The Ghillies Gazette - Summer 2003

The President's Pen

April and May: We must be having a great time because time is flying! It seems like we've been dealing with one social function right after another! In April we instituted the in-class social for Tuesday and Thursday class members. Cynde Jennings and Bill Galloway did a bang-up job with the first one, a great dance program and good refreshments at the conclusion of the evening. Daniel Blumentritt volunteered to prepare the dance program for May, Kate Walker for June, Diane Nousanan for July, and Kathleen Coffey for August.

At our first Saturday night social we had a total of fifteen dancers,three of whom were teens,plus Torf,the music-man. One of the teens was heard to comment, "with fewer teens present, the pressure was less, because the adults didn't care whether they got everything right or not." We adults will take that as a compliment because we had fun, too.

We've had quite a few celebrations in the last couple of months. We wish Marty Livingston and Kym Jurjevic many years of happiness after their wedding on April 26. Daniel Blumentritt celebrated his 18th birthday and graduation on May 24 and Bill Galloway turned in grades for his last class. He's retiring from teaching, but not from his other professional responsibilities. Congratulations to you all.

Roger LaPrelle is recovering from hip surgery April 22 to remove the steel plate he's had since he broke his hip several years ago. He said healing seems to be taking longer than it did seven years ago when he broke his hip. Maybe he thinks he's getting younger every year so it will take less time. Alas...

June: We had successful dancing at the highland games in Arlington the first weekend in June. Friday evening Arthur and Gillian McLean, Kathleen Coffey and Jorgen Harmse made it in time for dancing to the music of Hugh Morrison, a Scottish accordion player now living in Houston. We had two sets, experienced dancers and newcomers, for most dances. The music really made the dances a lot more lively and fun. Saturday afternoon we had a bunch of teen and pre-teen fiddlers play for audience participation dancing. Thanks to Kathleen and Jorgen for coming by in time to help with that. Again, we had about two sets with a fair number of beginners eager to participate. Seems like everyone had a good time at both events. I was really surprised to see Cynde using a tartan sling Friday evening in Arlington. She said she had broken a bone in her hand the day before. I hope Roger is being a good nurse [well, of course!] and that she's soon mended so they can both return to dancing.

Thanks to Daniel Blumentritt for doing a bang-up job at the May in-class social. He had a great program and did a wonderful job of persuading people to bring delicious snacks for after dancing. Also congratulations to Daniel on his graduation and 18th birthday, all on the same day! Found out recently he cracked his skull playing football - but he's recovering nicely. We certainly don't want any knowledge to leak out through the crack when he starts UT in the fall.

Congratulations to Cynde Jennings on her graduation from massage therapy school June 14. If you haven't had one of her massages, have her give you one. She's wonderful! Just the thought of a good foot and leg massage after a hard night of dancing is enough to almost give one goose bumps...

More congratulations are in order - to Nathan Margason, VP of ASCDS, for receiving the Bob Blackie Memorial Scholarship to TAC summer school. This is the same scholarship Wade won several years ago. Nathan, we're very proud of you!

Bill Smith, one of the founding members of ASCDS who now lives in California, was a special guest at the Saturday evening social, June 14. Bill, his daughter Shirley and son-in-law Adam were in the Austin/Wimberley area to visit friends so we had a small reception before the dancing began. Bill is disappointed he doesn't have a group close enough that he can join them easily, but he hasn't forgotten how to dance. He danced John McAlpin like he had been practicing all week! None of the teens were present for the event so the numbers were a little smaller, but Steve Monson had prepared a very enjoyable program and we all had a good time. I especially thank Kathleen Coffey for serving as a clean-up committee of one.

Since July has five Tuesdays and we'll be on vacation the last one, we're having our in-class social on July 22. Diane Nousanen has agreed to prepare the program for this event, and Kathleen Coffey agreed to do the program for August 26. After August, we need people to devise the program and organize the talk-thrus. Talk to any of the people who have put programs together. I think you'll discover it's really not difficult to do and gives you a sense of accomplishment once it's done.

Several people are doing bits for the publicity effort, but we can always use more help. Think about organizations to which you belong and where you could post flyers about ASCDS classes. It's pretty easy once you think about it.

How many saw the article in the newspaper about the study concerning mental breakdown in old age? It did agree that stimulating the mind can ward off Alzheimer's disease and other dementia. But here's the best part - "The study also took physical exercise into account. Nearly all physical activities, including stair climbing and group exercise, appeared to offer no protection against dementia. The only exception was frequent dancing...." Good news for us so KEEP ON DANCING!!!!

Sarah

Demo Team News

Tartan Day

The teens presented a demo in the Capitol Rotunda in celebration of Tartan Day on Friday, April 4th, 2003. The teens (and post-teens) who danced were Amanda Barney, Judith Barney, Mercy Barney (all cousins), Andrea, Daniel, and Susan Blumentritt, Charity, Jacob, and Kayla Boaz, Jamie Boyd, Hannah and Joshua Christianson, Amanda and Christina Davis, Alicia Depwe, Elizabeth Doyle, Angela, Bethany, Joel and Jonathan Dunn, Kate and Maggie Ligon, Kat McFerren, and Miss Sarah. We danced St. Andrews Fair/Town Lake Reel Medley, De'il Amang the Tailors, Round Reel of Eight, and we finished off with Triumph. It was a great and very enjoyable demo. We had a number of new dancers, and even more dancers for whom this was the first time they had danced at the Capitol. Everyone rose to the occasion and presented a wonderful demonstration. Many thanks to Miss Sarah, who organized and taught us all, and to Torf, who was in charge of the music, and was the MC for the event. Thank you! Everyone came together to make it a great demo.

We also had a great show of teens at the 6th annual Bluebonnet Ball in San Antonio on April 5th. This was the first ball for Amanda Barney, Anne Barney, and Mercy Barney. Congratulations! We all had a really great time!

Andrea Blumentritt

Dr. Ken Liechti, Pipe Major of the Silver Thistle Pipes and Drums, made an appearance at Tartan Day as well!

Killeen

The Demonstration Team, comprising Shelley Aggeler, Jane Downer, Jorgen Harmse, Cynde Jennings, Wade Harper, Nathan Margason, Diane Nousanen, and Jamie Boyd, led by Sarah Harriman and joined by Mike Downer, danced at the Celebrate Killeen Festival on a bright but windy and unseasonably cool day in late March. The children singing ahead of us dashed off stage and put on their jackets as soon as they were released. Nathan had forgotten his shoes and the spare pair offered by Mike was too small. Fortunately Jamie was able to dance in Mike's shoes and her shoes were less uncomfortable for Nathan. We danced on the concrete stage without incident, and to a good reception. Most of us even remembered to remove our sunglasses. Afterwards we sampled food from Guam, the Philippine Islands, and other exotic locations. We also had real root beer and learned about the management of sassafras trees and the extraction of the oil from their roots.

Jorgen

Announcements

27^th Annual St. Andrews Ball

The Austin Scottish Country Dance Society is proud to announce the 27^th annual St. Andrews Ball, to be held Saturday and Sunday, December 6 and 7, 2003. Music will be provided by the Scottish Country Dance Band of Renown - Music Makars! This year's ball will once more be held at the St. Paul's Lutheran School Fellowship Hall, 3407 Red River St. in Austin. The dance program is available online.

The Teachers' Association (Canada) is holding its 31^st TAC Summer School at St. Jerome's University in Waterloo,Ontario, July 27 through August 3. Instructors for this summer's session are Sandy Bain - Mt. Hope, Ontario, Helen Frame - Irvine, Scotland, and Gail Michener - Picture Butte, Alberta.

Dance Socials

ASCDS Dance Socials are listed in the Calendar as information is received. Check back often for updates.

Dancers from all SCD classes and groups (if I missed inviting anyone, please extend the invitation for me) are invited to the July 11, Friday night social at the Ballroom in the Sky, 7:30 pm. Tim Harrison is MC for the evening.

In Class Socials

In Class Socials are the last Tuesday of each month
7:00-9:30
The Thursday class is invited to attend
Class members will prepare the programs.

Volunteers are:
July 22 - Diane Nousanan
August 26 - Kathleen Coffey
September 29 - No volunteer yet

Months with no volunteer will be class as usual

Here are some guidelines to use in preparing a social program:

Program should be about 12 dances long with a balance of jigs, reels and strathspeys
Include the dance(s) of the month
Repeat about 1/3 (or more) of the dances from last month
Have program available for publication on the web page by the first of the month

Here are some suggestions for finding suitable dances:

Friday night social programs
Upcoming socials and balls in other cities
Texas 100
Torf has a list of dances danced in class and will help with the music

Dances of the Month

July

Level 1c - Linton Ploughman
Levels 2&3 - Ian Powrie's Farewell to Auchterarder

August

Level 1c - Seann Truibhas Willichan
Levels 2&3 - Red House (RSCDS Core Dance)

September

Levels 1c - No Dance of the Month
Level 2&3 - Moment of Truth (Ball)

News from Around the State and Country

Dallas

The Dallas Scottish Dancers are busy as usual the spring and summer training new dancers, preparing for the myriad public appearances we do, partying at least once a month (and more if any opportunity presents), and in general having a good time. We will NOT be hosting a ball at Salado this year after all, but there WILL be a Hogmanay party up here in Dallas (Dec 31st) if anyone would care to join us.
Hutchy

Dallas Scottish Country Dancers
www.dallas-scd.org.

Houston

Scottish Country Dancing and More - Houston Texas
News for April thru June, 2003:
Visitors from Canada, Lubbock and the Seattle area have danced with us. Some new dancers have become 'regulars,' including Rebecca and Drew Roberts. The group experimented with writing a dance as a group (The Butterfly Reel). Bobbie Jo Walker has moved to San Antonio and we hope she'll join the group there. On occasion, live music has been provided by Hugh Morrison. We enjoyed performing at the Houston Highland Games to wonderful live music by Hugh Morrison and Threadneedle Street and included the dance "The Twinkle in Her Eye" written by Margo and Mike Miller of Dallas in memory of Angie Kloeker. Our dances in May and June included dances from the Santa Fe Ball program and the RSCDS June 28 social. Several of us attended and enjoyed the Santa Fe Ball and Workshop. Rebecca Roberts presented a ceilidh evening June 18 while I was in Santa Fe. Some new features on the website include a monthly calendar page (in hope of shortening the newsletter) and a site index and overview. We dance Wednesdays, 7 to 10 p.m.
New Dancers Welcome - No Partners Needed - No Prior Experience Needed
Families welcome (children must be accompanied by parent/guardian). $5 for those 14 and over; $2.50 those under 14; $15 maximum per family.
Location: Oddfellows Hall, 115 E. 14th St. (Heights), Houston, Texas
website: home.att.net/~diannashipman
Dianna Shipman 713 522 1212
and to subscribe to the email newsletter: diannashipman@att.net.

New York

The New York Branch invites all experienced dancers to SUMMERDANCE XIV, a fundraising dance at the United Naitons General Assembly Lobby, First Avenue and 45th Street, for UNICEF on Saturday, August 2, 2003. See the New York Branch website for details and programs at http://www.rscdsnewyork.org. Come to dance at the UN in Manhattan, or send in your much needed and appreciated contributions. For dance notes and your contribution of $15.00, contact Sheila Wilson at 212-744-1470 or email: info@rscdsnewyork.org.

The Jeannie Carmichael Ball and Sunday Brunch will take place at the Thayer Hotel, West Point, NY, on November 1, 2003. Music by Muriel Johnstone and Alasdair Fraser. Contact: Sheila Wilson at 212-744-1470 or email: info@rscdsnewyork.org.

Sally Freedman,
Corresponding Secretary
RSCDS New York Branch
info@rscdsnewyork.org.

Events

Current and upcoming events are listed in the ASCDS Calendar. If you have events you want publicized, send them in an e-mail to Roger LaPrelle.

The Austin SCD E-mail Group

If you want to send an announcement to the AustinSCD eGroup, email the message to AustinSCD@yahoogroups.com as if you are addressing the entire group. The message will be sent, exactly as it appears, to everyone in the eGroup, if it is approved by the moderator (Tim Harrison). Most messages are approved.

You can join the eGroup to receive email message announcements of interest to SCDers in the Austin area by sending an email message to AustinSCD-subscribe@yahoogroups.com from the email address at which you want to receive announcements.

The Ghillies Gazette

Permission is granted for other nonprofit organizations to reprint articles appearing in this newsletter with credit to the appropriate author(s) and The Ghillies Gazette, Austin Scottish Country Dance Society (ASCDS), Austin, Texas, USA.

The Ghillies Gazette is e-mailed to students enrolled in ASCDS sponsored dance classed, SCD teachers, SCD organization contacts in Texas, and newsletter editors of nonprofit organizations that provide a reciprocal newsletter. If you fall into one of these categories and are not receiving the newsletter, please contact Roger LaPrelle.