T o p o f T e x a s S q u a r e & R o u n d D a n c e A s s o c i a t i o n W HIRLWIND February, 2019 Top-Tex President s Message We were thrilled to be able to honor our club presidents and leaders at our Top of Texas association dance in September. Our guest caller was Dave Vieira, who kept us on our toes with challenging combinations of calls. We appreciate our own James Novak, who cued the Rounds for all levels of dancers. On Saturday morning, October 28, 2018, we had square and round dancers perform a dance demonstration at the Ambucs Pancake Breakfast. Freddie McKee called the Squares, and Jamie Sader cued the Rounds for us. Some of our dancers chose to enjoy the wonderful pancakes and sausages, as well. Thank you to the Fun Time Rounders for sponsoring the Toys for Tots dance in November. We collected over 80 toys, and over $700 in cash to be used to purchase more toys, for the children in need in the Amarillo area. A special thank you to our local callers: Herrick Allen, Ted Ray & Janet Coleman, Jimmy Gouge, Freddie McKee, Andy Wieck and our surprise caller, Curtis Sarah, who came out of retirement, just for that night, to call for us. We appreciate our own cuers: James Novak, and Jamie Sader, who also donated their time, and did a great job. Inside this issue: President s Message Continued 2 Silhouettes Whirly Birds Perryton Promenaders Pioneer Promenaders Fun Time Rounders Fun Time Rounders Continued Texas Twisters Upcoming Dances & Events 6 2019 Sweetheart Dance Pictures Special points of interest: 3 4 5 6 We are proud of our dancers who are Veterans. At the November Top-Tex Dance, they were each presented with a token of our appreciation. Thanks to Jerry Gilbreath, our guest caller, and to our very own cuer, James Novak for making the dance a special one. A special Thank You to all of the volunteers who worked together so well to make the October State Presidents Meeting here in Amarillo such a success! We appreciate you giving of your time and effort to help in so many ways set-up, take -down, greeters, water for the dancers, selling tickets, and the list goes on. Thank
Top-Tex President s Message (Continued) you to those who donated items for the silent auction or the brown bag raffle, and to those who bid on the wonderful items, especially the ones that were made by members Kay Kazmir and Steve Dowell. We will use the funds that we made at this State meeting to hire callers for future dances. The next Top-Tex dance will be the Sweetheart Dance on Saturday, February 16 th, 2019 at the Danc n Center, with Round Dancing at 7:30 and the Grand March at 8:00 PM. The Club sweethearts will be presented at the dance. So, please come and support your sweetheart. We are looking forward to dancing to guest caller, Toby Thomason, and to our own James Novak, who will be cueing the Rounds. The Host Club is the Silhouettes Round Dance Club. Looking forward to seeing you at the Sweetheart Dance in February! Robert & Marilyn Mitchell Top Tex President Yellow Rockers Plus Yellow Rockers held a Christmas Party on Monday, December 17, 2018 when members brought finger foods to share. We had three squares on the floor that night. There were more dancers in attendance but not quite enough for another square. The club took a break over Christmas and New Year s, and returned to dancing on Monday, January 7, 2019. Our caller, Freddie McKee, has been teaching Plus lessons from 6:30 7:30 PM, with the help of dancing angels, and then the regular dance time is from 7:30 9:30 PM. We are delighted to have Jamie Sader come to cue the Round Dances between squares on Monday nights. Jamie and Dave also join in and square dance with us, too. On January 21 th, we chose Jamie Sader as our new sweetheart. She will represent the Yellow Rockers at the Top Tex Sweetheart Dance on Saturday, February 16 th at the Danc n Center, and at all of the association dances throughout the year. Congratulations Jamie, we are honored to have you as our sweetheart. Page 2
Silhouettes Silhouettes is one of two round dance clubs in Amarillo. The Club originated around 1981 with cuers Leonard and Arlene Marchbanks. For many years, it was considered an easy round dance club. James and Vicky Novak started cueing for Silhouettes in 1984. Around 1990, the Club morphed into the intermediate dance club that it is today. When Vicky s health didn t allow her to dance on a regular basis, Anna Solomon and her husband, Mike, helped with lessons. When Anna and Mike quit dancing, Carolyn Balzer and her husband, Jim, took over as Assistant Instructors. Carolyn and Jim married in 1987 and started square dancing in 1989. They began round dancing in 1991. Due to many foot surgeries, Jim no longer dances; however, Carolyn still helps James instruct. Silhouettes meets on Tuesday evenings from 7:30 pm-10:00 pm; and we have eight (8) dance couples that belong to the Club. Whenever you are in the neighborhood, please drop by to visit! Whirley Birds Whirley Birds now dance each Wednesday night at the Danc n Center from 7 9 PM. Currently we are averaging one to two squares dancing. Our caller is Jimmy Gouge. New officers for 2019 are: Larry & Linda Harrison, President; Ron Satour, Vice President; Wayne & Shirley Sanders, Treasurer. Kathy Cole is our sweetheart for 2019 Come and dance with us on Wednesday nights! Perryton Promenaders Perryton Promenaders dance mainstream on 1st Saturday s and plus on 3rd Thursday s at the VFW from 7:30-10:00. Upcoming dance schedule: February 21 Jimmy Gouge Plus Dance March 2 Jim Howard Mainstream March 14 Lanny Weakland Plus Dance March 30 Panhandle District Dance Charlie Robertson Mainstream w/announced Plus. Door Prizes Page 3
Pioneer Promenaders Pioneer Promenaders continue to dance two to three squares each week. Early in November, Jimmy Gouge called for us while Freddie McKee took Gail to the Mayo Clinic to see if they might be able to figure out what is causing her problems. They were disappointed in this, and felt like the trip was wasted. We had a pot luck supper on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, and Gary Fields shared wonderful slides of his Africa trip with us. Several Promenaders women joined in the short segment of the Twelve Days of Christmas which was filmed on December 2, 2018 for showing on PBS during the month of December. It took far longer to dress than it did to film, and longer to film than the total time on PBS. If you didn t blink, you saw Donna Davis, Kay Kazmir, Kathy Tatum and Tracy Brazile from our club. In December, we had our annual Christmas dinner with food catered by Youngblood s Cafe. The Club did talk of moving to the Danc n Center, but after discussions and a vote, we decided to stay at St Peter s Episcopal Church Parish Hall. We did not dance the last two Thursdays of the year, but took the time off for the Holidays. We returned to square dancing in January on the third. We are going to begin lessons on January 17 for anyone who is interested. Flyers have been printed and posted in various venues around town. The Pioneer Promenaders elected Tracy Brazile as our new Sweetheart for installation at the February Top-Tex Sweetheart Dance. Fun Time Rounders It s hard to believe it is 2019. I am still trying to figure out where 2018 went. Seems the older I get the faster the years go by. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family and friends and I hope that God immensely blesses each of you in this year. We continue to have around 20 couples dancing on Friday nights. We have such a fun group of people and everyone seems to really have a good time. At this time James and Jamie are teaching the cha-cha rhythm. They have taught two step, waltz, and rumba up to this point. We are very blessed to have such talented, fun loving instructors as James and Jamie. James brings a wealth of knowledge having done this now for some 35 years. He brings so much FUN to our club and is in my opinion the best cuer I Page 4
Fun Time Rounders (Continued) have ever heard or danced to. For those of you who are new to round dancing and were not blessed to know Vicky, you truly missed knowing a beautiful person both inside and out. She and James were such a beautiful team and when they danced together it was like magic. She is truly missed but her spirit lives on in all of us who were blessed to know and love her. When Jamie decides to do something she puts her whole heart into it and it was no different when she decided she wanted to learn to cue. James was more than willing to help her in any way he could and together they make a great team. Jamie is constantly looking for new music along with her husband Dave, who is such a great supporter and her number one fan. They bring their own unique style to the dance floor and are a joy to watch. Jamie and Dave go above and beyond by opening up the Danc n Center on Sunday afternoons to give anyone who needs or wants some extra dance practice. Now that is what I call dedication. Thank you James, Jamie and Dave for all you do for our club. We love and appreciate all of you. We chose Barbara Merchant to represent Fun Time Rounders at the Sweetheart dance which will be held on February 16, 2019 at the Danc n Center. We will honor Barbara at our club dance on February 8, 2019. Congratulations Barbara! We encourage anyone to come out and visit our club on Friday nights from 7:30-10:00 at the Danc n Center located at 24 th & Polk. If you have never round danced, come and see what fun you have been missing. It is some of the cheapest entertainment you will find, besides being good for your health and definitely some of the best people in the world you could ever meet. I leave you with this quote: Be yourself; everyone else is already taken Texas Twisters - Oscar Wilde Happy 2019 from the Texas Twisters! At our December dance, we elected the following officers for 2019: Larry & Laurie McAfee, President; Howard & Joann Raef, Vice President; Karla Carrell, Treasurer; Jean Parker/ Ron Satour, Secretary; Jean Parker, Reporter; Eddie & Kathy Tatum and Curtis & Ruth Rutledge, Top-Tex Representatives; Joann Raef, Historian. We also elected Sandy Beck as our 2019 Sweetheart. Twisters have several new themed dances coming up this year. January 26 th -Disney Dance. Dancers are asked to dress as a Disney Character. March 9 th - Mardi Gras Dance April 27 th - Fiesta Dance with a Mexican Pile On September 14th - Black And White Dance with black and white finger foods. We are excited to have Aaron and JaDawna Freeman join the Twister family. Ted Ray and Janet Coleman continue to do an outstanding job calling for our club. They are excited about the upcoming year and new themed dances. We welcome visitors to dance with us on 2nd & 4th Saturday s at 7:30 at the Danc n Center. Page 5
Sweetheart Dance 2019 Yellow Rockers Plus Silhouettes Whirley Birds Pioneer Promenaders Fun Time Rounders Texas Twisters 2019 Top-Tex Sweethearts (not all are pictured) 2019 Club Sweethearts