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2009-2010 |
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Tualatin Valley Council Officers |
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Tualatin Valley Council |
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Square Dancing is friendship and fun put to music |
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Taking a quote from The Loin King, there seems to be a “Circle of Life”. Veleta’s days of square dancing started as a young mother and wife. Her husband and Veleta needed an outlet for some personal time without babies and they were fortunate to have a mom who agreed to care for the children. They took square dance lessons in Beaverton with the Lads and Plaids Club and the young callers name was George Clark. With much enthusiasm and patience on George’s part they became full fledged members of a great club. All went great until about 1975 her husband hurt his back and they stopped dancing. |
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Later after her husband died she found herself not doing anything and someone suggested that there was a square dance club in Hillsboro that allows singles so she took lessons again, and found a friendly welcoming group of people. She has danced with the Sunset Promenaders for the last ten years, and has been active as secretary, TVC delegate, and felt honored this year when asked to be nominated and then elected president of the TVC. She is impressed with the wonderful group of square dancers, so many people step forward and offer their time and talent so that dancers can enjoy “Square Dancing”. So back to her “Circle of Life”; square dancing she started to save her sanity as a young mother and now it is saving her life by keeping her healthy with exercise and new social interest in all the dancers she meets; and she is again occasionally dancing to that same George Clark and still with much enthusiasm. |
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Judy started dancing in 1992; she walked into the Bachelor ’N’ Bachelorettes Square Dance Club (B & Bs) not knowing a single person. She was welcomed with open arms and after the first lesson she was totally in love with square dancing. She joined the club, became active in the club, and was secretary for a couple of years. Another singles club started called The Recycles and she joined, was secretary, and then president off and on for four years. Then she found a square dance partner and they now dance with the Toe Draggers, so she joined the club and has been the secretary for two years and has helped out on many activities that the club does as a club. Now being the president for the TVC this year is something new for her and she is doing well and enjoying it too. |
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Alternate State Delegate: Gary (Joyce) Clark |
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Gary Clark started square dancing in southern California in 1970 at a club sponsored by General Dynamics with other employees. He held all of the offices at least once with that club and was President for the last two years before he moved to Oregon. He even took his daughter through lessons and danced with her part of the time. After moving to Oregon, he dropped out of dancing for a few years while he concentrated on raising his family and keeping up with |
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the work on the farm. In 1985 he decided to get back to dancing and found the Sunset Promenaders and soon rejoined the fun of dancing. In 1986 Joyce finally agreed to take lessons from her step-dad Mel Canby, the Sunset Promenaders’ caller. She was a single mom and her mother Ruth who is the Sunset Promenaders’ cuer found a partner to take Joyce through lessons. Joyce dropped out of mainstream lessons with just a month to go to take plus lessons from Harold Kleve and also learned to waltz from her mother during this time. When Joyce finally attended her first real Sunset Promenaders dance Gary asked her to dance on the very first tip. After about a year of dancing together and with other partners, Gary and Joyce decided they were a perfect team. At the club beach trip in 1989, members staged a surprise “Shotgun Wedding” for them which may have been what led them to team up for life with a real wedding in 1990. They were married on a Sunday right after church and then went (where else?) to a square dance in McMinnville. Ruth had notified the club they were coming so the Red Garter Squares staged a square dance wedding reception complete with decorations and a cake. Since the wedding Gary and Joyce have been active members of the Sunset Promenaders holding many offices and doing whatever they could for the good of dancing and their club. Together they have served a total of eleven years as president of the Promenaders. Gary has also served two years as vice-president, two years as president, and now two years as past-president in the Tualatin Valley Council, plus various committees jobs. Being a team, Joyce is always there with him doing whatever is necessary to get it done. Together Joyce and Gary were the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee for the 2005 National Square Dance Convention in Portland. They also served as Chairman of the 2007 Summer Oregon Square Dance Festival in Seaside. |
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Mary T. and her husband John “caught the square dance bug” at a community college demo in 1975. They began to dance with the Mulino Swing Who’s – enjoying the community and their caller Joyce Buzzard. They had to take a break from square dancing, when they worked for one year in Iran and when raising their three children. They joined the Hillsboro Hoedowns in 1979 – but their busy work schedule in the educational arena sidelined them again until their retirement in 2007.
Once again dancing with the Hoedowners, they have kept busy with PLUS and Round Dance lessons and serving as Visitation Chairs. In between dances, John and Mary T. actively recruit new Hoedowners when they paddle with their Dragon Boat team, ride with their bike club, attend church, and meet plant and garden aficionados around the area.
Their motto is: "A Lifetime of Dancing - A Lifetime of Friends" |
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To email council officers click on their name in the green text box. |
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Council Officers |