Siieerr rrrraa Hiillllbbiillllyy Hoolllleerr May, 2012 Volume 46, No. 5 President s Message A Quick Look Back at April April 1 was our April Fools Dance with caller Phil Farmer doing a great job of filling in for Dale Hoppers. Cuers Milo Molitoris and Cinda Firstenburg taught a round dance during the first half hour, and Cinda brought up an nteresting point: have we been keeping track of the cues that have been taught so far this year so the subsequent cuers know what cues they have to work with and build upon? The issue of noise was addressed by keeping the dance hall doors closed to those not participating in the round dance lesson. We also changed the dance level rotation to allow those who only dance mainstream more opportunities to dance. We started with a mainstream tip, then a plus tip, then double rounds, eliminating the rounds between the mainstream and plus tips, continuing this rotation with the insertion of the mainstream alert tip at break. We are trying to find the appropriate balance to satisfy both round dancers and mainstream only square dancers, and we welcome your opinions for consideration. We again chose the Boots and Slippers student-level dance as our first visitation for the month, on Saturday April 7 with caller Dick Hodnefield. Thanks to all who attended. Beginners III class continued on Tuesday evenings, except for Election Day April 10, when the Valencia Meadows Park building was supposed to have been used as a polling place. On Saturday April 14 we visited Aces and Deuces for their bunny hop with Scot Byars calling and Erin Byars cueing. Thanks again to those who attended. The board meeting was held on Wednesday April 18 at 7:30 at the home of John and Jody King. Our monthly fundraiser was held on Wednesday April 25 at Claim Jumper. Sorry to have missed most of our April activities, since we were touring Italy for two and a half weeks. What You Can Look Forward to This Month Beginners III Classes continue on Tuesday evenings from 7:15 to 9:15 at Valencia Meadows Park. Our suggested visitation is to Boots and Slippers Class Level dance on Saturday May 5 at the Simi Senior Center, with Dick Hodnefield calling.
Sierra Hillbillies Holler May, 2012 Page 2 Sunday May 6 is our Hillbilly Fiesta with Dennis Young calling and Anndrea Stephan on rounds, with a lesson from 2:00 to 2:30. This is one of the few dances for which all club members are asked to bring a little something for the refreshment table to help keep the fiesta festive! The board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday May 16 at 7:30 at the home of Alan and Eileen Willis. All club members are welcome to attend. Sunday, May 20 is our official visitation to Mountain Squares Hula Time dance with Pat Carnathan calling. Wednesday May 30 is our monthly fundraiser dinner to Macaroni Grill, 25720 The Old Road, between 4:00 and 9:00 pm. Thank you for your continued support of our club and the square dance activity, and most of all for your friendship. Angie Messina, President Kitchen Report Thanks to the Kitchen Crew for our April Fools Dance on April 1: David and Dolly Brown, Karen Geller-Shinn, and Margaret MacCurdy for bringing a fine array of refreshments, and for filling in for those who were originally assigned. The Kitchen Crew for our May 6 Hillbilly Fiesta consists of Esther DeGregorio, Sharon Devol, Barbara Esselstein, and Phil and Anne Hays. However, this is one of the few dances where the whole club is asked to bring a little something to make our Fiesta special. When it is your turn to serve, please bring enough refreshments to feed two squares. If you can t serve on the date you are scheduled, please arrange a switch and notify Kathy Kerner and me so I can correctly acknowledge the people who are serving. KITCHEN CREW INSTRUCTIONS Please arrive between 1:30 and 1:45 PM we rely on the Kitchen Crew members to help Phil Hays set up the decorations for the dance and two members to act as Club Greeters. If everyone arrives on time, the work goes quickly and the Kitchen Crew will be able to enjoy the round dancing starting at 2:00 PM. Also, if you are assigned to the Kitchen Crew for this dance but cannot serve, it is YOUR responsibility to make arrangements to switch with someone assigned to a future dance (a copy of the 2012 Kitchen Crew assignment list is available on the Sierra Hillbillies website, www.sierrahillbillies.org) and to follow through at that future date. Please contact Kathy Kerner, our Telephone Committee Chair (661-259-8800), to coordinate food dishes and notify her of any Kitchen Crew substitutions.
Sierra Hillbillies Holler May, 2012 Page 3 Visitation Report May, 2012 April s Visitation was: Aces and Deuces with Scot and Eryn Byars Saturday April 14 th. It was their Bunny Hop dance and Scott, as we expected, had on his bunny ears (I think I also saw a couple of flamingos running around, we won t mentionn their names). Those who attended were: Peggy & Phil Alfeld, Joni Micals & Chris Clarke, Dolly & David Brown, Barbara Esselstein, Linda & Ron Marrin, Bruce & Heather Posten, Sharon Seguine & Hank Shuman. Future Visitations: Boots & Slippers Fun Dance Saturday May 5th Will be our first visitation. We would like to continue to support our class members and other class level dancers, by attending this dance at the Simi Valley Senior Center, 3900 Avenida Simi, with Dick Hodnefield calling. The square dancing begins at 8:00 and goes to 10:30p.m. I believe this will be the last, of the first Saturday of the month, student level dances put on by the Boots and Slippers, as most of the clubs will have graduated their students by then. Good job graduates and thank you angels. Mountain Squares Sunday May 20 th Will be our second visitation. They dance at Community Hall, Monterey & Park in Frazier Park. The caller will be Pat Carnathan and the Plus level dance will be from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. The theme is Hula Time which is ironic because we won t be attending the dance, as we will be vacationing in Hawaii. We always enjoy the Sunday afternoon drive up the mountain. Thanks for all of your support. Peggy Alfeld - Visitations Mayy Calendar At-A-Glance May 1, 7:15 p.m. Beginning III Class, Valencia Meadows Park May 5, 8:000 p.m. Visitation at Boots & Slippers, Simi Valley May 6. 2:000 p.m. Hillbillies Fiesta Dance, Newhall Senior Center (Dennis Young calling and Anndrea Stephan cueing) May 8, 7:15 p.m. Beginning III Class, Valencia Meadows Park May 15, 7:15 p.m. Beginning III Class, Valencia Meadows Park May 16, 7:30 p.m. Board meeting at Alan & Eileen Willis May 20, 2:00 p.m. Visitation at Mountain Squares, Frazier Park May 22, 7:15 p.m. Beginning III Class, Valencia Meadows Park May 23, 7:00 p.m. A Square D District Meeting, Northridge May 27, Deadline for the June issue of the Sierra Hillbillies Holler May 29, 7:15 p.m. Beginning III Class, Valencia Meadows Park May 30, Fund raiser at Macaroni Grill, Stevenson Ranch (bring attached flier)
Sierra Hillbillies Holler May, 2012 Page 4 Associated Square Dancers of Southern California Howdy, Hillbillies! Our April Valley-Ventura-Santa Barbara District A Square D meeting was a good one with lots of hand-outs! Of course, we had our usual reports from club delegates, and were happy to have Presidents Bill & Merlyn Jones and Insurance Director Lou Schumacher in attendance. Reports from our-area clubs included the following items: The Boots & Slippers will host club presidents for free at their special Sunday, May 20 th dance (even though it is a conflict with the A Sq. D quarterly meeting on the same day); The Buckles & Bows are holding two Hillbilly banners, and announced their June 2 nd Guide Dog Dance; the Trail Dusters June 6 th dance, Southern Nights, will feature Cajun food sounds good! Now the Take-Aways : District Director Marge Leese distributed new Delegate Handbooks. Like our club committee and officer experience books, these are to be used, maintained, and passed on to the subsequent club A Sq. D delegates. The handbooks have valuable contact information for our district clubs and association officials. Network Squares resource sheets were also distributed to each delegate to be completed and returned at the May meeting. The May District meeting on May 23 rd will be the annual Get Acquainted event with special invitations to club presidents to attend. Angie Mark your calendar! President Merlyn Jones reported that there were still a couple of High Flyer slots available for the June Nationals, and also noted that all clubs will again be asked to contribute raffle baskets for the Labor Day Jamboree. Income from the Jamboree baskets and 50-50 opportunity drawings will go to support A Sq. D. Finally we were reminded that the next A Sq. D General Meeting date is Sunday, May 20 at 2 p.m. at the Hawthorne Memorial Center. Again, club presidents and members are invited to attend! Under New Business, Insurance Director Lou Schumacher reminded all delegates that with graduation dates approaching, that names, addresses, and phone numbers of all new people joining clubs must be sent to her along with their yearly insurance fee ASAP. Since this involves money, this is handled by our able Treasurer Jodi. How convenient her hubby, John, is our Membership Chairman!! Thanks to both for the fine jobs they do. Karen Geller-Shinn, your A Sq. D Delegate
Sierra Hillbillies Holler May, 2012 Page 5 Sunshine Corner HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Bruce Posten 5/10 Rod Shuping 5/12 Bobbie Reilley 5/20 Mabel Hignite 5/24 Doug Kelley 5/31 (And former Hillbillies, who still support our monthly dinners: Linda Lindemann 5/4, & Fay Vestey 5/8) ANNIVERSARIES David & Dolly Brown 5/1 Ron & Linda Marrin 5/5 Paul & Tammy Allgood 5/26 All the news that s fit we print: Let me start with an apology. The Sunshine Lady & the VP have been out of town for a week, so I may not be up on all the latest news. Will do my best, but just to let you know the beach & whale watching was great. We spotted a mother whale & her baby, but it was the hundreds of dolphins frolicking in the swells. That was a sight to behold. There was just one night of rain & a small earthquake. Otherwise, the weather was beautiful. It is the Year of the Dragon, but must be the months for surgeries. Kathy Kerner recently had surgery, but is recovering nicely. We miss her & Ken at class. Shirley Devol, Sharon s mother, underwent knee replacement surgery with some major complications that has caused some paralysis. David Kupfer underwent emergency surgery for a burst appendix. With the resultant complications David was in the hospital for a week & a half, & then in rehab for another week. He s at home now, but it will be some time before he is able to dance again. The families of two, previous, long time Hillbillies recently lost loved ones. Some may remember Helen Ann Molski. Helen Ann would have celebrated her ninety-second birthday on April 29 th. Most of us will remember Cleon Jenson, who was still coming to our dances up until a year or so ago. Cleon was ninety-two. We were already missing him. Maybe Cleon & Helen Ann are on the heavenly plane square dancing with the angels. Sympathy cards went out to each family. We ve had a lot of traveling Hillbillies. Bob & Joanne Marrin went back to Minnesota to celebrate JoAnne s mothers 101 st birthday. May we all enjoy such a grand old age, as long as we experience good health. The Marrins, along with the Barkers & Starks did a getaway camping trip. The Messinas have been away on a trip to Italy. Will have to update you later on such a marvelous trip since at the time of this writing they are not reachable. I had an e-mail from Cindy Biswell. She is doing fine, but the club she was dancing with folded & the next closest dance is 65 miles away, so, unfortunately, at this point she isn t dancing. Thought for the month: If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow. Chinese Proverb HUGS TO ALL The Sunshine Lady Jody Milligan-King E-mail: jodymilligan@gmail.com Phone (661) 250-2567
Sierra Hillbillies Holler May, 2012 Page 6 and Present our May Restaurant Fundraiser Wednesday, May 30, 2012 5 PM 9 PM 25720 The Old Rd Stevenson Ranch, California 91381 661-284-1850 Romano s Macaroni Grill will donate 10% of your food purchase to the Sierra Hillbillies Square and Round Dance Club. Please bring this flier. For more information, contact Chris @ 661 904-1099