1st Sat)
So, as always, stay safe but stay active and we'll meet again some day!
Submitted by Janet Linebarger
Here at River City Dancers, our board meets virtually on Zoom. Our club also is holding social get together chats on Zoom twice a month just to check on one another.
Until we can meet again in a square, stay well, keep your hopes up and your dancing shoes ready.
Carol Mendenhall
The council has cancelled our October 30th, 5th Friday dance, but we hope to have the PajamaRama Dance in January. We look forward to seeing everyone dance in their pajamas. COVID-19 has affected our activity but not our spirits. We have begun having our club and council meetings again. Star Promenaders had a small but fun dance using all the COVID-19 requirements of social distancing, contact information, and good hand hygiene. Dancing with 2 foot pool noodles may be a challenge, but it was a challenge that several dancers wanted to conquer. We had 2 squares of square dancers come together and dust up our dancing skills, and the caller, Phil Ramey, was kind enough to keep it basic for the first dance since March. Everyone kept their social distancing, wearing face masks or face shields, hand washing stations used by all, noodles disinfected between tips, bring your own treats and drinks, and enjoy the fellowship. Each couple received the same color noodles(green, yellow, blue, lime, orange, tan, etc) and squared up. Each noodle was disinfected before they could be used again. All COVID regulations were looked up, researched, and followed.
Pear Blossom for 2021 is still planning to go ahead with the festival the 2nd weekend in April. We will keep you updated with any changes. Please plan to attend. Boatnik is also planning a wonderful festival Memorial Weekend in May.
Lorri McIntosh
Secretary, Rogue Sis Q Council
We hope everyone is doing well and that we will see you soon and/or when we can get back to dancing!!
Plans are moving ahead for 2021 Diamond Lake. They aren't moving very fast, but they are coming along. The featured caller and cuer are Ray Brendzy and his family and Christina Corelli. Should be a great combination.
Come on out and join us.
See you in a square
For a "blast from the past", here is an excerpt of the TVC report from November 2009....
Thank you to the Coast Swingers for serving as hosts for the State Meeting Dinner and Dance at Garibaldi. It was a huge success, having over 100 people in attendance. The Officer/Delegate meeting was held on Saturday afternoon. The Coast Swinger’s had a dance that evening and the State meeting was held on Sunday. All of this activity and it proceeded without a hitch. The Coast Swinger's did an absolutely fantastic job.
Another past highlight was our annual Hahn Barn Dance. Sunny skies and warm breezes greeted the dancers as they arrived to mingle and enjoy the potluck before the dance. Donna Byars and Vivian Fairburn greeted and signed in about 11 squares who danced to the calling & cueing of Harold Kleve and George Clark. Congratulations to the Sunset Promenaders, who won the “Most In Attendance” TVC Banner.
Previous Oregon State Goodwill Ambassador (2007), Genevieve Churchill, will turn 98 on November 22nd! Genevieve, an active member of multiple clubs, can be found dancing Monday's with the Eager Beavers as well as other clubs in the area.
The report ended with a reminder of the upcoming TVC’s New Year’s Eve Dance held at the IOOF Hall in Hillsboro. The Caller was to be Bob Ewing and Cuer, Connie Clark. The cost was $12.00 per person, which included a pre-dance dinner and dancing until after midnight.
Remember when we danced until or after midnight?
Ferrous Steinka
Our political season becomes more bizarre by the day but do not throw up your hands saying “They are all the same!”. They are not. Just think of ten people you know and you realize they have qualities you admire and some you do not but mostly accept them as they are. When it comes to choosing people to represent you and your values you have to know what you value most. Then you have to look at their actions in the past not at the promises for the future. Promises are not worth the hot air they generate. I wish you all to find peace with your inner conflicts.
I watched an old travel movie made by my husband’s uncle sometime in the early thirties I think. I saw how sugar cane was harvested in Hawaii and an undeveloped Fiji. I was shocked to see how much all has changed in the last eighty years. Cruise ships did not need a half-mile dock. A passenger plane did not need a mile long runway.
I keep waiting to hear the cry, “We can dance!”. However, I am not holding my breath as I did enough of that just getting through all the smoke to my mailbox. As I write this the rain has come and we can breathe again. I am so so thankful for the rain.
Remember to be thankful at Thanksgiving. Count your blessings and ignore your irritants for the day. I know, it is a dirty job but someone has to set and example. 2020 is nearly gone and 2021 will be a great year.
I want to thank all those people who are helping us remember how to dance with your videos. Good Job! Keep checking for our start date at www.EagerBeavers.info.
Rachel Nettleton
We like Scoot Back and want to do it from a Quarter Tag position where all 8 of us are trailers ending in a Three-quarter Tag position.
Some Hayshakers dance Plus and enjoy Following Our Neighbors modeled on Scoot Back where everyone turns three-quarters instead one-half. Right-hand waves become left-hand waves, so we frequently Spread to make right-hand waves again since left-hand waves are difficult.
Craig Holt
Instead I’m telling you what I’ve learned in the last month; staying home for Covid-19 is has been a depressing experience but staying home and staying in because thousands of acres of Oregon and the entire west coast are burning was unexpectedly depressing. The bonfire smell we enjoy on the beach or on a camping trip wasn’t as pleasant when it filled our homes. The smoke made for great sunsets but eventually we couldn’t see the house across the street. Our eyes were burning, and throats were scratchy, but the tragedy was being played out elsewhere where homes, business, neighborhoods, and entire towns burned. If the folks in Detroit, Phoenix and other cities and neighborhoods can regroup and start again, we can too and I will stop complaining, and count my blessings.
The Aloha Grange is going to sponsor another family this year for Christmas just like they always do so keep that in mind. I don’t know when we’ll square up next, but I’ll be waiting to see you across the square, smiling back at me.
Krystal Laas
We can, however, take time to reflect on our history and remember how we got to where we are today. We can think about all the great club callers, club cuers and numerous “guests” who graced our stage over the years. We can remember all the good times dancing together, the fun club activities that were organized and the great lifelong friends that have been made. We can, even in this pandemic, celebrate! Although we aren't a new young club anymore and we don't have the 80+ membership that we did on that long ago November 3rd night, we, who remain dedicated to the M&M’s, are still here after 36 years. We have a great home at the Winona Grange, and we are part of a wonderful square dance family.
And of then course, we can always have cake...., and if you have a piece of cake (or favorite dessert) sometime this month, you can consider yourself celebrating with us! After all, it is a birthday and you can never go wrong with cake.
We will keep you updated on calendar changes thru this OFN report as well as our website: www.mixandminglesquares.org
Lindie Noonan
Most sincerely,
Annie Tietze
We will be having a remote club meeting at our regular meeting time on to discuss if there will be any November functions.
Thank you,
Dan Browning
Gloria Davis
It is good to keep connections and we look forward to returning to dances when it is safe.
Judy Zimmerman
