Oregon honors square dance leader on state quarter

by Hugh Noes, Staff Correspondent

The state of Oregon has selected the portrait of a famous square dancer to appear on their state quarter. They are doing so to celebrate the return of the National Square Dance Convention to Portland on June 22, 2005. The state quarter is being released on June 15.

Thanks to a generous donation by the Portland Oregon Visitor's Association, the NSDC will be able to share this piece of Oregon with registered delegates. Each registration packet will contain one Oregon quarter, along with a brief explanatory note card.

Most state quarter fans look at the wrong side of the coin, the side where bureaucrats use Powerpoint to combine clip-art images of flags, banjos, and birds into insufferable montages of state symbols. In the case of the Oregon quarter, this side consists of a rendering of Crater Lake. This drawing, while better than average for the state quarter series, is really a depiction of a big hole in the ground. This is hardly as scenic as ... um, well ... trying to think of a more scenic Oregon location but coming up blank. Back to that later.

Still, Oregon had the hindsight to select for the "other" side of the coin the greatest influence on square dancing this country has ever known.

Few are aware that the "Father of our Country," and our first President, George "Pappy" Washington, was also the one who introduced square dancing into America. After the revolution, he wanted to create a dance form that combined the Schottishes and Quadrilles of the old country, but put a uniqely American stamp on them that would establish the new country's dance identity.

Washington's success was evident in the summer dances he hosted on the large lawn that would eventually become the National Mall. (This was before the Washington Monument was built, of course.) The dances were well attended, and sometimes the hotels could not accommodate the large crowds. In those cases, the President would open the Lincoln Bedroom and other White House facilities for use by the square dancers.

Schwarzenegger asks for special election in support of support square dancing

By Jerry Manders, Disassociated Press Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went on television statewide Monday to call a rare special election Nov. 8 and ask voters to stop the scourge of gerry-allemanding that has plagued the state for decades.

Gerry-allemanding is a form of redistricting that attempts to put certain undesirables such as square dancers, boy scouts, and Baptists together in the same electoral districts, while putting other undesirables such as movie stars, lawyers, and Congregationalists in other districts.

This ensures that certain districts are easily won by candidates of the Moral Retards party, while other districts are easily won by the Holier Than Thou party. The end result is that incumbent candidates retain their offices indefinitely, or until three strikes or term limits bar them from office.

Square dancers have long complained that gerry-allemanding puts them in districts where the local schools would rather rent space to anti-war demonstrators, drag queens, and tree huggers than to the local square dance club, which would like to put on a wholesome dance.

For example, Stanford Quads, a decidedly left-handed club, has always had difficultly finding a place to dance in a right-wing district.

By outlawing the plague of gerry-allemanding, Schwarzenegger hopes to give square dancers, ham radio operators, and gun owners much more freedom to practice their crazy hobbies.

Michael Jackson to take up square dancing

By Tennessee "Arkie Okie" Slim, Disassociated Press

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - After a jury acquitted Michael Jackson of all charges on Monday, the embattled entertainer announced that he now intends to take up square dancing as a hobby. Experts have always affirmed that square dancing is a great stress reliever. Jackson spent several days over the last two weeks in emergency rooms with various stress-related ailments.

"I heard that when you go out square dancing, you can take four different people home in just ten minutes," Jackson said, a practice he described as "sweet and not at all sexual."

Screams of joy rang out among a throng of fans outside the courthouse. Fans  jumped up and down, hugged each other and threw confetti in celebration of the news.

Some have described Jackson as a humanitarian who wanted to protect kids and give them the life he never had while growing up as a child star. By joining a local central California family square dance club, the "Blue Tail Flies," Jackson hopes to continue being a positive influence on children.

Jackson decided to take part in square dancing because he hoped it would help his image after years of eccentric behavior that included transforming his face through plastic surgery. But not all agreed this would have the intended effect.

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon sat with his head in his hands. "Square dancing
has always attracted its share of weirdos, and Michael Jackson certainly fits  right in."

The singer's record label, Epic, has not indicated whether Jackson will record a country album.

Club of the week: Sunnyvale Singles

Single Squares of Sunnyvale is one of the largest square dance clubs in the Santa Clara Valley. Six to seven squares dance weekly on Thursday nights at the Murphy Park clubhouse in Sunnyvale. Dancing starts with one half hour of pre-rounds at 7:30, cued by Jim Chico, followed by six or seven tips of Plus level dancing from 8:00 until 10:00, called by Jake Shimada.

Club History

Sunnyvale Singles started in 1957. According to a former member, the club was started by a group of single ballroom dancers. Past callers include Brad Bradford, Bill Davis, Gary Carnes, Scot Slocum, and Ken Carroll. The club has had round dancing from the very beginning. Past cuers include Barbara Bradford, Jim Turner, Larry Segal, and Craig Rice.

The group has had more than 3000 members over the years. The Sweethearts list alone has 492 names of those who married other club members. (This does not include club members who married class members.)

The club has danced at a number of locations, but mainly at Ellis School in Sunnyvale in the 60's and 70's, and Blackford High School in San Jose in the 80's and early 90's.

Former members include callers Ken Kenmille, Jay Klassen, and Ben Goldberg, and cuers Jim Turner, Larry Segal, and Craig Rice.

Past President Joe Carboni says that in the late 80's and early 90's the club had about 400 members, and was considered the largest singles club in the USA. Current membership is about 80 people. The only other valley club of comparable size is nearby Palo Alto club Bows and Beaus.

Beginner Classes

The club also hold classes weekly on Tuesday nights at the same location. Roger Smith is the class teacher. The club runs three beginner classes every year, starting in September, January, and May. Classes last eight months, so each new group overlaps and interacts with the previous group and the next group. One group learns Mainstream from 7:00-8:30 pm, and the second group learns Plus from 8:30-10:00 pm, in separate sessions on the same evening. Plus class members are encouraged to assist with the Mainstream class. This gives them a refresher on the previous calls.

Josie Baumgarner says the new class format works well because class members often bring their friends to the next class and do not have to wait a year. They can become angels to their friends. Also if a person has to miss and can't keep up, they can restart in a short time. The classes also get many people who danced before and do not want to start from the beginning. They can start with the phase 2 class and pick up their dancing skill fast to rejoin the club.

Annual Hoedowns

Sunnyvale Singles sponsors three special hoedowns every year. Spring Fling, a September-level newer dancer hoedown, is held every year in March. The Strawberry Festival is a Plus-level dance held every June. Cactus Jack is a Plus-level dance held every November.

The group also holds other special dances. The largest is the Sweetheart dance held every February near Valentine's Day. On this special club night, former members who met in the club and have
married are invited to return for a grand party. This evening forms a kind of reunion for many former club members, and out come the photo albums going back 30 years or more.

A Place For Singles

The club membership consists of single dancers, but they invite all dancers, single or married, to join them every Thursday evening in Sunnyvale for grand evening of dancing.

With a smile, Joe Carboni says Sunnyvale Singles is an ideal place for singles to meet, dance, and have fun in a friendly atmosphere, but it has one drawback, you must learn to square dance.

Board member Ellie Wierenga says the club schedules monthly non-dancing social events. These might include potlucks, rafting trips, whale watching, theater plays, ball games and anything else that might be of interest to members and friends.

Strawberry Fesival

This year, the Strawberry Festival takes place on Saturday June 11, 2005. Eric Henerlau is calling the squares, and Jim Chico is cueing the rounds.