As I write this July report in June I’m aware that dancing activity is picking up across the state, due to the relaxed Covid restrictions. The buzz from those that have danced is that they have had a great time and are thrilled to be back on the floor. Keep in mind all of the current CDC guidelines as you make plans to start dancing again. Be sure and check with your dance hall’s limitations and policies to get approval to open up.
Post your flyers on the OFN and the Federation Facebook page with any restrictions listed, along with door fees. Continue to have club meetings with Zoom or in person to communicate plans for the startup activities. Plan for classes in September and get the word out. Discuss the possibility of using the Caller Lab approved Social Square Dancing format. Let’s get this activity started again and have some fun this summer.
Enjoy some summer campouts with your club. Outdoor activities and dances are fun and should have fewer restrictions. Advertise everything you are doing for a bigger turnout.
Swing Your Partner……………Happy 4th of July!!
Gary Clark
More and more clubs are starting to turn the lights on again. With any luck, we'll be back to nearly a full slate in September.
Click here to find out how to get your information into the OFN, including dances, lessons, photos, flyers, advertisements, and caller/cuer information.
We have set up an email mailing list to notify people when a new edition of the online OFN is available, and for other important news about the OFN. To subscribe to this mailing list, just fill out this information:
As of July 1, there are no longer any state-wide COVID restrictions in Oreogn. As always, it is up to each individual club to decide what restrictions make them comfortable. Please honor their wishes.
https://ofn.club/content/2021-07/Covid%20Guidelines%20(210608).pdf .
The next Federation meeting will be a Zoom teleconference on July 17, 2021, at 9:00 AM. Contact me if you'd like to listen in.
Mid-Winter Festival 2022 is scheduled for January 28-30, 2022, at the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany.
There is currently no Oregon Summer Festival scheduled for 2022.
The latest news about the National Square Dance Conventions® is located in the National Squares magazine, produced by the NEC. You can find the latest issue here: (http://nsdcnec.com/flipdocs/NatSqOnline/Natsq1120/index.html)
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® will be held in 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:
July 1 -- Blue Mountains Council
July 9 -- Rogue-Sis-Q Council
July 14 -- Beachcombers
July 18 -- Star Promenaders
July 23 -- Eager Beavers
July 23 -- Sagebrush Shufflers
July 24 -- Buzzin Bees
July 25 -- Umpqua Area Council
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.
Marshall Lee Thorsen
Feb. 13, 1942 - June 6, 2021
Born in Seattle, Wash., to Carsten and Alice (Nelson) Thorsen. The family moved from Seattle to Fairbanks, Alaska and then to Lake Oswego, Ore.
Marshall graduated from Tigard High School in 1960 and then attended PCC, receiving his degree in manufacturing engineering. He was set up on a blind date by his best friend, and later fell in love with the former Barbara Bonebrake, marrying her 2 years later.
Marshall was an extremely enthusiastic square dancer and spent decades "angeling" new dancers into the pastime he loved. Marshall spent endless hours with wife, Barbara, volunteering time and effort collecting and distributing food donations to Meals on Wheels and the Tualatin Senior Center. He was extremely hard working and could fix almost anything. It wasn't necessarily pretty, but it worked!
Preceded in death by both parents; and brother, Richard Thorsen, Marshall is survived by his wife of almost 54 years, Barbara Thorsen; his daughter, Lisa and son-in-law, Greg; his granddaughters, Taylor (Robert), Ashleigh (Michael), Whitnie, and Sophie; sister, Linda (Pat), sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Lucille and Jim (deceased), Charles (Brenda), and Robert (Carolyn), and Melinda; and many cousins and friends here and in Norway.
He will be remembered for his kindness, sense of humor, enthusiasm for life, and I am sure he would want us to add, what a handsome boy he was. Marshall was baptized in the Spring of 2013, and we are comforted by the knowledge that he is in the presence of Our Heavenly Father. Services are planned tentatively for July 18, 2021, in Oregon at a location, TBD.
Marshall was a Vietnam Era Veteran Army Cryptographer.
Ron & Merlene Bacon, both long time members of the Toe Draggers in Beaverton, passed within two weeks of each other.
Ronald Merrial Bacon, born April 16, 1941, passed on May 28, 2021, after complications from heart surgery. Ron has been a Toe Dragger for 30 years.
Merlene Helen Rogowski-Bacon, born June 10, 1936, passed on June 11, 2021, after battling cancer. Merlene has been a Toe Dragger for at least 35 years.
The two met during Toe Dragger lessons and married as part of the club.
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 Blue Mountains Council has chosen the July Round of the Month: "Happy Days Theme Song", Phase II+2 Two Step (Rock the Boat), choreographed by Charlene & James Mann, music by Pratt & McClain.
For more information on the Round of the Month, please contact .
July 21 (3rd Wed)
July 23 (4th Fri)
October 22 (4th Fri)
January 9 (2nd Sun)
April 8 (2nd Fri)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.
Thank you for your continued vigilance regarding the pandemic.
Can't wait to call and cue for you,
Christina Corelli, Secretary
We had our first dance on Jun 13th and perhaps another one on June 27th depending on response from a survey to be taken after this article was submitted. If all goes well we will try to dance two times a month on Sunday afternoons in Hall B at 2095 Yolanda, Springfield, from 1:30 to 3:30PM. Please check our website (cas-sq.yolasite.com) and perhaps call to make sure the dance is on—obviously without a square of dances we will hold no dances. You may call Fred Beisse at 541-683-2522 or Gaynor Hintz 541-741-4149. If you wish to be placed on a notification list, please contact Fred.
Please come join us if you are an advanced dancer, live in the area or are passing through. The recorded tips are always to national callers, and we even have a few national callers come call for us on occasion.
See you in a square,
Gaynor Hintz
Club Reporter
Gaynor Hintz
Club Reporter
Thank you for your understanding and patience. There is a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel!
Yay to dancing again,
Christina Corelli
Mainstream square dance lessons will start Sunday, September 12 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Lebanon IOOF Hall. Lessons are $5.00 per lesson or $12.00 per family. Contact 541-401-9780.
Two-step lessons will start Sunday, September 12 from 5:00 to 6:15 p.m. at the Lebanon IOOF Hall. Lessons are $5.00 per lesson or $12.00 per family. Contact
541-367-2124. Kaynor
We finished Bolero at the end of May and started West Coast Swing in June. It will be interesting to see how much of that we all remember from previous classes. Come and join us to refresh your dance movements.
We are still processing plans for a phase 2 dance in early August for the beginning dancers to get their dance feet back in shape. We hope that things work out for that. Stay tuned.
Hope your Independence Day weekend is filled with family, food, and lots of safe activities. Marilyn Schmit
July 17 (3rd Sat)
We are helping the Waldo Hills Community Club with some maintenance and repairs over the summer. The hall is getting a nice "face lift". See you in the fall. Petrina Buchheit
Judy Russell is our club’s new cuer. Many thanks to Jackie Gale for all the cueing she has done for us in the past. Please note the earlier time as we resume our regular dances. If a square happens to break down, Sandy Harris, our caller, will stop and reteach any moves that are needed. Many of us have not danced for so long we may require a little extra help now and then. We are so excited to be back on the dance floor and seeing so many of our friends. So get your square dance duds out of the closet and join us for a fun time! Jodee
July 24 (4th Sat)
July 30 (5th Fri)
Disposable masks were offered, but no takers; in fact, there wasn’t a mask to be seen! Most claimed to be vax’d. Or, it may have been in deference to a physician report saying that exercising with a mask was not a good thing. Other clubs are opening in July, but the B&B’s have always been a forward-thinking club.
One highlight was learning our club cuer (Tami Helms) has signed up with us for yet another year!
Jim
July 7 (1st Wed)
July 14 (2nd Wed)
July 21 (3rd Wed)
July 28 (4th Wed)
July 3 (1st Sat)
July 24 (4th Sat)
July 31 (5th Sat)
Place: Milwaukie Community Center
Forty Second and Jackson
Milwaukie, OR
Time: 7:30-9:30
Cost: Free
Caller: Darrell Kalmbach
Cuer: Tami Helms
Mainstream level only. Please be prepared to show proof of vaccination or wear a mask. Bring your own water.
We look forward to welcoming you and dancing with you.
Carol Mendenhall
July 10 (2nd Sat)
We are so looking forward to classes starting back up in September and getting back to normalcy. We’ve missed dancing and look forward to seeing you on the dance floor!!
July 21 (3rd Wed)Very little discussion on SSD. It was reported that Callerlab voted to add Social Square Dancing (SSD) to the Program Policy Statement as "an alternate entry-level destination dance program, intended for use without requiring any change to any other dance program." At Mid-Winter SSD will be offered either in the Mainstream or the New Beginner Hall in 2022.
The TVC Picnic has been scheduled for Sunday, August 15th at Noble Woods Park in Hillsboro. Everyone is welcome, and details will follow.
Ferrous Steinka
The CRD’s are looking forward to opening in September. We have been dark the last two summers and will remain so again this year. Hopefully, with all of the vaccinations going into dancer’s arms we will be able to resume dancing with some sort on normalcy.
Please be safe this summer and if you are not vaccinated yet it is not too late,
Nick Johnson
In July Daryl Clendenin and Connie Clark will call/cue the 1st and 3rd Monday, Darrell Kalmbach and Tami Helms will call/cue the 2nd & 4th Monday.
Everyone have a safe 4th of July Holiday!
Sally Duyck
July 5 (1st Mon)We loved having our round dances with our Cuer Randy Lewis but we will be transitioning back to our more traditional dance schedule with squares and rounds. We thought we could all use a brush-up so we had a Square Dance Refresher class on May 18th. I hope you joined us. It was so exciting seeing all the dancers on the floor SQUARE DANCING sans masks!
It was a mighty big ask,
To wear an approved facial mask,
Did we want to dance?
And not take a chance?
And prove we were up to the task?
And suddenly we’re here today,
We now can do a twirl and sashay.
We’re not taking a chance
When we square up and dance.
And we’ll give all those darn masks away.
Krystal Laas
Please continue to check our website for any of the latest updates or changes. (Just 80 more days - - and counting)
Lindie Noonan
Marie Clem
More work is being done to the Senior Center by John Poole and Dick Sims. Walls removed have created space for more meeting areas.
So, while R Square D is not dancing, neither are we idle. We are preparing, and looking forward to our future. May you all enjoy your summer.
Annie Tietze
Ginny Mickelson
July 15 (3rd Thu)It brings such promise of getting back to the dance floor for all of us. The Toe’s are tentatively starting up on September 17th, which will be our 46th Anniversary dance. Then we will have one dance in October and that will be on the 1st. More news of the Toe’s to come as things progress.
Happy 4th of July everyone!
Kathy Degman
Gloria Davis
Some of our club members have been dancing in Salem and at Abernathy Grange with clubs there. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again and re-polishing our dancing skills.
Judy Zimmerman
July 23 (4th Fri)Carolene Siebert
Bob Allen
July 16 (3rd Fri)
July 10 (2nd Sat)
July 10 (2nd Sat)