Marlan Sorenson, President called the meeting to order at
10:30 AM.
Roll call was taken
by the secretary and all eleven clubs were present and received an envelope with
Agenda, past minutes, and Treasurers Report.
Vern Laning made a motion to dispense with the reading of
the minutes and Judi Bakken seconded the motion. Motion passed.
The Treasurers Report was given by
Diane Lenertz with current balance of $3103.48. Rose Hall made a motion to
accept the Treasurer’s report and Judi Bakken seconded it.
Historian Report- Not Present – No Report.
The Insurance Report- Mark and Bina Krebsbach- There are currently 9
clubs in North Dakota. 3 of the clubs participate in the insurance
program.
The premium for the 2009
year is $4.25 per member. The minimum fee for a club will continue at $45.00.
We sent the forms to 4 clubs in
the fall of 2008, and received forms and money back from 3 clubs. The forms and
money for the 3 clubs was sent to Pat Inglis, National Insurance
Coordinator.
It was
recommended that forms be sent to all 11 clubs, so they have a chance to take
insurance if they wish.
Prairie
Squares Report- Ray Hall- I am working on a new look for the web site coming
this fall. I will be setting up photo page so if you have any photos you would
like to have displayed send them to me.
If you have anything you want displayed on the website
send it by email (preferred) or by regular mail and I will post it as soon as
possible.
Prairie Squares Ray and
Rose Hall 614 N 12th St. Bismarck, ND 58501 (701) 222- 4655
prsqs@bis.midco.net.
Convention Report 2009- Report given by Vernon Laning-
The 57th annual North Dakota State square and Round Dance and
Clogging Convention is in full swing at the ND Amvets club in Bismarck with 144
registered participants. We had 123 pre- registrations including 25 Cloggers and
98 square dancers. There may still be some additional walk- ins today, but the
final numbers will have to be reported later. The convention opened on April
24th, 2009, with ND attorney General Wayne Stenehjem giving a very
nice talk on square dancing in general and some specifies on the efforts in 1995
to make square dancing the official American Folk Dance of ND. All the State
Association meetings were moved to the Amvets Club rather than the headquarters
Motel due to some unexpected financial risks if there had not been enough room
rented at the motel. The advance registrations and reservations are very
important in planning these events but the changes have been manageable. The
after party activities and cleanup are scheduled to begin at the Amvets Club
following the last dance at 10:30 PM.
Convention 2010- Don and Jeanette Calderwood- The 2010
State Square Convention is now officially underway. It took a lot of thought,
challenging, and convincing from around the state to get the Prairie Partners of
Devils Lake and the help of the Border Belles and Beaus of Langdon to take on “I
think one of our biggest challenges of the clubs to say yes we will do
it.”
We debated right up to the
last minute. It wasn’t hard to find the place. It was the help, and without the
help of our Border Belles and Beaus and the cooperation and help from our
Prairie Partners we probably wouldn’t have been able to do it. We waited until
our snow birds returned to say ‘Yes, we can!’ The Memorial Building in Devils
Lake will be our official Dancing- Square, Round, and Clogging and meeting
place. It will be all newly air and heating conditioned and ready to go. The
motels are booked, and we’ll have the town ready for an overflow of
dancers.
After our demo tonight,
the registration booth will be open, and we challenge everyone, from north,
south, east, and west to all come to Devils Lake and “Join us again in
2010”.
We again want to
acknowledge Harlan and Gladys as the demo was thought, written, and produced by
them. We rounded up six couples between the two clubs to perform. We’ll see you
in Devils Lake!
The state
officers are as follows: President- Don and Jeanette Calderwood
Vice President- Bert and Gladys Bredeson
Secretary- Jerry and Barb Cremers
Treasurer- Livonia Crane
The bars were handed out to the new
officers. Mike Cleary made a motion to accept the new officers and Irene Walch
seconded it.
Old Business-
The Annual Fee to register as a non-profit organization with the Secretary of
State has been paid by Dennis Wetzel the past years. We reimbursed Dennis $10
for 2008 and paid $10 in 2009.
New Business- 2011- State convention- Al Currie suggested
that the South East District might take it and asked for a recess so they could
caucus. A recess was granted, to caucus to elect a director for the NorthEast
and NorthWest Districts and the SouthEast to discuss the 2011 State
Convention.
The meeting was
called to order again, NW District elected Kenneth and LoisWeltz, and NE
District elected Tim and Rose Senger.
Motion to accept the new directors by Irene Walch and Rex
Baker seconded it.
Al Currie
reported that the 2011 State Convention will be hosted in the Southeast
District.
Vern Laning made a
motion to issue a check in the amount of $700 to the Southeast district for the
2011 State Convention. Art Bakken seconded it. The motion passed. ($400- Grant
and $300 loan)
Delegate to
National Convention will be Roger and Bernadette McNeil.
Caller Report/Callers Convention-Larry Pfennig,
representing the Callers Association announced that the Caller’s Special Dance
will be October 31, 2009 at the Bismarck Senior Center 315 North
20th St. Bismarck, ND 7:30 to 10:00 PM. Featured caller is Buddy
Weaver from San Diego, California.
Announcements:
Saturday- 1:00 to 3:00 PM- Square Dancing
3:00 to 4:00
PM- Rounds
7:00 to 8:00 PM- Program
8:00 to 10:30 PM- Dancing
After party- 10:30
The new and old state officers and caller will have
reserved seating at the program.
The comment was made by the other club members that the
decorations the Belles and Beaux had up were very nice. They were made by the
club many years ago, and we decided we should use them.
Larry Katcher made a motion to adjourn the meeting and
Rose Hall seconded it. Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted,
Carlyle and Sally Hillstrom
Board of
Directors Meeting
April 25, 2009 9:30
AM
Amvets club
Railroad Ave.
Bismarck, ND
Marlan Sorenson, President called the meeting to order at
9:30 A.M. Roll call was taken. All members were present except North East
District Director Tom and Marlene Miller and Historian, Tammie Hughes.
The Board Minutes and Annual General
Membership Meeting Minutes and Treasurers Report were handed out to each board
member. Tim Lenertz made a motion to accept the minutes and Art Bakken seconded
it. All in favor.
Diane
Lenertz gave the Treasurers Report with a balance of $3103.48. Rose Hall made a
motion to accept the Treasurers Report and Judi Bakken seconded it.
The Historian Report- none.
The Insurance Report- Mark and Bina
Krebsbach- There are currently 9 clubs in North Dakota. 3 of the clubs
participate in the insurance program.
The premium for the 2009 year is $4.25 per member. The
minimum fee for a club will continue at $45.00.
We sent the forms to 4 clubs in the fall of 2008, and
received forms and money back from 3 clubs. The forms and money for the 3 clubs
was sent to Pat Inglis, National Insurance Coordinator.
It was recommended that forms be sent to all 11
clubs, so they have a chance to take insurance if they wish.
Prairie Squares Report- Ray Hall- I
am working on a new look for the web site coming this fall. I will be setting up
photo page so if you have any photos you would like to have displayed send them
to me.
If you have anything you
want displayed on the website send it by email (preferred) or by regular mail
and I will post it as soon as possible.
Prairie Squares Ray and Rose Hall 614 N 12th
St. Bismarck, ND 58501 (701) 222- 4655 prsqs@bis.midco.net.
The
Directors Reports were given;
Southwest Directors- Art and Judi Bakken- Bismarck Bells
N’ Beaux square dance club dances twice a month on the 1st and the
3rd Saturday at the Senior Center in Bismarck. The Bismarck Plus club
dances the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month at the
Bismarck VFW club.
Belles N’
Beaux sponsored lessons in Center, North Dakota, taught by Larry Pfennig. Seven
couples graduated on November 20, 2008. Twelve couples from Belles N’ Beaux went
to the graduation dance in Center. These dancers are very enthusiastic and are a
wonderful addition to square dancing.
On Sunday January 4, 2009, lessons were started in Hazen,
ND. Seven couples and nine singles signed up for lesson and ten couples from
Belles N’ Beaux came as angels. These also are enthusiastic dancers’ it must be
in the air in “Coal County”. Graduation was held on March 22, 2009 in Hazen.
There is talk of the Hazen/ Center dancers forming their own club. This idea
will be supported by the Bells N’ Beaux. The South West District would like to
publicly recognize the efforts of Reynard and Joletta Schmidt and Carlyle and
Sally Hillstrom in their efforts for promoting square dancing in the Center/
Hazen area. These two couples started at least four squares of dancers in the
past year. Thank you Schmidt’s and Hillstrom’s.
Larry Pfennig has been practicing cueing rounds at the
VFW in Bismarck on Monday nights. Ray and Rose Hall, Marlan and Sharon Sorenson,
and sometimes Mike and Doris Cleary from Jamestown are the Angel dancers to 6
couples who are trying to learn. It has been a great experience. Thank you
Larry!
In March Belles N’ Beaux
went dancing. The winter was long and it looked like spring, so off we went.
Martin, Devils Lake, Jamestown, and Minot were on the dancing schedule. Even
Tillie was bored at home and journeyed to Jamestown for their dance. A good time
was had by all.
The weekend of
April 3rd and 4th saw the Belles N’ Beaux traveling again.
Six couples went to Minnesota to several dances, call by Dick Rueter, Roger
McNeil, and Larry Pfennig. We also danced on the TV show Friendship Set to
Music. The minimum number of squares at any dance the club attended was seven
squares, the maximum was 11. What a wonderful time we had! The TV show was an
experience in itself. We would encourage all North Dakota dancers to experience
this at least once.
Belles N’
Beaux are going to try to dance at least once a month during the summer. On June
17th we have the Krebsbach’s driveway dance; on July 18 we are having
a dance at the Senior Center; and on August 15th the Dakota Rambler
is coming to town. We are working on dancing in Mandan at the Band Shell at some
point this summer. We would like to invite all dancers to these summer
dances.
Northwest Directors-
Orlin and Helen Thompson- The Town and Country Dancers of Martin have five
couples as members. They dance on the 2nd Sunday of the month except
for their last dance which will be on May 3rd since Mother’s Day is
the 2nd Sunday. This past year they had to cancel their November,
December, and January dances due to weather. They have been averaging one to two
squares per dance.
The club is
planning on having a Summer Hoe Down to be held on July 11th and
12th in Martin. This will consist of a potluck supper on Saturday
evening with a dance to follow and then a dance on Sunday afternoon. Everyone is
invited to attend.
The club would
like to thank all of the visitors that have supported their dances this past
year.
Souris Valley Dancers
of Minot- Current membership is 23. We danced one dance per month last November
and December; then had to cancel the next three months due to bad weather,
sickness, and absence of “snowbirds”.
Dancing was resumed on April 18th at the Minot
Auditorium with Larry Pfennig calling. It was well attended, thanks to 3
visiting couples. On May 8th there will be a 5:30 PM workshop, 6:30
dinner, and 7:30 mainstream dance called by Doc Brooks- also at Minot City
Auditorum. All welcome.
There are
plans to start a class for beginners some time in early summer. This will be
held at the Ramstad School in Minot. Regular summer schedule of dances will be
out at the Swenson’s RV Park, east of Minot on Hwy 52 at 7:30 PM.
Southeast Directors- Curtis and
Rosella Vanek-
Circle 8 Plus
Club- Fargo (submitted by Carol Currie)- The Circle 8 Plus club of Fargo-
Moorhead dances on the first, third, and fifth Saturdays at the Glyndon
Community center in Glyndon, MN. We have 20 members in the club this year. We
average about 2 squares per dance. We sponsored a plus class again this winter
with Jim Kooyer teaching, and graduated 6 plus dancers. 2 of them have joined
our club.
Prairie
Promenaders- Fargo(submitted by Hella Helfter)- The Prairie Promenaders
dance every first and third Friday of the month. Their normal dance location is
the Madison Community center in Fargo. On March 20, 2009 there was a conflict
and we danced at the Cash Wise Community Room. Cash Wise is a supermarket at
1401S. 33rd St. in Fargo. They have a large room in the back of the
store. Our April 4th dance had to be cancelled do to the flood. Our
club presidents are Jim and Dorothy Sanders, 703 S 15th Ave,
Moorhead, MN 56560 218-236-5146 jsandtigger@bellsouth.net
Saturday Fun Nite Club- Fargo (submitted by
Evelyn Clemens)- Saturday Fun Nite Club dances the second and fourth Saturday of
the month at the F-M Labor Temple Hall, at 3002 1st Ave. N in Fargo.
We have 20 paid members. Our dances have been small this past year, lucky if we
get one square, until the last 2 dances, we have had 3 squares with visitors
again. Our Christmas dances was on a stormy night and Jim Jirak was unable to
make it in so we had Mark Helfter call, but attendance was down to one and a
half squares and no visitors. A January dance with Dennis Van Asch, he cancelled
because of 30 below, so Jim Lizakowski was able to substitute. Our “Pie and Ice
cream” dance on March 28 had to be cancelled because of the flooding Red River
and Jim Jirak was also unable to come. Some of our dancers participated in the
“Herberger’s Community Days” on November 8 and also on February 28 in Moorhead.
Our dancer participated in the New Year’s Eve dance in Glyndon, sponsored by the
F-M dancer. Some of the dancers attended the benefit dance at Detroit Lakes on
February 15th for Pete Keller who lost his home in a fire in January.
We also “angeled” the class of 6 who graduated on January 6th at
CashWise Center, instructed by Roger McNeil and Jim Lizakowski, but they all
joined the new club L&M Squares, (L- izaowski & M-cNeil Squares).
L&M Squares- Fargo (submitted
by Peggy Moss)- L&M Squares officially became a club at its first dance on
January 13th, 2009. The club dances the second and fourth Tuesdays at
Cash Wise (Community Room), 1401 33rd St. SW, Fargo, ND. Pre- rounds
at 6:30 PM and Mainstream at 7 PM with 1 Plus tip during the evening. The club
callers are Roger McNeil and Jim Lizakowski and the cuer is Bernadette McNeil.
Elected officers are” President- Peggy Moss; Vice President- Clayton and Gloria
Brennan; Secretary/ Treasurer- Victoria Olson. L&M Squares currently has 32
members. Since January, the club member have been active as angels for ongoing
square and round dancing lessons; participated in demonstration; and in
friendship and fellowship have stolen 5 different club traveling banners. For
more information about L&M Squares please contact Peggy Moss at pjnorthpole@aol.com.
Dakota Ramblers (submitted by Sylvia Broeckel)-
The Dakota Ramblers have 15 couples at this time and an average of 8 to 12
campers at a campout. We are hosting the 2010 International and are traveling to
Saskatoon to do a demo and encourage the Canadians and Americans to keep this
festival alive. We have 5 campouts planned for the year and August is TBA soon.
We encourage all dancers at our dances and campouts. Hope the State Festival is
a success and keep dancing.
Jamestown Square Steppers (submitted by John and
Irene Walch)- President- North and Jo Trenda (701) 252- 6601; Vice President-
Elden and Mary England (701) 252- 2930; Sec./Treas.- Ruth and Richard Michaelson
(701) 952- 6078. The club dances the 3rd Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PM
at the community center 502 10th Ave. S with a lunch served. There
will be no dances in January and February 2010. The dances average 2 squares
thanks to visitors. There are 8 club members.
Northeast Directors- Tom and Marlene Miller (not
present)- Jeanette Calderwood presented a report from the Prairie Partners
Square Dance Club. The club has a paid up membership of 8 couples and 2 singles.
We have our dancing schedule startup in September on the 4th Saturday
at 7:30 to 10:00 PM. We dance on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays
during the fall. Our winter schedule starts at 2:00 to 4:30 PM in January,
February, and March. We go back to our spring schedule at 7:30 PM to 10:00 in
April and May. We have a fall festival in November with Larry Pfennig calling
the tips and Jerry Frye the rounds. December we have a Christmas dance a New
Year’s Eve dance.
We booked a
total of 14 dancers for the 2008- 09 schedule. We had to cancel 6 dances due to
extreme cold weather, snow storms, blocked roads, and floods. Two of the
cancellations included our Christmas dance and New Year’s Eve dance.
Our club dances are getting smaller
every year. Last fall, we only had 3 squares at our Fall Festival, which usually
has an average of 5 to 6 squares. Since then, we’ve had one to two squares
dancing.
With no club caller and
no callers in our area, not too many members left, and fewer people traveling,
it’s harder to keep going. We work with the Langdon Border Belles and Beaus and
try to support each other as they are our closest club.
Our dances are held at the Armory of the Memorial
Building or sometimes the Odd Fellows’ Hall. We’ve been asked to dance for our
Good Samaritans Nursing Home in Devils Lake the first week in May. Hopefully we
will be able to work something out, so we can at least entertain the elderly.
With another year like 2009, it’s
going to be hard to keep going. With expenses of callers, mileage, rent, and
fewer dancers, further miles to travel to a dance is going to be a challenge.
Also we don’t like to admit that the same ones dancing and traveling are a
little older! But we’re not giving up yet!
As we are working with our Langdon Border Belles and
Beaus Club for probably our biggest challenge yet, so “Join us again in 2010”
for the North Dakota State Convention.
Hopefully, there will be some answers or suggestion out
there to keep our few clubs that are left in the state going. We’re open to any
helpful suggestions we can get.
Gladys Bredeson reported from the Border Belles Beaus of
Langdon. They started their fall dancing in October. They had two dances a
month and had it at the American Legion in Langdon. The Christmas dance was
cancelled on account of weather. No dances in January, February, or March. At
the first dance in April, we had a donut dance from 10 to 12 AM. Other dances
are hat dance, crazy T- shirt dance, and jean dance. One to two squares at each
dance. Lunch is always served. During the dance we have a line dance, round
dance, and sometimes a waltz. Our people have fun.
Report
received from Millers after the convention: The club here has had a hard time
maintaining a full schedule for the past couple of years. Our biggest concern
is lack of dancers and of course losing our callers that are here and close by
doesn’t help the outlook.
We have
held five of six of our dance in the current schedule, but through the winter
we’ve had to close the doors due to snowbird migration.
Some of our last dances have been to records. Usually
there is one or two squares to make up our crowd.
We have a dance scheduled for the 4th of May,
a T-shirt dance. Marlene and I have enjoyed our time at square dancing, but it
seems like the writing is on the wall. We have square danced for 37 years of
good fun.
Convention
2009- Report given by Vernon Laning- The 57th annual North Dakota
State square and Round Dance and Clogging Convention is in full swing at the ND
Amvets club in Bismarck with 144 registered participants. We had 123 pre-
registrations including 25 Cloggers and 98 square dancers. There may still be
some additional walk- ins today, but the final numbers will have to be reported
later. The convention opened on April 24th, 2009, with ND attorney
General Wayne Stenehjem giving a very nice talk on square dancing in general and
some specifies on the efforts in 1995 to make square dancing the official
American Folk Dance of ND. All the State Association meetings were moved to the
Amvets Club rather than the headquarters Motel due to some unexpected financial
risks if there had not been enough room rented at the motel. The advance
registrations and reservations are very important in planning these events but
the changes have been manageable. The after party activities and cleanup are
scheduled to begin at the Amvets Club following the last dances at 10:30
PM.
Convention 2010-
Don and Jeanette Calderwood- The 2010 State Square Convention is now officially
underway. It took a lot of thought, challenging, and convincing from around the
state to get the Prairie Partners of Devils Lake and the help of the Border
Belles and Beaus of Langdon to take on “I think one of our biggest challenges of
the clubs to say yes we will do it.”
We debated right up to the last minute. It wasn’t hard to
find the place. It was the help, and without the help of our Border Belles and
Beaus and the cooperation and help from our Prairie Partners we probably
wouldn’t have been able to do it. We waited until our snow birds returned to say
‘Yes, we can!’ The Memorial Building in Devils Lake will be our official
Dancing- Square, Round, and Clogging and meeting place. It will be all newly air
and heating conditioned and ready to go. The motels are booked, and we’ll have
the town ready for an overflow of dancers.
After our demo tonight, the registration booth will be
open, and we challenge everyone, from north, south, east, and west to all come
to Devils Lake and “Join us again in 2010”.
We again want to acknowledge Harlan and Gladys as the
demo was thought, written, and produced by them. We rounded up six couples
between the two clubs to perform. We’ll see you in Devils Lake!
Old Business- The Annual Fee to register as a non-profit
organization with the Secretary of State has been paid by Dennis Wetzel the past
years. We reimbursed Dennis $10 for 2008 and paid $10 in 2009.
New Business- Marlan Sorenson
presented a bill of $46.38 for officers badges (bars) for 2009- 2010. Rose Hall
made a motion to pay this bill, and Vernon Laning seconded it.
Merrill Braaten made a motion to pay Ray Hall $300
for the Prairie Squares website, seconded by Rosella Vanek.
Art Bakken made the motion to adjourn the meeting,
seconded by Judi Bakken.
Respectfully Submitted,
Carlyle and Sally Hillstrom
Secretary