The BCFestival 2017 Committee has grown in the past month. We welcome the help of Blair Wallace, Frank McNeil, Darlene Austin, Brian Penny, and Margaret Stone at this early stage in the planning as we set up our expectations and the routines that will steer us through the preparatory phase. It seems at this point that for every answer we nail down, two or three other questions come to mind. 
     What is next for YOU, the dancers, callers, and cuers who are anticipating having an exhilarating time at the very next Provincial festival, right here in Region 2? Well, the next thing for you to do, coming up in this month of January 2016, is to complete a registration form for the festival.  YES!! Registration opens January 1st, 2016.  The registration forms will be available on line at BCFestival2017.squaredance.bc.ca. You can print one right from the website. Forms will also be available at the clubs, as soon as we get them out there.
     “Oh, Wendy!” you say. “The festival is 18 months away!” Yes, it is and just think of how quickly the last 18 months of our lives went by!! July 2017 will be here shortly, and all I am asking you to do is plan to attend so our committee can plan the event.  The first step FOR YOU in the planning is filling out your registration form and sending it in with your payment to our registrar.
     Next, I want you to turn the pages in your five year calendar to July 2017 and block in these dates:  the 6th, 7th, and 8th.  Write BCFestival 2017 Cloverdale. And then write “I AM REGISTERED” in BIG, BOLD letters.
      I want to point out that the registration form is asking for your name and contact information and also for the 3 levels and phases of square dance and round dance that you plan to dance the most at the festival. When we put your top 3 together with everyone else’s top 3, we will be able to plan that satisfying and enjoyable program of dance offerings that will make BCFestival 2017 the highlight of your dancing experience.
     So don’t take a wait and see attitude. Don’t try to leave your options open. Putting on this festival is a big commitment involving lots of people and here it is, time for you to put it in writing that you are coming.
     I’m dreaming of a white Christmas and a white New Year—white with the pages and pages of registration forms piling up in our registrar’s mailbox. Remember the number 417. It will take 416 people dancing beside me in Shannon Hall for my dreams to come true in July 2017. It is a big, big dream.  Send in your form and dream big with me.
     WE’RE GOING TO ANNOUNCE IN THE VALLEY CIRCLE WHICH CLUB HAS THE MOST PEOPLE WITHIN THE FIRST 50 TO REGISTER!!
     Here is the committee roster at this moment.  Help is welcome in all areas: the names listed as heads of committees will ask members at large for help with their areas of responsibility.  See something you want to help with? Know someone you want to work with? Contact that person by sending an e-mail to our BC Festival 2017 e-mail address — [email protected] (Attention: 'specific committee member').  And when you see these people, thank them for the job they are doing!!
 
BCFESTIVAL 2017 COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND HEADS OF SUB-COMMITTEES:
Co-Chair —        David McVige (FVS&RDA)
Co-Chair —        Wendy Krueger (V&DCTA)
Treasurer —        Cheryl Plume (V&DCTA) 
Secretary —        Christine Dahl (AGS)
Registrations — Minnie Basaraba (AGS)
Housing/Accommodations — Betty and George Langtry (FVS&RDA)
Publicity, Advertising, Promotion —Jean and Alex Galbraith (FVS&RDA)
Scheduling — square dance program —  Brent Mawdsley (V&DCTA)
Scheduling — Round dancing between tips — Margaret Beatty (V&DCTA)
Scheduling — Round dance program — Anita Adams and Alison Hampton
Website design —  Maureen Wilson (SSW)
Decorations and Displays — Chilliwack Rhythm Reelers Décor Team Extraordinaire
Hospitality —      Wendy & David with an all-star line-up of other volunteers—send us your names, please
Ceremonies —  Dave Hammer 
Poster design — Frank McNeil
Souvenir booklet editor — Blair Wallace (Valley Circle)
Advertising sales — David McVige, Margaret Stone
Committee Members at large — Norm and Mary Cox, Kris and Anni Christensen, Al Gibbs and June Fitchett, John Corrigan, Darlene Austin, Brian Penny
Ex Officio Members — Ken & Sally Crisp (BCS&RDF president couple)
 
 

BCFESTIVAL 2017                        in Region 2                                       Thurs. to Sat. July 6,7,8, 2017
By Wendy Krueger,  Co-Chair                                                       VENUE: Cloverdale Rodeo Grounds
 
The BCFestival 2017 Committee has had a busy month of waiting to finalize plans for the venue for our exciting extravaganza of square and round dancing coming up in only 19 months. It was like watching a soccer match with a lot of running back and forth and still no score, but once the deal was finalized, the crowd went WILD!!
The beautiful and venerable Shannon Hall on 176th Street in Cloverdale will be the centrepiece of our festival. This facility has had a long history as a dance venue and long-time dancers have many wonderful memories of successful events hosted there over the decades. She has wonderful sound and a great floor, and she will be resplendent for us in her fanciest rodeo theme trappings. Her sidekick, right next door, is the Alice McKay building, which is of equal size, but comes in a distant second as a dance hall. Who the heck is Alice? Well, this Alice has more experience with wrestling crowds than dancers. Now I know sometimes square dance callers court disaster by calling things like “all 4 boys Box the Gnat”, and I saw a struggle ensue over that call once, much to the caller’s amusement! (No, it wasn’t Steve who called that—I wouldn’t draw attention to any local caller in print!) At any rate, we have high hopes that Alice will dress up quite nicely for us and we’ll be proud to invite all of you and many from far off to come dance with us.
No, I didn’t “go ask Alice” for a cracker-jack décor team to outfit our buildings for the festival. I made the trip to Chilliwack and asked around, letting some key people know that the talents of the Chilliwack Rhythm Reelers decorating specialists have been noticed and I was coveting their assistance for the festival. There is a very creative and energetic group out east and they have generously consented to take on this job. Thank you, CRR!
Dear Readers, I have been encouraged to hear that others believe in my personal goal.  Just reminding you all that it is my fervent desire--that is a hot, burning, glowing passion--to see registration of 417 participants for BCFestival 2017. Four hundred seventeen!! Can it be done? Yes!! Let's get excited, let's get involved, let's make it so!!
REGISTRATION FORMS WILL BE OUT SOON—START ASKING OTHERS IN YOUR CLUB TO GET IN THE RUNNING.  WE’RE GOING TO ANNOUNCE IN THE VALLEY CIRCLE WHICH CLUB HAS THE MOST PEOPLE WITHIN THE FIRST 50 TO REGISTER!!
Here is the committee roster at this moment.  Help is welcome in all areas: the names listed as heads of committees will ask members at large for help with their areas of responsibility.  See something you want to help with? Know someone you want to work with? Contact that person.
 
BCFESTIVAL 2017 COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND HEADS OF SUB-COMMITTEES:
Co-Chair—        David McVige (FVS&RDA)
Co-Chair--        Wendy Krueger (V&DCTA)
Treasurer—        Cheryl Plume (V&DCTA)
Secretary—        Christine Dahl (AGS)
Registrations— Minnie Basaraba (AGS)
Housing/Accommodations—Betty and George Langtry (FVS&RDA)
Publicity, Advertising, Promotion—Jean and Alex Galbraith (FVS&RDA)
Scheduling--square dance program--Brent Mawdsley (V&DCTA)
Scheduling—Round dancing between tips—Margaret Beatty (V&DCTA)
Scheduling—Round dance program--  We Need You to work with Anita Adams and Alison Hampton
Website design—  Maureen Wilson (SSW)
Decorations and Displays— Chilliwack Décor Team
Hospitality—      We Need You
Committee Members at large—Norm and Mary Cox, Kris and Anni Christensen, David Hammer, Al Gibbs and June Fitchett, John Corrigan
Ex Officio Members--Ken & Sally Crisp (BCS&RDF president couple)
 
 

The definition has been embellished somewhat, I admit. The smiley faces depicting happy people and the spirals to symbolize dance give you more of the feeling of dancing at a festival. It is exciting! It is fun! It is joyful!
What is this about a provincial square and round dance festival in 2017? It is three exciting days of dancing with your friends to many different callers and cuers at a venue that can accommodate lots of people. Dancers will come from all over--Who will travel the furthest? We shall see!  Callers and cuers will come from all over--Wow, will your favourites be there?  Be sure to ask them to come!
The programming will be varied and tailored to the dancing levels of the registered participants. That means YOU register and indicate YOUR dancing levels and desires. The callers and cuers register and indicate their calling and cueing levels. Then the programming geniuses on the committee take all of that information and build the dance program.
By consulting the published schedule when you arrive at the festival, you choose how much you want to dance and to which callers and cuers you wish to dance.  Then you go find your friends and see what everybody wants to do. And you make new friends all over the place: in the squares, on the round dance floor, in the lunch line, at a picnic table, sitting out by your RV (or your new friends' RV), at a nearby restaurant, or in your motel.
A committee has formed and is open to your participation.  Do you have an interest in themes and decor? The theme will be RODEO. We want to do a really nice job with decor. I know which club has the most outstanding décor and I hope they volunteer. Do you have an interest in hospitality? We will need a roster of people to take turns on site helping things go smoothly. David and I will provide oversight, plus he’d also like to dance and I would like to call—who will help us out?
Dear Reader, I just want you to know I have a personal goal.  It is my fervent desire--that is a hot, burning, glowing desire--to see registration of 417 participants for BCFestival 2017. Four hundred seventeen!! Can it be done? Yes!! Let's get excited, let's get involved, let's make it so!!
Here is the committee roster at this moment.  Help is welcome in all areas: the names listed as heads of committees will ask members at large for help with their areas of responsibility.  See something you want to help with? Know someone you want to work with? Contact that person.
 
BCFESTIVAL 2017 COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND HEADS OF SUB-COMMITTEES:
Co-Chair—        David McVige (FVS&RDA)
Co-Chair--        Wendy Krueger (V&DCTA)
Treasurer—        Cheryl Plume (V&DCTA)
Secretary—        Christine Dahl (AGS)
Registrations— Minnie Basaraba (AGS)
Housing/Accommodations—Betty and George Langtry (FVS&RDA)
Publicity, Advertising, Promotion—Jean and Alex Galbraith (FVS&RDA)
Scheduling--square dance program--Brent Mawdsley (V&DCTA)
Scheduling—Round dancing between tips—Margaret Beatty (V&DCTA)
Scheduling—Round dance program--  We Need You to work with Anita Adams and Alison Hampton
Website design—  Maureen Wilson (SSW)
Decorations and Displays— We Need You
Hospitality—      We Need You
Committee Members at large—Norm and Mary Cox, Kris and Anni Christensen, David Hammer, Al Gibbs and June Fitchett, John Corrigan
Ex Officio Members--Ken & Sally Crisp (BCS&RDF president couple)