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October 2005 Blog
Rick Hampton Square Dance Caller
Oct 4th 2005
I had a fun and aggravating weekend. First the FUN- I called for Sundowners
in Sacramento and we had Fun and PIE
Man it don't get any better than that. Now to the aggravating My ^$^$$^$@#$%@
hosting company had the site down for over 24 hours and weren't open to fix till
Monday- Add to that my continuing battle with breathing in the SJ Valley
and thusly Thanks go to Rick Boswell for teaching My Monday class- I finally got
a referral to an "allergist" but not for almost a month-Oh well better later
than never.........................sigh
Good Class in Visalia tonight-Lotsa old familiar faces were back after waayy too
long- but 4 of our new class were out with medical things. I hope ALL feel
better soon. I'm looking forward to Sequoia squares really taking off this
year- Many visitations planned and MORE!!!- This week I'll be calling the Skirts
A2 workshop Wednesday, Frazier Park's Class Thursday and a "One Nite Party" for
Lotsa Girl Scouts and families Saturday-a typical week- Well I'm going to take
my alleged allergy medicine( ain't it supposed to actually work?) and go nitey-nite
Have a GREAT Day
Rick
Oct 8th
Off to call for the Girl Scouts tonite-I do as many of these kind of events
to show that square Dancing isn't an Ol' Folks-Hokey Dressed Country twang
activity- I wonder if this balances out the
"Proper dress Required" at the senior citizen events with only Merle songs.. The
largest clubs in this state have Updated the image with no dress requirements,
shorter term classes and techno music for the new folks-It
works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by the way I bought a country singing call ( I
actually do use country too not ONLY)
Rick "yeeHaw y'all"
Oct 9th
A fun time by all Girl Scouts and Dads-ages 5 -17 (Lotsa 5's) So we did
"High 5" Right and Left Grand's and "Now" quite a bit-I'll be doing
another for the larger council and all agreed we'd leave the hay bales on the
farm this time (You had to see the dust raised by hay on the floor). Now I call
that a GREAT evening 1) Fun 2) Youth 3)a (public) realization that "hay Bales"
are passé. This week is full with 4 classes/workshops The Twain Harte
Anniversary and a nite off to dance to my bud Rod Shuping. I'm really
thinking that a Mainstream Dance Group in the Tulare/Kern County area might just
be a missed market-Thoughts?
EMAIL
Have a great day
Rick
Oct 10th
We had visitors tonite and it was great to see them. One nice person who had
been out of dancing for awhile came out and did GREAT- (Like I always say "S/D
is Like falling off a bicycle-Once you fall you'll always know how" ) She made
an interesting comment "I always wear s/d clothes" My reply was "cool s/d
clothes are NEVER inappropriate at a Dance/Workshop" Where I draw the line
is 3 very simple concepts 1) Don't REQUIRE the s/d stuff (They'll mostly wear it
anyway) and 2) WAIT till folks are hooked on the dancing before you even MENTION
the stuff and 3) PLEASE Don't wear it at Demos- It makes us look Unreachable,
Unattainable, Professional, Competitive and a whole bunch more adjectives that
mean-I cannot join-People migrate to activities that have folks who LOOK like
they do-Research has proven this . Meanwhile the 2 biggest demos in Kern County
this year REQUIRE(D) S/d Clothes and the sad saga goes on. At least a few clubs
(in the Antelope Valley, Visalia and San Fernando Valley) were wise enough to
require NO S/D Clothes at demos and it paid off in large classes- Go Figure
Bottom Line wear em if YOU want to-Dont Force them on anyone-Do I hear an AMEN!
Rick
Oct 12th
Tonite we had a GREAT A2 Workshop. It was so nice to see some of our
"injured reserves" back out dancing. If you have completed an A2 Class this 2+
hour workshop is a fabulous way to hone your skills. C'mon out.
Rick
Oct 13th
I was told by my wife, my doctor and many of y'all that quitting smoking
would make me feel better. So why is it that I've been sicker since then-Oh
well- I guess you cant blame bad food on that- My family and I all got hit with
stomachitis.
I had to cancel Frazier Park due to there not being ANY qualified callers to Sub
on Thursdays. As it turns out I was told Joaquin Squares was also
Callerless tonight (Traffic). Do we need to re-think our precarious
situation with so many Thursday Clubs?
I was just counting up that in the USDA and VASD areas of influence there are
(Square dance) 8 Thursday Clubs, 2 Tuesday, 2 Monday, 3 Wednesday and 1
Friday. This does not count Clogging or Rounds
Food (ugh) for Thought
Rick
Oct 16th
Gosh what a FUN afternoon celebrating the Twain Harte Twirlers 34th
anniversary- They said I could come back and do their 68th!!!!- 34 years from
now and I HOPE they're still there That brings me to a sad thing I heard at the
dance,".... another s/d club is folding."...here's why (and I Quote) " we've
tried everything...demos at the fair, flyers, demos at the Senior center...but
we cannot get a class"...If your read my blog regularly or chat with me at
dances you may see what coming.......................................Someone
once said "One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again and expecting a different result" Could it be the one class a week
for a year (or you cant participate), Wear the Foo-Foo Clothes, and Bring
Food model has proved to be a lost cause??? Why not have clubs (Before they vote
to fold) Run a series of Show up and Square dance nites?? This would immediately
accomplish 2 very important things 1) A Positive Impression of s/d (Maybe when
you see folks returning over the course of 5-6 of these one niters-You could use
that as a recruiting base for the MS/PLUS etc track 2) If y'all have success at
these it would infuse some cash to underwrite the MWSD model (aka MS/PLUS
dancing).... Please understand that to make this work you'll have to be CERTAIN
that the Callers you choose will make these a FUN' "Wind in their Face" dance
even if it only involves just a few calls. This particular area has an active
leadership, They realize the importance of Dancing (weekends) as opposed to only
learning (weeknites) and has some qualified callers to implement this. I
hope they do and maybe the DANCING will rub off to their immediate Southern
Neighbor Association- I hope and pray it will for both areas sakes. BTW I
had a fun nite dancing with Rod Shuping calling the Hanford Square 8's BBQ the
nite before-Me and the 7 squares TOPS who were there- And in the association
area serving the FIFTH Largest city in California!! (I saw only 6 couples from
that fine city) ..Someone once said "One definition of insanity is doing the
same thing over and over again and expecting a different result"
Rick
Oct 21st
My gosh what a week.................. Lynn got hit broadside on her way to
work and was pinned in ...She's OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise the
LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My computer got broadsided by the Trojan Vundo.B
and was not behaving well- It actually caused me to delay a Fine Tune CD
release. I (finally, after years of asking) got a FEW flyers for the local
festival which I gave out, Now I'm out and the publicity folks were surprised I
didn't have any left to give back to them???? Huh?????-Sheez It was a week later
after all and I had 7 dances/workshops that week and those folks hadn't seen
flyers for this event in quite a few years... I Hope I get more cuz it will be a
Fun weekend (I'm not calling at it) but I do support my local areas- Anybody
need flyers for the other festival, I just got another ream from them. (Festival
names suppressed to vindicate the guilty LOL). I hope all is well with
y'all and would welcome PUBLICITY ideas to share on this blog (Those who ONLY
pass flyers out at s/d political events need not apply-LOL) By the way I was
told that (see above) there were in fact 9 couples from the FIFTH largest city
in California at the above mentioned BBQ- OK...............SO your point is????-
The fact remains that the area does not dance regularly on the weekends-That is
a death wish for S/D
Rick
Oct 22nd
Lynn went back to work Thursday and it turns out the guy who hit her is 82
years old and has the start of dementia.
The insurance company was having trouble finding out his insurance -"We'll have
to wait a couple of weeks-He wont tell us" (It took me 1 phone call and a trip
to CHP to get it) I provided it to my company along with due respect and
admiration to their performance HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!-Idiots!! Gotta love the
insurance industry (Apologies to Eric LOL)- Anyway a FUN nite in Ridgecrest with
the cactus Dandies- We even did a HEX Tip at the end-Tomorrow (Ooops later
today) A2 in Clovis, Whirlaways on Monday, Visalia Party nite/Hurricane Benefit
Tuesday-Skirts A2 Wed- Frazier on Thursday and another benefit Sat. in Arroyo
Grande with Bill Kramer, Dave Rensberger, Darren Gallina and me- C'mon out!! and
join me on a typical week
Thanks for the cards/calls for Lynn
Rick
Oct 25th
Well the insurance adjuster for the other guy finally got here-I had to
track him down and call him. Oh well maybe things will go smoother now (I doubt
it). Anyway a good 3 square dance days- Some new to the area folks on
Sunday Monday and Tuesday- They (4 couples) all found my groups cuz I actively
publicize my groups in a variety of venues-Does your Group? We raised a few
bucks for the Hurricane tonight and a FUN dance- Thanks Bakersfield for
supporting our party nites every month- I sure wish our own (VASD) area would do
some dancing- 3 people visited from 30 minutes away (Local) and 12 from an Hour
and a half away as they do 10+ times a year as well as dancing most Saturday
nites.-I guess there are those who Square dance and those who Square Class- Go
Figure- Speaking of dancing I hear Ricky B. and Company did a bang up job
in Yuba City- At Harvest Hoedown Good deal!!!!!!- I wonder if anyone got him
Squarama Flyers for the weekend. I got a few more tonite-Thanks and keep em
coming I've got 3 BIG dances between now and the 7th. When I'll need more!!!
Have a GREAT Day
Rick
Oct 26th
A good nite at the A2 class- A few of the older members are having a little
culture shock at our new (finally they let me) approach to having the entire
group ready for Festivals (Speed-Length of tips-Degree of complexity) Most are
very happy with the progress. Didn't somebody once say "Don't try to please
everybody" I hope so cuz I don't try to (most yes- all NO). Speaking of
Advanced, if you know a caller who wishes to improve at calling advanced or a
good plus caller who wants to learn how to call advanced, Have him/her email me
as Nassar Shukayr and I (along with a 3rd yet unannounced and impressive
instructor) will be teaching a first of its kind extreme focus callers clinic
right after Nationals-the one topic -Calling Advanced- This team brings a whole
lot of "credentials" ( If you really want to see the credentials check our
websites) to the class and MANY groups can benefit-Heck Get together and
"Sponsor" your caller. You might reap a huge benefit. Thursday it's Halloween
Party at Frazier- Friday me and Mrs. Hampton are on a date and Sat The benefit
in Arroyo Grande- Then back to the usual full week
Rick
Oct 27th
A fun potluck followed by a good class after I finally got everybody to quit
talking in the squares-AGGGHHHH- I've noticed this phenomenon more in the last
2-3 years than in the previous 30- 1) People Talk and Try to guide others
(Oftentimes forcibly) to spots on the floor 2) "Angels" are mostly the worst
offenders. Here's the bottom line.... While this rude behavior may cause
that square to succeed that ONE time it also causes some very bad things 1) The
caller may not see that students need help 2) You likely will P/O a class member
(we cannot lose the few we have) 3) It shows students a horrible example of how
to behave in a square 4) It gives this caller chest pains 5) Most of the time
the "helpers" are WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..................SO can we STOP trying
to "dance" for others and concentrate on ourselves-Look up-Smile- and let the
square break down so your caller can address the problem- If the students need
help then let the caller see that-review and move on. Now I realize there
have been some really lousy instructors in a few areas over the last few years
and maybe this is where this practice came from but (At least in the USDA/VASD
areas this problem has stopped so let us do our jobs and quit breaking peoples
arms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- In The SFV (Thats the san Fernando Valley) area the
practice of having people stand outside a square "directing traffic" is
the DUMBEST-COUNTERPRODUCTIVE thing I've even heard of -Lets have the class
listen to a guy standing by the square instead of the caller- Here's the SFV
fix- If your Instructor can't teach the class-FIRE THEM
Y'all have some great teachers down there- Let them teach and to the SFV
callers-If you allow this at your classes-Quit-You've lost it..........In fact
one of the worst did quit and the club got one of the best-AMEN
Rick
Oct 29th
Around $1600.00 raised for Hurricane relief tonight in Grover city. Kudos to
Bill Kramer for setting it all up. I drove 7 1/2 hours roundtrip for the dance
but it was worth it!!!- Nice to see some friends and I'm glad to hear some folks
trying to actively start up a group at Cal Poly-Good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday I've gotta drive back to the coast to call a "harvest festival" for the
church. I need an airplane LOL
Rick
Halloween 2005
A fun "Harvest Festival" at the Church in Atascadero. Probably 300
people there and @ 100 tried the Square dancing-Mostly 15-20 year olds, Now
that's different, cool, but different. In spite of competing with Pie Eating
Contests, Hayrides thru the woods, Bounce Houses and Hay mazes we did some
DoSeeDo and had a fun nite. Not a very long nite (1 hour) but a lot of fun and
the kids enjoyed S/D to Music like "Venga Boys" "FunkyTown" and "Disney's
Electrical Parade"- No Virginia Reels or Oh Johnny- It's all bout 1) Fun 2) Our
Image. Hope you had a safe and fun "All Hallows Eve"
Boo- Rick