A t e rrific w a y to en d yo ur Square Da nc e year

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1 Volume 34, Number See Page 4 for information about Cookie Exchange A t e rrific w a y to en d yo ur Square Da nc e year Upcoming 2016 Trailblazers Dances and Session Schedules REVISED Session Time Schedule, Starts January 2016 Saturday 1st Session C1: 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM; 2nd Session A2: 3:00 to 5:30 PM Sunday 1st Session C2: 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM; 2nd Session C3A: 3:00 to 5:30 PM REVISED Time Schedule starts in January 2016 Jan Bronc Wise... Denver, CO Feb Vic Ceder... Los Olivos, CA Mar Bill Haynes... Gilbert, AZ Trailblazers 35th Anniversary Celebration Apr Ben Rubright... Punta Gorda, FL Dance Location Map shown on page 9

2 Page 2 Contents TRAILBLAZER December th Anniversary Trailblazers... 6 Anniversaries, Members & Friends... 7 Birthdays, Members & Friends... 7 Board Members, Bob & Dolva Mitchell Our New Trailblazers Members... 2 Cookie Exchange... 4 Flyers Dance Schedule... 8, 9 Membership Renewal... 2 Sandie Bryant, Friday Evening Dance... 5 Sandie Bryant Profile... 3 Statement of Policy, TRAILBLAZER... 7 Trailblazers Time Schedule Change... 7 Trailblazers Dances, Upcoming 2015 & Trailblazers Square Dance Schedule, Location and Maps... 9 Volunteer Staff, Trailblazers... 8 Membership Renewal Time Dues = $12.00 per person per year Please pay at December dance or mail your check (Payable to Trailblazers) to: Sam Mehlman, 4045 Globe Ave, Culver City, CA Thanks for taking care of your renewal as soon as feasible. Bob & Dolva Mitchell, new Trailblazers members also joining us in October They are shown here proudly holding their new Trailblazers badges. We look forward to joining you in our friendly, helpful squares and sincerely appreciate your support. Photography credit: John Loker

3 Page 3 Sandie Bryant Trailblazers December 2015 Caller Sandie was born, raised and still lives on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, with her husband Albert and daughter Alexandra Jeannae. She first started square dancing when she was 8 years old as a Girl Scout with her best friend Alicia. The leader of the troop happened to be Alicia's mother, Swersie Dumetz Norris, who called for square dance clubs in Chicago's African-American community. Swersie also taught square dancing to youth groups and coached boy's basketball and baseball. In fact, that's how Swersie found dance partners for the girls; she would make the boys dance with them before they could play ball! After going to college, Sandie returned to square dancing in September By this time, CALLERLAB had established dance levels and calling lists. She went back to a Beginners class Swersie was teaching, but didn't believe she'd remember any of her past training. To everyone's surprise, she wound up directing traffic in the square. So Swersie gave her the entire Mainstream and Plus lists to study and told Sandie to come to Swersie's next Plus level club dance. By October 1977, Swersie thought Sandie had lost her mind. Sandie had gone from non-dancer to C3 in one year! In 1979 Swersie provided calling tutelage as well as a Plus group for Sandie's first calling endeavors. Every so often, a little piece of Swersie s vocabulary will fall out of Sandie's mouth, especially when she says, "You got to know your definitions!" To this day Sandie continues to call Mainstream through C4 weekly square dances and special square dance events for local Chicago Square Dance clubs. By the summer of 1980, Sandie called her first National Convention in Memphis, Tennessee and proceeded to establish herself as one of the premiere callers in the country. To further her calling knowledge, in 1981 she attended her first CALLERLAB convention in Kansas City, Missouri. There she became familiar with finer points of Square Dance calling and she also developed close friendships with many of her peers. Her pursuit of calling did not diminish her desire to square dance. She joined Bill Heimann's Challenge tape workshop group and to this day still sets aside one night a week to dance with that group allowing her to continually improve her dancing ability by dancing to other callers as well as occasionally dancing to herself which she considers one of her greatest challenges. Uniquely Sandie - SHE is the one with the low voice. One of 12 or 14 African-American Square Dance callers in the whole world - this group has declined in number from a high of around 30. Sandie's accomplishments are on-going. She is on the calling staff for AACE (Academy for Advanced and Challenge Enthusiasts) and various national and international festivals. Sandie is a CALLERLAB and Gay Callers Association (GCA) member and has called at numerous conventions, festivals and square dance events in many U.S. states as well as Austria, Canada, China, England, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and Sweden. In 2012, the IAGSDC's Golden Boot was presented to Sandie. The Golden Boot is presented each year to a person or group that has made significant and sustained contributions to the LGBTQ Square Dance community. "The spirit of the Golden Boot Award belongs to everyone. For it is all of us contributing together, sharing our energy, our dedication and most of all our love that is truly the spirit that is honored. When any one of us gives 100% of the best of what and who we are, that is the finest example of the essence of what the Golden Boot Award exemplifies." Sandie has also appeared on television shows promoting square dancing - the non-inclusive list includes the Phil Donahue Show and Common Ground hosted by Warner Saunders (WBBM-TV Channel 2 Chicago) and she has written numerous articles about Square Dance calling.

4 Page 4 Thanks to Jeff & Shirley McNiel for planning, organizing, and heading up this extra event.

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6 Page 6 Thanks, Shirley McNiel, for preparing this flyer.

7 Page 7 Change in Trailblazers Time Schedule Effective January 2016, our time schedule will be: SATURDAY C1: 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM A2: 3:00 to 5:30 PM SUNDAY C2: 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM C3A: 3:00 to 5:30 PM Summary: Starting and ending times for ALL sessions move up 15 minutes both days, dance-level schedules on both Saturday and Sunday will remain the same. Trailblazers and Friends December Birthdays December 2015 Jerry Blackmar Jill Borris Chris Clarke Bill Garrett Bob Guthrie Carol Heins Nick Leary Raymond Lee John Marshall Peggy Martin John Melstrom Curtis Raymond Blanche Rever Bruce Rosenblum Craig Shucker Steve Snow Jim Wampler Wendy Winters Fia Wise Trailblazers and Friends December Anniversaries (The number in parenthesis = anniversary years) Kent & Rose Paulsen December 8 (25) John & Peggy Martin December 18 (45) Fred & Patti Jackson December 19 (55) Gary & Blanche Rever December 21 (48) Ron & Grace Hinders December 23 (53) TRAILBLAZER STATEMENT OF POLICY: TRAILBLAZER is published by Trailblazers Square Dance Club for the purpose of providing a means for dissemination square dance information to the Advanced and Challenge Community. The Editor and Publisher reserve the right to exercise their discretion in the acceptance, rejection or editing of any proffered information, listings or advertising based upon their determination of the best interest of square dancing. The opinions which may be expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Editor, Publisher or Trailblazers. Your views are encouraged. Any article herein may be reprinted with credits to TRAILBLAZER and the author. PUBLISHING DATA: TRAILBLAZER will be published monthly. MAILING ADDRESS: Address all correspondence to: Trailblazer Editors, 5740 Adams Ave, San Diego, CA TRAILBLAZER STAFF: Hal Anker ( ), TommyEditor@yahoo.com TRAILBLAZERS WEBMASTER: Karl Springer, webmaster@trailblazers-socal.org DANCE, CLASS & WORKSHOP LISTINGS: No charge for listings. Regular dances will be listed under special events. Call schedules will not be included in regular dance listings. However, if a schedule of callers is sent, we will include a listing on our website. ADVERTISING: Advertising must be camera ready copy, black ink on white paper. Full page originals cannot be reduced to a half-page. ADVERTISING RATES: Full Page (8 x 10) = $30; Half Page (8 x 5) = $20; Qtr. Page (3.75 x 5) = $10; Bus. Card (3 x 2) = $ 6.50 ADVERTISING REMITTANCE: Make all checks for advertising or listings payable to Trailblazers. Payment must accompany all orders for advertisements and listings.

8 Page 8 Trailblazers Volunteer Staff Celebration Committee: Hal Anker, Barbara Jones, Shirley McNiel and John Melstrom Equipment: Jerry & Ruth Blackmar (Saturday), Rod Anderson (Sunday) Historians: John Melstrom and Hal Anker Photographers: Rod Anderson, John Melstrom, and David Moorhouse Sunshine Representative: Barbara Lane TRAILBLAZER Editors: Hal Anker & Rod Anderson Webmaster: Karl Springer Trailblazers Board Members Presidents... Bruce & Nancy Rosenblum 1st Vice President... John Marshall 2nd Vice Presidents... Rod Anderson and Jerry & Ruth Blackmar 3rd Vice Presidents... Barbara Marshall and Shirley McNiel Secretary... Bruce Crabtree Treasurers... Sam Mehlman and Barbara Jones A Square D Rep... Joe Fortenberry Trailblazers Dance and Callers Schedule Flyers are available at: Please share this link with your Square Dance friends. Or take along a few when you go to a dance. With your help our Square Dance enjoyment will certainly be enhanced.. The flyer is available both in black & white or color. It is similar to the flyer as shown on page 9 of this newsletter. Thanks for your help... Your feedback about the TRAILBLAZER is, and has been, greatly appreciated. Is your birthday or anniversary missing or incorrectly listed? Know about a Square Dance or Square Dance Class, at any level, that you believe others would like to know about? Spot a typographical error... Please let me know. TRAILBLAZER Editors TommyEditor@yahoo.com

9 Page 9 T R A I L B L A Z E R S Callers Schedule December 5 & 6, 2015 Sandie Bryant (Chicago, Illinois) Start Revised Time Schedule January 2 & 3, 2016 Bronc Wise (Denver, Colorado) February 6 & 7, 2016 Vic Ceder (Los Olivos, California) March 5 & 6, 2016 Bill Haynes (Gilbert, Arizona) 35th Anniversary Celebration April 2 & 3, 2016 Ben Rubright (Punta Gorda, Florida) May 2, 2016 is 35th Anniversary Anniversary Celebration would normally be held during May weekend, but moved to April to avoid con lict with Mother s Day. Dance Schedule Revised Time Schedule 1st SATURDAY of the Month C1: 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM Last tip increased difficulty at C1 A2: 3:00 to 5:30 PM Last A2 tip increased difficulty SUNDAY following 1st Saturday of the Month C2: 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM Last tip increased difficulty at C2 C3A: 3:00 to 5:30 PM, Last tip is C3B Singles Welcome Singles Rotation Available Square Dance Attire is Optional Location Map Mel s Dance Center 5946 Westminster Blvd, Westminster, CA (Freeway Signs read Westminster Ave) May 7 & 8, 2016 Dave Heffron (Cleveland, Ohio) June 4 & 5, 2016 Ett McAtee (Severn, Maryland) July 2016 DARK Happy Birthday, U.S.A. August 6 & 7, 2016 Rob French (Walnut Creek, California) Information: Bruce & Nancy Rosenblum (951) or - John & Barbara Marshall (626)