July is traditionally the month for picnics, barbecues, fireworks and celebrating our country’s independence. I thought that we could be back to some semblance of normal this year, but it looks like COVID is rearing its’ ugly head again. A few clubs (including mine) have had to cancel dances because of it. As if we hadn’t had enough bad luck these last two years.
By now the National Convention in Evansville is history and we are looking forward to two big festivals here in Oregon. I am talking about the summer festival in Salem the 15th through the 17th and the Diamond Lake festival the following weekend. Hopefully you are planning to attend either one or both!! We will have to see how this COVID thing affects the turnout.
I am still being optimistic that we can pick up in August and classes will be successful starting in September. I hope your clubs are aggressively promoting classes and working on bringing in new dancers. This is what we need to help build up our dancer base.
Hope to see you in a square soon and…..
Let’s Start Dancing Again
George Hermann
OFSRDC President 2021-2022
As we move into summer and some clubs go dark, be sure to update your dance information so you don't get unexpected visitors. Hope to see you all at Summer Festival.
Click here to find out how to get your information into the OFN, including dances, lessons, photos, flyers, advertisements, and caller/cuer information.
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The next Federation meeting will be held at Blanchet School on Sunday, July 17, in conjunction with Summer Festival.
The September state meeting will be hosted by the Portland Area Council, and will be held at the Maplewood Grange in Aurora on September 18. Click the image to fetch the flyer.
SThe 2022 Summer Festival is just a couple weeks Away!!!! If you have not sent in your pre-registration…please do it soon. The festival committee has been working hard to make this a wonderful event but we need more dancers to make this event a success. Thank you to all the dancers who have already sent in your registration form.
Did you know there are two awards given to clubs at Summer Festival? They are the Chairman’s Trophy and Wood Award. The Chairman’s Trophy is given to the club with the highest percentage of its membership in attendance at Summer Festival. The Wood Award is presented to the club with the largest attendance at the Festival. The hosting area’s clubs are not eligible for these awards. As of this letter there are two clubs who appear to be in the lead. Get your club members together and send in your registrations soon! Don’t miss out on this fun filled event.
In addition to our featured caller, Pat Carnathan, and cuer, Rikki Lobato, are many callers and cuers from around the State and even California. See our website for a list of callers and cuers who are donating their time and talent for our favorite activity.
There will be mainstream, plus and advanced dancing as well as a round dance hall for your dancing pleasure July 15-17 at the Blanchett school in Salem.
Advanced Dancers: We Need You! The advanced hall will be open Friday evening and all-day Saturday but Sadly we only have 5 pre-registrants who mention dancing in the advanced hall. Please get your pre-registrations in so we can be sure to keep the callers, namely Craig Abercrombie, Pat Carnathan, Ian Craig, Randy Dibble, and Scott Zinser busy.
Several baskets and gift cards were donated for the silent auction. There are 4 wood flags available for raffle, see them in the dance halls and be sure to buy your tickets. There will be 50/50 available on Friday and Saturday for some lucky winner(s) to take home some cash.
Due to the high cost we will not publish a program book. However, the schedule will be posted at each hall and the daily schedule will be available at the registration desk in the front lobby.
See You in July!
Cece & Lorri
Mid-Winter Festival 2023 is scheduled for January 27-29, 2023, at the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany. You can click here to download the Program Book.
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 2022 ICBDA Convention will be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, July 6-9, 2022.
The 2022 USAWest Convention will be held in San Diego, California, August 17-20, 2022.
The 72nd National Square Dance Convention® will be held in Mobile, Alabama, June 21-24, 2023.
The 2023 USAWest Convention will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 26-29, 2023.
The 73rd National Square Dance Convention® will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 26-29, 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.
Click on the title to see the article.
The pandemic has affected all, and our local dance hall, EDC, in Springfield, Oregon, is no exception. The Dancing for All project can provide a key role in lifting up the human spirit.
The Dancing for All mural will be placed on the EDC building in Fall of 2022. Mural artists R.E. Wall and Margaret Dewar of Mural Mice Universal will conduct a collaborative mural process that will ensure the mural stays in step with community identity. The photo shows a mural by Mural Mice in Prescott, Arizona.
The Dancing for All mural will present the fun and healthy benefits of dancing as well as liven up the building. The project aims to draw the community to the dance hall and generate new interest in dancing. Color, vibrancy, and action in the mural will show the world that there is something for all inside.
Dancing for All events will coincide with the mural process and may include community dances (square, round, folk, ballroom), dance lessons, music events, and social gatherings to meet neighbors and make friends.
Your help is appreciated! Donations will go towards: commissioning the artists, creating a collaborative design, purchasing materials, painting the mural, and scheduling special dances and events. Please give what you can and share this request with others. A GoFundMe site has been set up to receive donations.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dancing-for-all-at-the-emerald-dance-center
The EDC is a dancer-owned organization and the EDC Hall Board enthusiastically supports this initiative and fundraiser. For more information about Mural Mice Universal visit https://muralmice.com. If you are interested in helping or have questions, don't hesitate to contact Terry Nelson, Dancing for All Coordinator.
Steven Mearyl Christensen – Celebration of Life
Feb 23, 1930 – Jan 15, 2022
Steve started square dancing in the 1950's with his family and friends. He belonged to the Willamalane Dancers and the Corvallis Squares. He joined the Lebanon Square Circlers in 1983-2022.
Help us Celebrate the Life and Adventures of Steve Christensen at an old fashioned family and friends gathering in a park-like setting on the Santiam River Saturday July 9th at 2pm. Bring a lawn chair and share the adventures you had with Steve at one of his favorite spots on the Santiam River.
The Hedland property – 33856 Brewster Rd, Lebanon – 2 ½ miles past Grant Bridge. Inquires may be made by contacting Grace – 503-508-4442 via call or text.
March 1, 1929 - June 9, 2022
Bert Cathcart passed away following an extended illness with Bev and family members at his side.
Bert was born in Corvallis OR to David and Maye Cathcart. He and his 4 siblings were raised on a farm in Alsea OR. He graduated from Oregon State College with a degree in electrical engineering and worked as a volunteer fireman for room and board. He met Beverly Schure on a blind date and married her in 1951. She remained the love of his life.
Bert was drafted into the army and served in the Army Signal Corp, traveling the country teaching the basic concepts of new radar systems. He worked for Bonneville Power Administration for 31 years and was known for his expertise in troubleshooting power system failures, contributing to the creation of the power grid between Oregon and California in the 1970s. Bert was a faithful member of Prince of Peace Lutheran church for nearly 50 years. He sang in the choir, served as treasurer, and general maintenance man. He spent his retirement years caring for grandchildren, square dancing, gardening, camping and traveling the country with Bev in their RV. In later years he was a loving, devoted caregiver to Bev, his wife of 70 years.
Bert was a gentle, kind, thoughtful, hard-working, fun-loving, musical, and intelligent individual with a curious mind that sought to solve problems, persevering to the very end. His strength of character and love of family lives on in his children and grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Friday July 8, 2022 at 11 am at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 14175 NW Cornell Road, Portland, OR 97229. A light lunch will follow. Please RSVP Deanne if attending the luncheon at deanne617@me.com.
You can download this list of callers and cuers who are available and ready to call or cue a dance for you.
Callers:
Cuers:
South Coast Council has chosen the July 2022 Oregon Round of the Month:
"Hold On Forever II", Phase II Two Step, choreographed by Zena & Ernie Beaulieu, performed by Rob Thomas.
For more information on the Round of the Month, please contact .
July 3 (1st Sun)
July 20 (3rd Wed)
July 22 (4th Fri)
August 21 (3rd Sun)
September 2 (1st Fri)
September 16 (3rd Fri)
October 7 (1st Fri)
October 14 (2nd Fri)
October 15 (3rd Sat)
October 21 (3rd Fri)Click a thumbnail to download the flyer.
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Click a council name to go directly to that section.
Christina Corelli
Hope you can join us on the dance floor soon,
Gaynor Hintz
Mike Kious called and Christina Corelli cued. No masks were required but thee were lots of bottles of hand sanitizer available. It was so much fun to dance with our friends and some dancers we had not seen for a couple of years. We hope to keep everyone dancing and see more come out to join in on the fun.
Single Trees will continue to dance the 4th Fridays of the month with our next dance being on June 24 with Jim Hattrick and Jackie Gale. We will not dance in July because of Diamond Lake weekend but will definitely hold a dance the last Friday in August although we still do not know who that caller will be. Jackie will be cueing of course.
Please join us for a fun night of dancing from 7:30 to 10:00 at the Emerald Square Dance Center in Springfield.
Keep on dancing, everyone.
Gaynor Hintz
Please call our president, David, at 541-520-7311 to make sure we are, indeed, dancing. Once in a blue moon we are dark.
Christina Corelli
We plan on dancing during the summer if we can get enough people for a square. We're taking 5 dancers through the SSD program, and we'll be having a dance on June 25th with our new dancers hopefully attending. We would love to have you join us and welcome our new dancers into this activity. We start with pre-rounds at 7 and then social square dancing at 7:30. Hope to see you there.
Sandy
Karen
We had a board meeting in May and made a few decisions for future events and elections. A good meeting overall.
We will have a celebration of life for Ralph Lambert on June 11 at 3:30 pm at Polk County Fairgrounds in the Arts and Crafts building. Hope it is well attended to honor him.
Patty Hermann has retired and Molly Fairly has been hired as our new club caller. Her mom and dad, Debbie and Mike Combs, have trained her well. She is a good addition to our club.
Jim O’Brien
Marilyn Schmit, Secretary
Marilyn Schmit
July 14 (2nd Thu)
We graduated 13 students from our Mainstream Lessons on June 1, and we had a great time at our Potluck and graduation festivities. The new dancers were all invited to come to our dance on that Friday and also to join us for our visitation to Independence Wagon Wheelers on Saturday June 2. Our next set of Mainstream Lessons will begin the second Wednesday in September.
Randy Dibble will continue with a Plus Workshop on Wednesday's from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. through the summer months. We dance all summer long except that we will go DARK for July 15. We hope to see you all at Blanchet for Summer Festival. There will be a 5th Friday Plus dance on July 29.
Sheila
We will also be having waltz lessons during the summer. Julia Buchheit has agreed to do these on Tuesday nights. We are hoping that our turnout for lessons equals the number who indicated interest when we asked. Lessons will be 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. starting June 21. There will be one mainstream tip and then line dancing around 8:30 pm.
There is quite a bit planned for summer - two parades, concession stand at summer festival, and whatever else we can come up with.
Petrina Buchheit
July 8 (2nd Fri)
July 23 (4th Sat)
Sandy
We are encouraged to report that some of our club members who are undergoing health challenges seem to be holding their own or improving.
We are looking forward to our June dance, the 4th Saturday at 7:00 PM at the Salem Square Dance Center. The theme is Baseball, so come wearing your favorite team’s jersey and/or cap and run the bases or hit home runs in every square in which you dance! ⚾️
Jodee
July 23 (4th Sat)
July 29 (5th Fri)
Jim
July 6 (1st Wed)
July 20 (3rd Wed)
We are looking forward to seeing lots of our friends.
It is with sadness we report the passing of long time Buzzin’ Bee member Pam Williams. She went to be with her Lord and will be truly missed.
July 2 (1st Sat)
July 23 (4th Sat)
July 30 (5th Sat)
Beginning June 25, our dance schedule will be changed to second and fourth Saturday each month. Please see our flyers for dance details. We dance all summer and hope that you will come join us. Our hall is air conditioned for your summer comfort.
Our club will have a clothing resale shop at summer festival this year. Please come check it out for great bargains July 15 and 16 in Salem.
Happy dancing,
Carol Mendenhall
July 9 (2nd Sat)
July 23 (4th Sat)
We'll be dark in July and August and look forward to having our monthly dances resume on September 10. Keep your eyes peeled for information on callers and dance format. Hopefully, we will be back to a closer semblance of normal by then.
As you plan your club's fall visitations, keep in mind our snazzy new club banners that Keith Miles designed and produced for us. You'll definitely want to see if you can earn one of these for your trophy case.
We'd like to thank all the Portland area clubs and dancers who supported us during this tricky COVID period by attending our dances. We especially want to call out Happy Hoppers, Country Cut-ups, Tri-Squares, Oaky Doaks, and Chaps and Petticoats. We also want to acknowledge the hard work that PAC President Robert Lumsden has done to promote visitations and mutual support for our clubs. It's a tough time for our favorite pastime, but whining won't pay the bills! Let's dance!
SYIAS!
Jeff Knapp
We want to thank all the outgoing and incoming council officers and look forward to co-hosting Summer Festival!!
Be sure and get your ribbons for what is sure to be a great time!!
Lots of dancing in the Rogue Valley and beyond!!
Happy dancing!
July 29 (5th Fri)
We had a wonderful Boatnik Festival and hope you will mark your calendar next year for our festival with Joe Saltel and Randy Preskitt!! Memorial weekend is always a fun time in Grants Pass!!
We hope to see many of you here in GP as we love visitors!
Happy dancing!
July 30 (5th Sat)
July 20 (3rd Wed)
July 2 (1st Sat)
July 3 (1st Sun)The next TVC event will be a fifth Saturday dance July 30th, It will be held at the IOOF Hall in Hillsboro form 7pm to 10pm, mainstream with every third tip plus. Featured caller for this event is Scott Zinser with Connie Clark cueing. Square dance attire is admired but not required, casual wear is fine.
The TVC's annual Hahn Barn Dance will be held on the afternoon of Sunday, August 21 at the Hahn Farm near Banks. The Potluck Picnic will be slightly different this year. It is suggested that you bring your own meal and a dessert to share. It begins at 3 pm near the pond below the Barn before the dance. Round dancing, cued by Tami Helms begins at 4:30 followed by Darrell Kalmbach calling squares from 5 to 7pm. Mainstream with every third tip plus.
The Council has lost one of our long standing member clubs, the Toe Draggers, has decided to close its doors. See their report below.
Ferrous Steinka
July 30 (5th Sat)We will continue to have round dance lessons on Sundays at 5 PM and Lessons from 6 to 8. This is our way of testing out the conditions of the hall this year. If the hall is too hot it is easier to contact our members than to let the whole world know we can not dance. If you are interested in learning to round dance please let the club know.
Nick Johnson
We will wear those colors again for our dance on the 4th of July. Jim will call and cue for that dance as well as on July 18th, and our team of Darrell Kalmbach calling and Jeanine Norden cueing will lead us on July 11th and 25th.
Eager Beavers dance Plus and Rounds every Monday afternoon from 1:00 to 3:00. Most of our dancers are vaccinated. Currently we are not requiring proof of vaccination and masks are optional. Aloha Grange has AC. For current information, please see our website at http://EagerBeavers.info.
Alice Hendricks
July 4 (1st Mon)For more information visit hayshakers.org or email info@hayshakers.org
Craig Holt
May I tell you about the Hoedowners’ dances this past month? On May 14th Dan Nordbye and Randy Lewis were calling the shots or should I say steps? I can feel the dancers settling in and dancing like we used to. May 28th was our second dance of the month and on Memorial Day weekend.
There were plenty of dancers in town and our attendance numbers continue to climb. Thank Goodness! Who was sending us around the dance floor? Darrell Kalmbach was the caller and Randy Lewis was our cuer. Aren’t we lucky?
The round lessons are on break but will resume Tuesday, July 5th when we’ll be refreshing basic waltz, cha-cha, rumba (the rhythm, not the vacuum) and two step. Come and join us for a brush up.
Please join us for our regularly scheduled dances in July. On the 11th Scott Zinser will be calling with Connie Clark cueing and on June 23rd we’ll welcome K. C. Curtis and Randy Lewis.
Krystal Laas
July 9 (2nd Sat)
July 23 (4th Sat)
Lindie Noonan
Lessons are from 6.30-7.30 and mainstream dancing is from 7.30-8.30pm.
We currently have 9 people taking lessons and they are progressing nicely and more importantly having fun. Our goal is to get them ready for a dance near the end of June where we can all go as a club and really introduce them to the world of Square Dancing. It is very exciting to have some new members and see our club growing.
Our caller is Mark Wheeler, who is doing an amazing job teaching our new members; adapting and evolving the lessons to make it fun and entertaining.
Over the summer we will be contacting our members each week to find out if we will have a square for the Monday dance. If we do, we will dance, if not, we will go dark that week. If you would like to join us, then contact Linda: linda@kitchinonline.com to find out if we will be dancing that week. We would love to have some visitors from other clubs.
On that note however, we do remain a fully vaccinated club and wearing of masks is optional.
Linda Kitchin
Our Fiesta de Mayo Dance on May 13th was fun and we enjoyed taco soup at the break. George Hermann filled in for Patty as our cuer and he was also seen onstage calling with Craig.
Our summer schedule continues with “Crazy T-Shirt Dance” on July 13th and ice cream sundaes will be served at the break. Craig Abercrombie is calling and Susan Healea will cue this dance. Wear your favorite t-shirt! July 27th is our “Hawaiian Dance” with Craig as our caller and Patty Hermann cueing rounds that night. We will serve banana splits after the dance.
Our summer dances are casual and our hall is air conditioned, so join us for fun dancing! Plus dancing and intermediate rounds from 7-8 PM and mainstream with phase II rounds from 8-9:30. Hope to see you in a square!
Chris Poole
July 13 (2nd Wed)
July 27 (4th Wed)
We have new officers in command; Judy Schnase is our President, Ed Mickelson is Vice President, Dianne Pratt is Secretary, and Lalani Radford is Treasurer. I just want to thank those that have stepped up to help run this club, and Also want to thank Ferrous for keeping everyone informed on our clubs in the TVC.
I Hope everyone is doing well.
Mike St.Clair
July 2 (1st Sat)
July 7 (1st Thu)
July 21 (3rd Thu)
The Toe Draggers had their beginnings from two square dance classes at the Rock Creek Campus of the Portland Community College in the mid 1970’s with Carl Decker as instructor. The classes decided to form a club one night after a class while sitting in a restaurant, visiting. They decided they needed a club name, club colors, club outfits and club badges with significant meaning to represent their group and future members of the club.
The "Toe Draggers" name was chosen because most of the group at that time thought they had "two left feet". They decide on black and blue for club colors of outfits because of the bruises they had to endure while the "two left feet" dancers learned to square dance. Each person could choose their own style of outfit to represent one’s own personality. Club badges were selected in the shape and color of a bruised foot. Thus, the club was as "one" in colors, but "different" in each outfit to represent the many personalities and talents of the club.
They needed four full squares of dancers to become members of the Portland Area Council of Square Dancers, but because of their size of just under two squares, they were accepted as associate members of the Council. Their first home was at the Capital Hill Dance Club on SW 17th and Marigold in Portland in 1976. They moved to the Kinton Grange Hall in 1980 and later became members of the Tualatin Valley Council.
The "Toes" will be missed....
Ferrous Steinka
In July Tri Squares will be dark, due to lack of air conditioning. But our board members continue to meet and to plan for the fall with great anticipation! We will see you then and most likely before at some visitations.
Gloria Davis
Judy Zimmerman has been our OFN Reporter for the past couple of years and has done a sensational job of keeping you informed on what is happening with the Valley River Dancers. Thanks so much Judy!
Our Beginning Waltz lessons, taught by Leonard Snodgrass on Tuesdays at 6:30-8 p.m. at the Chehalem Community Center continue. If you have completed beginning waltz classes before and want to come for a refresher you are welcome to join us wherever we are in the program. We have plenty of room. Cost is $6. If you have not gone through phase II waltz lessons previously, however, the class is closed at this point.
Our Advanced workshop continues on Tuesday evenings at the Chehalem Community Center, 8-9:30 p.m., called by Randy Dibble. The workshop is open to all dancers who dance ‘A,’ cost is $8.
During the month of July we have our special dance we want to invite you to attend. We call it “Dancing Under the Stars” and this annual semi-casual gala happens on our 4th Friday dance night. We move our venue outside to the tennis courts just south of Chehalem Community Center on 6th and Howard Streets. On stage will be Darrell Kalmbach calling Mainstream with a half hour of Pre-Plus beginning at 7:30 p.m., and Leonard Snodgrass cueing a mix of intermediates and easy rounds. Ground tires are sprinkled on the concrete to make it easier to dance on, so we recommend you wear tennis shoes or shoes you don’t mind getting dirty. We have a flyer posted, and ask you please watch for a possible update on venue. C’mon out to Newberg July 22nd for this lively outdoor dance.
IMPORTANT NOTE -- the "Dancing Under the Stars" dance has had to move to the Les Schwab Tire Center in Newberg.
Our 5th Saturday Advanced dance, July 30th, is cancelled.
We do not go dark in the summer, so come join us for some fun dancing. We seem to have a few more male dancers than some other clubs I’ve noticed, so if you do not have a partner, not to worry, please come!
Since we are working on our website and it's not yet resolved, for Information contact Steve Zimmerman by email at: popofcdbm@gmail.com
Josie Rosenburg
July 22 (4th Fri)
Come join us for our July 16th Red, White & Blue dance and let's have fun together.
Carolene Siebert
Bob Allen
July 12 (2nd Tue)
July 19 (3rd Tue)
July 26 (4th Tue)
July 8 (2nd Fri)
July 9 (2nd Sat)