Diehard Dancers and a 91st Birthday

The Sunday morning sessions at a square dance weekend are some kind of a test of dancing dedication. Usually fewer squares show up to dance, and as time passes, more and more dancers say goodbye. That leaves the "diehard dancers" to dance the final tip, taking advantage of the final opportunity to dance this weekend.

That's what happened this morning. Dancing started at 10:00 a.m., and five squares danced the first tip, called by Darryl Lipscomb. He finished off his final session in the C-1 hall with a singing tip, surprising the dancers. Challenge dancers are in the game for the, well, challenge. What we do is more a choreographed game set to music, one in which callers challenge dancers to succeed at difficult patterns, and dancers hope to do well themselves and contribute to a successful square, glowing in the sense of having met the challenge (often when others did not--there's definitely some competition between squares at times). The singing call offered a pleasant interlude--a reminder of earlier dancing pleasures, definitely a more rhythmic and quicker moving choreography.

Next Tim Plogh called for us, followed by Bill Haynes. We were down to three squares. Finally Lee Kopman, the grand old man of modern square dance calling, set the final challenge for the two diehard squares. Everyone cheered at the end.

Lee Kopman, the "Square Dance Man"


We said goodbye to our Valley friends and told them we'd see them in a month. Steve and Jan left to meet Hardy and Judy for lunch on the way south. Steve and Jan are driving back to Mission, where they are living in their Texas room while they are waiting for their air conditioner/heat pump to be repaired (that's been dragging on for a long time now).

Hardy and Judy will stop in Gunbarrel City to visit Hardy's folks before they too head for the Valley for the winter. We will join the gang again for some great square dancing and friendship. We danced with more folks that we know from the Valley. Terry and Linda Hansen dropped in from the C-2 hall. Jim and Jane Booth and Dick and Mary Ann Drake danced in the C-1 hall with us. Kit and Marty were camped near us, but we didn't see them again after saying hi the first day, because they danced entirely in the C-2 hall. Arnie and Sue also danced in the C-2 hall. The halls were far apart, which discouraged dancers from changing halls.

We had a great weekend. Wayne and Yevonne Alexander were the coordinators, keeping everything running smoothly. This is their last year at that job. They've decided to sell their house and travel while they're still young enough to enjoy it.

Yevonne Alexander talking to Ben Bateman (St. Louis) at the Registration counter

Wayne Alexander talking to dancers

I called my Aunt Helene to wish her a happy birthday. She was at Peggy's house, and it sounded like a crowd of the grandkids and great grandkids were there to celebrate. She's my dad's older sister and the only surviving sibling. At 91 she's still going strong. My great grandmother and great aunt Gladys were active into their 90s too, so I hope I've inherited their genes.

This afternoon we did our laundry and grocery shopping, getting ready for our stay at Cooper Lake State Park, near Sulphur Springs. We're heading there tomorrow for 10 days.