A STORY FOR ALL DANCERS, CALLERS AND CUERS
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Once upon a time, in the deep dark reaches of British Columbia, there was a
Northern Region of dancers and their leaders. In this Region, they twirled
and promenaded happily for years but as time went on they grew fewer in
numbers and began to struggle to keep their clubs going. They needed someone
in the province to speak out about dancing and to help reestablish an interest
in their hobby.
The Northern Region had been told that there was an organization called the
British Columbia Square and Round Dance Federation and that its reason for
existing was to "preserve, promote and perpetuate square, round, contra,
clogging and other related dance forms in the province of British Columbia."
Although this seemed like a wonderful goal, it was believed that all members
of this organization lived in an uncaring kingdom on the other side of the
canyon. The Northern Region dancers knew little else about them. In fact it
was even rumored by some that the Federation was led by the Wicked Witch of
the West and her evil minions! No one knew for sure if this rumor was true
and as they sent their Federation dues in each year, the Northern Region
members were full of doubt about the usefulness of this Federation
organization. Everyone grumbled a lot.
Living in one of the towns of the Northern Region, was a dance leader and his
lady who grumbled right along with the rest of the Region members. Everyone felt
that the BCS&RDF was only interested in dancers in the Kingdom of the Lower
Mainland. They didn't seem to have any interest in the Northern Region's
problems, they didn't communicate with Region members, and they certainly didn't
offer financial help as the Region clubs struggled to stay afloat. Then came
the day when the leaders of the Northern Region drafted a letter to the BCS&RDF
saying as much.
In spite of the Region grumbling at them, the Federation took their concerns to
heart. The next year, the President, her Secretary, and their spouses made the
long journey north through the dark, scary canyon to meet with Regional
representatives and to listen to their concerns. The Northern Region greatly
appreciated this effort. They realized that it had taken a lot of time for
these people to travel to the North and also that although some of their costs
were covered, they had a lot of out-of-pocket expenses.
A good meeting was held but in the end the Northern folks still felt some
dissatisfaction with the answers given to their questions. The president, (not
the Wicked Witch of the West, by the way ) had made it perfectly clear that the
Federation could not work well in isolation. They needed more participation,
communication, and support from the dancing community. They needed more people
to volunteer to become delegates and executive members and to give input in
the decision making process. They needed more positive ideas and fewer negative
ones.
When the summer came, it was proclaimed throughout the land that the Federation
was to hold its Annual General Meeting at a location in the Central Region.
The Northern Region dance leader and his lady decided that instead of grumbling
negatively, they should find out more about the BCS&RDF and see if they could
help. They bravely mounted their steeds and travelled across the mountains to
the Federation meeting as the caller delegates for their region. Somewhat to
their surprise, they came home as the second vice president couple of the BCS&RDF.
Now they had the great task of learning what the Federation was, what it's goals
were, who did what job, why some of the decisions were made, and what they could
do to help.
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I wish that I could say that the story ended
here and everyone lived Happily Ever After, but in fact the adventure had just
begun for us and the ending has yet to be determined. We did discover that
although the BCS&RDF receives a lot of support around the province, there
were a great many in the dance community who had the same questions on their
minds as we did. In fact, one Federation member and her association wrote a
letter asking for someone to "step up to the plate" and answer these
questions.
In an effort to do so, I would like to share
with you the things we have done and discovered in our first year and a half
as Second Vice President Couple of the Federation. I do not officially speak
for anyone as I do this. I only wish to share our experiences with you in the
hope that it will provide you with some of the answers that you seek. If you
are one of those who want to know what the Federation does, why they need to
raise their fees, why we need a Federation, please stay with me and read my
thoughts below.
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WHO ARE THE FEDERATION EXECUTIVE
MEMBERS ANYWAY?
As we started our job as Second Vice President
Couple, the first thing we wanted to discover was just who were the current
BCS&RDF executive members making decisions that affect dancers around the
province. We learned that they certainly didn't represent only the interests
of the Lower Mainland, as we had been led to believe. On the executive, there
are now members from Vancouver Island, Central B.C., Northern B.C. as well as
the Lower Mainland. A wide range of interests are represented by this
group.
We also discovered that each one of the current executive members allowed
their name to stand for office when no one else would! If they had not
volunteered to do the Federation work, the provincial voice for square dancing
would have died. We all need to keep this fact in mind - they are not
professional politicians- they are volunteers doing their best to help
our hobby survive. In fact, you couldn't find a group more determined to
promote dancing. Just look at the contributions these people are now making
or have made recently.
Joan & Randy Sheffield -President Couple of
BCS&RDF
-worked on sub committees for Convention 90
- Committee head for Festival '93
-Director, vice president, president and past
president for the Fraser Valley Square and Round Dance Association
- Chair Couple of the Promotion Committee
- Chair Couple of the B.C. Ball Committee
- Committee head for Convention 2000
- 3rd, vice president, 1st vice president and
president of the B.C. Square and Round Dance Federation (president for 4 years
as of next August)
- Have manned the 1-800 # for the past 7
years.
-Did preliminaries and arranged meeting for
Festival 2005 to be held in Abbotsford.
-Alternate delegates to the Canadian Society.
Audrey & Sterling Beeston - First Vice
President of BCS&RDF
- dancers
- as operators of a square dance clothes
business, they often travel around the province, taking the clothes, shoes,
belts, etc. to dancers in areas where there is little or no opportunity to
purchase square dance materials.
- first vice president couple of BCS&RDF
Nick & Mary Anne Turner - Second Vice
President of BCS&RDF
- Caller/cuer couple for the Williams Lake
Mainstream Club
- Caller/cuer couple for the Williams Lake New
Dancer Club
- Caller couple for the Lac La Hache Contra
Club
- President couple Cariboo Caller/Cuer/Dancer
Association
- Editors and publishers of Cariboo
Connection (Newsletter for dancers of Region 5)
- Producers (on behalf of the BCS&RDF) of a
dance program called Moving and Grooving for schools and community groups
- Contra Programmers for the 2004 Canadian
National Festival in Calgary
- 2nd Vice-President couple of BCS&RDF
Merv & Pat Meyer - Third Vice President of
BCS&RDF
- Caller & Cuer couple for Ashcroft Cactus
Squares
- Caller & Cuer couple for Chase Square
Dancers
- Cuer Couple for Kamloops Mainstream Dancers
- Secretary couple for (Region 9) Thompson
Shuswap Square & Round Dance Association
- Promotion Chair couple
- On decorating committee
- Halls organizer for the last two years (not
currently)
- Member of Okanagan Caller/Cuer Association
- On Mayfest committee (yearly weekend dance)
- Caller couple rep. To B.C. Federation
- B.C. Federation 3rd Vice President and Round
of the Month coordinator
Alison and Scott Hampton - Treasurer Couple
of BCS&RDF
- Cuer couple for the Chuckwagon 8's Square
Dance Club - A2 night
- Cuer couple for the Surrey Square Wheelers
Square Dance Club - Plus night
- Cuer/Teacher couple for the Wesburn
Wranglers Teen and Preteen Square Dance Club - New Dancers thru phase IV
- Canadian Vice-Chair of the Pacific Northwest
Teen Square Dance Festival
- Secretary couple for the 2005 BC Square
Dance Festival - Abbotsford
- Treasurer couple of the BC Federation
- Past Coordinator of the Pacific Northwest
Teen Square Dance Festival
- Also future 2nd Vice President of the
Vancouver and District Caller Teacher Association
Ken & Sally Crisp - Secretary couple of
BCSRDF
- 1st Vice President of Vanc & Dist
Caller-Teachers Assn
- Caller/Teacher/Cuer for Abbotsford Grand
Squares
- Caller/Teacher/Cuer for Sunshine Coast
Country Stars
- Have organized Sunday Summer Afternoon
dances (June to August) in Abbotsford for past 6 or 7 years
- Have worked with Grand Squares for about 12
years in running an annual benefit dance for the Heart & Stroke Foundation of
BC which has earned as much as $8000 in a year.
- Member of a committee of VDCTA which ran a
class for new callers in the Vancouver area.
- Member of joint Fraser Valley promotion
committee
Chuck & Marguerite Jordan -Past President
Couple of BCSRDF
- Caller couple for four clubs
- Chaircouple of Media Promotion committee
(Spring Summer Fall 2003)
- Acting Past President of BC Square and Round
Dance Federation,
- BC Directors for the Canadian Square and
Round Dance Society
- Director of Publicity & Public Relations
for the Society.
I guess it's true when they say, "If you want something done, ask a busy
person." These executive members have a lot on their plates and you certainly
can see that they are passionate about our dancing hobby.
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joined this busy group and started to work, we
discovered that although each executive member was knowledgeable about their
own piece of the puzzle, it was difficult for a new member to see the whole
picture. We started to research all aspects of the BCS&RDF and compile the
information so that others could benefit from our discoveries. With the help
of the other federation executive members, the information was put into a
Handbook and distributed to all regions. Every caller, cuer and delegate
received one with the instructions to make a copy for each club in their
region. The BCS&RDF offered to pay for photocopying charges for clubs who
were unable to absorb the costs. In the event that communication with
delegates might be difficult, the handbook was put on the BCS&RDF web site so
that it could be accessed from all corners of our vast province. In doing all
this, we were trying to point out that the workings of the Federation are
not a secret. It is your federation and all the information is open to you.
Since the handbook was issued, many in the dancing community have commented on
how pleased they were to have this information. Some have suggested that
there are errors in the book. If this is true, at least we now have a place
to start. With input from people in the know, corrections will be made to the
book in the future and updates will be sent to clubs and posted on the web.
In the process of compiling this handbook, we also explored some of the
pressing questions that many dancers and leaders have.
WHAT DOES THE FEDERATION DO ?
While financial constraints greatly limit what the Federation executive can
accomplish, they do manage to offer quite a few services, all of which are
detailed in the handbook.
Briefly these services are;
-collecting and processing the insurance fees each year, distributing the
insurance cards
-underwriting, sponsoring and supporting with initial funding, the biennial
B.C. Square and Round Dance Festival
-coordinating the ROUND OF THE MONTH program
-publishing a newsletter, three times a year where possible. This conveys
news of Federation activities around the province and allows all regions no
matter how large or small to feel part of the square dance family.
-arranging and hosting an Annual General Meeting each year where delegates
from around the province can be involved in decision making and can share
their concerns with others. (Not all the delegate positions are filled,
however. You may have experienced for yourselves just how difficult it is to
get volunteers to do square dance work.)
- maintaining a web site at www.squaredance.bc.ca and manning a toll
free information line at 1-800-335-9433. These two services are
available for all square, round, contra, and clog dancers and their clubs in
B.C. They are financed from the fees you pay to join the Federation at the
start of each dance season. By using these services you and any visitors to
your area will be able to access information about dances, clubs, callers and
cuers in all the square dance regions in B.C. These are expensive services
but are the most cost effective way to communicate with members spread across
our vast province. Although we know that there are members who do not have
access to the internet, we are sure that each club has at least one person who
would be able to get this information for them.
-maintaining a library of instructional video dance tapes for Federation
members to borrow.
-recognizing , with crests and certificates, important square dance milestones
in our province. (See handbook for details)
-administering the Sillery Award, given in recognition of exceptional service
-above and beyond normal activity in the square dance world - performed by any
dancer, couple, caller, cuer or leader who is a member of the Federation
-sponsoring a dance program called Moving and Grooving that is designed to
enable teachers, community leaders or dancers who are not callers, to teach
Modern Square Dancing as well as Traditional Dancing. This project is totally
nonprofit and will be available to schools and community or church groups and
of course, square dancers at a nominal cost. And while we are discussing this
program, we would like to mention that we have received great support with our
fundraiser, the cash calendars for the Moving and Grooving program. Thank you
to all the volunteer sales coordinators and to those of you who have purchased
calendars. Unfortunately, it has been reported that there are also some
leaders and dancers expressing negative opinions about the project. They have
been making comments such as "CALLERLAB
already has a school program, so why do we need another?" Or they have said'
"Why waste time on a school program, we won't get square dancers for our clubs
from schools." I would like to say here that the Moving and Grooving program
bears no resemblance to the CALLERLAB
program and even if it did, the
CALLERLAB program is not being used and
promoted in many of our schools today. As for the recruiting of square
dancers, this was never the Federation's intention. Our goal is to provide
another opportunity for our sedentary children to get moving while exposing
them to the joy of dancing. Our hope is that in 5-10 years, when someone
tries to recruit them for dancing, they will no longer say. "I did square
dancing in school and I hated it."
-dedicating a portion of its budget to the program committee known as
SQUAREUPBC. This is a Federation marketing initiative led by Brian Elmer of
Westbank, supported by his wife, Rosalyn Garnett. With relatively little
money at his disposal, Brian has achieved some great marketing successes.
Please read his full report in the handbook and on the web site. Find out how
your area of the province can be assisted with marketing advice and resources.
-offering some monetary aid to clubs having financial difficulty with hall
costs and caller fees for their new dancer classes and who meet the criteria
as set out in the handbook and on the web site.
-administering four memorial funds and using the interest from these funds to
help new and newer callers and cuers from B.C. attend caller schools
-making two leadership grants of $500.00 each available each year for two
regions of the province that wish to put on a leadership course, seminar, or
workshop.
WHY ARE THEY COLLECTING OUR ADDRESSEES ALONG WITH THE FEDERATION DUES ?
I'm not going to spend much time on this topic because it is a clear issue for
me. As I mentioned in the Federation Newsletter, there is no evil intent
behind this move, we are not trying to invade your privacy, we will not be
selling your names to anybody. The lists will be protected. It is simply
that the BCS&RDF is a Society and in order to maintain this status it must
comply with the Societies Act of B.C. This Societies Act is available on the
internet for anybody who wants to read the requirements. A nonprofit society
status offers us many advantages. An example is the fact that the our
fundraising cash calendar project would not have been granted a lottery
licence if we had not been a registered nonprofit society.
WHY ARE THEY GOING TO RAISE THE FEDERATION DUES TO $5.00 IN 2004 ?
The issue of Federation fees has proven to be another hot topic as we
travelled around the province. Many members are quite willing to pay this
increase as they realize that $5.00 is a very good investment in the
preservation of a hobby that affords them so much pleasure for many months of
the year. Others are up in arms over the increase and are demanding to know
why it is happening.
Well, first and foremost, we have learned that the Federation expenses, as
meager as they are, are now greater than their income. In other words, the
services we are providing at present are now costing us more money than we
have available. The Federation financial statements are on the web site for
you to examine and your delegates were given a copy. There is nothing to
hide. (What you won't see there, however, is the amount of money that
executive members spend out of their own pockets as they travel to meetings
and around the province representing the Federation.)
Keep in mind as you look at it, that although there appears to be large
amounts of money in some accounts, it is money we can not touch. The Festival
Account is one, for example. The money in this account must be kept there as
seed money to get the festivals started and to assist festivals that run into
financial difficulties. If this money were not there as a back up, no region
in their right mind would volunteer to host a Festival !
Another example is the Memorial Funds Account. Only the interest from this
account may be used to help new callers. The principal can not be touched and
none of the money in this account can be used for operating expenses.
All in all, you will see that the Federation simply needs more operating
money just to continue as we are at the moment.
But our experience is that this is a keen group of members working on your
behalf. They have goals and dreams. They do not want to continue just as
they have. With a bit of extra money in the operating budget they could do so
much more to achieve the Federation's goal to "preserve, promote and
perpetuate square, round, contra, clogging and other related dance forms in
the province of British Columbia." They are willing to put in the work, they
need you to support them.
What are some of the things that the Federation could do with the money from
the increased fees ? Well, a brainstorming committee will come up with some
wonderful ideas, I am sure, but here are just a few goals that are worth
considering:
-offering greater financial assistance to clubs who are struggling. The
$250.00 just for new dancer classes that we are offering at present is a
piddling and almost useless amount. We want to be able to give more
substantial help. If you are a member of a club that is lucky enough to be
dancing more than 6 squares, if you can afford to pay your caller and cuer a
reasonable sum to call for you each week, if you can afford to pay for your
hall, then count your blessings. But take time to consider the rest of your
square dancing family. In every corner of our province, there are many clubs
that dance only one or two squares. Their caller and cuer often drive more
than an hour each way on dark snowy roads to get to their one square club.
They work hard to put on an evening's entertainment for the dancers and yet
the club can't even afford to pay for their gas. In many instances, they are
dancing in a dark, cheerless basement because they can't afford a hall. I
think these people who are helping to keep our hobby alive deserve some
assistance, even if it is just as simple as helping them to afford an ad in
their local paper in an attempt to increase their membership.
-There are clubs in the province who do not have a caller or a cuer and yet
they get together each week and dance to tapes. The Federation would like to
be able to assist them in purchasing legal dance materials or perhaps to pay
for a caller or cuer to go to their club once in a while to keep up their
morale.
-covering the actual costs of members volunteering to do Federation business.
While a small amount of their travelling expenses are covered, there are many
more expenses that come out of their own pockets. Costs include phone calls,
photocopying, postage, etc. Although these members are all volunteering
their time and efforts, there is such a thing as volunteer abuse. They should
not have to keep dipping into their own pockets as they do Federation
business.
-increasing the amount available for callers and cuers to attend schools. The
small amount available at present does little to cover actual costs. At the
same time, we realize that there is a great shortage of callers in some areas,
especially as many callers are approaching retirement age. We want to develop
a program of some kind to encourage new callers to our hobby.
-increasing provincial awareness of our hobby. We know that we will never
have enough money to be able to launch a full scale advertising campaign on
television but there are lots of things that we could do with a bit of money
and our SQUAREUPBC chairman would be most helpful in assisting us in this
area. It might be ads in local papers, radio interviews, magazine articles.
More media kits could be produced for regions to help them with their regional
advertising.
-continuing to support the Moving and Grooving Dance Program for schools and
community groups. Once it is produced, we will need to make people aware of
it, we need to market it. There will be many costs associated with this
process.
-financing some training for Federation members who need to learn new skills
in order to do the Federation's work. This might include how to use a
spreadsheet program, web page design, or some other specialized area.
-launching other fundraising activities along the lines of the cash calendar
or a golf tournament. Seed money would be needed to get these projects
started.
As for myself, I am more than willing to pay a $5.00 membership fee to allow
these and other ideas to be tried. Goodness knows, the square dance community
needs all the help it can get and if the Federation members are willing to go
to all this hard work on my behalf, I am more than willing to let them do so.
If they should happen to fail in achieving these wonderful goals, I won't have
lost very much. In my opinion it is a very good gamble to take.
But what of those who really feel that they can not afford this $5.00 fee. I
would like to suggest then that we work together and think of ways around the
problem. Those with creative ideas can send their suggestions to a Federation
executive member and we will compile them and post them on our web site.
As a start, I would like to offer these 2 suggestions. They may work for you.
-collect your different fees at different times of the year so that the
dancers don't have to come up with too much money at a time. For instance,
collect the the Federation fees in September and collect your own club fees in
a different month.
-hold a simple fundraising event with the profits to go to paying Federation
fees for the members. For example, one of our clubs needed extra money to pay
for their jamboree caller. They added a Chinese Auction to their Christmas
party dance. It was an event that was very simple to organize and it added a
lot of fun to the evening. Only those who wished to spend the money had to.
People enjoyed it so much that they asked for it to be repeated the next year.
(If you want details, contact me.) The result was that this small, two square
club raised an extra $150.00 on this one evening and that would have purchased
the $5.00 Federation fee for all the members of the club.
SO, TELL ME AGAIN, WHY DO WE NEED THE FEDERATION?
In summary, it has been an interesting learning curve for us. We have stopped
grumbling and have joined forces with some very hard working and dedicated
Federation volunteers who are trying their darndest to preserve and promote
our hobby. We have tried to speak to others around the province and to
hopefully encourage them to abandon their negative points of view. We need a
more positive approach. Large and wealthy clubs need to think of others not so
well off as they are.
In my mind, it is very simple - we need the Federation because we are a square
dance family and we need a central organization that helps us to work
together to keep our hobby going. We are all familiar with the decline in the
number of dancers that is occurring today, and if there is one group willing
to fight to promote and preserve our hobby, I say, "Go for it! You have my
support." It is my hope that you will feel the same way, and even better, I
hope that you might feel moved to say a kind word about the efforts of the
Federation every now and then. While differing opinions will always be a
necessary fact of life, uninformed and constant criticism can be quite
discouraging.
These have been our experiences as we have lived and learned through our first
year and a half as Second Vice President Couple of the Federation. I hope
that by sharing our experiences with you, your questions have been
answered. At our own expense we plan to forward this letter to as many
delegates and leaders around the province as we can. If you can help pass
this information on for us, we would be most grateful. If you wish to make
comment on these thoughts, we can be reached at
nmturner@telus.net
or 942 Soda Creek Road, Williams Lake, B.C. V2G 5E4.
or (250)392-2432
With the help of Federation members and hopefully many other volunteers, it is
our hope that square dancing in B.C. will indeed LIVE HAPPILY EVER
AFTER. THE END.
Respectfully submitted by
Mary Anne Turner
The Federation website
These pages are provided purely as a courtesy by
Phil Douziech,
British
Columbia Square & Round Dance Federation and Ogopogo
Web pages
in the hopes of promoting Square
& Round
Dancing in British Columbia, Canada.
We make no representations as to the accuracy of the data contained on this
page. If you have comments or suggestions in regard to this page, please let
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