President s Report TOP OF TEXAS SQUARE & ROUND DANCE ASSOCIATION February, 2016 I hope everyone had a Blissful Thanksgiving and Christmas. A special thank you to Fun Time Rounders for sponsoring the Toys for Tots Dance in November. We received 90 donated toys plus $1000 in cash, which was great! Thank you to everyone who attended the dance. I am pleased with the great attendance we had for the Veteran s dance in November. We enjoyed dancing to Bob Thomas. Veterans were recognized and received a bag of special M & M s. We are pleased with how well Vicky Novak is doing after having a stent put in. Get well quick wishes to her. It is amazing how the time flies. Soon it will be time for our February Sweetheart dance. We have had a change in callers as Wade Driver had a conflict with dates, and has asked Jerry Gilbreath from Albuquerque to call for us. Jerry has such a great voice. I am looking forward to dancing to him; hopefully he will get some dancers to come with him, as he has in the past. James and Vicky Novak will be our cuer. Fun Time Rounders are the host club for the Sweetheart Dance on February 20th. Come to the Danc n Center at 7:30 for Request Rounds and the Grand March at 8pm. Don t forget to join us for the Top-Tex business meeting at 6pm on February 20th. Yellow Rocks, Karla Inside this issue: Fun Time Rounders / Pioneer Promenaders / Silhouettes / Plus Boot Camp 2 Texas Twisters / Whirley Birds / Yellow Rose Festival 3 Yellow Rockers Plus / Top-Tex Sweetheart Dance/ Dance Demonstrations 4 Texas State Federation Meetings / Dance Demonstration Pictures 5 Perryton Promendaers 6
Page 2 Fun Time Rounders Fun Time Rounders started lessons in October for around 10 couples. James Novak is teaching the two-step rhythm, and the students are doing quite well. The club has excellent attendance every Friday night. The club chose a new sweetheart for 2016 2017. It is Debra Shepherd. She will be honored at a club party and presented at the Top-Tex Sweetheart Dance on February 20th. A special thank you to Jamie & Dave Sader who volunteer their time to help the dancers who would like to have extra floor time to practice the new dance steps. The students can come to the Danc n Center from 1 4 PM on most Sundays. The schedule is posted on the calendar on the bulletin board at the Danc n Center. The first hour is for the new students. The second hour is for more advanced students, and the last hour is for the experienced dancers to learn the more complicated dance steps. Plus Boot Camp Led by Freddie McKee is being planned for March 19 & 26th, April 2nd & 9th from 3-5 PM at the Danc n Center. Watch for more info on this in the coming months Pioneer Promenaders Pioneer Promenaders is dancing two squares on most Thursdays, and sometimes three. The club did cancel for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year s. Caller Jimmy Gouge is calling one Plus learning tip each dance for those who want to learn Plus. Pioneer welcomed Silhouettes is regularly having 5 to 7 couples dancing. Recently, we have been dancing a little bit of everything we have learned dancers from the Boot Camp held in the Fall by Texas Twisters, and have enjoyed having students, Rachel McCargish, Candy Luther and her son, Briggs, come to dance with us. The club started lessons on Thursday, January 21st, with 10 students, and the possibility that several Silhouettes foxtrots, waltz s, two-steps, jives, etc. Our club has chosen Leona Robbins as our sweetheart for 2016. Congratulations Leona, more will attend the next week. Pioneer Promenaders have elected a new sweetheart for 2016 2017, and it is Kay Kazmir. Duffy Wiggins fell, and dislocated her shoulder before Christmas, but is gradually getting better, and hopes to come back soon! we know you will represent us well throughout the year. We hope to see everyone at the Sweetheart dance on the 20th.
Page 3 Texas Twisters The Boot Camp led by Freddie McKee was great. The students received t-shirts with the caller and Boot Camp on the back of the shirt. The students were given a list of the square dance clubs in Amarillo, plus the dates, times and locations that they meet. Several have attended other clubs, were well received, and are doing really well in the squares Whirley Birds is dancing every second, fourth and fifth Mondays at the Danc n Center from now until the beginning of June, when we will dance every Monday throughout the summer months. Caller Jimmy Gouge is workshopping some they dance. Twisters made the decision to only dance on two Saturdays each month the second and fourth. They also decided to hire Ted Ray Coleman as their caller beginning in 2016. Texas Twisters would like to thank Curtis Sarah and Herrick Allen for doing a great job of calling for us the last couple of years. We appreciate both of Whirley Birds Plus moves for those who want to learn. We are dancing two squares consistently, and recently had two couples join the club, which brings our membership to 22 dancers. The club hosted the Presidents Dance in September with a good you! THANK YOU! Twisters elected a new sweetheart for 2016. It is our youngest member Cassidy Beck! We have a new slate of officers for 2016. They include: President - Howard and Joann Raef; Vice-President - Carolyn Evers; Secretary - John and Susan Clark; Treasurer - Karla Carrell; and Reporter - Don and Jean Parker. turn out and some great dances. A new sweetheart was chosen by the club, and it is Lou Berger. If anyone is looking to dance with a friendly, cordial group, come and join us on the Mondays that we dance. We begin at 7 PM and dance until 9. Yellow Rose Festival Twisters are now dancing on second and fourth Saturdays instead of every Saturday. Please mark your calendars for the March Top-Tex dance which will be the Yellow Rose Festival to be held on Saturday, March 19th at the Danc n Center. Pioneer Promenaders will be the host club. There will NOT be a business meeting in March. The Caller will be Ted Clements from New Mexico.
Page 4 Yellow Rockers Plus Yellow Rockers Plus is dancing on the first and third Monday s beginning on January 18th until May 16th, when we will break for the summer months. The cost of membership is $20 per couple or $10 per person and $25 per family per month. At the last club dance, A special thank you to Freddie McKee who called a Square Dance demonstration at the Sundown Elementary School on December 17th. We had two and a half squares of dancers there, and showed the children how much fun square there were three squares on the floor, which was great. Caller Freddie McKee introduced us to some new moves Maneuver, Broken Wheel and Clover Flow, and reviewed other moves he had already taught to the club before Christmas, to make sure that we Dance Demonstrations dancing could be. Then each square dancer invited a student in the audience to be their dance partner, and Freddie led them through some simple moves. They absolutely loved it! Another special thank had not forgotten them. Yellow Rockers Plus has elected a new sweetheart for 2016 Gail McKee. She will be honored at a club sweetheart party on Monday, February 1st, and then presented at the Top Tex Sweetheart dance on Saturday, February 20. Top-Tex Sweetheart Dance Please plan to attend the Top Tex Sweetheart Dance on Saturday, February 20th at the Danc n Center. The host club is the Fun Time Rounders Club. There will be a Business Meeting at 6 PM for the Top Tex Board, club representatives and any dancers who wish to attend. The dance begins at 7:30 PM with Request Rounds, and will be followed at 8 PM by the Grand March. The caller is Jerry Gilbreath, and the Rounds will be cued by our very own James and Vicky Novak. The 2016 2017 Sweethearts will be presented, so please come and support your club sweetheart. The new Top Tex Sweethearts will also be presented. In order to become a Top Tex Sweetheart, the club sweethearts from the year before must have attended all of the Top Tex dances along with the club banner and at least 8 club dancers must be present. Everyone needs to be sure to sign in on the special sheets for the sweethearts that are usually on the table by the front windows at the Danc n Center. you to Curtis Sarah and to Jamie Sader for leading the dance demonstration at the Make-A-Wish Chili Cook-off on Saturday, January 9th at the Rex Baxter Building. We had two squares. Curtis called the Squares and Jamie Sweetheart Dance February 20th. Rounds @ 7:30 Grand March @ 8. Caller Jerry Gilbreath. cued the Rounds. Last but certainly not least, thank you to each and every single dancer who showed up for both demonstrations. Like the callers and cuers it would not be possible without you.
Page 5 Texas State Meetings Sundown Lane Demo The Texas State Federation of Square and Round Dancing holds four meetings each year. Each Association sends representatives to the meetings who report back to the associations what is going on at the State level, and if and how it will affect the clubs in the associations. The people who have represented Top Tex at the State meetings during 2015-2016 are: Don & Jean Parker, who are State Parliamentarians, Carolyn Evers, Curtis & Ruth Rutledge, and Cassidy Beck, who are State Teen Coordinators. Robert & Marilyn Mitchell, Jean Parker, and Meagan Rutledge represented Top Tex as Delegates. Delegates are appointed by the Top Tex President. The State President s Meeting was held in Wichita Falls in October 2015. Those who attended were: Don & Jean Parker, Karla Carrell (who was a substitute delegate for Meagan Rutledge) & Robert MacMillian, Carolyn Evers, and Robert & Marilyn Mitchell. The Association Presidents were presented at this meeting, including Karla. The association presidents received a free admittance to the Saturday evening dance. Speaking of dancing at the State meetings, those who attend the meetings usually arrive on Friday afternoon, and are invited to visit the Hospitality Room sponsored by the host association. That evening there is a dance which is usually called by the local callers. Then on Saturday evening, there is another dance, which is called by a caller who is well known. At the President s meeting the caller was Brad Caldwell, and at the Nominating meeting, mentioned in the next paragraph, the caller was Ron Mineau (pronounced Min-NO), who will be calling the September 2016 dance for Top Tex. He was very good, and I know that you will enjoy dancing to his calls. The State Nominating Meeting was held in Mineola (east of Dallas) in January 2016. Those attending were: Ruth, Curtis and Meagan Rutledge and Robert & Marilyn Mitchell. At this meeting, nominations for the State offices were made, including Curtis and Ruth Rutledge for the position of Treasurer for 2016-2017, and all those nominated will be voted on at the next meeting, which is the Conclave meeting being held in Conroe in March, 2016. The final State meeting will be the State Festival in June, 2016, and it will be in Waco. All square dancers are welcome to attend any of the State meetings, but especially the State Festival.
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