President Dave Cooper called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.
PLEASE TURN YOUR CELL PHONES OFF OR SET THEM TO VIBRATE
This meeting is being recorded.
ROLL CALL
Elected Officers: All present.
Appointed Officers: All present except: Joyce Sherman, Ken Pratt, Floyd Bard and Goldie Restorff and 2015 Mid-Winter, George & Patty Hermann.
Delegates: All present, except: David Stutzman, Blue Mountains Council
Goodwill Ambassadors: All present.
INVOCATION: Immediate Past President, Vivian Fairburn
FLAG SALUTE: 1ST Vice President, Dale Worthington
MINUTES: LaDauna Hartzell
Dale Worthington moved and Sylvia Davis 2nd to approve minutes as distributed. Motion passed.
PRESIDENT: Dave Cooper
I was very impressed and thought Mid-Winter was an excellent festival.
Any additions to the Agenda as it stands? I have two: 1) Marilyn Schmit will talk about Festival monies; 2) Dave Cooper will talk about the Wood Award.
FIRST VICE PRESIDENT: Dale (Kathy) Worthington
2014 MID-WINTER FESTIVAL: Lee (Barbie) Ashwill
We were very pleased with the turn out this year.
Jerry Story was unable to make it, couldn't get away until Sunday and the Festival would be nearly over. We made some changes: bringing back The Grand March which was well attended and having it and the opening ceremonies on Friday night so they didn't interfere with the Showcase of Rounds. A quick count of dancers is 1,314 and last year's count was 1,000 so we were up and that was great. George & Patty will be taking over 2015. We are already in the black and will have those numbers at a later date.
2014 SUMMER FESTIVAL: Patty Reese
Summer Festival is only five months away and everything is going smoothly. Did have a bump in the road in early September found out they were doing some construction at the High School. Dave worked a fantastic deal for the inconvenience. The change to the middle school is actually better for us it's a better facility for us. RV's will be parking on grass and we will be closer to town. We'll still have the concert at the High School. Last night did the after party and it was well received, we did a skit and sang our song and gave away some prizes. Registrations are coming in steadily and hope to get more once Mid-Winter is done.
2015 SUMMER FESTIVAL: CeCe Glidewell
Our monthly meetings are scheduled for Sunday afternoons, just prior to KC's business meeting so details can be shared with clubs in a timely fashion. At the last meeting the following dates were set up for the following: Program books to be camera ready at the Council post office box by September 2nd; support callers and cuers schedule must be complete by December 2nd to be included in the program book. Vendor contracts due at club post office box by January 12th 2015 for payment of a 20% balance and can pay the rest later. Program books printed and ready for distribution by 2015 Mid-Winter Festival. Our featured caller and cuer will be Scott and Erin Byars from California. Their contract is valid, we are waiting for them to return a copy; via email the have already sent the contract and seemed excited to call and cue at our festival. Invitations to the support callers and cuers to be invited to the festival will be in preparation. Vendor letters are in preparation at this time, and were passed out to a lot of the vendors that were here this weekend.
The Registration form is nearing completion with a few details to be confirmed. We expect to have the registrations and ribbons ready for distribution at the Summer Festival 2014.
The Committee is placing a reduced registration price at the 2014 Summer Festival after party on June 20th. Any dancer who registers at Summer Festival 2014 will only have to pay $30.00. Those pre-registered dancers will also be entered into a drawing in which one lucky person will get their registration fee returned at 2015 Summer Festival on July 18th 2015. The dancer must be present to win, of course, and the refund will be the $30.00 after party registration fee.
The committee is also working on other registration incentives as well as other activities for the 2015 summer festival. We need as many pre-registrations as possible, as we applied for a Grant from our County tourism as long as we can provide proof of pre-registrations. We need at least 40 pre-registrations in order to prove to them that we have people coming.
OREGON FEDERATION NEWS: Joyce Sherman (given by Vivian Fairburn)
The OFN signed up 12 new subscribers and 1 subscriber renewed. Please check your label on the front cover of the OFN regularly where your expiration date is listed right above your name. It will help you keep current if you don't receive a renewal notice. Sometimes Joyce does not respond right away but she will answer emails.
SECOND VICE PRESIDENT: Lisa Kious
No report.
Unless Marilyn has some information on the updates for the directories. Marilyn mentioned that updates are coming in and being done as they are received.
RECORDING SECRETARY: LaDauna (Doug) Hartzell
Thanks to everyone that has sent their reports in, it does help a lot. I want to thank Lori McIntosh, as she was the first one to send in her report.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: Sylvia Davis
I sent out 13 Get Well cards; 1 Sympathy; 1 for a Fireman of the Year, David Fesler, a Muddy Frog member; 1 wedding card for Dennis Marsh and LaWanna Harper. Please send me information for cards that need to be sent. Thank You to all of you for your help. Please send me information on people that need cards sent.
TREASURER: Marilyn (Ron) Schmit
Before taking office, I got hold of the equipment insurance policy and went to State Farm for a good review of what was covered and to add the new sound equipment that was purchased recently. I literally deleted almost everything that was on the policy. Old OFN equipment, hand tools, and sound equipment that was given away a long time ago, was all deleted. All that was left were the state trailers. Those remain on that policy along with the new sound equipment. The premium went from $389.00 to $120.00.
The Surety Bond policy was received for renewal from the agency in Eugene, That renewal was also taken to the State Farm agent in West Salem, and quotes for the same coverage were received, and the policy was moved to State Farm for a savings of $11. The policy covers any of the officers who have access to the Federation monies: Dave Cooper, Dale Worthington, Vivian Fairburn, Kay Rogers, Joyce Sherman and Marilyn Schmit are the current officers covered.
The bank account for the insurance chair was reconciled and as of November 13, 2013, was current. The Federation account has some outstanding checks that have not been cashed, or replaced. I have not had time to do the investigating that needs to be done in order to bring the account into reconciliation agreement.
The Certificates of Deposit that were located in The Dalles, have been moved to a branch of Washington Federal in Dallas, and the list of signers will have been updated by Mid-Winter. By then the signers will be Dale Worthington and Marilyn Schmit. Five previous signers have been deleted as they are not current office holders.
As requested by Washington Federal, the signers for the Federation Certificates of Deposits are Marilyn Schmit, Treasurer and Dale Worthington, First Vice President.
As requested by Key Bank, the signers on the Federation checking account are Dave Cooper, Dale Worthington, Vivian Fairburn, and Marilyn Schmit. Are there any questions about the figures on the back page. No questions, end of report.
MEMBERSHIP: Coleeta (Chuck) Quigley
Clubs and Councils needing to pay their Corporation Fees are: Mid-Willamette - Cherry Creek Cloggers and the Corvallis Squares. In the Portland area - Country Capers and the Floor Dusters. Clubs with tax-exempt revoked status: Charlie Browns. Clubs disbanded: The Swap and Swing and the Canby Cloverleaf (4H club)
INSURANCE: Kay (Jim) Rogers
Thank you all for getting your insurance information in; however, none of the clubs got an 'A'. The insurance documents have been filed, but have not received back from USDA as of this meeting. I will forward the certificates as soon as I receive them. Some I will email and some will be mailed. Thank you all for your hard work. If anyone does not get their certificate, please let me know and I will check on it.
PAST PRESIDENT: Vivian Fairburn
The nominees for the Randall Award were Dale & Kathy Worthington; Barbara Tipton and Mary Ann Huber. The award was presented by Dave Cooper. This year's Randall Award was won by Mary Ann Huber. Nomination Forms will be sent out for the coming year and will be due July 1st. Send them with accompanying information plus a digital picture to Vivian. We need to start going digital...
Due to lack of support and declining attendance at the last few Benefit Dances, I decided to do a new approach. This year the 2014 Benefit Dance will be held at the Oak Grove Community Center on June 28th at 7:30 pm. George and Patty Hermann will be calling and cueing. I am hoping that having the dance on a Saturday evening instead of Sunday will draws more dancers. We have had so many comments about expecting the State people to come and travel for just one day, that maybe we can have a weekend out of it. The Community donated the hall, so there is no charge, and Hermann's are donating their time as well. I am aware that this is the weekend of National Convention but am also aware per last year's schedule, only four clubs in the State will be dancing. So this should attract a larger group of dancers. It should not interfere with any of Summer Festival activities. We chose a new benefit this year and hopefully it will encourage more dancers to participate. It will be the Oregon Food Bank. The Food Bank reaches out to many cities in the state and touches many, many lives. It provides food to all senior citizens and all who are unemployed. Every $.94 of every dollar that goes to the food bank goes toward fighting hunger. Every $10.00 donated provides 30 meals. I would like to coordinate a canned-food drive also during the month of June and have a collection site. Flyers will be sent out through the web site for you to post and get to your clubs. Please help this important endeavor.
Kay Rogers stated ' I want to thank your for taking that project and doing something with this and making a decision.'
Zola Jones suggested that perhaps the P&P's should be made to read who is to present the Randall Award. Dave mentioned that this will be discussed at the next State meeting, and we'll be changing some things in the P&P's about that time.
PARLIAMENTARIAN: Tom (Barbara) Wines
No report.
FINANCIAL ADVISOR: Tim (Kathy) Roberts
I looked over the list of all financial transactions for the 2012-13 year, and made some suggested corrections. Marilyn is still working on integrating those.
The IRS has created yet another new policy that affects all of our clubs. In the past, they haven't been very rigorous about requiring notification when a business changed its name, its address, or its "responsible party", but that has changed. There is a new form 8822-B, and any business that has a tax ID number (which means ALL OF US) is required to submit this form within 60 days. The IRS definition of "responsible party" is a little fuzzy, but they seem to think of it as anyone that handles the finances of a business; imagine it to be 'president'. So, technically, when you change your president, you are supposed to fill out form 8822-B. I imagine they will get tired of dealing with all of those forms every year, so you can probably leave it set to whomever gets your Oregon Corporate Division report every year.
PUBLICITY/EDUCATION: Barbara (Tom) Wines
Saturday we had an educational seminar that was very well attended. We had as the name of the seminar, 'why am I here and why am I still here'. Chuck Garner has sent some relatively new dancers and three dancers from Central Oregon that are fairly new. We had a board of six to eight people who were to ask questions of the new dancers and I thought that went very well. We will be doing a B-51 Educational Seminar at this year's Summer Festival . Marilyn Schmit asked how many people were there: there were 7 people on the panel and 8 new dancers. The publicity flyer will be ready by May.
HISTORIAN: Marilyn (Ron) Schmit
We purchased a couple new containers for some of the Historian stuff, since some of the tubs we received have cracked and are no longer safe for the paperwork. Mice would have access to the papers and scrapbooks. No other activity has been done since installation.
Harriet Livingston has some old banners of clubs that have folded and asked where these should go. Marilyn mentioned that anything like that should go to the Historian.
BMI/ASCAP COORDINATOR: Ralph Lambert
Everything is current with both organizations.
BMI: The Federation has paid our annual fee in the amount of $150.00 for calendar year 2014. This is the same amount as for 2013. For BMI, the Federation pays up front at the beginning of the year and the festivals reimburse the federation,
ASCAP: In previous years the Federation has not had to pay up-front money to ASCAP. Each festival (Mid-Winter and Summer) have written a check to ASCAP based on their festival attendance with a minimum fee of $90.00 for the event. Their report and checks came to me for forwarding to ASCAP.
ASCAP has provided the Federation with a new form of contract for 2014. Starting the year, ASCAP has sent the Federation an invoice for $242.00 based on attendance at our two festivals in 2013, and recognizing their new increase minimum per event fee of $121.00 per event if its attendance is less than 1500 people. The bill has been paid. If the event has between 1501 and 3000 attendees, the event fee is $424. This will really hurt us if we have a festival attendance of just over 1501 people.
On a positive note, now each festival will be reimbursing the Federation for both BMI and ASCAP fees and it can be all be done in one check.
YOUTH ACTIVITIES COORDINATOR: Kathy (Tim) Roberts
The USDA $1000 scholarship will be presented by July 1st. If you know of anyone that could use this scholarship, please do not delay getting applications in. You also have to have Dave Cooper's signature as President of the Federation. Oregon's $500 scholarship is due by May 1st and I have the web address for both of these.
I received five requests for assistance to attend Mid-Winter this year for 10 kids. I sent $100 to Mid-winter for Saturday nights dinner for these and any other kid that wanted to join in the activity.
Dave Cooper commented on all the kids going around to get signatures from people of different clubs a lot of fun. That was a great idea. I was Youth Coordinator this year for Mid-Winter and one of the goals was to bring the kids and the adults together. We had one child that found 102 badges, some only did 27 and turned them in. Thank you everyone, it was a lot of fun.
ORDTA: Ken (Diane) Pratt
ORDTA members were encouraged to attend a mini-lab put on by Round-a-lab on May 30-June 1, 2014 at Circle 8 Ranch in Cle Elum, WA. Bruce and Christine Nelson will be the clinicians. Also, members were encouraged to attend both Oregon Summer Festival in Prineville and the USA West in Pendleton in August.
The new slate of officers for the fiscal year beginning in September was presented at the ORDTA meeting in January, The new officers were elected by acclamation at the meeting, as there was only one candidate for each office: Sharon Greenman will serve as Chairman; Tami Helms will continue as Vice-Chairman; Cheryl Manley will become Secretary; and Connie Clark will continue as Treasurer. Ralph Lambert, Marilyn Schmit, Sarge & Cece Glidewell and Christina Corelli & Kirby Goode will continue as Members-at-large.
Also, featured cuers for the Festival, Ron and Mary Noble attended our meeting and spoke about their dance program in Yuma.
Sarge Glidewell led the annual "So You Want to be a Cuer" session January 25, at Mid-Winter Festival.
Molly Combs of Gresham and Mark McDonald of Prineville presented their applications and were accepted as associate ORDTA members.
Classic Round-of-the Month for this year is TEQUILA.
ROUND DANCE SCREENING: Goldie (Earl) Restorff
No report.
WEBMASTER: Tim (Kathy) Roberts
I am still working to get the State Directory generated on line so people don't have to continue to go to the paper book.
STATE FAIR REPORT: Marilyn Schmit
No report.
STATE TRAILERS: Floyd (Jill) Bard
I will not be attending the State Meeting at Mid-Winter. Both trailers will have their license due in April. The repair to both trailers will be done in May, which will include replacing the floors and repainting all the metal at an approved cost of $1020.00.
The current schedule for the trailers are: Trailer 1 - Portland Rose Festival, Starlight Parade on June 6; Trailer 2 - Lebanon Strawberry Festival June 6-8. Usually trailer 1 will stay in the Portland area for the month of June, July and the middle of August. Trailer 2 will stay in the Lebanon/Sweethome area for most of the month of June.
No old business was found in the last minutes to be discussed.
Membership: Coleeta Quigley and Sylvia Davis. Are there any nomination from the floor? P&P's were read concerning nominations, pg 5-2. Nominations close today. Doug Hartzell moved, Zola Jones 2nd that nominations be closed. Motion Passed.
Secretary: LaDauna Hartzell. Are there any nominations from the floor? Doug Hartzell moved and Vivian Fairburn 2nd nominations be closed. Motion passed.
2nd Vice President: Carl Muck, Joyce Welton, Sarge Glidewell, Rich Burdick. Open for nominations from the floor for position of 2nd Vice President. Lisa Kious moved and Zola Jones 2nd. Motion passed.
1st Vice President: Kay Rogers. We will open the floor for 1st Vice President. Any nominations? Dennis Marsh was nominated from the floor. Any other nominations from the floor. Lisa Kious motioned and Coleeta Quigley 2nd that nominations be closed. Motion passed.
These will be in the next month's OFN and ballots will be sent to the Corresponding Secretary to be sent out. End of Report
Cece Glidewell moved to cancel the May State Meeting and dance 2014. 2nd by Vivian Fairburn. Motion passed.
Discussion: The reason being that with Summer Festival being a month later, it is a lot of money for people to go to Klamath Falls and then a month later travel to Prineville for Summer Festival. We love to have dancers come to our area, since we have such a small group; our Council decided since we would be doing a State meeting a month later. Dale Worthington asked how much the Federation would save in mileage and motels. Vivian Fairburn stated about $4,000. Dale mentioned saving $4,000 just to wait a month to see who won the nominations. Vivian stated it could be done electronically. Zola Jones asked if it stated in the By-Laws when ballots are to be counted and where. Vivian stated that right now it's in May; however, why can't the Corresponding Secretary (she collects them only - she does not count them), wherever she lives select a committee to count the ballots. When she gets the results to the President he could send them out by email.
Vivian Fairburn moved that we allow the Corresponding Secretary to form a committee within her Council to have the ballots counted in May and the results be communicated by email and the ballots brought to the June meeting to be audited. Lisa Kious 2nd. Motion passed.
The problem is: The Wood Award was won by the Red Rocks Squares at last year's Summer Festival. The Wood Award has two parts: the main part, then another part was added. Somewhere between 2010 and 2014 the added part came up missing; therefore, the Red Rocks do not have in their possession the Award that they won at last year's Summer Festival. They have the Chairman's Award, which is a different award. I got in touch with last year's Chairman, Mark Engerman, and he went back a few years and couldn't find it. No one knows where it is. We're going to continue to look for it. This is the award clubs get and they keep for a year and at the next Summer Festival they take it back to be passed to another club. The only thing to have to remember it by is that one year they have it in their hands or hanging on their walls. It seems clubs should have something in their possession to show what they did. So, what I have done is- I have had a wood plaque that cost $31 and was made by Squaredini. This is for the Red Rocks and I will pay for it if I have to. My thought is that we would have one of these made for the Chairman's Trophy which is the award for the clubs that have the highest dancers at Summer Festival, and one of these for the club that has the most % at Summer. Since this is a Summer Festival item, they could put in their budget for two plaques.
Discussion: Shouldn't it be in the Federation minutes. Al Wolf mentioned that River City has won it for two years in a row but still has not been found. Tim Roberts stated that 2011 we know of: the Wood Award went to the Whirlaways and the Chairman's Award went to the Coast Swingers. Dave stated that he talked with Bob Bosch and he can make the bottom half of that award and go back as far as he can to make it as close as possible to the original one; so, is this something we want to do or do we keep looking for the old one. How long do we want to wait to make a decision on what to do about this.
Need a motion on what we are going to do about the missing plaque. Doug Hartzell motioned that we disband the perpetual awards presented at Summer Festival. Vivian 2nd . Tim Roberts stated the Chairman's Award has to go back to the River City Dancers because they created it; the Wood Award would be given to the Historian to be displayed at Festivals. Motion passed.
Vivian Fairburn made motion that the Wood Award - if we can find it, or what we have of it, would be given to the Historian. Lisa 2nd. Ray Jones asked it the P&P's mention the Wood Award. It is mentioned but not about disposition. Motion passed.
Now, we need a motion concerning the new awards that they get to keep. Vivian Fairburn moved that we give them a certificate instead of a wood plaque for the Wood Award and the Chairman's Award. Cece Glidewell 2nd. Zola Jones suggested that they be given both, the certificate and the plaque. Some clubs would like the plaque, some would rather have a certificate. This should be left up to the club to decide which they would prefer. Voting on the first motion. Motion Failed. Lisa Kious moved that the winning club of the Wood Award and the Chairman's Award be given a certificate and a choice of having a plaque at Summer Festival and paid for by Summer Festival before the split of profit. Al Wolf 2nd the first motion; Vivian Fairburn 2nd as amended. Discussion followed. Main Motion passed. Vote on motion as amended. Motion passed.
Marilyn moved that the P&P's be modified to show that each Mid-Winter Festival is entitled to a $6000 loan for up to two (2) mid-winters; Summer Festival stays as is at $3000 for up to two summer. This is what we are doing and have been for several years. The P&P's Section VIII Number II and Number VII. Vivian Fairburn 2nd. When reviewing the financial information I found checks for winter festival that were out 2-3 years and summer festivals that were out 2 years and this is not the way the P&P's read. Therefore, this will correct. Motion passed.
The 2015 Summer Festival would like to request their $3000 loan, requested by Cece Glidewell. This will be done at this meeting.
Reports are to be sent to the Recording Secretary.
At this time we will have an open discussion on how to get new people and how to keep new people. What is being done in your area, in your clubs to what is being done to get and how do you plan to keep new dancers.
Dave Cooper is doing Round Dance lessons and asked a new couple how they found out about it and why they are coming. They found out about lessons by a sign put out on the street and they are looking for something besides ball room dancing. Why did you stay: 1) you make it fun and 2) the fact that we put angels with them to help them out and 3) Sunday night was a good night for them.
Bill Rooper stated that the first dance is most critical to keeping dancers. Callers should be for the dancer and not themselves.
Coleeta Quigley mentioned that the callers at the South Coast work together so that new dancers can go to both sets of lessons. After about the 3rd lesson they are invited to dances and the callers will call to their level so they get the feel of a regular dance.
Zola Jones of Emerald Empire mentioned that it is a lot easier to get people to come in the larger Metropolitan areas than it is in smaller communities. My results are in my main report. Our Council is considering doing the A B C dances again this Spring and doing lessons again in the Fall.
Kathy Worthington: this year Dale has made up a flyer including all the Delegates names and numbers, so anyone looking for lessons had a reference point.
Barbara Wines: at the Education Seminar they liked how they were treated when they were there. They don't care for the politics, but they hang in there. The fun is what it is all about.
Doug Hartzell had an interview with some new dancers and asked several questions concerning why they came and why they stay. Questions were: 1) what activities did you do before sq dancing, 2) who or what got you into sq dancing, 3) what did you find the hardest about sq dancing, 4) what keeps you sq dancing, and 5) what as a new dancer do you see could be done to get more people involved. They liked the friendship and the fun.
Kay Rogers: one thing I have noticed, the entire club has to come and make it fun not as an obligation. Free lessons are a good thing if a club can afford it. Have mentors for these new people to take to other dances and other callers so they don't get intimidated and don't get out to experience other areas.
Kathy Roberts: one suggestion might be to send out postcards to last year's students that dropped out for one reason or another, and try to get them to come back. Put a notice on your special dances so they can see what fun the club has. Club members make them really feel welcome. Do lots of special dinners, campouts, trips to some outing - get the new dancers outside of lessons to show the fun your club has. Another thing is to try a family rate.
Frank Schuchard: We have tried to give free lessons but didn't keep as many dancers. We do give them a questionnaire when they leave lessons to find out what we could be better at. We're looking for a new caller for our area.
Vivian Fairburn: We need to keep the continuity with the new dancers and follow through with them, when they need help or just to keep them going and dancing.
EMERALD EMPIRE: Zola Jones
The status of the new dancers in our area is as follows:
Bob Ewing's 'Caller Run Class' started the first week in October with 12 new dancers, dancing one night a week, and just 3 finished lessons graduating January 22. These lessons were angeled by two clubs - Single Trees and the Whirl-A-Ways. The results were he least number of graduates in the years Bob ran his lessons, usually 16 new dancers started and 8 or 10 would graduate.
Wolf Pack started 4 new dancers in late September, dancing once a week, but they all eventually dropped out.
Danebo Circle 8's started lessons in late September with 4 new dancers and are graduating the same 4,also 2 of Bob Ewing's new dancers attended their classes. Their caller did two classes a week and this was successful in dancers retained what they had learned better, and they graduated two weeks before Mid-Winter Festival.
There were three "new dancer dances" by three clubs held in our area I December and early January.
Danebo Circle 8's also did the A-B-C dances in July, August and September. These were well attended by members of other area clubs in support. First "A" dance had 8 new people attend. "B" dance had 10 new people (including 6 of the previous 8), and "C" dance had he same 10 new people. Of the 10, two came and started lessons just over a week later, and are in the 4 graduates.
At our area council meeting on Monday, January 20, the Danebo Circle 8's stated they are considering doing the "A-B-C" dances again this Spring, possibly in March, April and May. Also mentioned at this meeting three of our area clubs are going to discuss the possibility of joining together and sponsoring new dancer classes this Fall that would be taught by a caller.
For more detailed information on what clubs in our area and our area council did last Fall, 2013, to promote and obtain new dancers please refer to my report to the Federation of September 22, 2013.
Our annual area council "Benefit Dance" which is always attended and well supported by all clubs in our area, will be on Saturday, March 29 and this year the benefit will be for "Homes for Wounded Warriors." Our past president, who is always the chairman of this event, already has items donated for the "Silent Auction
BLUE MOUNTAINS COUNCIL: David Stutzman
At the last July meeting, I was informed that the Elkhorn Swingers' incorporation records did not exist and therefore the club was not in compliance with membership in the Federation. The club decided that they wished to remain in the Federation and on August 29th, they filed the appropriate documentation with the Secty of State. The club is continuing to dance without a club caller. They have travelled to LaGrande to attend dances there. They have also invited Roy Viken from Boise, Idaho to call for a few dances. He has been very gracious in providing calling and cueing for the dances.
This month the Star Promenaders have started lessons. It is exciting to see some younger people come to the lessons. We hope they can continue through the lessons. The 2nd Saturday in February our club caller, Dale Counsell will not be available. However, Roy Viken has agreed to come call the dance for us.
CENTRAL OREGON COUNCIL: Doug Hartzell
The Red Rock squares started mainstream lessons January 9th with a small but enthusiastic group. Dave Cooper is teaching our lessons and always makes them fun. The RR's and the Mavericks are gearing up for 2014 Summer Festival in Prineville. The program books are done and will be available at Mid-Winter Festival. We will also have a registration area and are looking forward to the after party to kick off our event.
Swinging Mountaineers are giving FREE plus lessons this year and this seems to be well attended.
Sundown is having some great guest cuers this coming year. We look forward to a fun year. Dave Cooper is teaching round lessons and has a lot of participant for that.
INTERSTATE HIGHLANDERS: Cece Glidewell
As directed by Dave Cooper, the current Federation President, my report is regarding dancer recruitment trials and tribulations:
Since hunting season starts in October, September is not a good time for recruiting new dancers in the Interstate Highlander Council area. Usually the club tries to start enrolment toward the end of October. Also January seems to be a better time for recruitment. The club had 5 new dancers at the October open house. We have retained 3 of the 5 since the holidays.
Another open house is planned for January 30, 2014. The club has placed an ad in the Klamath Community College's Community & Workforce Education Classes brochure. That has been tried before with little success; however, it costs the club zero dollars so this resource is still viable as we never know what may work from one time to the next.
Another recruitment tool used is personal invitation cards distributed to friends, family, and acquaintances who may be prospective new dancers. Distribution of business cards with workshop and contact information was a tool used last year with minimal success. We have done a few demos at community events but are dubious as to success compared to the work required to put on the event.
Unfortunately, most of our dancers are at the age where they just don't want to get out at every community event to advertise our new dancer workshops. Especially since some of the venues do not provide a good and/or safe dancing surface. It seems most event planners are not dancers and do not have any concept as to what is required musically, or for dancing surface, or area. Also, because of our mountain desert location temperature extremes are a factor. Still, we do the demos with usually only one square of dancers who are willing to give it "a go".
MID-WILLAMETTE AREA: Harriet Livingston
Good News….the clubs that hosted the New Dancer's Dance have seen an upswing in the number of dancers in attendance. The first 6 dances starting December 1 averaged 7 squares in spite of the very inclement weather. The last four have averaged 10 squares. It is hoped this is a trend and the dancers in class this fall will be more active. Two clubs started lessons after November and a third club will start in February.
Mid-Willamette Area is hosting the September State Meeting with Gary Sohn as Chairperson.
PORTLAND AREA: Al Wolf
Most clubs have completed lessons and have graduated their dancers with many joining clubs. A few clubs have started lessons this month.
The PAC Christmas dinner meeting was held on Dec 16th at the Cherrywood Village retirement residence; home of Neal and Norma Harrington. It was a buffet dinner with delicious all you can eat food.
The PAC will hold elections in March. The nominating committee is busy gathering names of prospective officers.
On Feb 14th, the Recycle Plus Club will have a Valentine dance with Scott Zinser calling and Jeanine Norden cueing. They dance once a month at the Winona Grange in Tualatin. A lot of clubs are having Valentine Day dances so check your current OFN.
On Feb 21st, the Chaps & Petticoats will have their annual Flintstone Dance at the Maplewood Grange in Aurora, OR. Roger Putzler will call and Ken Pratt will cue.
The Country Capers will have their "Elvis Dance" on Saturday, March 1st at the Rockwood Grange. "Elvis" Mark Wheeler will be making an appearance. Mark is also their club caller.
Due to health reasons, Ann Skoe, caller for the Canby Cloverleafs, is unable to continue as club coordinator. The club, therefor, has disbanded. Many of their members have joined the Floordusters, a youth club.
It was voted at our last PAC meeting held on Jan 20th, to have only one float in the Rose Festival Starlight Parade. The Silver Stars will be in charge of this for the year 2014. We also talked about a family rate for lessons and dances.
The Rosetown Ramblers had a national caller, Anne Ueberlacker, calling their 30th anniversary dance on Dec 7th.
The next PAC dance will be Friday, Jan 31st at the Oak Grove Community Hall. Roger Putzler will call and Tami Helms will cue. All are welcome. See the inside cover of the January OFN for more details.
The next Tri-Council Dance will be March 29th at the Clark County Square Dance center in Vancouver. The TVC will be in charge of this dance. Doug Davis from the Spokane area will be the caller, Jackie Gale will cue. There will be an ad in the OFN.
ROGUE SIS-Q COUNCIL: Lori McIntosh
Rogue Sis-Q council has been working together to increase participation and students. Multiple demonstration dances have been performed at the Rogue Valley Shopping mall and anywhere else dancers can gather to perform for the audience. September classes are ongoing for all clubs and January classes have just begun. All clubs are working to increase membership.
Pear Blossom Festival will be April 11 and 12 at Rogue Valley Square Dance center in Central Point, Oregon. Caller and Cuer this year is a husband and wife combination, Scott and Erin Byers. If you see anyone with the Pear Blossom Committee badge on, ask for a mystery raffle ticket. We have had some pretty great mystery prizes in the past and it looks like another great one for this year. The raffle tickets are free; you just need to be in attendance to win. There are separate raffle tickets for Friday and Saturday, so get one for each night, get more raffle tickets every time you see a Pear Blossom committee member. There is no limit to the number of raffle tickets a person can have, but it is one ticket at each dance, event, or committee member.
Charlie Brown Squares received good news: the Josephine County Fairgrounds will remain open for at least 6 more months. This will allow the club to go ahead with the Boatnik Festival on Memorial Weekend in May. The future of Josephine County Square Dance Hall at the Josephine County Fairgrounds is sketchy beause of financial sustainability. This year we have Wade Driver calling and Christina Corelli cueing at the Boatnik Festival weekend. Dances will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday night with classes Saturday and Sunday, and a parade Saturday morning. Pay early and get a discount for the entire weekend. After returning from Mid-Winter the club will be having their tailgate party with the appearance of the Charlie Brown cheerleaders.
Lantzes Dantzers will be celebrating their birthday in March as they include Denny Lantz's birthday and his 50 years of calling for square dancers. Chuck Garner will be calling and Julie Stiers cueing.
Star Promenaders have been busy with their beginner classes. Make sure and get your ribbons for Diamond Lake Festival in July. It is a blast every year with dancing in the lake on Saturday afternoon.
SOUTH COAST AREA: Coleeta Quigley
Beachcomers changed their dance time to the 4th Saturday. They are going to try an afternoon (3:00 - 6:00) dance with a potluck afterwards.
Saints and Aint's are holding lessons on Sunday afternoons. They are planning to complete them before Mid-Winter and then start a 2nd class in February. One of their members is learning to call and Sherm is going to help her teach the lessos. It's hoped Sherm will beginning a plus workshop before the lessons at that time.
Sets in Order is completing their lessons before Mid-Winter also. The new 13 week lessons plan from ACA has been a possible for our beginnings. Both Coquille and Coos Bay use the same lesson plan.
UMPQUA AREA COUNCIL: Frank Schuchard
The Buckaroo's have their 62nd Birthday Dance on April 5th.
Shout out to our Club Cuer, Neil Koozer and his wife, Doris who participated in the Showcase of Rounds Saturday night.
Celebration of Completion of Lessons scheduled for next month. Eleven students have completed lessons.
Update: Not one response to our ad in the Federation News in finding a replacement caller for Don Marshall. One person did respond to a group email that was sent out, but that person lives too far away to be considered.
June 13-15 is the Annual Buckeroo Round Up (Eric Henerlau and Tami Helms).
Umpqua Area Council 5th Sunday dance will be March 30th from 2:30 to 5:00 pm.
We will be returning to holding our New Dancer Dances on the second Sundays in January instead of the 3rd Sundays, beginning in 2015.
AL WOLF & GAIL DOMINE:
We have just returned from an Eastern Caribbean cruise with Randy Dibble and 63 other dancers from Oregon. Ports of Call were Grand Turk, St Maarten, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. We square danced most evenings in the Crows Nest. In the Bahamas we did a "flash mob" square dance in a little shopping mall and even had a few by-standers dance a short lesson and tip.
Since the last State Meeting we have danced with Country Cut Ups, Oaky Doaks, Happy Hoppers, the Crew at a B-51 dance and at the PAC dance in November, as well as with our own club, River City Dancers. We also attended the annual Country Cut Ups breakfast, which is the fund raiser for operating expenses for their hall.
During the holidays we attended Christmas dinners with both our club and the Portland Area Council.
STEVE & VALERIE MURPHY:
Our last report had us in New Hampshire heading for Maine. Our first night in Maine we stayed at an Elks Lodge and right around the corner was a restaurant. We went there for dinner and had our first taste of Maine lobster. We found that in Maine, you aren't served lobster tails, you get the whole lobster served to you. It's up to you to get the meat out. We headed south, avoiding any large cities. When we got to North Carolina we stayed in Pinetops for several days with an old Army buddy of mine. The last time we saw each other was in the jungles of Vietnam. Needless to say we had a lot of catching up to do and had a great time. On the way to Florida we stayed at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. At the front gate it had a real nuclear attack submarine that appeared to be surfacing out of the ground. I guess they felt a submarine wouldn't look right on a pedestal. We hadn't planned on going to Gettysburg, but since we were only about 30 miles away, we decided to take a look. We drove around the battlefield and were very surprised to find that most of the battlefield was corn farms and farm houses and roads all over it, just like in 1863.
The next thing we made sure we did was to visit some of the Lousiana swamp land where the reality show "Swamp People" is filmed. We drove through a little town called Pierre Part an stopped at a local tavern, the Rainbow Inn. Within a few minutes, there was a scurry of activity and some of the stars of the show came in and sat at the bar. They were filming the final show of the season at the tavern, and we ended up in the background. It hasn't aired yet so we don't know if we're in the shadows in the dark room or not. But we got to meet Troy, Jacob, and Chase Landry, three of the alligator hunters on the show.
Heading west we went through Clovis, New Mexico, where evidence of the earliest people in North America was first discovered, and Roswell, New Mexico where the aliens crashed in 1947. We stayed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada where we visited the sight of another reality show, "Counting Cars". The Count, Danny Koker, wasn't there but we took a tour through his place and saw some fantastic cars that had been rebuilt.
In the final stretch, we headed north to Tonopah. About 50 miles from Tonopah, just outside the little town of Goldfield, the engine in the RV blew up. We were towed to Tonopah and ended up staying the night there, No one in Tonopah could fix the engine so we had it towed to Reno. We left the RV in Reno at a repair sho and rented a car. We got home that night. We picked up the RV 3 weeks later after a new engine had been put in,
We are Elks and I am retired military, so we ended up staying at 11 military bases and 19 Elks' Lodges on our trip, It saved us 50-75% on our nightly stays.
Since the trip we haven't done much of anything except sit around and enjoy life.
ADJOURN: MEETING ADJOURNED
Respectfully Submitted,
LaDauna Hartzell
Recording Secretary