On Saturday June 8^th at 8-10:30 PM, join us for our next BCS dance at the Infant Jesus Church, on Allds Street. This will be a MS dance with 2 Plus Tips. Jim Wass will be calling and Bev Boudreau will be cueing. Amy & Katherine Bollenbach will be hosting the dance. The theme is "Salad Night", so bring your favorite salad for the food table. Also remember it is casual dress. Raids/retrievals at this dance will be Square Wheelers, Litchfield Swingers, and Heel & Toe. Setup time will be at the usual 12:30 PM Saturday for anyone who is willing to help.

The Annual Meeting last month seems to have been a good-news, bad-news situation. Three cheers for two of our recent graduates, Celia Kendig and Paula Finamore, who have stepped forward to volunteer their talents and enthusiasm as co-secretaries. Many thanks also to Diane DesRochers who offered to help in whatever capacity she could. However, this leads to the bad news: the one position left unfilled after the elections was that of Class Chairperson(s).

We do have volunteers for setting up before class (6:30 PM) and taking down at the end of class, to help keep things going till a regular chairperson(s) can be found. But this in no way satisfies the responsibilities of the position. It is truly important that we have someone who will be focused on meeting the needs of the class. The growth and stability of the club depends on attracting people for class, being sure that each person feels welcome and comfortable, and then helping them to be successful. In this part of the job there is significant help from the Angles in supporting class success.

Many thanks to Stan and the Horse Pond Fish and Game Club for providing space where we can put a small cabinet to hold the class equipment and some supplies. This will make coordinating a committee for set up and take down much easier.

Specific duties of the Class Chairperson(s) include:

• Coordinating class members’ trips to other clubs’ class-level dances. This does not mean the class chair has to go, but they need to be sure arrangements are made so all class members can dance as often as possible.
• Border City’s two class level dances are hosted by the class and chairpersons, which helps the new class members learn the ropes. This year both of the class dances were a tremendous success, due in large part to the enthusiasm and participation of our 2002 graduates.
• Being present Monday nights to welcome the class(es). (Having somewhere at the Fish and Game Club to store the coffee pot, water cooler and basic supplies will make this part of the job much easier, as a committee of people could share the set-up and tear-down of the snacks and drinks area.)
• Focusing on the needs of the class and attracting new class members is tremendously important.

If no class chair steps forward, the rest of the board has to pick up the responsibilities of the position. This does make more work for the other board members in that the class chair is a fairly busy and responsible position.

Though we (Anne and Bill) cannot be Class Chairpersons next year, we are more than willing to lend a hand to whoever does take the job. Please consider accepting this challenge, and sharing your talents with our newest dancers.

See you in a square.

May 17^th Friday Retrieval to Winnipesaukee Squares Alternating Mainstream & Plus tips Dance - Patty Green called to two squares with a couple of dancers resting. She recently produced a record/song and called/sang it for us so we were treated by an original recording artist. We were very happy to return with 7 dancers to thank the Winnipesaukee Squares for bringing 7 dancers to our February dance. The 58 mile trip took 70 minutes so leaving at 6:35 PM put us there in plenty of time. They only host 4 dances so their next dance is in October. They host free dances on the Weirs Beach Boardwalk on Thursday nights during July and August. We are very grateful to Chris, Debbie, John & Valerie Lamb and Diane DesRoches for helping us retrieve our club's banner.

May 18^th Saturday Raid to Heel & Toe Alternating Mainstream & Plus tips Dance - It snowed the morning of this "Beach Party" dance so we wore our sun hats and winter scarfs. Steve Xeller from Connecticut called and Peg Sutton from Rhode Island cued. There were 6 squares on the floor for the Mainstream tips and 5 squares dancing the Plus tips. We raided this dance and the Pepperell Squares were retrieving their banner. Our 19 raiders were: Chris, Debbie, Dave & Mary, Wayne & Priscilla, Kathi, Harli, Cecilia, Roberta, Hal, C. Paula, Eric, Joe Maheu, Hank Perigny, Joe McClintock, Bob Baker, Ray & Carol Kibbee. It's not often that we have men sitting out tips for lack of a partner.

May 24^th Friday Raid to Square Wheelers Alternating Mainstream & Plus tips Dance - It was a hot dance for most of us but perhaps not for the dancer who came from Alabama. Matt Auger taught the Plus movement named 'Linear Cycle' as a Recycle and Sweep a Quarter. Then he called it from numerous positions so the Mainstream dancers could practice it and the Plus dancers could dance it. Phil Gatchell wore a suit as usual and had a full floor of round dancers for the phase 2 rounds. It was Memorial Day weekend but there were six squares with four squares dancing the Plus tips. Chris, Debbie, Skip & Penny, Wayne & Priscilla, Kathi, Amy, Harli, Eric, Hank, and Bob Baker attended.

June 1^st Saturday Raid to Concord Coach Alternating Mainstream & Plus tips Dance - Jim Lee of Canada & Phil Gatchell were featured. Excellent calling with some unusual call combinations made this a most enjoyable dance for the 13 squares in attendance. The theme was "Grinder Night" with early A1 tips from 7 to 8 PM. Border City members also demonstrated their own unique style of "fun" by dancing two tips with an all women’s square. Not to be outdone, the men put together an all men’s square with help from visiting caller Jay Silva and cuer Phil Gatchell for the second of the two tips. Dancers from Border City were Wayne, Priscilla, Debbie, Eric, Tammy, Jonas, Paula, Rita, Harli, Kathi, Amy, Roberta, Hal, Bob Baker, Cheryl Pecor, and Chris.

Upcoming Dances

June 8^th Saturday BCS Mainstream with 2 Plus tips Dance - Our Salad Night dance features caller Jim Wass of Riverdale Maryland and cuer Beverly Boudreau. The Firesiders, Litchfield Swingers, Heel & Toe, and Squares Wheelers plan to retrieve their banners. Casual attire.

June 15^th Saturday Retrieval to Bradford Country Squares Plus Dance - Dona & Vera Prudhomme are featured at their Ice Cream Social dance. Early A1 tips from 7 to 8 PM. Casual attire.

June 22^nd Saturday Retrieval to Wolf Rockers Alternating Mainstream & Plus tips Dance - Everett Mackin from Warwick RI & Leo Boudreau from Athol MA are featured at this Ice Cream Social dance.

This is the last banner exchange until September. Thank you for all your support this past dance season. Have fun dancing during the summer.

June Raids/Retrievals:

Club Banners We Have:                                             Clubs With Our Banners:

Insurance - 20 of the 26 NSSARDA clubs from last year have paid NSSARDA their $200 portion of the insurance bill. Four clubs have dances planned for 2002-2003 so their checks are probably in the mail. The Apple Squares in Londonderry NH have announced they are closing after their May 25, 2002 dance. Another club in MA might also be folding. Last year, 28 clubs were in the NSSARDA insurance program (12 northern MA, 12 NH, 4 ME) and that number was down 6 from the previous year. NSSARDA voted to absorb the loss (about $400) in lieu of increasing the remaining clubs insurance cost.

Marketing Video Tape - We signed out the Marketing video tape purchased by NSSARDA for use by member clubs. CallerLab paid $40K for the marketing study and to have the tape produced to show the results. See us to sign it out for viewing.

Banner Meeting - The banner chairpersons from the Square Riggers, Square Wheelers, Single Squares, Firesiders, and BCS met. Harli Thoene, BCS Banner Chair for 2002-2003, arranged banner exchanges with the banner chairpersons representing the clubs in our area.

Next Meeting - September 15, 2002 in Burlington, MA.

National Square and Round Dance Convention in New England - EDSARDA, representing the dancers of New England, replied to CO-OP's inquiry regarding hosting the National Square and Round Dance Convention in New England with words similar to the following: ----- we can not realistically endorse the concept due to the demographics of the New England Square Dance population and the current absence of large numbers of leaders needed to carry out such a venture.

United Square Dancers of America (USDA) and Congress Square Dance Bill - The USDA letter asks each association and club to encourage their dancers to write to their congress persons and request them to support House Joint Resolution 15 that would establish "Square Dance" as the National Folk Dance. See us for a copy of the form letter sent by the USDA. You can also go to the Border City Squares web site and use the link to write to your congress representative. You can easily determine who to e-mail and e-mail them right from our web site.

2003 Directory - The annual New England Directory will be in the August issue of the Northeast Square Dancer Magazine. Separate copies will be available from EDSARDA at the next meeting.

New England Square and Round Dance Convention – 1,379 dancers paid/attended the 44^th NESRD Convention. The Convention Committee plans to address the problem where the Fast Track hall was too small for the number of dancers who wanted to participate. We have registration forms for the 45^th NESRD Convention so you can sign up early in case there is drawing for a hotel room (as in past years). The "Welcome Back" dance will be on September 29^th from 2 to 5 PM at the Hayloft Barn in Sturbridge, MA.

Whose Watching Your Bottom Line - Ron and Judy Clifford presented this program identifying various fund raising activities and ways to reduce club expenses. See us for details.

Next Meeting - October 6, 2002 in Worcester, MA.