January 2005 Newsletter

a monthly publication

in this issue...

	January Dances		Members of the Board
	Officers and Committees		Next Board Meeting
	A Little Extra		Special Announcement
	December Dance		December Guests
	Christmas Gift Drive		News from National
	A Repeat from Last Month		Comings and Goings
	Etiquette Tip of the Month		Repeat: Change in Dues
	Dance Tapes		Shall We Dance?

January Dances

Members of the Board

Other Officers and Committees

Board Meeting

The next Board meeting is Sunday, January 9th at 3:00 p.m. at the Richland County Library at the corner of Main and Assembly Streets in downtown Columbia. It meets on the Sunday following the first dance of the month starting at 3:00 p.m. The meetings are open to any and all members in good standing. Feedback and input is important and welcome. Try to attend some of them.

A Little Extra

* Ever wonder what Stephanie Muga, our one-person music committee does? It isn't easy and it is very time consuming: 

1. 1. Schedule all DJs' for the monthly dances, including herself.
   2. Make out the playlists and DJ announcements for lessons, exhibitions, and DJ training (except for Mike Verdone) whether she will be at the dance or not.
   3. Make CDs of appropriate music for the dances to help ease the DJ's job and to make sure that they can enjoy some "on the floor" time, too.

Next time you see Stephanie, let her know how much you enjoy her contribution to our enjoyment.

Special Announcement

There will be only one dance in February instead of two as listed on the schedule of our monthly dances. The Barn is not available on the fourth Saturday in February due to a prior longstanding commitment to another group. Please mark this on your calendars. 

December Dance

The Barn looked like a veritable Winter Wonderland when we walked in on December 11th. for the Holiday Ball. Most of the decorations were provided by ASDERA, the Barn association. The rest were provided by several USABDA members. Those who came on Saturday at 1:00 to help finish were Tom Savage, Edna Free, Jo Morton, and Ron Morton. A good time was had by all who attended the Holiday Ball. Jo and Ron Morton did a wonderful job arranging for the food and setting it up. The decorations on the food counter were charming. It made me think back to when just about everyone had an electric train set up under their Christmas tree. Oh! such a long, long time ago! Fifty-nine people attended the dance: 45 members, 11 guests, and 3 professionals (Shantelle Smalls of Capital Ballroom and Paul Lagatore and Tracy Steele of Columbia's Ballroom). Cyndi Harris was DJ, Ray Hill worked the front desk from 7:15 to 9:00, and Doris Wood greeted people from 7:15 to 8:00. 

The lesson was a variation of Hip-Hop given by Shantelle Smalls of Capital Ballroom. Most everyone participated and enjoyed it. After the lesson, Shantelle gave an exhibition with one of her students, Lakeisha. Thank you so much for exposing a lot of us to a whole new area of dancing. 

I left early that evening, so did not get the names of those who stayed to help clean up. Remember, from now on, I will have a sheet on the sign-in table and I ask that if you help us set up or clean up, in any way, please write your name down. We want to to be able to acknowledge and thank all of those who help. As I have said before, it takes a village to put on these dances and you are a part of that village. 

December Guests

Our guests at the Holiday Ball were Joyce Lagatore, Lakeisha, Joan Savage, Charlie Fletcher, Gerry Fletcher, Michael Sherlach, Cindy Trussell , Gil Trussell, T. Michelle Milling, Tom Simmons, and Ellen Simmons, and Karin Puskowski. We thank you for coming and hope to see you again, soon.

Christmas Gift Drive

Our USABDA Chapter collected approximately 40 wrapped gifts at the Holiday Ball. These gifts were donated to the Eppworth Home for Children instead of the Toys for Tots program as previously advertised. Thank you for helping to make a child happy this Christmas.

News from National

USABDA regretfully announced the passing of its President, Mr. Archie Hazelwood on December 9, 2004. He was 83 years old and suffered from congestive heart failure. He died while attending a Dinner Dance hosted by the Tidewater USABDA Chapter at Langley Air Force Base Officers Club. He served as National President since 1993 and served as Vice President and National Treasurer. 

A Repeat from Last Month

With 66% approval of the national membership, the name of our national organization of USABDA is going to change to USAdance. The changeover will probably not be completed until the end of 2005. National has requested that we continue to use the name USABDA when referring to National events and information about USABDA on our local website, until we receive further instructions. Our "Johnny-on-the-spot" web master, Bob Sitko, was able to get the domain name of USAdance.us for our local website. As of now, you can access our local site by using the old one, GCCUSABDA, or, going to USAdance.us. Both names can be used for the time being. The above information is courtesy of Bob Sitko, our webmaster. Bob, what a great job you have done finding us a web name so close to our new National name. Wow!!! 

Comings and Goings

While lots of people were on the road going hither, thither, and yon, no one has passed on any information about any comings or goings associated with dancing in December. If you know of any, let me know and I will put them in next month. 

Etiquette Tip of the Month

Try not to outdance your partner. If you are dancing with a beginning dancer, don't shove her or him around the floor trying to show what you can do. Keep your steps simple so that the lady/gentleman comes off the floor feeling good about what he/she just danced, not feeling like a complete Klutz and never wanting to try it again.

Repeat Message

Change in Local Chapter Dues: A change in due date of chapter membership dues has been announced by your local Board, following the last Board meeting. Starting in January 2005, your Chapter dues of $5.00 will be payable in the same month as your National dues. Prior to this, all members' dues have been payable on January first. This will make it a lot easier for everyone to remember when they need to be paid. It also allows the Chapter to track local dues better. If your dues become three months or more in arrears, you will be charged the guest rate to attend the dances. The advantage of being a member is that the admission price to the USABDA dances is $5.00, instead of the $8.00 that guests pay. The local chapter dues are primarily used to fund the dances. Where else can you get dancing, entertainment, snacks, lessons, and fun people to be around for that price? 

Dance Tapes

Our local chapter has a wide variety and number of VHS dance tapes, to help you in your goal of learning to dance. And while they do not take the place of individual instruction, they do help to get some of the basics down. The majority of them are oriented to the beginning dancer. A small deposit is required when you sign one out, but this deposit is returned to you when you return the tape. You can keep them for up to one month and you may sign out a maximum of two (2). They are available at any of the USABDA dances held at The Barn.

Shall We Dance?

	Jan. 6	Columbia's Ballroom 35 Diamond Lane 7:30 Students: no charge Guests: $5.00
	Jan. 8	The Barn 680 Cherokee Lane, Columbia USABDA First dance of the New Year Members: $5 Guests: $8 Students: $4 Doors open: 7:15 Lesson: 7:40 - 8:30 Social Dancing: 8:30 - 10:30
	Jan. 20	Columbia's Ballroom 35 Diamond Lane 7:30 Students: no charge Guests: $5.00
	Jan. 22	The Barn 680 Cherokee Lane, Columbia USABDA The Snowball Dance Members: $5 Guests: $8 Students: $4 Doors open: 7:15 Lesson: 7:40 - 8:30 Social Dancing: 8:30 - 10:30
	Jan. 27	Capital Ballroom - 2732 D Devine St. Columbia, SC. Monthly dance, 8:00 - 10:00 pm
	Wednesdays	Sumter Dance Club, Sumter Cty Rec. Dept., 155 Haynesworth St., Sumter, SC 7:00 - 9:00 pm
	Thursdays	Adam's Mark, 6:00 - 9:00 pm, 1200 Hampton St., Columbia, SC
	Fri & Sat	Ballroom Dance Club, 1632 Ashley Hall Rd, Charleston, SC. 7:30 -11:00 Members: $8, Students: $5, Lesson: 7:30
	Fri. nights	Capital Senior Center, Maxcey Gregg Park, 1650 Park Circle, Columbia. Live Music. Members: n/c, Non member: $5
		More listings next month! Doris Wood Newsletter Editor