All smiles

Jennifer on her harp

The "not to be missed, once in a lifetime" Dinner Dance (now a happy memory) really was just that----a "once in a lifetime " enchanted evening! Thank you one and all; to the planners, to the artisans, to the contributors, to the doers, to the performers, to the hosts, and to all the dancers from far and near who came to celebrate our 25th-and-1st Annual Dinner Dance Gala. With a special thank you to the co-chair, I am one happy, grateful 'Charter Member' (pun intended! :-) Marge

Elke Baker, fidler!	Lisa Scot, pianist, with friends Sarah, Edna, and Irene	A Belle o' the Ball
movin'!	a kilt with spirit!	Promenading

Listen up!

Another dancing year draws to a close. This will mark the end of my fourth term as Manager/Chair of our group (and the beginning of the fifth - if all goes according to plan). It's a time for both reflection and goal setting.

In Year One, we set about rewriting the Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws with an eye to the 'grand plan' of setting up a Branch that could serve as an umbrella organization to any new or existing groups of Scottish Country Dancers in the area. It was a fairly arduous process and took longer than expected (although I've come to realize that almost everything takes longer than what I expect it to), but we came up with some excellent documents. In Year Two, we focused on becoming a Branch. In Year Three, with our new Branch status in hand, we became a federally recognized non-profit corporation - a 501(c)(3)! (We had been a WA State non-profit for a long time.) In Year Four, I had sort of planned on resting on my laurels.

Dance chair, Marge van Nus

Instead, somehow I got heavily involved in our 1st-and-25th Dinner Dance. And I believe we all agree that we put on a really great party for ourselves. My hat is off to Marge for heading the committee (I had no idea how large the committee had become prior to the event), and having the entire vision and working it through to the end. It was fantabulous! I've had several email letters from people from out of town marveling at, and thanking us for, the fabulous venue, food, music, dance, and camaraderie, not to mention the availability of new books and CDs, and the lovely and relaxing After Party. So many people worked to pull it off, and it seemed that on Saturday night at the dance Marge was every place at once - making sure everything was working, making sure the staff was well informed, making sure everyone had everything they needed, making sure everyone felt welcome and comfortable. It seemed that she had tapped almost everyone to handle some aspect of the whole, and everything ran very smoothly - Marge is such a treasure.

Speaking of treasure, the old saying goes something like "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". And one of our group's other treasures, Van, has been away for several months now, dealing with things. The unexpected task of being Dinner Dance Registrar fell to me. Call me a control freak, but although I found it stressful, I really enjoyed it. I not only got to send the flyer off to everyone, I got to hear back from them. I knew ahead of the event how many were coming, and who they were. I got to organize a lot of information, take the money to the bank, and eventually and unfortunately, pay the bills. (We were really rich for awhile there.) All in all, a learning experience for me, but I still miss Van very much and wish daily that she could come back.

But, I digress. Year Five is still ahead. Taking a page from Marge's book, my goal for the coming year is to involve more people in the running of the Branch. When I was a teen, my family joined a large church. One of the things they said to us when we joined was that they wanted to help each of us find a way to serve. It took me a few years of pondering to really understand what they meant. If everyone in an organization finds just a little something he or she can do for the organization, no one ends up feeling burdened and the organization itself becomes a stronger and more attractive entity. I know that each of our members has abilities and talents well beyond showing up to dance. I would like to help everyone find a way to get a little more involved in the coming year. You can help me do that by thinking about what you're good at and what you might be able to do to move the Branch forward. These don't have to be big, time-consuming things. The little things will add up to bigger things. Together I'm sure we can come up with some terrifically creative ideas.

Rather than having the AGM on a 'school night' we have planned it for Saturday, May 15th at 7:00pm at the Clark PUD building community room. This is in keeping with the concept that the Branch is an umbrella organization for Scottish Country Dancers in the whole of Southwest WA. I'm really hoping that many of the out-of-town dancers can join us for this groundbreaking event! Remember, we need a quorum to conduct business.

Annual General Meeting
Saturday, May 15th, 2010 7:00pm
Clark Public Utilities District Community Room
1200 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver WA

And rather than have people drive an hour or more to go to a dry old meeting, we're going to spice it up with some FUN!

Fun Before the Meeting: 5:00pm. Meet at the Clark PUD Bldg Parking Lot.

Here's the "plan" so far:

We will meet at the PUD Bldg Parking Lot at 5:00pm. All the ladies will be wearing white or light colored tea frocks - accessorize with large brimmed hats, gloves, pearls, ribbons, and the like. The men will be wearing either kilts or golf knickers with stiff collared shirts, perhaps a sweater vest, or perhaps a nice straw fedora. We will proceed to the southeast corner of the Marshall Center grounds, just north of the PUD building (just across Mill Plain to the north). We will play a little croquet, sit in our lawn chairs and chat, take photographs, and use our binoculars to observe passers-by or watch birds. We can eat a lovely picnic of cucumber sandwiches and other delights (please use your imagination and bring your own picnic supper in keeping with the croquet party atmosphere).

If it rains, (which it just won't) there is a covered walkway that is part of the PUD complex. We can picnic under it if need be, and play parlour games instead of croquet.

We will proceed from there to the Community Room, where we will conduct the meeting with as much dispatch as possible. We have a slate of officers to vote on: Chair, Linda Mae Dennis; Vice Chair, Marge van Nus; Treasurer, John Shaw; Secretary, Susan Shaw. And there will be reports from the Treasurer, Chair, Teachers, and possibly some others.

After the meeting, we might decide to wander over to Ice Cream Renaissance where we will try not to get hot fudge on our white dresses.

Please put the date on your calendar and plan to attend.

Naturally, non-members and non-dancers are also welcome to attend.