Upcoming Dances: Did you think that with summer gone, the dancing would all go away? If you did, you were very wrong! With the new dance at Eastside, there's dancing almost every weekend in Huntsville. Plus, there's lots more going on not too far away in at least three directions. If I got this to you in time, our Halloween Dance is coming up real soon, on Friday, October 28. Fred Beckett will be calling to the music of Jackie and Karyn Burgess and friends. Costumes are encouraged, but not required. Saturday night is the Birmingham Halloween Dance, where Jackie & Karyn will be playing again, as part of Run Mountain, which also includes Mike Norred of Anniston, Mark Johnson of Clay, and our own Karen Falkowski. Joyce Cauthen, Stephen Guesman, and Jef Hodge will be calling. This will be a costume affair, and they ask that you at least wear a mask. There will be a party afterward for true creatures of the night. Sunday afternoon you can run up to Chattanooga for dancing to the calling of Dennis Edmiston and the tunes of the Fletcher Bright Fiddle Band. They'll be at the Tyner Recreation Center from 3-6PM (the regular last Sunday time & spot). Or to really dance the whole weekend, there is Nashville's annual Halloween Weekend. Cis Hinkle will be calling to the music of Uncle Gizmo. From there to Chattanooga and home would be quite a weekend!
For November, local activities start off with a NACDS sponsored dance for the Home School Association on Friday, November 4. If you would be interested in helping out with the dance, call David or Jennifer Eason at 536-9805. Harry Delugach will be calling both Friday night and the following Saturday, November 5, at the new regular dance at Eastside Community Center. Bob and Cathy White, with Steve Tucker, Calvin Mintor, and possibly others will be playing. Bob, Cathy, Steve, and Kurt Lewis will be playing the following Saturday up at the Burritt, where Fred Beckett will be calling. Harry will be with Lykitor Knot the next Friday at the Huntsville Folk Dancers Dance. Then the next weekend, it's back to the Burritt for the regular Friday dance!
If you're willing to travel, there are dances in November in Chattanooga, Birmingham, and Nashville that don't even conflict with ours! Check out the schedule, and don't forget the dances every Friday night in Nashville which don't make the schedule because they are so regular.
New Dance: The first dance at Eastside was excellent. Good sound, good floor, good calling, good band, indoor plumbing, and room for the kids inside. Who could ask for more? The good crowd we had (over 5 squares worth!) didn't even start to pack the hall, and with the band in the middle the size isn't overwhelming. It's nice to have room to grow! Special thanks to Chuck Weber and Harry Delugach as chief instigators, organizers, and, respectively, band leader and caller. Also, thanks to Fred Beckett for tweaking the sound system into the proper form, to Amanda Kay for organizing the greeting table, and to everyone else who helped make it happen. Everyone who comes helps make it happen, and keep happening. Support your community dances!
In our cups: Amanda Kay wants to thank everyone who brought yogurt cups for the dances. Having them has cut down on litter at dances. We have plenty of cups for the time being, so no need to bring more. Please use the yogurt cups for water, and return them at the end of the dance. It's an environmentally friendly thing to do.
Volunteers needed: At the Eastside Dance we want to have a greeting table with a smiling person behind it to meet newcomers, answer questions, take donations, hand out name tags, post announcements, and other such good things. At the first dance, Amanda Kay did a wonderful job of arranging for those smiling faces to be there in such a way that no one had to miss much dancing. However, since Amanda is already involved with teaching beginners workshop and keeping track of errant yogurt cups, she would be glad to give up responsibility for this table to some other intrepid volunteer. If you are interested, call Amanda at 883-7453. If you just want to help with greeting, I'm sure you could call her, and she'd be happy to pass your name along to her replacement.
I'm planning to focus the next few months of my life on getting a Dissertation done, and so would be interested in transferring editorial duties for this newsletter to some other fortunate soul. If I could find someone by February, I'd even be willing to pick it back up at the end of a year. What a deal! Let me know if you're interested (phone below).
Names and Faces
new: Ben Ferrill 1921 Vanderbilt Circle Huntsville AL 35801 205-536-3891 Gail Christian 199 Lemley Circle New Hope AL 35760 205-723-2879 MaryAnn & Andy Gay 105 Wilson Cowan TN 37318 615-967-9075 Andy plays Uillean Pipes, Mandolin, Irish Whistle, and Guitar Gary Gilino 816 Graycroft Dr. Huntsville AL 35802 615-883-7076 Teresa O'Malley 2513 Waltham Dr Huntsville AL 35811 205-533-7564 Anne Thomas 5607 Alta Dena Dr. SW Huntsville AL 35802 205-883-5490
Newsletter subscriptions or renewals are still a mere $6.00 a year, and can be sent to me, or paid at the dance. Comes with $1.00 discount on the regular dances! Checks can be made out either to me, or to NACDS. If mailing, please send to the address below, with any address correction and a phone number.
North Alabama Country Dance Society
Bryan Walls 4204 Holmes Ave NW Huntsville, AL 35816 (256)837-0656 bwalls@pobox.com