The White Falcon - 24.09.1971, Blaðsíða 9

Midnight Sun-Downers
o
Vr
Tonight starts a weekend of ac-
tivity for the Midnight Sun-down-
ers square dance club, denoting
theworld-wide observanceof Square
Dance Week.
The local club will be spending
a couple of hours in the early
ening touring the base aboard a
ckf stopping to dance along the
ray. So don't be surprised if you
see them dancing in your area.
Tomorrow at 7 p.m.in the elem-
entary school the Sun-downers will
host an open house to all aboard
the station to come on out and
have a good time. There will be
light refreshments to go along
with this double-barrel celebra-
tion. The club, in addition to
celebrating Square Dance Week, is
also celebrating its first birth-
day.
A little over a year ago, an
ad appeared in the White Falcon
callingfor all who were interest-
ed in square dancing. This ad was
Chuck McDonald, the instructor
for the current square dance pro-
gram, has been calling and teach-
ing since 1964.
His experience
includes sever-
a 1 festivals
and conventions
where he was a
featured caller
and calling and
teaching for
clubs i n the
Midwest before
coming to Kef-
lavik last May. He was the ori-
ginal caller for the Midnight
when the club formed
year. The first class for
club graduated 67 new dancers
November.
WHITE FALCON
placed by TSgt.Hubert "Top" Tims,
and got immediate results. First
of all, caller Chuck McDonald re-
sponded. He had only recently
reported to Keflavik for duty. A
few more interested couples re-
sponded, but did not know how to
dance. That was no problem, they
would learn. Then three couples
of experienced dancers responded,
and with their help, the entire
group set aboutthe tasksof laying
the groundwork for the operation
of a club. The name Midnight Sun-
downers was selected and the first
class started. By November, after
only 12 lessons, the first class
graduated,numbering 67 enthusias-
tic square dancers. This brought
the total of dancers to 80.
The Sun-downers have not been
idle since their start. They have
put on public performances at all
the clubs, joined a USO show that
was playing locally, provided a
scoreboard for the Little League
baseball field, and danced at the
entrance to the Navy Exchange —
one time in below-zero weather.
Says club president Ron Markus,
"You have to be dedicated, enthu-
siastic or a downright square
dance nut to do things like that."
In addition, the Sun-downers
provided a fish dinner and danc-
ing demonstrations at last year's
PTO Halloween Carnival, which was
highly successful. It was this
feat that put square dancing in
the public limelight here at the
naval station to stay. The club
plans a booth and demonstration
at the upcoming carnival on Oct.
30.
Why square dance? Some people
believe it's good exercise with-
out getting too strenuous. Others
go for the friendly atmosphere
found at any dance activity. The
dancers all wear club badges so
they are recognizable even to a
stranger — who doesn't remain a
stranger long.
Some say square dancing came
to the U. S. on the Mayflower.
Actually, today's modem square
dancing evolved from European
folk dances— many movements sur-
viving hundreds of years of trans-
lation and transliteration, and
in fact did go to the U.S. during
colonization in the 16th and 17th
centuries.
Square dancing also survived
the wild-west era where drunken
brawls were the rule rather than
the exception. Today, drinking
is not allowed during the dance,
and discouraged before the dance.
In short, it's an activity
dedicated to group participation,
lively, entertaining and just
good healthful fun set to the
beat of music.
Jack Mills, assigned temporary
additional duty as club caller,
came to Keflavik with VP-49, and
provided a wel-
come relief for
Chuck McDonald
who had been
holding both
positions a s
club caller and
class instruc-
tor. Jack has
called one night
stands on the
East coast and
is relatively new to the calling
profession. He has been a bless-
ing to the Sun-downers because
hehad newer dance material avail-
able. Jack will continue his call-
ing career when he returns home.
9