October 9, 2004 - Whirlaway Anniversary
We are now officially members of the Whirlaways, as we got our badges last night at their 35th Anniversary Dance. The Whirlaways were founded in 1969 by Judd Jones, the club's first caller.
They had twelve squares dancing last night and four squares for the A-1 tip. There are a lot of very good dancers in that club. Tim Pepper was calling.

The Sandpipers Halloween Costume Ball dance is tonight. It should be a lot of fun.

September 25, 2004 - Whirlaway Dance
The Whirlaways dance was last night with Buddy Weaver calling. They had a good turn-out as Buddy has a very large following. I think he is of the best callers in the area. Noted for his "hot hash" tips, he calls at a very fast pace and really keeps things moving.

[From Buddy Weaver's Website] -
"Buddy Weaver began calling in his native state of Hawaii in 1977. He is a third generation Square Dance pioneer, starting the first Advanced program in Hawaii and the first Multi-Cycle New Dancer programs in Hawaii and San Diego. Buddy has been featured in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and twenty four United States. He is the first American Square Dance Caller to perform in Poland.
Since 1981, Buddy has made over 70 commercial Square Dance recordings. He is the owner/producer of Blue Star Records/Dance Ranch CDs/Hi Hat Records."

There were quite a few Wranglers and Sandpipers at the dance and it was really nice to see Carol and Joe from the Ruffles and Beaus. We always like dancing with them. Carol is an old friend from our Single Spinner days.

September 19, 2004 - Old Friends and New Friends
We went to the SDSDA 3rd Saturday Round-Up last night. Phil Farmer, a caller from the LA area, was calling and he was very good, very fast, and a lot of fun. We'd never danced to him before.

The nice thing about the Round-Ups is that they draw dancers from all over the city and from all different clubs. Some of the people we knew years ago at the Single Spinners are still dancing and it's been fun to be able to renew friendships and catch up on old times with them. We also saw the couple we'd just met at the last Sandpipers dance, (they are returning to square dance after eleven years.) They'd come out to hear Phil Farmer as they remembered dancing to him years ago. I didn't see any other Wranglers, but there were a couple of Whirlaways and a couple of Sandpipers there.

September 17, 2004 - New Class
The new Wrangler class started last night. It looks like there's about 8-10 new people. They seemed pretty happy with the turn-out but I don't see how they can even be breaking even with that. I remember we used get three or four times that number for classes. Over the years square dancing has been consistently declining. I don't know what the answer is, how to attract new people, but it is kind of sad. Square dancing is a really fun activity.

The Wrangler dance is tonight with Ray Holmes calling and the Round-Up is tomorrow with Phil Farmer calling.

September 14, 2004 - My Name Is Su
I was told last night that there is a square dance caller who spells her name the way I spell mine, Su (no E.) Searching on Google I found Su Eygabroad, a caller from Escondido. There were no upcoming events where she'd be calling listed at this time, but maybe we'll be able to dance to her sometime.

September 13, 2004 - Games
Here's a couple of cute games -
Square Dance Hangman - Presented by the Farmers and Charmers Square Dance Club in Canoga Park
and Dancing Bears - Presented by Microprize County Fair

September 12, 2004 - Patriot Day
Last night was the Sandpipers "Patriot Day" dance with Cliff Simpson calling. Everyone was dressed in red, white, and blue. A fun dance, but it is really way too hot to be dancing this week.

We met another couple who are just getting back into square dancing after not dancing for many years. This was their first dance in eleven years but, unlike us, they were able to jump right in as though they had never stopped. They did say they had been dancing at a challenge 3 level before and had danced a lot, but still, it was rather amazing.

September 11, 2004 - Who's Calling?
When we were dancing years ago we danced to the same caller each week, only hearing others at special dances or travel dates. Now it seems we never hear the same caller twice. In the two months since we started dancing again, we have danced to ten different callers.
It is nice to hear different callers because each has a little different style, a different choice of music, and a different style of combining the steps or calls, but it's a little scary because it takes some time to get your ear tuned to the style of the caller and I'm still at the point where it's pretty easy for me to mess up a square.

Some callers focus on the "formation" aspect of the dance, calling intricate patterns or placing the dancers in unusual positions so that one must really think to follow the pattern, rather like solving a puzzle. Sometimes I think the caller is trying to confuse the dancers.
My favorite are the callers who call with a fast, high energy style where the calls flow smoothly, lending themselves to a more "dancey" style of dancing.

The choice of music also differs. Some use the traditional country western songs, though there seems to be a trend now to use more modern music, perhaps to appeal to younger dancers. We recently danced to a caller playing techno music, but I kind of like the country music best.

Whatever the style, the most important thing is for the caller to be enthusiastic and have fun while calling, as this enthusiasm is catching, and the dancers will have more fun then, too.

September 10, 2004 - The Barn
Tonight we are going to the Whirlaways 21st Annual Chocoholics dance. Chocolate and dancing, two of my favorite things! Wil Eades is calling. We've heard him in a class situation but we've never really danced to him.

One of the nice things about dancing with the Whirlaways is that they dance at "The Barn" in Walnut Grove Park, San Marcos. With an open beam ceiling and a pecan wood floor, the Barn is a great place to dance. Originally called The Red Barn, it was built by a square dancer, Fred E. Williams, in 1950 to be used as a square dance hall. In 1992 it was moved from downtown San Marcos to Walnut Grove Park where it is surrounded by grassy fields, equestrian trails, and picnic areas. It was renamed the Fred E. and Frances A. Williams Barn in 1997 to honor Williams who was also San Marcos' first Volunteer Fire Chief.

September 9, 2004 - Undercover Square Dancers
This is a very cute article by Mark Stibich at student.com, My Parents Were Undercover Square Dancers

September 7, 2004 - Dust Off the Sewing Machine
The re-emergence of square dancing in my life has also triggered the return of another dormant activity; sewing. I used to sew a lot but other than some quick alterations or repairs, it's been a long time since I've done any real sewing. Since I no longer have any of my square dance dresses (I wouldn't fit into them now, anyway), I've been sewing square dance skirts.

I did keep the petticoats, however. I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of them. They are so expensive and I had quite a few, in all different colors. So now I have pulled my box of thirty year old petticoats out of storage and have been pleasantly surprised to find that the netting is still good. Just the elastic needs to be replaced and, since I wore my skirts very short when I was young, they all need to be lengthened a bit. But that's not too hard to do. I've been working on them one by one.

September 6, 2004 - Cancelled Dance
We missed dancing tonight as it was cancelled for Labor Day. Bummer. I looked at Lloyd and said "I feel like we should be going dancing." He said "Yeah, I feel like we should be going dancing, too." Bummer.

September 3, 2004 - Returning to the Square
So, after twenty-some years of not dancing, we decided to start again. We didn't think we needed to start at the very beginning so we joined a class midway through to refresh our memories. (It's like riding a bike, right?) Unfortunately, after only three classes, I took a tumble (not while dancing), and shattered my elbow, requiring surgery. We returned to the class just in time for graduation. Unbelievable as it may sound, they gave us our diplomas and invited us to join the club after only three classes! So we are now members of The Wranglers, though I think they may have just felt sorry for me.

We are currently finishing up our second class (sponsored by The Whirlaways), which we also joined in the middle, while simultaneously dancing at The Wranglers, The Whirlaways, The Sandpipers, and the monthly SDSDA dances. We believe in total immersion. So now, after two months, we're dancing at a plus level again. You might say we're back in the "swing" of it. And we're having a lot of fun.

September 2, 2004 - Square Dance Memories
Lloyd and I met square dancing over 30 years ago when we were both dancing with a singles' club in San Diego called the Revelers. Their caller was Bob "Scrunch" (if you're a square dancer, you'll know) West. The Revelers were a very lively, active group and dancing with them was a lot of fun. They danced at the V-Z Barn in San Diego, one of the few halls that had a wonderful floating hardwood floor. It was a great place to dance. Unfortunately, it is no longer there.

As is often the case in club situations, there were disagreements. A rift developed between the new, young dancers and the older, established club members. The result was that a spin-off group of the Revelers began to form and we became charter members in the new club, The Single Spinners.
As we worked to write the bylaws, one thing we all agreed upon was that we wanted this club to remain young and exuberant. With the naivity of youth we even wrote into the bylaws a condition restricting anyone over the age of 30 of becoming a member. We imagined that we would always have an influx of new young dancers. We forgot, however, that we, ourselves, would continue to get older. (We laugh about that now.)

The Spinners were a great group of people and a really fun club. Their first caller was Jeff Fletcher, then later Ray Schweinforth. Some may have said we were a bit of a wild bunch. We did kick allemandes and added in extra twirls every chance we got. The fancier, the better, we thought, and if he said "swing your partner," well, we sure did!
Lloyd and I danced with the Spinners for a number of years, both while we were single and later after we married. But then, as happens, friends drift apart, people become busy with jobs, children, and other activities.
We stopped square dancing.

The Single Spinners are still dancing in San Diego today, but that age restriction was removed from their bylaws quite a few years ago! John Marus is their caller now and the club just celebrated its 30th anniversary last June.

September 1, 2004 - Square Dance Month
September is International Square Dance Month and this is the beginning of my Square Dance Blog.