There is parking along Main Street though that is frequently already being used.  There are parking lots we can use.  One is the Soverign Bank lot on the West side of Main Street.  Another is the Court House lot on Spring Street (which is the back side of the church).  We will be dancing at the Church of the Good Shephard starting on February 16, 2004.  On the 2nd Monday of each month we will be dancing in another hall in the church.  There will be club members around and/ or signs to help you find where we are located.

According to our dance ticket sales, there were 51 dancers attending this dance, but only 40 signed in, so my count is incomplete. From the sign in sheets, we had 13 dancers raiding from Heel and Toe, 5 guests from Riverside, two from another club (Concord Coach, I think) and 20 dancers from Border City. Class banners were given to class members from Heel and Toe, Riverside, and Border City.

I am embarrassed to say that I am still unsure of the names of all the new class members, but I do want to thank all those who helped set up for the dance. Your active participation is what makes Border City Squares such a friendly club. While some clubs have to assign individuals to set up for dances and arrange for refreshments, we have always been able to count on the volunteer efforts of many of our members to get these necessary jobs done. Thanks so much for continuing this tradition.

Our next club dance will be on February 14^th, and the theme for the dance will be All the Presidents’ Men and Women hosted by Harli Webb and Kathy Butt. Harli and Kathi have come up with some very creative ideas for their dances in the past couple of years, so you won’t want to miss this one. This will be a Mainstream dance with two plus tips. Tom Rinker will be calling and Corinne Renauld will be cueing. Set up for the dance will be at 12:30 as usual. See you there!

Remaining BCS dances:

November 30, 2003: BCS retrieved our banner from Pepperell Squares at their Mainstream dance. The following members supported this retrieval: Anne-Marie Boucher, Tammy Dorris, Steve White, Debbie Coit, Harli Webb, Valerie and John Lamb, Skip and Penny Guild, Eric MaGrath, and Kathi Butt.

December 12, 2003: BCS retrieved our banner from Single Squares, Woburn, MA with Matt Auger calling and Phil Gatchell cueing. This was a Mainstream dance with 2 Plus tips. Single Squares was very generous this night!! They gave us our banner back with only 6 members supporting the club: Tammy Dorris, Chris Howard, Steve White, Debbie Coit, Joe McClintock and Harli Webb.

December 13, 2003: BCS hosted Heel and Toe to retrieve their banner with 11 dancers.

December 20, 2003: BCS raided Heel and Toe, Manchester, NH. Ed and Corrine Renauld were caller and cuer for this dance. Those supporting BCS at this dance were: Chris Howard, Harli Webb (and Rhiannon!), Steve and Patty Greene, Alice Renauld, Kathi Butt, Steve White, Deb Coit, Preston Walsh, Bruce Roberts and Caley and Sabrina O’Connell.

December 27, 2003: BCS was supposed to retrieve our banner from Happy Time Squares but not enough dancers could be gathered to retrieve our banner. We will have to try another date.

January 10, 2004: BCS hosted Heel and Toe to retrieve their banner with 13 dancers.

January 17, 2004: BCS raided Bradford Country Squares, Bradford, NH. This is a CLASS level dance with Lenny Stratton and Vera Prudhomme calling and cueing. Thank you to the following class and club members who supported this raid: Leo Gravel, Deane Clark, John and Mary Thompson, Kathi Butt, Bob Baker, Deb Coit, Steve White, Pauline and Bob O’Connor, Tammy Dorris, Chris Howard and Harli Webb.

January 24, 2004: BCS raided Riverside Squares, Danvers, MA. This is the first time in at least 10 years that BCS has exchanged with this club. It was a mainstream dance called by Jim Pulaski and cued by Scott Cohen. Those supporting the club were: Tammy Dorris, Harli Webb, Chris Howard, Kathi Butt, Bob Baker, Cecilia Kendig, Paula Finamore, Anne-Marie Boucher, Ed Jette, Eric Magrath. Leo Gravel, BCS class member, came along to check things out!

Future Raids and Retrievals:

February 7, 2004: BCS will be raiding Concord Coach, Concord, NH at this Plus level dance. Skip and Betty Ann Brown will be calling and cueing. Please note there will be A1 dancing from 7-8PM.

February 14, 2004: No clubs are scheduled at this time to raid or retrieve.

February 21, 2004: BCS will be raiding Tech Squares, Cambridge, MA at this Plus level dance called by Don Beck and cued by Phil Gatchell. Don’t miss this one if you dance Plus!! They are a very dynamic club! The carpool will leave at 6:30 for this dance.

February 28, 2004: BCS will be raiding Turkey Town Squares in N. Andover, MA. This is a Plus level dance called by Joe Casey and cued by Marilyn Rivenburg.

March 6, 2004: BCS will raid/retrieve?? at Concord Coach for their mainstream dance with Don Prudhomme calling and Birgit Maguire cueing. The color for this dance is GREEN!

PLEASE NOTE REGARDING CARPOOLING!!! The location of the meeting spot has changed due to construction at the Nashua Mall. When you pull into the Mall, turn right toward Kohl’s rather than left toward the Kiosk. Park in the outer spaces along Broad Street near the entrance.

Border City Raids & Retrievals

The class will be hosting another class level dance on March 13th. So if the class members have any suggestions for a theme for this dance, please see me at classes. We will begin planning for this dance at classes next week.

There is a class level dance in Dover, NH on Feb. 13th and I will put out a signup sheet for anyone interested in attending.

Below is an updated list of class dances that are coming up in the next few months. I will try to arrange carpools for these dances and have signup sheets for them in advance. If anyone has any questions, please see me.Class Level Dances for this dance season (Class, please note that by the end of April you will all be able to attend any Mainstream level dance):

The prelude to our convention was the Atlantic Square Dance Convention. The first one was held at the Mechanics Building in Boston, MA on Nov. 11 and 12 in 1955. This was followed by annual events held up and down the Eastern seaboard pioneered by John Kobrock. The last event we have a record of is 1961.

The EDSARDA Square and Round Festival began as a one day affair on Sat. April 11, 1959 at the New Ocean House Hotel in Swampscott, MA. Registration was $1.00, buffet dinner $3.50 and overnight lodging $12 - $15.00 a couple. This continued through 1963. It was promoted as continuous dancing in several halls to your favorite callers. At this time registration had increased to $3.00.

The first New England Square and Round Dance Convention sponsored by EDSARDA and NECCA occurred on April 3 - 4, in 1964 at the New Ocean House in Swampscott, MA. It was co-chaired by George Elliot and Earl Johnson and the general chairman was Don Scott of Andover MA.

The second and third convention in 1965 and 1966 moved to Manchester, NH. The third convention was chaired by Joe and Helen King. Joe King was a Caller and along with his wife Helen, they had a deep interest in the activity and combined their business skills in this leadership role. Dancing, sociability, eating and learning were the highlights of the convention (the same as it is today). It included a panel discussion entitled "How to Solve Your Square and Round Dance Problems". They introduced hot hash, live music with Bob Marsh, a fashion show by Callers wives, the use of 100 Callers and projected attendance was 3,000 - 4,000. The primary halls used were the JFK Coliseum, the Armory, Sweeney Post, Carpenter Hotel and Odd Fellows. Room rates ran $7 - $12.00 a couple per night.

Source: Dick Severance and the NESDF. More Info: www.SquareDanceVT.org or www.nesrdc.org