PRINCETON COUNTRY DANCERS

    NEWSLETTER           Vol. 3, No. 1 March 2003


DANCE LOCATION NEWS

STILL AT PRINCETONFRIENDS SCHOOL FOR THE RESTOF MARCH
We’ll continue dancing at PFS on Wednesdays,
March 12, 19, and 26, and Saturday. March 22.

SUZANNE PATTERSON CENTER FINALLY TO REOPEN IN APRIL????
Remember the Suzanne Patterson Center, our longtime dance location until early 2002? (Hint:
It’s right behind Princeton Borough Hall, near where route 206 meets route 27.) After countless delays, the SPC is now expected to reopen in April. 2003. Listen for announcements at the dance, watch the PCD web page www.princetonol.com/groups/pcd, or call the phone numbers on the schedule to confirm location.

CDSS SUMMER MUSIC & DANCE CAMPS— PREFERENTIAL ADMISSION AVAILABLE
Do you want to experience traditional English and/or Anglo-American dance and music in a beautiful outdoor setting? The Country Dance & Song Society’s summer camps offer the chance to take daily classes, to sing, dance, and play tunes, to swim, canoe, and relax with new friends and old in West Virginia, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire. Several of these programs feature excellent NJ and Pennsylvania musicians & callers, along with a great variety of performers we don’t often manage to lure to NJ. Warning: dance camp can be addictive! You might not want to leave at the end of the week...
PCD, as a group affiliate of CDSS, can request preferential admission to camp for two potential or practicing musicians, callers, or organizers. This is the way to bypass long waiting lists! Scholarships are also available. CDSS’ application deadline is March 27; ours is March 13. Program and application details are available on the web at <http://www.cdss.org/programs/2003/index.html> or by calling the CDSS office, 413-268-7426.
To indicate interest in a PCD preference, e-mail srlorand@monmouth.com or call 609-252-0248
.
PCD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTION DURING THE DANCE—WED. MARCH 26
PCD Executive Committee members are elected every spring to a 1-year term. We are seeking nominations of people to run for at least two seats that are expected to be vacated at the end of this month. Please contact any member of the committee to express your interest or nominate someone else.
The election will be held during the March 26 dance. All PCD members are eligible to vote. Are you a member? Well, PCD’s constitution (Article 3) defines a member as “any person with an interest in and commitment to the best interests and objectives of the Princeton Country Dancers.
Current members are Sue Dupré, Bob lsaacs, Hinda Kriegel, Susie Lorand, and Barbara Simpson. Contact information can be found on the web page or by calling the phone numbers on the schedule flyer. The committee welcomes your comments and help.

QUARTER-CENTURY TASK FORCE FORMING TO CONSIDER FUTURE OF PCD: THERE’S Still TIME TO JOIN
PCD was founded nearly 25 years ago, and has undergone many changes since then. At the community meeting on January 22, Sue Dupre outlined a vision for a task force to take a look at where PCD is now and to lay a strong foundation for our next quarter-century of dancing. To create the most effective task force, we need additional volunteers, from all walks of PCD life, representing new dancers, experienced dancers, musicians, callers, and our many volunteers. The task force will brainstorm, collect ideas & opinions from all of you, and submit recommendations to the group.
Will PCD continue to provide a way for people to build community, to discover the joy of dancing and making music, and to enjoy the companionship of others? Help it happen! To join the task force, or find out more about it, please call or e-mail Sue by March 31 at dupre@Princeton.edu or 609-844-0459.

NEXT COMMUNITY DANCE: SUNDAY, APRIL 6 AT THE PRINCETON FRIENDS SCHOOL
Join the next generation of dancers at a community dance for all ages: Sunday, April 6, 3:30—5:30 p.m. at Princeton Friends School. People of all ages & sizes are welcome. Janet Mills leads the dancing to music by the Princeton Mixed-Age Dance Band.
Janet requests help in advance and on the day of the dance. Please call or e-mail to offer a little time for setup, sound, minding the door, or refreshments:
janetmills@erols.com or 609-730-8563.

SPECIAL WEDNESDAYS FOR SPRING
Chart Guthrie and Dance All Night will visit us on Wednesday April 9.
The Rum & Onions band goes on the road to NEFFA (the New England Folk Festival) every April (see www.neffa.org). Get a preview at Princeton on Wednesday, April 23 with Bob lsaacs calling.
The Princeton Friends School Folk Dance Club, under, the leadership of Richard Fischer, will entertain us at the break on Wednesday. May 7.
Wednesday, May 14, the North Jersey band Presumed Innocent makes its Princeton premiere with Tori Barone calling.
Visitors Donna Hunt (caller) and Larry Unger will join locals Susie Lorand and Paul Prestopino on Wednesday, May 21.

SPECIAL WEDNESDAY ADMISSION FEES TO RISE
Because costs keep rising, and attendance at dances is not making up the difference, the PCD executive committee has decided to raise the admission price for Wednesdays that feature out-of-town bands or callers from $6 to $7. We welcome feedback and invite anyone for whom admission fees constitute a hardship to contact us about other ways of contributing to the dance.

PCD SPRING FOURTH SATURDAY CONTRAS
Saturday, March 22: Jan Alter with Fireworx.
Saturday, April 26: Beau Farmer with Pick-up Band. (All musicians are welcome! For info, e-mail Pat
Saturday, May 25: Beth Molaro with the Fish Family.

KATHY ANDERSON & RAISE THE ROOF AT LCD DANCE IN YARDLEY—FRIDAY, MARCH 28
Kathy Anderson makes a rare visit to the Delaware Valley to call a dance the 4th Friday in Mardi with music by Raise the Roof: need we say more? Be there! Yardley Community Center, 8-11 p.m.; info at <http://lambertvillecountrydancers.org/>, or call (215) 348-8471 or (609) 882-7733.
SOUND WORKSHOPS
We are looking for more people to learn how to operate our sound system. It’s not rocket science and training by experts is available. Contact Christine Donaghue at girija@mindspring.com or 609-278-8484 if you would like to sign up for the next workshop or to find out more.

HELP NEEDED OPENING & CLOSING THE DANCE
Can you arrive early or stay late at a Wednesday or Saturday dance? We would love to train more people to set up and clean up, so as to spread the work around. It’s easy once you know what to do. Speak to any committee member at a dance or ask the people sitting by the door, and help us prevent committee-member burnout! Admission discounts are possible...

DONNA HEBERT STARTS NEW MUSIC/DANCE CAMP THIS JULY
This just in from fiddler Donna Hébert (of Yankee Ingenuity fame):
“Groove Camp, a new residential summer music and dance camp for families and adults, will open July 3-10, 2003, at the Cherry Ridge Campsites in Honesdale in the northeast corner of Pennsylvania. I’ve asked bassist and dance organizer Stuart Kenney (Wild Asparagus. Airdance, The Sevens) to help me make Groove Camp the ultimate summer vacation for musicians and dancers. Our objective is to teach participants—dancers & musicians—how to find their own natural rhythm, or groove, that makes playing or dancing so rewarding.” More info.: <http://www.dhebert.com/groovecamp/>.

E-MAIL LIST AND PAPER MAILNG LIST
To sign up for brief e-mail reminders about dance events and bulletins with late-breaking dance news, e-mail tlyons@acm.org>.
To get onto (or off of) our paper mailing list, email pcd@dancegypsy.com or call 609-924-6763.

NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS INVITED
Letters to the editor? Dance- and music-related quotations? Original cartoons?
If you would like to contribute to this newsletter, or have suggestions for the editor, please e-mail pcd@dancegypsy.com or call 609-252-0248.


Newsletter edited by Susie Lorand. Your feedback
IS welcome—see above.