BETWEEN TIPS
"BETWEEN TIPS" is the official bulletin of the
SQUARE & ROUND DANCE FEDERATION OF NOVA SCOTIA
Alex Ritchie, Editor, 58 Oakdale Crescent, Dartmouth, NS B3A 2L8
phone (902) 469-1492 email: alexandgaylan@email.msn.com
MAY    1999
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SQUARE & ROUND DANCING AT SENIORS EXPO

Seniors Expo: Each year, Seniors Expo is held at the Trade & Convention Centre in Halifax. It is a provincialevent that attracts visitors from throughout the province. This year it will celebrate it's 10th Anniversary & alsothe International Year of the Older Person. The 1999 Expo will be held on Friday 16th & Saturday 17th of July.
Federation Participation: The Executive Committee of the Federation approved a motion to rent a booth atthis year's Seniors Expo & to arrange for demonstration dances. It is intended to publicize our dance activity &demonstrate the fun & pleasure to be derived from it.
The Schedule: A tentative schedule of activities has been prepared for both days:

Volunteers: Federation Regional Reps have been asked to canvass for volunteers to take part in this project. There is no admission charge for those attending in proper dance attire.Clubs, groups, or individuals volunteering for one or more of the periods should tell their Fed. Regional Rep. assoon as possible.

News Flash!

          At the recent CALLERLAB Convention in Dallas, Texas, Gloria Roth was the single recipient this yearof the Milestone Award. She is the 50th caller to receive this honour since CALLERLAB was formed. Theaward is given for "outstanding and significant contribution to the field of Square Dancing" showing "leadershipin uncharted fields of activity" and having "effected change which has resulted in the betterment of SquareDancing". Also it must be an unselfish contribution that has stood the test of time.
          The CALLERLAB executive had managed to keep this presentation a secret until Gloria was called tothe stage. She had been asked to give the blessing before dinner and to present the certificates for 50 years ofcalling; so Tuesday, March 30th, 1999 was quite a red-letter day for Gloria. In addition Gwen, Gloria's daughter,was flown to Dallas, smuggled in to the banquet, and kept hidden (sometimes under the table) until it was time topresent Gloria with a bouquet of flowers.
          Look for more details when we have had time to obtain a copy of the official presentation and perhaps aphoto. Meanwhile,

Cumberland Twirlers

          The Cumberland Twirlers have had quite a busy winter. On Feb. 13th our 25th Valentine Dance was heldwith Hilton MacIntosh as caller. On March 2nd our annual Ice Cream Social was held with our own Ken eaglescalling and with proceeds going to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The same evening we held Open Houseand now have a class of almost three squares. A donation was made to the Highland Fling, an annual event forthe hospital and we plan to have some dancers at this event in May. We are planning a Western Night in April,as well as our Maple Fling with Gerry and Bev O'Hara as caller and cuer.

Cobequid Twirlers

          Our Valentines dance was held February 9th with Barry Bendle and Hilton MacIntosh sharing the calling. Some dancers from the Strathmore Strutters joined in the fun. A bus trip to visit the Timberlea Twirlers wasplanned for March 15th but due to a snow storm had to be cancelled and rescheduled for April.
          April Fools day was celebrated March 30th with roles reversed night, clothes and positions werereversed. Again, the Strathmore Strutters joined us for a hilarious and rather confusing evening. A silly HatNight is planned for May 27th. We will continue dancing until the end of May rather than April 20th as originallyscheduled. It is anticipated that our three class couples will graduate in the fall of '99.
          Preparations for the Lobster Jamboree June 5th are in full swing with brochures distributed and planstidied up. Raymond's Square Dance Shop will be in attendance again this year. Ken MacLeod and Alex Ritchiewill be the caller and cuer.

Strathmor Strutters

          We were sorry to hear of the heart attack that Glen Leck suffered the first week of January. He attendedour annual Winter Outing at the Dillman's, and the Fun Squares dance in March, however we are sorry to reportthat he has not felt well enough to attend our club dances as yet. We greatly miss him and Betty and hope theywill soon be able to attend our dances.
          We have had a number out sick as well as Phyllis not feeling up to dancing just yet as her back is stillgiving her some trouble. There has also been the usual number going on vacations South and other points ofinterest.
          Our Plus class has now integrated with the regular plus dancers and are doing fine. Our B/M class havefinished, however they are now tightening up their reaction time and just enjoying dancing. They also attendedour Winter get together and we also had them into Hillcrest Manor entertaining the residents there.
          We are dancing 3-4 squares nightly at our Mainstream Club and some nights, when nearly all are inattendance 5 squares. This year we are celebrating Birthdays on the second Monday of the month, where wesing to all Birthday dancers for that month and have cake and ice cream for lunch. This being the only night that we do have lunch at the Mainstream level. However we do have coffee and tea available each evening as well ascookies and apples.
          We took a demonstration group into the Truro Curling Club and danced there as well as getting thecurlers on the floor doing a bit of square dancing and the Virginia Reel as well as waltz's, foxtrot's, and a polkaor two. We have heard favourable comments back from this, and hope that it will spark an interest in squaredancing amongst some of their members.
          There was no dancing the last week of March as Bob & Phyllis attended Callerlab. So most of the club,along with the class, attended the Cobequid Twirlers' Roles Reversed night, and a great time was had by all inattendance. They, the Cobequid Twirlers, are hoping to attended our Gofers Night on the 12th of April. Wepresently have 5 men and 3 ladies signed up for calling that night. We may be dancing past our 10:00 pm, but Ithink it will be worth it, as they are all a very enthusiastic group.
          We are tentatively scheduling our class graduation for April 29th. They want to go as long as possible.

Are you a subscriber to the Canadian Dancers News and concerned as to why you haven't received material lately?Don't despair, your magazine hasn't been lost in the mail or your name lost in cyberspace, although there areproblems at the National Society with producing the usual publications. Hopefully these problems will beresolved and we will once again receive the Canadian Dancers News.

Dance Nova Scotia's Newest Award

          Dance Nova Scotia's newest award, The John Essex Award for Excellence in Teaching Dance, waspresented to Mary Dunlop of Mary's Islanders Dance School in Greenwood on May 24, 1998 by DianneMilligan, Executive Director of Dance Nova Scotia in Halifax. This will be a yearly award, presented to ateacher in any dance form, who best exemplifies the qualities of Dedication to Students, to Community and theDance. Last year [1997] Mary received the Recognition of Service Award from DANS.
          Mary teaches a multitude of dance disciplines which include Irish, Step, Clog, Scottish Country andSquare Dancing.
          Her students perform at countless events during the summer months, a few of which have included theCarnival of Cultures, the Canada Day Celebrations in Ottawa and the 4th of July Celebrations in Maine.
          To say Mary was surprised and overjoyed at the wining of the John Essex Award is indeed anunderstatement; but it seems that Mary was in for even another surprise when she met with John and his wifeFran at the Multicultural Festival in Dartmouth, where her dancers were performing. John autographed andpresented Mary with his Caller Teacher manual. He stated that it had served him well for many years and that hewished for the first recipient of the John Essex Award to have his manual. Congratulations Mary and GoodLuck in all your future endeavours.
                    [reprint from Dance Nova Scotia's 'DANS NEWS' fall 1998]

Thirty Two Years Of Round Dancing

          Dancing Shadows, started with a class in January of 1967 for the people who were going across thecountry on the "Centennial Square Dance Train". The purpose was to teach this class the current rounds thatthey might encounter at various clubs across the country. When they got back these dancers wanted to continueround dancing so in the fall of 1967 John and Fran Essex formed 'Dancing Shadows', as well as starting a newclass to feed into the club.
          Sometime later John and Fran, after coaching Marg and Tom Keigan teach their first round dance classand having Marg cue at Dancing Shadows, turned the Round Dance Leadership duties over to Marg and Tomwith Marg doing the cueing. When Marg and Tom decided to move to move to Ontario, the members DancingShadows asked Alex Ritchie and Bernice Thurber to become the Round Dance Leaders for the club.
          Thanks to John and Fran, Marg and Tom, Alex and Bernice, members of Dancing Shadows have enjoyed thirty-two years of continuous Round Dancing and fellowship.

Thirtieth Anniversary Of The Tee Pee Camperee

          On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this July 2,3,4 the 'Tee Pee Camporee' will celebrate it's thirtiethcamporee. Started by John and Fran Essex and Ken and Donna Gibson, the 'Tee Pee Camperee' continues to bea great annual Square and Round Dance outing, attracting fifty to sixty couples each year. The current staff forthe 'Camperee' are Jack and Dolores MacArthur, Hilton and Vi MacIntosh, Alex Ritchie and Bernice Thurber. There have been several campground locations for this great event over the years. The current venue is therecently renovated Bay Gardens Camp Grounds in Five Islands, Nova Scotia. Space is limited but if you areinterested in taking part please contact Dolores MacArthur at (902)752-1159.

Border Rounder "Spring Into Summer"

          The Border Rounders are gearing up for their "Spring Into Summer" dance to be held on Saturday, Junethe 12th, at the E.B.Chandler School, 28 Dickey St., Amherst.
          This dance is held on the same weekend as the M.C.C.A. workshop so all Maritime cuers who attend theworkshop are invited to cue at the Saturday night dance. It makes for an enjoyable and varied evening (plus itgives club cuers Beth and John a chance to dance as well). The dance program is set up in groups of four andincludes two phase II, one phase III, and one phase IV. The dance starts at 8:00 pm with a lunch at 10:00 pmfollowing the dance.
          The Border Rounders would like to issue an invitation to all round dancers to come to Amherst on the12th of June. If you want an evening of dancing, fun and fellowship,

ROUNDALAB's Rounds-of-the-Quarter & Runners Up, Second Quarter 1999

MOST POPULAR ROUND DANCE TEACHES AS REPORTED INDRDC's NEWSLETTER, MARCH 1999

AGM '99

          Plans for the Annual General Meeting on October 23,1999 in Brookfield are well underway. Each clubwill be asked to bring along their club banner and a banner display will be made at the meeting. Also planned is apicture session of representatives of each region with banners etc. These will be published in Between Tips. There will be more on this in future months.

30th MARITIME SQUARE & ROUND DANCE CONVENTION
November 5 & 6, 1999
Prince Edward Hotel & Convention Centre
Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Register Early
If your Club or Caller doesn't have Registration Forms
Contact Ken & Fran Eagles (506)536-0814, 21 Bulmer Lane, Sackville, NB E4L 3R3

POSTER CONTEST

          As a start of plans for activities in the year 2000, the Square and Round Dance Federation of Nova Scotiais launching a Contest among our dancers to come up with a Poster Design to be used to advertise and promotethe activity here in Nova Scotia. The contest starts immediately with the winner to be determined by thoseattending the Annual General Meeting in October.
          The Federation is looking for individuals to design posters encouraging new people to attend Squareand/or Round Dance Classes.
          Poster submissions will be numbered and on display at the Federation's Annual General Meeting onOctober 23, 1999. Members attending the meeting can vote for their favourite choice during registration time(1:00 to 1:30 pm). Winning posters will be announced at the end of the meeting. Prizes (free admission to theevening dance) will be awarded in two categories:
1. free style and 2. computer graphics.

This Space Is Reserved Especially For You.
How about Filling It With News About Your Club,
Your Club Members,
Or About Anything That You Think Will Be Of Interest To Others.

If You Send Such To Me, Then I Can Fill This Space.

Send to: Alex Ritchie          Or e-mail to: alexandgaylan@email.msn.com
              58 Oakdale Crescent
              Dartmouth, NS  : B3A 2L8     Or Phone: (902) 469-1492

OPENING CEREMONIES - FESTIVAL '99

Besides your anticipating the fun of dancing, the comradery and the greeting of oldfriends and making new ones at Festival '99 - we are planning to present a wonderfulopening ceremony for your viewing and listening enjoyment.
We are planning to have a bagpiper usher the dancers into the assembly hall for theopening ceremonies for Festival '99. However, final arrangements are not yet completed. It is also planned tohave four Mounted Police present for the opening ceremonies. Three veterans and one serving member. Twoveterans who retired prior to 1995 resplendent in their scarlet blazers and berets, while the other veteran and theserving member in their red serge tunics. These plans also have not been totally finalized as yet.

HOWEVER FOR CERTAIN - we do have "Mary's Islanders Dance Troupe",
which will be performing for us for at least 15 to 20 minutes!

          Mary Dunlop has 27 years dance teaching experience and has accumulated countless awards andpresentations. Her latest award was the John Essex Award for excellence in teaching dance, presented by DanceNova Scotia. For the past 18 years Mary's dance schools have been focussed in the Annapolis Valley.
          Mary's Islanders perform a variety of dance disciplines which include:Scottish Step Dancing, Square Dancing, Scottish Country, Irish, Highland Dancing, and Clogging.
          The dancers have gained unparalleled popularity and recognition through their performances at theMulti-Cultural Shows, both in Halifax and Ottawa; the July 1st celebrations in Ottawa; the July 4th celebrationsin Rumford, Maine; Rebecca Cohn Auditorium; Christmas Daddies; Fiddlefests; Apple Blossom Festivals;Cape Breton Scottish Festivals; Upper Clements Park; Heart of the Valley Days; Breakfast Television; Live at 5;Port George Jamboree in Halifax/ Windsor/Oxford/Shelburne/Bridgetown/ and Lawrencetown Exhibitions; theHighland Games; Prince Edward Island Lobster Carnivals; and Spinnakers Landing.
          The dancers have competed in various competitions and have walked away with gold and silver medals.

MAKE SURE YOU GET TO THE OPENING CEREMONY TO SEE THE SHOW!

FESTIVAL '99 - " A Step in Time in 99" Register NOW!!