From the discussion of the members present, there is no desire to disband the club.  Members want to continue to dance.  Several members expressed the opinion that we should hold a Plus and Advanced workshops for the fall season, and possibly a Zero-to-Plus class if we can get enough interest.  A committee of Paul Brown, Joe Iser, Harlan Kerr, and Steve Huggins has been formed to explore locations and our club’s program moving forward.

As an aside, Steve Huggins has found out that Monday nights at Forest Hill Christian Church is available, and I have directed him to hold on to it temporarily until we explore Castro locations.  Since Western Star Dancers was forced to move to Thursday nights, we are looking at either Mondays or Tuesdays for our dance nights.  Tuesday, though, would mean that we would lose Harlan as our regular caller, as he has a commitment calling with Diablo Dancers in Martinez.

We want to hear from you!  Feedback from members is vital to ensure survival, health, and growth of Foggy City Dancers.

• 3/9 Michael Levy
• 3/26 Frank Biafore

The memorial service will be held at Saint Gregory of Nyssa, 500 DeHaro Street in Potrero Hill.

Please contact Michael Gitt for more information.  Michael is also seeking out photographs, both paper and electronic, for a memorial slideshow.  If you have any photographs of George, please send them to Michael ASAP.

“Like most of the beginners, I’d gone there simply to find out if I might enjoy calling; I’d thought I might one day like to teach, and really considered equipping myself for that to be my main goal. Yet I came away totally enthused about calling anything and everything, as and when I find the opportunities and have developed enough to do so. The teaching staff quite simply inspired me with their passion, talent and commitment.

“Twenty-seven hours of classes in three days is quite an intense experience, the more so because you’re there precisely to be given as much feedback as you can get, to go away knowing what you’ll need to do to become a better, more experienced caller.

“Since Caller School, I’ve been very fortunate to have been offered a number of guest tips by other local callers. My goals are to really get into the nitty-gritty of sight calling the various programs (scary!) and slowly work up to being able to call my first full night. Fingers crossed!”

“My friend, Duane Flohra, introduced me to square dancing; and I’m glad he did,” she explained. “Dancing gives us a chance to visit during the week—which is nice.

“I didn’t attend the convention. Maybe next year! I did go to a fly-in in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in May 2007. My family lives close by, and I was visiting the area to attend a cousin’s wedding. It was the first time that my family has seen me dance. It was a lot of fun, and I plan to do it again next year.

“I attended The Stumptown Stomp the last two years, and have had a blast. In fact, last year at Stumptown was when the calls jelled for me with Mainstream. I try to go to as many dances as possible in order to strengthen my dancing skills.

“I really enjoy dancing with Foggy City. You guys are the greatest!”

Thursday evening was the first official event I attended, and the first chance to get on the floor: the Trail-In dance. My dancing skills felt unusually rusty as I danced with strangers for the first time and got used to new callers and a different type of floor. I left the dance feeling both elated over being there and worried about my skills. The elation lasted the entire convention; the worry was needless.

The next day, dancing started in earnest and I started to feel a lot more comfortable. Each level had its own room, so it was easy to either challenge myself, or hang back a bit in the Mainstream room. After a good amount of foot stomping, meeting all kinds of new people, and having great fun trying the different levels, it was time to get ready for the Grand March. Wow! It was really inspiring to see all the clubs with their uniforms marching to line up for the group picture, and I was starting to understand why it is so important to attend convention!

Then, there were the specialty tips. I attended the Bear Tip, which is traditionally shirtless. What fun seeing all that fur dancing! The first full day ended with the hilarious Honky Tonk Queen contest—seeing our own Harlan in drag was a pleasure I did not expect! The creativity of the costumes, with light-up boobs, roller skates and twirly tassels was amazing!

The next day’s danc-ing was interrupted only by the dinner Banquet. There were a lot of announcements as we ate, and presentation of some awards. I had no idea there are people who have been to every convention since the first one back in 1983, but now I understood how this community is about so much more than a recreational pursuit.

Later I attended the Leather Tip, showing off my new leather shorts and dancing in my harness. Ouch! Talk about pinched skin…. I might leave the harness behind next year!

Later in the night was the secretive Moonshine Tip, done in the nude. Everyone was asked to leave the room while it was prepared: tape was put over all openings (door cracks, etc) so the hotel staff and curious non-participants couldn’t see in. We filed into the room, being patted down or cameras or other recording devices. Everyone squared up like normal, then came the command from the caller, once the doors were locked: “Strip!”

It happened so fast it was comical! Everyone’s clothes just flew off and we were back squared up like normal. This was the hardest (no, not that kind of “hard”) tip for me to dance because it was so difficult to concentrate with several very well endowed guys in other squares. I wanted to watch, but had to dance… argh! Then, like a mirage, and almost as quickly as it appeared, the room full of naked dancers was dressed and filing out of the room, leaving only the memory of bouncing mammaries and swinging testes.

The next day brought more dancing followed by the closing ceremony. It was great to see everybody in one huge room again, this time saying “Goodbye” to new friends and making plans to meet up again at the next convention.