UNITED SQUARE DANCERS OF AMERICA
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2010 WINTER MEETING
TUCSON, AZ
January 15-16, 2010
Date: January 15 & 16, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Meeting Place The Hotel Arizona
181 W. Broadway, Tucson, Arizona
Phone: (520) 624-8711
Host: Marilyn Schmit, Western Region Vice President
1. Call to Order: Houle
2. Invocation: Holley
3. Pledge of Allegiance: White
4. Announcements: Schmit
5. Minutes of Previous Meetings: Leon
Pre Annual Meeting – June 23, 2009
Annual Meeting – June 24, 2009
Post Annual Meeting – June 27, 2009
7. Treasurer’s Report : Weber
8. Officers’ Report:
A. President Houle
B. Vice President Eastern Region White
C. Vice President Central Region Holley
D. Vice President Plains Region Kittle
E. Vice President Western Region Schmit
F. Secretary Leon
G. Historian Becker
H. Information Officer Matsko
I. Past President Kittle
J. Parliamentarian Maczko
9. Committee Chair Reports:
A. Insurance Coordinator Inglis
B. Discount Prescription Flick
C. Budget for 2010 Weber
D. Youth Abramson/Kamuf
E. Education/Publication Houle
F. U.S.D.A. News Weber
G. Handicapable Dancers James
H. Badges Vaccari
I Facilities Stewart
J. Sound Kittles
K. Ways & Means Leon
L. NSDC After Party Holley
M. NSDC Showcase of Ideas Flick
N. Dress & Jacket Weber
O. USA Traveler Vaccari
P. USDA Webmaster Weber
Q. Audit White/Flick/
Matsko
10. Unfinished Business:
A. Status of Application for 501C3 Maczko
11. New Business:
A. Attendees to Arts, Callerlab & Roundalab
B. Educational Panels and Seminars in Kentucky
C. Meeting
12. Announcements
13. Adjournment
UNITED SQUARE DANCERS OF AMERICA
WINTER MEETING
TUCSON, AZ
JANUARY 15-16, 2010
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Hello:
Everything went well at our Wednesday afternoon meeting. It was well attended and we passed a resolution on Teen Competition. All the Officer positions were filled and all appointed made a full board ready to work hard.
We attended the New England Co-operation Committee Leadership in Aug. in Worcester, Ma. and also participated in an Educational presentation on USDA and the Arts.
In September, Dick & Shirley White and ourselves were part of the Western Ma. Square & Round Dance Committee Leadership Forum at the Holyoke Community College. In attendance were dancers from all over New England. They plan on doing this again next year.
On October 2nd we traveled to Biddeford, Maine for the first Kick-off dance for our New England Square & Round Dance Convention to be held in April 2010. In attendance were 23 squares.
On October 11 & 12 we traveled to N.J. for the ARTS meeting. The video and Website project was the main topic and hope to have it ready to see by the end of the year.
Len & Connie Houle
President, USDA
UNITED SQUARE DANCERS OF AMERICA
WINTER MEETING
TUCSON, AZ
JANUARY 15-16, 2010
EASTERN REGION VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
We have been attempting to visit the states in our Eastern Region where we have shared USDA’s free educational materials. We have had the privilege of representing USDA at three special events in the Eastern Region. We have summarized the highlights of these events in the three following separate reports.
Dick & Shirley White
NEWS FROM THE EASTERN REGION
The weekend of August 14-16 we attended the 16th Annual Pennsylvania Square and Round Dance Convention. The event was held in State College, PA. This convention had everything for the dancers: squares, rounds, seminars, vendors AND an ice cream social. There were many callers and cuers.
The convention committee was under the leadership of Larry and Margie Gorski who planned a real fine event. Two USDA executive committee members served on the PA convention committee. They were Mike and Pat Matsko – Services, and Bill Flick – Business Manager and Program Book. Bill also sang the National Anthem and led the pledge of allegiance.
We set up USDA’s display of free educational trifolds. We are happy to report that they were very popular. We brought home a much lighter load than we took down for the clubs in PA. We also were able to answer many questions the dancers posed to us.
We were invited to be in the VIP section of the “Parade of Banners”. We carried USDA’s banner and were given the opportunity to bring greetings from the USDA.
The highlight of the program was two squares of Handicapable Dancers. The dancers ranged in age from teens to adult. They were under the leadership of callers Corban Geis and Tom Miller. These two energetic and enthusiastic squares performed their routine to a tune from “The Lion King”. The tune was “Hakuna Matata”, which means no worries. Their performance was received with most appreciative applause.
Sunday morning a Leadership Breakfast was held. We were pleased as representatives of USDA, to have been invited to this splendid breakfast, and to have the opportunity to see all the wonderful people who were responsible for making the 17th Pennsylvania Convention happen.
We truly enjoyed this event. We want to thank the convention committee for their hospitality and for making us so welcome. We also want to congratulate the committee for putting a great convention.
Shirley and Dick White
Vice President Eastern Region
EVENTS IN THE EASTER REGION
LEADERSHIP FORUM
FOR LEADERS IN THE
WESTERN SQUARE AND ROUND DANCE COMMUNITY
The “Leadership Forum” for Leaders in the Square and Round Dance Community was held on Saturday, September 19, 2009. This day long program was held at the Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, MA. The event was sponsored by the Western Massachusetts Square and Round Dance Association. The facilitator was Rita Wood, and she was assisted by Gloria Vivier. The attendees came from the Massachusetts and Connecticut area.
When the morning session started the presenters were introduced. The attendees were then asked to introduce themselves. Following the introductions each of the presenters were given time to speak on their subject.
Rita Wood gave a talk about EDSARDA (Eastern District Square and Round Dance Association). EDSARDA is the umbrella organization for the six New England states.
Connie Houle followed Rita’s talk with an informative overview of the ARTS program (Alliance for Round, Traditional and Square Dancing). She discussed what ARTS is and how it can help us.
Shirley and Dick White concluded with a presentation concerning USDA (United Square Dancers of America). They talked about the aims and programs offered by USDA. They were pleased to be able to display and offer USDA’s educational trifolds. The leaders asked questions and took some of the free trifolds.
The morning session concluded with two workshops. The first topic was “Learning Styles” (How do you and others learn best). The second segment was a distribution of surveys in regard to Leadership styles and personality types.
A delightful luncheon buffet was prepared for the attendees consisting of salads and sandwich supplies. There were also coffee and soft drinks.
After the lunch break, a spirited discussion period ensued concerning leadership styles and personalities. This discussion led into how leadership styles and personalities affected the square dance world. What does it mean for you when working with others? How could these personality traits be used to resolved problems in clubs and associations? Other issues in the Square Dance Community were discussed. Some of these were Community Involvement, single dancers as well as conflict resolution.
We would like to commend Rita Wood for conducting a very informative and helpful forum. We felt that her presentation was fun and enjoyed by the attendees of Leadership Forum.
Shirley and Dick White
Eastern Region Vice President
NORTHERN NEW JERSEY’S
35th ANNUAL MINI-FESTIVAL
The 35th Annual Mini-Festival, sponsored by the Northern New Jersey Square Dancer’s Association (NNJSDA), was held on November 8, 2009. The event took place at the middle school in Bridgewater, NJ. There were over thirty squares of enthusiastic dancers enjoying the festival. There were three halls and three great callers (Jerry Biggerstaff, Betsy Gotta and Mark Franks). The rounds, which were enjoyed by all the round dancers, were presented by Roy Gotta, the cuer for the festival. The dancing started at 2:00 p.m. There was a supper break. The evening dancing concluded for the happy crowd at 9:00 p.m.
Following the supper break, Rusty and Richard Ball (immediate past presidents, and chair of this Mini-Festival) talked about the 35 years the Mini-Festival had been held. The past presidents in attendance (Audrey Bolan, Joyce and Jim Kelly, Shirley and Dick White, Donna Poyer and Mike Szekula, Rusty and Richard Ball), were recognized.
USDA was given a prominent spot in the main lobby of the school to set up USDA’s display of free educational literature. Dancers were encouraged to take one free copy of any material back to share with their clubs. We also asked the dancers to take prescription cards and distribute the cards to their non square dancing friends who do not have prescription plans. Each time one of these prescription cards is used, not only does the person using it receive a discount, but also $.25 is awarded to USDA to use for their programs. We were pleased to answer any questions posed to us.
We had an enjoyable time at New Jersey’s 35th Annual Mini-Festival and want to thank the NNJSDA for their hospitality. We were glad to have the opportunity to represent the USDA at their special event
Shirley and Dick White
Eastern Region Vice President
UNITED SQUARE DANCERS OF AMERICA
WINTER MEETING
TUCSON, AZ
JANUARY 15-16, 2010
CENTRAL REGION VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Since our annual meeting at sunny California, Kitty and I have been doing most of our work by phone and E-mail. We have not been able to do much traveling. From what we understand several of our states have had graduation classes or are about to. Some have indicated that they will renew having classes in early 2010. It appears that maybe Square dancing in the central region has begun to bottom out and hold its own. We certainly hope this is true.
We have been to several local and regional dances in addition to our Alabama State Convention. At the State Convention we were able to not only talk about USDA, but gave out information.
In anything that we do we are encouraging people to go to the National Square Dance Convention in Louisville. Some can come South and some can come North and we will meet in the middle. If you have not made plans, please do so.
We think that the most important thing that we do when talking to the dancers is to tell them again about our web page and that they can find all kinds of information to download for free. Always after we are no longer talking and the dance has resumed two or three people will come up and ask for our web page again. We would like to recommend that we print a lot of business cards to handout to all dancers at the National Square Dance Conventions.
Kitty and Charlie Holley,
V. P. Central Region
UNITED SQUARE DANCERS OF AMERICA
WINTER MEETING
TUCSON, AZ
JANUARY 15-16, 2010
PLAINS REGION VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
(Report is to be presented at meeting)
Si and Marilyn Kittle
Plains Region Vice President
UNITED SQUARE DANCERS OF AMERICA
WINTER MEETING
TUCSON, AZ
JANUARY 15-16, 2010
WESTERN REGION VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Happy New Year and welcome to Tucson. I hope that you have found everything to your liking and that you have enjoyed the weather so far.
Since my installation in June, I worked with the previous office holder to get the notebooks and other amenities that go with the position. It took three months to accomplish that. I sent a letter of introduction to all my Affiliates telling them about me, what my resume looked like, and I asked them to keep in touch with me throughout the year. To date, I have received newsletters from Idaho and California, and of course, Oregon, since I am currently 2nd Vice President. I also sent out a holiday letter to them wishing them a great 2010 and to let me know if there was anything I could do for them.
I did receive a call from a person in Alaska about an out of line caller they were having problems with. I asked for advice from two callers I trust here in Oregon and sent on their advice for the person to use. As of the writing of this report, I have had no response. I really hope they got the problem resolved as I would not want that person in my hall calling.
My spare time has been spent dancing taking Intermediate Rounds lessons on Monday evenings, my club activities, and my council and Federation activities. I went back to school in September to attain a second Associate Degree. So between homework and looking for a job, I have managed to keep somewhat busy and I like it that way.
I keep track of the changes in the Affiliate web pages and notify the USDA web master of any changes that I find. I was contacted by Jim and Judy Taylor for USA West 2010 to see if anyone in USDA was interested in being part of the Education program in Greeley, Colorado. As you all know, I forwarded the email to all of you so you could contact them directly. I don’t know what my personal life will hold this far out, so I can’t commit to attending at the current time.