Even though the Border City showing was well below average (only 18 dancers), attendance at the dance was unusually high with about 11 squares. Heel & Toe raided this dance; and the Wolf Rockers, Firesiders, and Concord Coach retrieved their banners. We had guests from other clubs including Queen City, Seacoast, Monadnock Squares, Cloudbusters, and Mix & Mingle. We were also honored with two guest callers: Ted Lizotte, and Charlie McLeod.

Thanks to the Border City members who showed up early to help with setup and especially to Skip and Penny Guild and Wayne, Priscilla, and Elizabeth Griffin who helped open the hall at 7:15. And thanks to the many dancers who stayed after to help clean up the hall.

Our next dance, on May 12^th, will be a Mainstream dance, and we will be back in our regular hall at the Infant Jesus Church. The theme for the dance will be "Spring Flowers," and Skip and Penny Guild will be host and hostess. Randy Longobucco will be calling, and Bev Boudreau will be cueing. As with the April dance this is another chance to dance with a caller who rarely visits the area, so you won’t want to miss this one. Norma and I will be away celebrating our 25^th anniversary, and Margery Shank has agreed to fill in as acting Club Chair. Skip, Penny, and Margery would greatly appreciate your help with setup at about 1:00 on the afternoon of the dance.

Chris and Norma Howard
Club Chairpersons

Graduation night was fun and full of anticipation. We were very happy to see Ed and Corinne join us for the festivities. The fun began when Bill called to the floor Amy Bollenbach, Diane Troyer, Susan and Bill Leuci, and Katherine Bollenbach. They were joined by Jim McClarin, Jim Hawkins and Dennis Marandos to form a square. An egg was placed before each couple and one was broken to show the eggs were real and uncooked. They were asked to take off their shoes and they were blindfolded. Then they were told to dance around the eggs without breaking them. Without the ladies knowledge, the men’s blindfolds were removed and the eggs were quietly replaced with wet sponges and corn flakes. The fun began when the ladies tiptoed, hesitated or finally walked on what they thought was an icky, icky mess and squealed.

The dancers for the second fun square were Cheryl Palucchi and Chris Howard, Tammy Doris and Wayne Griffin, Susan and Bill Leuci, Jim Hawkins and Katherine Bollenbach. Their task was two fold. First, it was to demonstrate how well Cheryl and Tammy could dance the man’s or beau’s position while Wayne and Chris demonstrated their talents as belle’s. The second task was for all eight dancers to show us how well they could shuffle around the square while wearing shoe boxes on their feet.

After all the work our new dancers did in their demo squares it was time to stop and have something to renew our energies. We had a wonderful array of finger foods brought in by club and class members. We would like to thank everyone for their contributions.

Bob Baker gave a welcoming speech to the graduates with much encouragement and praise. The Candlelight Ceremony was next. The graduates, President, Vice President, Treasurers and Secretary lit candles as Jerry Maurice and Ed Renauld read the Candlelight Ceremony. Each side of the square lit their candles representing the flames of friendliness, cooperation, loyalty, and fun.

Next came the awarding of diplomas and badges with a special thanks to Chris Howard for the great job he did on the diplomas. Thank you Chris. Jerry and Donna Maurice, Ed and Corinne Renauld and Bill & I presented diplomas and Club badges to Amy Bollenbach, Katherine Bollenbach, Jim Hawkins, Susan and Bill Leuci and Diane Troyer. Also congratulations to Harli Theone who was unable to attend the graduation but was given her club badge early (so she would have it for the convention) and will receive her diploma at a later date. Bill and I would like to again thank the new graduates for their card and gift.

After the ceremonies were completed it was time to dance. Jerry graciously stepped aside to allow Margie Shanks, Dave Raymond, Chris Howard and Wayne Griffin to entertain us. They did a great job and we are very proud of them. By the way there is a dangle for dancing to an amateur caller. It is #5 on Majestic Badge’s list of dangles.

Bill and I would like to thank Dave and Mary Raymond and Cheryl Palucchi for their help in decorating the hall for graduation. Also thanks to all of you who came and supported this class.

Bill and I are looking forward to graduating the next class. Anne-Marie Boucher, Muriel Credle, Celia Kendig, Jim McClarin and Rita Lemarche have been dedicated to learning and attending classes every week. We have two new members that have joined our club to continue learning the mainstream square dance calls and they are Valerie and John Lamb. Look them up at our workshop and welcome them. We look forward to welcoming the January class as members of Border City when they graduate in July. Keep up the good work.

Bill and I just returned from the 43^rd New England Square and Round Convention in Manchester. The callers were great and the dancing was awesome. I think for us ladies the second best thing about the convention is the shopping and shopping we did. All the recent graduated members attended the convention and had a great time. If Amy and Katherine, Jim, Susan and Bill and Harli along with Cheryl, Tammy, Margie, and Chris dance with the January class on April 30^th they will receive their "Die Hard" dangles for dancing 5 days in a row. Bravo! Bill and I can verify that they did in fact earn the right to wear the "Die Hard" dangle.

Next year’s convention will be in Sturbridge, MA. We hope Border City will have a great presence there like we did in Manchester this year.

Hope to see you all in a Square.

Viv and Bill Thompson
Class Chairpersons

Man, there sure were a lot of strong dancers at the Skirts 'N Flirts dance on April 7^th. When caller John Hendron called an A1 tip, 4 squares of dancers jumped at the opportunity. It was simply tantalizing watching from the sidelines. Kinda’ makes you want to learn Advanced, doesn’t it? Plenty of Border City dancers (17) were on hand: Bruce Williams, Wayne & Priscilla Griffin, Chris & Norma Howard, Della Crawford, Jonas Green, Tammy Dorris, Hal Kelley, Steve & Lorri Wurtzler, Cheryl Palucchi, Skip & Penny Guild, Viv & Bill Thompson, and Roberta Blais.

Wow! What a dance! So that’s what a national caller is like! Randy Page was challenging, enjoyable, and unpredictable. Right from the opening tip, I could tell that we were in for one whale of an evening. At times I even felt like a beginner. What a blast! Dancers swarmed the Mill-A-Round on this occasion almost 12 squares in all. The retrieving clubs were Concord Coach (21 dancers), Wolf Rockers (14 dancers), and Firesiders (8 dancers). Heel & Toe raided us with 15 dancers. We’ll be seeing Randy again two years from now at another of our club dances. I can’t wait!

How sweet it was when Heel & Toe held their dance on Saturday, April 21^st. Dancers came from high and low, including two from Texas, Phil & Brenda Scott. The Scotts’ accompanied Border City’s pack of 19 dancers: Katherine & Amy Bollenbach, Lorri Wurtzler, Bruce Williams, Wayne & Priscilla Griffin, Chris Howard, Margery Shank, Viv & Bill Thompson, Cheryl Palucchi, Tammy Dorris, Dave & Mary Raymond, Preston Walsh, Ed Jette, Hal Kelley, Debbie Coit, and Kathi Butt. Caller Everett Mackin made this a challenging dance and at one point joined forces with caller Jim Mayo, much to the delight of the crowd!

Our next club dance will be on May 12^th with caller Randy Longobucco and cuer Bev Boudreau. The Wolf Rockers will be raiding and Londonderry Apple Squares will be retrieving. Hope to see you at Infant Jesus next month!