Grapevine Magazine The official publication of the Northeast Florida Square and Round Dance Association, Inc. Begun in 1961 latest update May 2017 Mary Giera, editor - contact me at maryvmusic@comcast.net (904) 262-9907 Photographer Jack McKinney! Here's where we dance - join us for the fun! Sunday First Coast Rounds - round dancing Round dance lessons 5-6 PM special teaches 6-6:30 PM Phase II-IV dance from 6:30-8:30 PM 4758 Shelby Ave (St. Catherine's Episcopal Church) Jacksonville FL cuer Susan Snider, (904) 908-5184 frausbs@aol.com Monday Clay Allemanders - mainstream with announced plus square dancing Beginner classes 6:30-7:30 PM; club dance 7:30-9 PM Good Samaritan Anglican Church (Parish Hall in the back) 3813 Old Jennings Road Middleburg, FL Shane Perez - Caller Ken Perez - Co-caller (904) 263-2791 siperez0406@gmail.com contact, Wayne and Debbie Miller (904) 891-7016 dlmiller0331@yahoo.com Tuesday Dixie Dancers - round dancing, line dancing, and plus square dancing square dance lessons 7:00-8:30 PM club dance 8:30-9:30 PM 533 NW Desoto St (Teen Town) Lake City, FL caller, Bill Chesnut cuer, Ralph Beekman & Ann Hadsall contact, Barbara Rosenthal, (386) 365-1736 rar123@comcast.net Grand Squares - basic, mainstream and plus square dancing classes/workshops 6:15-7:30 PM
club dance 7:30-8:45 PM 1001 NW 34st Street (Westside Park Recreation Bldg) Gainesville, FL caller, Lon Ligon, president, Susie Moon (352) 283-1296 susiemoon@cox.net Joy Seas - mainstream and plus square dancing every Tuesday except 2nd Tuesday square dance lessons - 7-8 PM club dance 8-9:30 PM Coquina Crossing Clubhouse St. Augustine, FL Directions: take I-95 to exit 311, west on SR 207 1 mile on the left You MUST be through the gate by 8:00 PM caller, Mike Akers contact, John & Mary Burso, (904) 797-7530 burzob@bellsouth.net call to verify dance availability Mandarin Marauders - line dancing, mainstream & plus square dancing club dance 7:00-9 PM (change of time for May & June) Dark the month of July 3848 Hartley Road (Mandarin Senior Center) Jacksonville, FL caller, Ernie Rollen contact, Pete Lewis (904) 373-8388 pete.lewis1@gmail.com banner chairs, Cliff & Carol Calvert (904) 287-9439 chcalvert70@comcast.net Rollaways - round dancing, mainstream & plus square dancing square dance lessons - 7-8:30 PM club dance - 8:30-9:30 PM 2750 John Prom Blvd (Sandalwood High school cafeteria) Jacksonville, FL Dark the months of June and July; resuming Aug. 15, 2017 caller, Mark Fetzer cuer, Susan Snider contact, Patrick & Joan Amarino, (904) 629-4560 jnorve@netzero.com banner chairs, Walt & Dianne Syphard, (904) 221-1368 wlsyphard@aol.com diannehall6@aol.com Seabreeze Singles - mainstream and plus square dancing mainstream lessons - 7-8:30 PM
club dance - 8:30-9:30 PM 1300 Sprinkle Drive (Arlington Presbyterian Church) Jacksonville, FL caller, Jim Cosman, (912) 882-4006 contact, Jane Johnson, (904) 564-2062 msjj18@bellsouth.net banner chair, Betty Smith, (904) 610-2675 bettybsmith2002@yahoo.com Wednesday Clover Squares - mainstream & plus square dancing square dance lessons - 6:30-7:30 PM club dance - 7:30-410 NE 5th Street (Williston Crossings RV Resort) Williston, FL contact, Mignon Craig (352) 528-3323 mignoncraig@yahoo.com website - www.cloversquares.com Fun n' Frolic - advanced square dancing 6:30-8:30 PM (dark June, July & August) 7750 S Tempest Street (Jacksonville Heights Elementary School) Jacksonville, FL caller, Jim Cosman (912) 882-4006 contact, Russ & Carolyn Ueber, (904) 223-9347 carolynu9@gmail.com Thursday Moose Promenaders - round dancing, mainstream & plus square dancing advanced square dance lessons 6:30-7 PM square dance lessons - 7-8:30 PM club dance - 8:30-9:30 PM 5051 Collins Road (Moose Lodge 2020) Orange Park, FL caller, Bill Chesnut contact, Wayne & Debbie Miller (904) 891-7016 dlmiller0331@yahoo.com banner chairs, Chuck & Mary Giera (904) 262-9907 maryvmusic@comcast.net http://floridasquaredance.com/moosepromenaders/index.html Friday Friday Silver Fox Squares (of Starke) - mainstream with announced plus square dancing club dance - 7-9 PM 1805 N Temple Ave (Senior Center) Starke, FL caller, Ken Perez co-caller, Shane Perez (904) 964-2917 dogcat@centurylink.net
Friday & Saturday Gypsy Squares - line dancing, mainstream & plus square dancing various campgrounds - see camping schedule under Club News caller, Bill Chesnut contact, Gail LaRue, (352) 861-1583 glarue2775@gmail.com Square Wheels - round dancing, mainstream & plus square dancing various campgrounds - see camping schedule under Club News caller, Bill Chesnut president, Don MacGregor (904) 375-1252 dmacgr@comcast.net treasurer, Mary Chesnut, (352) 475-2550 marynut4@gmail.com NEFSARDA 5th Saturday dances July 29 & September 30, 2017 (details as they become available) contact, Walt & Dianne Syphard, (904) 221-1368 wlsyphard@aol.com diannehall6@aol.com Our NEFSARDA President s Message It is now MAY! And if you don t have your state convention ribbons as you are reading this it would behoove you to purchase them NOW! At the end of this month they will be going up $10 per couple! They will go up $20 at the door! Why?...because this year the chairman are at a huge disadvantage due to flooring! Hopefully you ve heard that the convention is moving to Daytona Beach! It is an AWESOME Convention Center however it is carpeted!!! They are raising an EXTRA $10,000 to put down wood flooring! PLEASE PLEASE help by buying your ribbons early! This expense can not wait until the dance has begun! As always.if you can not attend (for ANY reason) if you notify them by the day of the convention, you will get 100% of your money back! As a past convention chairman, I know just how stressful it is to not know where you stand financially! Lewis and Linda Wasserman are doing a wonderful job going to all areas of the state to tell about the wonderful ideas they have for this convention, and all the things they have for sale (their shirts are AMAZING you can get special color orders in groups of 12) to help raise the funds to make this happen! Once again PLEASE, PLEASE HELP! Also, they have hired workers to install and remove the flooring. They really could use a few more volunteer workers to help meet their time constraints. If you or anyone you know could help, please let them know! If you have purchased your ribbons, you have received a Passport to get filled out as you visit other clubs or dances. There will be PRIZES for these! If you know you can not make the convention this year, you may purchase a Passport for $5.00 and it will be put into the drawings.
Also if you know you can not make the convention. As a Square Dancer who wants to see the State Convention succeed and continue.donations ARE WELCOME! The motel rooms are going FAST! VERY FAST! If you want one the information is on the registration forms and on the Federation website, floridasquaredance.com. The camping information is also now on the website!!! If you need any more information, please contact me. We will get all you questions answered! Jacknkathy1@bellsouth.net If you are reading this, please let other dancers know how wonderful the Grapevine is now online, and pass the link below on to others who are not familiar with it! http://floridasquaredance.com/northeast/grapevine.php - Kathy McKinney Announcements On behalf of Dreams Come True I d like to thank the 16 dancers who transported the used square dance clothing to (and from) the dance, all of our shoppers at the store that was graciously run by Suzanne Tower, and those of you who made generous donations to this cause. Mary Starling, the collector of most of those treasures, surely was all smiles as she watched from above the beginning of her dream come true that took place April 29 th at our 5 th Saturday Dance. Mary s husband, Sam Starling, made an appearance! Chairmen of the 2018 Florida State Convention, the Wassermans, also attended and had ribbons, shirts, wands, etc. for sale. There will be at least one more chance to purchase previously owned square dance clothes - on July 29 th at the next 5 th Saturday dance. There were so many clothes we could not display all of them even if we had more transporters. Many thanks to all Mary Giera Dancers at the April 29 th 5 th Saturday dance
Callers: Mark Fetzer, Ellis Lindsey, Ernie Rollen, Shane Perez, Ken Perez, Bill Chesnut & Rod Barngrover. Dreams Come True rep (3 rd from left) and the receiving family of their dream were presented a check by the hosts of the Circus Dance held last January, (far left Frances & Ernie Rollen; far right, Susan Snider) I would like to send out a very big THANK YOU to everyone who helped make our charity dance a huge success. Thank you to the callers Mark Fetzer and Jim Cosman and the cuer Susan Snider for the great dancing. Thanks to ALL the people who pulled things together, donated items for the auction and store, went around and got gift cards, brought in all the great food, set up and broke down, and to Laura Martin for being a good sport. A big THANKS goes out to our square dance community for coming and supporting the dance. I am pleased to say we will be giving $3,691.00 to the City Rescue Mission. What a wonderful group of square and round dancers we have in the Jacksonville area. God bless you all. - Jane Johnson, Seabreeze Singles
There was a Party Weekend in Paisley, FL April 21-22 to benefit the State Convention discussion and dancing! NEFSARDA was well represented: Kathy Susie Walt & Dianne, Linda, Erik & Robin McKinney Moon Syphard Tester Burton Jack McKinney was our photographer Thanks, Jack! June 21st June24th - National Square Dance Convention, Cincinnati, Ohio. Sponsor a Youth to the National Convention Your donation will help sponsor a youth and in general it would keep the legacy of square dancing alive. A youth registration costs $30, an adult registration costs $60 but you can donate any amount you wish. Make it payable to: 66NSDC Please specify that it is a donation. The donation should be mailed to: Steve & Beverly Stoehr 66 th NSDC General Chairman 2555 S Dixie Dr Ste 234 Kettering OH 45409 Website: 66nsdc.com Email: GenChair@66sndc.com
Message from the 2018 Florida State Convention Chairmen 64th FL Square and Round Dance Convention A calming mist has settled over the enchanted forest as the wizards take a brief rest from the frenzy of the Convention Kickoff. There is so much to do; find a place for the trail end dance, get more hotels to give us discounts, tell Daytona that square & round dancers will be invading in February and we want discounts; but for now there is also time to dance. Our story began at the Kickoff for the 64th Convention, where we learned that the magic of dance will enchant you. Your squares will not break down, and round dancers will float gracefully as if on clouds. We also learned that Clarence the Misguided Magician had cast a carpet spell on the Lakeland center, causing it to grow luxurious carpeting from all of its floors. He thought that his spell was in keeping with the Convention theme, The Magic of Dance Will Enchant You, but he discovered that dancers are not enchanted by carpet, even if it sings perfect harmony. Alas, Clarence was unable to undo the spell, and we had to find another place to dance. Convention Chair-Wizard Lewis stepped in, and, after consulting with Grand Wizard Google, he determined that the best place for the dance would be the Ocean Center at Daytona Beach. Unfortunately, Clarence had already visited the Ocean Center as well. In fact, he has been very busy throughout Florida, and it is impossible to find a large enough dance hall with a decent dance floor. Chair-wizard Lewis agreed to plant some trees in the Enchanted Forest so that the dancers would have a nice wood floor to dance on. Registration Wizard Dennis Taylor consulted the Magic Mirror to find out how many dancers there would be, but the Mirror was hazy on the subject, so we depend on the dancers to register early, so we know how much floor we will need. To encourage early registration, we are keeping the early-bird price of $35 through May. In case you missed our kickoff, there are a number of new features on the way for 2018. Foremost is the Daytona Ocean Center, a modern facility on Daytona Beach, surrounded by restaurants, attractions, and, of course, the beach. Our intrepid webwizard, Bruce Morgan has posted a brief video about Daytona Beach and the Ocean Center at the Convention website: floridasquaredance.com/convention (Scroll down about half way.) 120 people registered at the Convention this year, which means that if you have not registered yet, 120 people have the jump on you in getting their Dance Passports signed
off. Dance Passports are a new feature for 2018. Every person who registers for the Convention gets a Passport. You bring it with you all year, and have it dated and initialed every time you dance. Then bring it with you to the Convention, and we will award prizes for the most nights danced, the most clubs or events visited, and some random drawings for prizes. Be sure to turn in your passport at the registration desk on Friday. If you know you will be unable to attend the convention, we will give you a passport for a donation of $5, so you can play too. The best way to get lots of sign-ins is to register early and get started! Dance Passports are not valid for international travel. Clarence the Misguided Magician offered to enchant all of the Dance Passports so that they would make a loud buzzing sound if they were left behind when their owner went dancing, but the Ways and Means wizards admonished him that it would only be annoying. Anyway, people will want to keep their passports handy because of all the great prizes. The other thing that we are really excited about is our Blast Class. Why a blast class? The blast class is our answer to an early-in-the-year convention. We would not want to all go off to the convention and tell our new students you can't come to the party this year because you don't know enough. That would be awful. So a blast class is for our new students to come join the fun. In California, they had 4 squares of students and one square of newbies off the street. We need new approaches to introduce square dancing to our friends. Bob Ormsbee and Keith Stevens will give our new dancers a great experience. We want them to come for a weekend, and stay for a lifetime! Please invite your friends to join you for a wonderful weekend. Please post the invitation for the blast class on your social media. It is the same cost as the convention. We would like to thank all of you who attended our kickoff at the 63rd Convention. We appreciate your support, and we hope that it was fun and informative. We also acknowledge Keith Stevens and the Flowing Figures, who provided the dance number at the beginning, and we would like to give a special thank-you to Keith and Angie Olds, who did such a great job creating the book of Our Story. Through the magic of YouTube, you can see the kickoff at: https://goo.gl/yo3ap5 (That s a letter O after the Y.) Until next time, may the magic of dance enchant YOU! - Wizard Lewis Wasserman Club News Clay Allemanders The Clay Allemanders picked up by callers Shane Perez and his father Ken Perez. Unfortunately, this last week of April has been marked with sadness as The Clay Allemanders caller, Donnie Miller, for the past several years, had to let go of the club due to continued health problems related to his back and knees. He made a tough decision to leave the Allemanders, but Donnie and all members agree that it was the right decision. Says Bill Dion and all members of the Allemanders, He will be missed and all of our prayers are with him in efforts to relieve the pain Donnie presently suffers from. All Square Dancers are asked to pray for Donnie, his healing and someday return as a great caller. The Clay Allemanders have been making fairly regular visits on Friday evenings to the new Silver Fox Squares in Starke. An invite was put forth from Clay Allemanders this past weekend and on
Monday it was official that Shane Perez would become the new Clay Allemanders caller, with Shane's dad, Ken Perez, as a backup. All dancers are encouraged to come to Clay Allemanders and dance to Shane and Ken on Monday evenings. Also, the caller change comes at a time when the Allemanders are recruiting for new members. Their classes begin this coming Monday May 1 st at 7 PM. Going forward, classes will move back to 6:30 PM and regular dance will kick in at 7:30 and go till 9 PM. This article, submitted by Bill Dion, coordinator of Clay Allemanders. Donnie Miller Shane Perez May 14 & 28 dark First Coast Rounds Fun n Frolic Our latest Advanced dancers graduated April 26: Debbie & Wayne Miller and Pat & Tom Herscha! Congratulations! Fun n Frolic s caller is Jim Cosman.
Grand Squares On April 11 Grand Squares graduated 9 dancers! Left to right: Bill Martin, Kim Martin, Smith Freeman, Betty Greathouse, Allen Reece, Elyse Babbitt, Fred Judkins, Kathie Frison, and Don Frison. Kneeling is their exceptional caller, Lon Ligon Gypsy Squares and Square Wheels schedule (Subject to change Please verify) Revised 27 Sep 2016 May 19-21 GYPSY SQUARES HOSTING - Williston Crossing RV Resort - 410 NE 5th St. Williston, FL. 32696 Phone 352-528-7100. Rate will be $49.50 Pull-thru, $40.00 Back In, $40.00 Grass. No 50 amp rigs allowed on grass. Call and make your own reservations. Note from Laura Ramsey - Gail LaRue is making reservations for those of us who love to eat at the Ivy House, in Williston, a lovely old home which has been converted into a terrific restaurant. I do believe the weekend will be an "Ooh La La" event. To get your name on the list to dine together contact Gail LaRue. As another plug for the campground at Williston, it has a lovely room for dancing with great acoustics. I think it is the prettiest campground that we go to. July 11-13 International Camporee- Pride RV Resort, Maggie Valley, North Carolina (See flier for details at the end of the Grapevine) State Convention Feb 23-24, 2018 - (See flier for details at the end of the Grapevine) For additional information please contact one of the following: Mary Chesnut, Don MacGregor, Gail or Gary LaRue (352) 475-2550 904-375-1252 352-861-1583
cell (352) 214-5880 marynut4@gmail.com dmacgr@comcast.net glarue2775@gmail.com Mandarin Marauders There s noting like a dangle dance! The Mandarin Marauders is hosting a Mummy dangle dance on Tuesday, May 2 nd and another dangle dance on Tuesday, June 20 th, so come out to the Mandarin Senior Center and join us for great fun and dance! Note: Mandarin Marauders will be dark the month of July. Here are the Mandarin Marauders Plus dancers who graduated on April 25! Rick & Kim Doucette, Mark & Jeanne Wimberly, Pat & John Chidester, caller Ernie Rock n Rollen, Michelle Guinn, Tom & Nanette Porwoll, David & Donna Smith, Ben & Joy Caldwell Moose Promenaders If you look in the back on the stage you ll see our outstanding caller Bill Chesnut!
Hearty congratulations to the April 20 th graduates: Ryman & Susan Shoaf, Laura Martin, Katherine Turner & Inez Everett May 18 Come to the Moose Promenaders Hawaiian Luau dance. Sure to be a good time. (See flier for details at the end of the Grapevine) June 22, 2017 - Ice Cream Social - bring toppings and come to dance! July 20, 2017 Pink Cadillac Dance - 1950's dance; poodle skirts and cool duds. Rollaways
Past and current presidents decked out in Rollaways club colors for their 29 th anniversary dance/student graduation! Thanks for serving the club. Back row: Jack & Kathy McKinney, Walt and Dianne Syphard, Monina Knierim, Howard Crowe, Mary Ann Lawrence, Linda Tester, Joan Amarino Front row: Patrick Amarino & Virginia Bomhold The Rollaways graduated a class of four Back row: George and Patty Durden, Front row: Emily Jones and Laney Stewart Congratulations to all! May 28 last dance at Sandal wood High School until the Rollaways resume dancing there on August 15, 2017. During the summer Rollaways will be dancing with Seabreeze Singles. The Rollaways dance Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. at Sandalwood High School, 2750 John Prom Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32246. The club has been quite active since our last report at the end of January. We celebrated Chinese New Year (complete with a Chinese surprise box) and fortune cookies. For Valentine s Day we retrieved our Charlie and the Chocolate Factory theme! There was lots of chocolate; all bars had something placed in the wrapper: either a lottery ticket, a door prize voucher, or the Golden Ticket a $50 bill. We were puzzled as by the end of the evening no one had claimed they got the Golden Ticket. The mystery was resolved a week later; one of our members picked up a candy bar when she was paying to get in, put it in her purse and forgot about it. When our Little Princesses (granddaughters of club members and club members in their own right) were passing out the candy bars, they gave her one. When we told everyone to open the outer wrapper of his or her candy, she opened the one given to her, forgetting about the one in her purse. The following day she went to Alabama to see her sister. She opened her purse, saw the other bar and gave it to her little nephew. He went home, opened it, and called her asking what the $50 was for! He gave it back (after he collected a finder s fee ) and our club member then took the $50 to the casino and proceeded to add another zero to her winnings meaning she turned the $50 into $500! Way to go! And what a story!
Our next celebration was Mardi Gras. We had official Mardi Gras food: pancakes and King cake. Then we did a banner raid at the Clay Allemanders at their Ice Cream Social Dangle Dance (we like our food!) Speaking of food, we continued to dine out to encourage different restaurants to support the upcoming Fall Festival (donate a meal gift card or buy an ad in the Fall Festival directory). Keeping in line with the food theme, we celebrated Pi day (yes, that 3.14 number!) and served up a bunch of pies. March 14 th is also Albert Einstein s birthday (1879), so we had a contest to see who knew that little piece of trivia. Our club was well-represented at the State convention in Lakeland. Boy, did we have fun! It was a great job organizing and executing the extravaganza. We celebrated the graduation of our newest members at the middle of April. This date coincided with our club s 29 th anniversary celebration. The existing slate of officers will see out another term. April ended with our club hosting the 5 th Saturday Dance along with First Coast Rounds. The Chairmen of the 2018 State Convention attended, bringing various convention-themed merchandise to sell to support the Daytona dance. The dance was made extra-special by the presentation of an almost $5000 check from the Dreams Come True organization (the group the Circus Dance raises funds for) to the Dreamer and their family. We ll be winding down for the summer soon; when the school closes we take a hiatus from club-centered dancing and visit other clubs that are still active. We look forward to seeing you around. - reported by Ken Shacter Seabreeze Singles Seabreeze Singles had a graduating class of 6: Katherine Turner, Ashley Mims, Inez Everett, Laura Martin, Jenell Garvey and Jeremy Hoblit Seabreeze Singles graduates are in here. Can you find them? Their caller, Jim Cosman, is in the center.
Seabreeze is famous for Waltzin Cross Texas Robert Clinton, Anne Buchanan, Barry Wolfgang, Coralee Garrett, Eric Lincke, Ron Senior, Gaye Feuer, Bill & Belinda Barker, Jeremy Hoblit, Genell Garvey, Dale Frederickson, & Pat Everett Silver Fox Squares Can you recognize these adorable dancers who are in disguise? (Tina Whitaker and Gerry Murphy) L to R: Kathy McKinney, Virginia Bomhold, Jack McKinney, Chuck and Mary Giera, Carl & Barbara Fournier, Marlene & Art Cole, Ron Senior, Gaye Feuer, Paula & Bill Dion. Those of you who were not in Starke for the April Fool s Dangle Dance hosted by the Silver Fox Squares really missed a fun evening! Callers were Ken Silver Fox Perez and Shane Perez. There was plenty of dancing, smiling and fun with many delicious refreshments. Thanks to all our guests from Clay Allemanders, Moose Promenaders, Celebrity Squares, Rollaways, Seabreeze
Singles and NEFSARDA. Thanks to Rollaways caller, Mark Fetzer, for calling a tip, and to Rollaways cuer, Susan Snider, for cuing some rounds that night! After the dance many of the attendees gathered in Starke at Powell s Dairy Freeze for more treats and socializing. Silver Fox Squares next Dangle Dance - May 5 th!!! (see flier below for details)