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Message from the president, Tom Tucker
Almost a year has gone by since I became the
President of our USA Dance Chapter. We were faced
with many challenges to ensure that our chapter
continued to thrive and grow. With an excellent
Board of Directors and YOUR HELP
we have had a
great year. Our attendance has grown almost every
dance and most of all our members seem to be
enjoying themselves at the dances.
Early this year, we experimented with our seating
arrangement hoping to create a more conducive
atmosphere for our members to mingle and dance
with different partners. We received great feedback
on the survey that was conducted and most of our
members liked the new arrangement. We will
continue to look at better ways to make the dance
fun for all! If any of you have ideas, please feel
free to let us know. We always appreciate those who
come
to the dance early and help us set up.
Music is always a challenge; trying to satisfy all
members with different eras, genres, and styles.
We
really need to give Kevin Frank a big
hand for taking
his personal time to arrange and play our music. I’m
sure he would rather be on the floor with us
dancing.
He has done a marvelous job this year and is one of
the biggest reasons our attendance has gone up
every dance. My hat is off to you Kevin.
Our November dance will start with a West Coast
Swing lesson from Darlene Long-Cree and Robin
Smith. I personally take lessons from both of these
professional instructors and know we are blessed to
have them in our community. You can view their
information and class schedule at:
http://www.
robinanddarlene.com/.
We will also
have a wonderful half time show that evening by
Michael and Teresa Robinson’s West Coast Swing
Team, Nine One Nine. If any of you are interested in
performing at
our dances, just let me know.
Please pick up a diagram of the “Line of Dance” from
the registration table and look it over. One of the
biggest strengths of our chapter is having all types
of
dancers attending our events. With this being said,
we all need to know the proper line of dance and
lanes we need to be in for our level. If each dance
couple follows these guidelines, our large floor will
accommodate all levels of dancers.
We are trying to update our member's email
addresses
along with getting addresses of non-member
dancers
in the area. I have talked with several dancers at
local studios that do not know about our
organization
and dances. It would be a great help if our members
from studios in the area would pass the word about
our dances. If possible, also get their email
addresses so we can include them on our email list.
I will leave copies of a blank sign up sheet at the
registration table for you to take for this
purpose.
In closing, I would like to thank each and everyone
of
you that help set up the facility for our dances,
those that bring the great tasting food items,
arrange
the great lessons, maintain the library,
volunteer their time in other areas, and definitely
those that help us clean up after the dances (so I
don’t have to stay until 1am). I look forward to
the upcoming dances and the challenges we face as
an organization, but most of all I look forward to
dancing with all our lovely lady members.
Remember, this is your organization so if you have
suggestions on improvement, please let your board
members know. You can drop off any written
suggestion at the entrance table during our dances.
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Dear Tom,
After several months of going without a newsletter,
we finally decided to at least get one out by email to
you. We would like to get your feedback on this
format. Please feel free to email me at:
tomtucker@mindspring.com with any
comments or suggestions. Hope you enjoy the
newsletter.
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| Dance Calendar |
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If you love to dance, the Triangle offers many venues
for you to fulfill your passion. Click on the link
below
to view the many dance venues in our area.
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View Dance Calendars |
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| In Fond Memory of Bill Bingham |
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As most of you are aware, we recently lost a dear
friend and founder of our USA Dance Chapter, Bill
Bingham. Bill died last week of ALS, a disease that
he fought for a long time. Bill was our second
president and also was the one that developed the
college ballroom clubs in our area.
Barbara McIntire, another one of our past presidents
had this to say:
Remembering Bill will be easy. Bill was very
special in
so many ways. His family, friends, and dancing were
very important to him. He never minded dancing with
anyone no matter how young, old, or inexperienced
they were. One of my favorite dances with
Bill was a Polka that we did at First Night Raleigh in
the Sir Walter Raleigh Ballroom on New Year's Eve
several years ago. I remember it was one of the last
dances of the night and I was very tired but when
we started dancing, I felt like I was flying around the
room. I laughed and smiled so much that my jaws
actually hurt. Bill also loved hamburgers from Fat
Daddy's. We used to meet there for lunch several
times a year and called ourselves the Ex-Presidents'
Club. Even when he got sick, we would have
someone pick him up and bring him to Fat Daddy's.
Once when I was over at his house trying to learn
how to give him his medication through his arm, I lost
about half of it on the floor. He took it all in
stride
and never got upset. I, however, was very
distraught. I will always remember his wonderful
smile, how incredibly intelligent he was, his love of
family and friends, and his contribution to the
ballroom dance community. I am sure Bill is dancing
with the angels and his smile is lighting up the
heavens.
Jam Gourley had this to say:
I will always remember an impromptu mambo that Bill
and I did at an outreach event at the rest home
where Diane Robinson was a resident while she
battled cancer. That is how I will remember Bill —
enjoying life to the fullest. He was great fun to
dance with; his sense of humor was quick and sharp,
and we often ended up laughing as we danced. I am
sad that Bill has left us, but I trust that he is
now in
a better place where his spirit can continue to dance.
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| A Day at the State Fair |
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The State Fair came to town and some of our
chapter board members enjoyed showing the town
their stuff. Tom Tucker danced with Melanie Dale
from
A Step to
Gold. They performed West Coast Swing
and Jive. The audience loved the playful moves Tom
and Melanie displayed on the dance floor. When
leaving the stage, the group overheard a lady from
the crowd asking Tom if he could teach her husband
those moves.
Bob Menteer and Tess Sharpe danced the Waltz and
Rumba. They really enjoyed showing others how fun
and easy it is to Ballroom dance. The event lineup
was something you don't see everyday. One moment
you were watching clogging and the next you were
watching ballroom dancing. We hope to get more
volunteers to dance at next years event. We will
announce the event early next year (May or June
issue), so you will have plenty of time to volunteer
and get ready.
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| First Night Event |
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Once again our chapter will be part of the
entertainment during the City of Raleigh's
First Night. This year we will be back in the Sir
Walter Raleigh Hotel Ballroom. The event organizer
would like for us to judge a competition. The plan is
to allow couples to sign up in advance to compete.
Then our teachers will judge the competition and
declare a winner. Should be a lot of fun.
If you are in town on New Year's Eve, WE
NEED YOUR HELP. PLEASE SIGN UP AS A VOLUNTEER
AND YOUR ADMISSION IF FREE!
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| Holiday Semi-Formal Dance |
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HO! HO! HO! It's that time of year again.
Get your
Suit, Tux, and nice Dresses out of the closet and get
ready to PARTY!!!!
Our annual Holiday Dance will be held on Saturday,
December 16th at Highlands Methodist Church. We
will have some great food, a wonderful halftime
show by Robertas
and Inga, (you don't want
to
miss this one), and plenty of fun dancing to a special
arrangement of music. Mark your calendars now!!
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| October Dance 50/50 Winner |
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At the October dance NC State University conducted
a 50/50 ticket sale to help raise funds for the
upcoming SRC competition. This is an excellent way
for our members to help support our local college
dance teams and at the same time have a chance to
put a little green in their pocket. The winner of the
October drawing was one of our visitors from the
Azalea chapter, Dixie Murphy. Dixie also made a
sizeable contribution to the NC State Dance Team.
CONGRATULATIONS Dixie, and many Thanks.
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| Join or Renew Your USA Dance Membership |
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Get In Free When You Join or Renew Your USA
Dance Membership at The Door
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