Author: WebKeeper

Happy Thanksgiving

Originally posted by Donna Stewart October/10/2016 01:39 PM

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you have been enjoying your weekend with family and friends with this fabulous weather. Hopefully you have had a chance to enjoy the great outdoors this weekend and enjoyed the lovely fall foliage and maybe went to a pumpkin patch somewhere. We have so much to be thankful for!
This blog entry will be a bit different from my usual blog entries. For some weeks now, I have watched at all of our clubs how many of our members have pitched in and helped out when needed. Whether it is arranging chairs, helping with refreshments, helping with moving of my equipment, all of these activities really help to ensure the running of our dance days. As an example, as we dance in a different facility on Mondays, I need to transport equipment and refreshments into the hall. Tables and chairs must be setup, and at the end of the day, all of these things must be disassembled so to speak before we go. Because of all the help I receive from everyone present, we are typically leaving between 5-10 minutes after the last dance on the program! I have told the group time and time again, how many hands make fast work at the tasks at hand and I am thankful for you all!
When we dance at Parkdale, we have some of the same issues with refreshments and take down of equipment. We have volunteers to do refreshments at our dances and the next time you attend please thank Ian and Ann on Wednesdays and Brian and Ann on Thursdays for the service they provide setting up and running refreshments. Break times are our time to socialize primarily at these dances and what better way to connect then over coffee. Thanks so much! On occasion, some of our executive members are missing at our dances and we need relief to fill those spots. Coming up this week (and for the next few weeks), Gavin and Pat will be away. Someone is required to run the signin table, and someone is always willing to fill in. Brian and Ann will be filling in and Mike and Eileen as well as Robert and Jean have also filled in from time to time. Thanks for filling the gap! Some of us out there fill in spots where we don’t always notice what they are doing until we see the final product! Such is the case with picture taking or videos. I know from the standpoint of posting pictures on our website, it would be difficult to do without the help of Charlie, Ziggy, Pat Ivay or Pat Black. Cueing at our events does not give me much opportunity to do any picture taking so I thank you personally for adding to our Capital Carousels photo gallery on our website. Thank you! A picture can sometimes say a thousand words! Another form of media which is getting a lot of attention these days is video! For many years, Lyn as been taking videos of some of our dance teaches from visiting instructors and putting them on DVD for our members to view and learn from. Recently, Mike has been working with Lyn and her videos and has created a DropBox link for anyone with internet capability to go to and view these videos! This is an additional learning tool for all of us and we certainly thank Lyn and Mike for all their work on this! I will be adding a link for this on our website and I will let you know when that is completed. Although I am capable of putting up and taking down the cueing equipment, I often have help and in particular with the takedown and put away of the speakers and stands. John has helped me for many years with this aspect. I know I don’t thank you often enough, but thank you. Also, Aurele, Peter and Arlo just see the opportunity and help and many thanks to you as well. It seems anytime, we need help just around the general hall for special events, we have many people who will pitch in and help. Whether it’s kitchen help we need for potlucks, chairs and tables to be assembled, garbage pickup, taking down decorations, moving or just taking down my equipment-we always have many people on hand who just help out! Thank you!!
I have sat here the past couple of minutes and just thought of all the things that go on with our club and all the tasks that people just instinctively help out with. I know there are probably other instances and people out there that I have missed out on and for that I apologize. Please know that to someone, your help really means something and we should all be grateful for such a warm hearted and helpful group of friends!
Best of Thanksgivings to you all! I know I am grateful for all of you in my life!

What’s Happening

Originally posted by Donna Stewart September/30/2016 07:15 PM

Now that the website is working more in our favour, it’s time to get back to our communication blog here on the information superhighway! October is just a day away and we’ve already had a full teach in each of our clubs and working on the 2nd one. Monday’s have been off to a good start with a nice phase 5 waltz which has been helping us brush up on some figures. We have been learning this season with Curt and Tammy Worlock’s Instructional Videos and everyone seems to be enjoying that form of learning as well as the dance programs! Our Wednesday and Thursday clubs have been learning some dances that were taught at Summer Caper by Wayne and Barbara Blackford and are “jiving” their way along on the 2nd teach at both clubs, “Cat Daddy”. With all of the club’s do diligence, unfortunately we were unable to sustain a new set of beginner lessons. Special thanks to Doug and Susan Connors as instructors, as well as Pat Black and other members of the Capital Carousels Executive for their work to publicize round dancing to area groups and in an online presence. Perhaps we will find the magic potion to recruit dancers in the future.
Speaking of magic potions…..Capital Carousels Ghostly Gala will be held on Wednesday, October 26! What creative costumes will be in store for us this year?? You have a little less than a month to think up a costume for our Gala. This will be our 4th Anniversary Ghostly Gala. We’ve had some very inventive costumes in the past and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for this year. Remember, this event is not a part of our scheduled session. Cost is $16/couple and $8/person. It is an all dancing and no teach night. Share The Wealth, Best Costume Prizes, Ghoulish delights and some delicious potions to go along with it at the end of the evening. Don’t miss out!
Following the Ghostly Gala will be Capital Carousels own, Capital Caper Weekend featuring Steve and Irene Bradt! This will take place on Oct 28+29 and will feature 4 teaches-an introduction to West Coast Swing teach on Friday afternoon, Friday evening will be a phase 4 foxtrot, Saturday morning will be a phase 5 rumba and Saturday afternoon will be a phase 4 mambo! Saturday evening will be a dance to top off the whole weekend with Steve cueing the entire evening! We look forward to adding a new rhythm to our portfolio at Capital Carousels and another mambo will also be a great addition. We all know that rumbas and foxtrots are such mainstays in our activity! We are glad for more of those as well. Lunch is included as well and has been a big hit addition to our Capital Caper Weekends. Please register soon. You can download a registration form from our website here and provide payment at the club or by mail. Couldn’t be easier! Looking forward to a fabulous Caper! See you there!
The dancing is not over yet however. On Sunday, Oct 30 from 2-4:30PM, you can attend EOSARDA’s Fall Fest being held at St. Matthew High School in Orleans. There will be 2 square dance halls-Basic/Mainstream and Plus/A1/Rounds. The Rounds in the Plus and A1 Hall will be phase 2-4 and your cuer, Donna Stewart will be cueing that afternoon. Also….a little bird has told us that Gavin and Pat Currie are in for some kind of surprise that afternoon….! I know you will not want to miss out on that!
I know the last full week of October will be a full one with lots of dancing! It’ll be great seeing our friends, learning lots and enjoying each other’s company. There will be more ahead through the end of the year including our “In From The Cold” Christmas Dance which this year will be held on Friday, December 9! This will allow more of our members to attend and enjoy the holidays. This year will include a potluck dinner before the evening dance! Bring your favourite Christmas dish and we will enjoy our Christmas meal with our dancing family followed by a night of dancing. Also please remember that ALL proceeds collected at the door that evening will be donated to Parkdale’s “In From The Cold” Program which serves meals to around 200 people in need. Such a worthy cause to support a church that has supported us for many years. More details to come on this so stay tuned….Till next time, signing off!

Website Back Up!

Originally posted by Donna Stewart September/23/2016 02:56 PM

Error Code 404, 505, 303, whatever….I guess the list goes on. The website is not quite what it was, but I seem to have “maneuvered” my way around it to make our programs and cuesheets show up again!! Hurray!! There is a kicker though. The “Dance Season” link above no longer has a drop down list to other pages such as “programs” and “cuesheets”. You have to press on the “Dance Season” link above and it’ll take you to that page. At the top left hand side of the page, you will notice a “Links” list and you can find the programs and cuesheets there. Just press on those links. An extra step, but I’m sure we will all figure it out.
So this week, you will be able to get your programs and cuesheets by going through the “Dance Season” link at the top of this page. I have also added the Fall Fest Flyer to the website under the Coming Events link. You should be able to print out all of these items as you had before.
Speaking of Coming Events, our Ghostly Gala-Capital Carousels 4th Anniversary Dance will be held on Wednesday, October 26. As you know, costumes are always welcome, some ghoulish delights will be available for our treats and of course, we will have non-stop dancing all evening with Donna’s ghostly cueing. This is always a fun event for all of us, so start working on those costumes! A couple of days after that, Steve and Irene Bradt will be back with us for another Capital Caper Weekend-Oct 28+29! Teaches on Friday afternoon and evening, Saturday morning and afternoon followed by an evening dance. Lots of learning and dance fun ahead! If by then you are just on dance automatic pilot, perhaps you might like to attend EOSARDA’s FallFest 2016 being held on Sunday, October 30 from 2:00-4:30PM at St. Matthew High School in Orleans! There will be a Basic/Mainstream Hall and a Plus/A1 hall with Round dance tips in-between. Bob Summers and Andy Himberg-Larsen on Squares and your cuer, Donna Stewart on Rounds.
Sounds like a rather full week of dancing coming up Oct 24-30th! Hope to see you all there!

2016-2017 Dance Season Starts Next Week!

Originally posted by Donna Stewart September/01/2016 08:12 PM

Next week begins our 2016-2017 season at Capital Carousels! It all begins with our regular phase 3-5 Wednesday night group meeting 7-9:30PM at Parkdale. Thursday morning will be our regular phase 3-4 group from 10-noon at Parkdale. New to our roster will be our new beginner lessons and phase 2-3 club beginning on Thursday from 1-3PM, also at Parkdale. Lessons will be from 1-2PM and phase 2-3 dancing from 2-3PM. Our own Susan and Doug Connors will be running these lessons and club and we look forward to a growing group of dancers at Capital Carousels. Also new this year will be our phase 4-6 club learning dances from instructional videos by Curt and Tammy Worlock. We will be starting with the phase 5 waltz called Candlelight. I have already posted the cue sheet to our website here and you can review the video of the dance on Glen and Helen’s Dance Site. Please note this club will begin meeting on Sept 12 at Greenboro Community Centre from 1-3PM.
You have all received an email from Ziggy regarding our current rate structure for this session. You can review that email or check out our website here for those rates. As in previous years, please bring your own coffee cups for break time in helping to reduce environmental waste.
Programs for Wednesday, Thursday Morning and Monday are already posted on the website. As in all our recent years, you may download a copy if you wish.
Pat has had a large array of dances to plan for teaching purposes with all the recent dance events around and you can expect some good learning opportunities coming up.
Coming up as well in Capital Carousels future this fall will be our Ghostly Gala on Wednesday, October 26. We will be celebrating our 4th Anniversary as a club. Start planning your costumes now. Very soon after that on October 28+29 will be our own Capital Caper with Steve and Irene Bradt back with us. The dancing is just beginning…get your dance shoes and we’ll be dancing on air at Capital Carousels beginning NEXT WEEK!

Summer Caper Recap

Originally posted by Pat Black September/01/2016 08:01 PM

Another Summer Caper has come and gone. Today we have a guest blog contributor with our own Pat Black giving us all the details! Without further adieu, here is Pat!!

This past weekend we hosted our 2nd Summer Caper, and what a good time was had by all. Friday night Barbara and Wayne Blackford treated us to a terrific 3+2 tango by Mark and Pam Prow called Temptation. Saturday morning they introduced us to their new 5+2 bolero called The Day You Love Me and gave a 45 minute clinic on the proper way to do bolero which some felt extremely helpful. The afternoon was fun as jive always is, teaching us their new 4+1 jive Cat Daddy which had some neat figures that certainly would be a bit of a challenge for anyone with 2 left feet syndrome. The lunch on Saturday was terrific as always, Jenny & Ziggy this year with Ian and Ann’s help out did themselves, thank you all for a job well done.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support our club and those who helped with the set up and tear down and anything else that made this Capital Caper a success.

Pat Black
Program Director

Beginner Lessons Recruitment

Originally posted by Donna Stewart August/17/2016 03:00 PM

Hi everyone! We at Capital Carousels trust you have had a most enjoyable and amazing summer! We strive to keep that trend going with the beginning of our new dance season along with our new beginner round dance lessons with Susan and Doug Connors as cuer/instructors! Since the initial plans to setup new round dance lessons, your executive have been involved in promotion of our lessons on many levels. We have done several demos at square dance clubs and other interested groups to not only show people what round dancing was all about, but also encourage people to come to lessons. We have also been advertising through our website, the EoDance website and our Facebook Page with flyers and our Video Flyer we created last spring. New in the last few weeks has been a “flash mob” of sorts with blitz advertising in various local neighbourhood newspapers and online newspapers to create interest. We do hope these avenues will produce the results we want to see which is of course, is a room full of keen and interested students at our lessons!! We all can still put in a last push by talking with our friends and family about our upcoming lessons. If you know of anyone interested, give them a flyer of our lessons, or direct them to our website here where we have a special section setup just for our new lessons and 2-3 club. If you square dance and know of people in your clubs who have asked questions about round dancing, let them know how much fun you are having!! If they are interested in coming to just learn some two step and waltz so they can dance at square dances between tips, we can help out with that! Lessons and phase 2-3 club dancing is just $5/person per day and the first lesson is free so it’s a good opportunity for those wanting to learn how to dance or those who are really just interested in phase 2-3 dancing or even both!
If you have been involved in square or round dancing long enough, you know that our numbers are dropping every year. Please help us by talking up this activity which all of you so dearly love. We all know its advantages. It’s a great form of exercising without knowing you are exercising!! It not only exercises the body, but the brain as well! How many more friends have you made since you started dancing? It certainly has grown your circle of friends has it not? Do you love music? Just think of all the genres and eras of music we encounter every day when we dance! Round dancing, in the general scheme of things is a relatively inexpensive form of entertainment as well. People will never know until they try and they will be surprised how much they enjoy it when they do!
So talk it up everyone. Our new lessons will start on Thursday, September 8 from 1-2PM at Parkdale United Church. The new phase 2-3 Club will be starting immediately after lessons from 2-3PM. Let’s spread the word!!

Summer Caper Weekend Is Almost Here!

Originally posted by Donna Stewart August/17/2016 02:42 PM

Believe it or not, the end of summer is almost upon us. With that, Summer Caper Weekend must be just around the corner. Yes, on August 26+27, Wayne and Barbara Blackford will be back with another round of teaches that will definitely add some more sways to our dance moves! Along with some summer night dancing, it’ll be a great way to “round” out our summer of dancing. Space is still available for Summer Caper Weekend so if you are looking for something big to finish off your summer of 2016, come and dance with us. If you have not yet registered, please be sure to do so now. Our website here has a special section devoted to Summer Caper and is found under the Special Events link at the top of the page. The flyer is available for download and local hotel information is also included if so needed. Come on out, see some old friends and make some new ones! Learn some new dances and figures from two of the best in the business! Trip the “light fantastic” with a fun night dance program on both Friday and Saturday night! Enjoy lunch and break time snacks as part of your registration! Come and support your club’s dance event and we’ll see you at Summer Caper!

Summertime Update

Originally posted by Donna Stewart July/04/2016 03:44 PM

Hi everyone! I trust you all have had a fantastic Canada Day Weekend and are enjoying your summer so far!! Lots going on with vacations, camping, cottages, family time….the list goes on!! We hope your summer has been full of fun activities blended with just some of those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Enjoy what remains! Donna has had a nice turnout at her Days of Summer Dance Series so far. If you have a Monday night free, come on out and enjoy a nice combination of dancing and socializing. We’ve got 2 more to go!! Just a reminder regarding Summer Caper. If you are planning on attending and have not yet registered, you might like to get that registration completed and submitted. It can be downloaded off our website here. With the possible disruption of our postal service, you might prefer to get those registrations handed in person. Donna will be accepting those at her next couple of Monday dances if you would like to leave them with her. You can also contact Pat Black at program@capitalcarousels.ca or Gavin at treasurer@capitalcarousels.ca for other arrangements. Summer Caper is Aug 26+27 and as fast as the summer seems to go, it’ll be just around the corner for Summer Caper. Please get your registrations in. We’ve got 2 of the best with Barbara and Wayne Blackford! Don’t miss out!
A few calendar notes for our upcoming dance season at Capital Carousels. Our fall season will begin on Wednesday, Sept 7, Thursday, Sept 8 and also Monday, Sept 12! We have two new additions this year to our club roster. We will be holding beginner lessons beginning Thursday, Sept 8 beginning at 1PM at Parkdale United Church. Lessons will be for an hour followed by a new phase 2-3 club. Our own Susan and Doug Connors will be leading that group. Also, with the interest exhibited this past Spring for phase 4-6 dancing, we will be having a phase 4-6 club continuing to learn dances via online instruction. Donna will continue to act as moderator. This group will start on Sept 12 at the same location at Greenboro Community Centre. Hours will be NEW this season-1PM-3PM. We are also happy to announce there will be no fee increase this year for any of the clubs. For details on dates, times , costs for any of these groups, please check out our “Dance Season” link or “Lessons and Phase 2-3 Club” link at the top of this page.
Pictures from the Black and White Ball are now posted in the Gallery for your browsing pleasure as well. Enjoy!
I could go into so much more detail, but who needs it right now right? It’s SUMMER! We will have more detailed information on our upcoming season as the time approaches. In the meantime, enjoy your summer activities and have fun making memories!

End of Season “Officially” Here!

Originally posted by Donna Stewart May/22/2016 12:03 PM
Well, it is officially “a wrap” for Capital Carousels 2015-2016 season. We closed out our season last Wednesday evening with a Black and White Ball. I guess you would never have guessed that from the picture! Thanks to all who came out and enjoyed a full evening of dancing and then some! Pat included many of the dances we learned this year and Donna even added a few in between tips for those who cared to dance. Jenny and Ziggy outdid themselves with our Ice Cream Bar at the end of the evening. A nice treat indeed to end the evening! Our Annual General Meeting also occurred about midpoint where a few changes were approved for our Bylaws and where our Executive was decided upon for the coming season 2016-2017. The following will be a part of your Executive for next year:

Ziggy Segstro-President
Vice President-Vacant
Secretary-Arlo Speer
Treasurer-Gavin Currie
Programmer-Pat Black
Webmaster-Donna Stewart
Member At Large-Pat and Jill Ivay
Member At Large-Charlie Stuart
Social Convenor-Vacant

Ian and Ann Webb have agreed to do refreshments for Wednesday’s group and Brian and Ann Gibbs have agreed to continue to run refreshments for Thursdays group. Ian and Ann have also agreed to cover refreshments and lunch for Summer Caper. Those responsibilities have yet to be determined for Capital Caper. Please consider helping us out and thanks to the Webbs and Gibbs for their contributions!
As you may notice, there are 4 lovely hanging planters in our picture. These were not just there for ambience or decoration, but were provided by the dancers for 4 entities in the club which are believed to go above and beyond the “call of duty” for the club. Those happy recipients were Ziggy and Jenny, Pat Black, John Mowle and Donna Stewart. I am sure I speak on behalf of all of these worthy people, and thank you all for the lovely flowers. I know we were all “tickled” to receive them!
We had a few paparazzi about again at our Black and White Ball! I would personally like to thank Ziggy, Pat Ivay and Charlie Stuart for helping me out with the photos for this event as well as our special event the previous week with JL and Linda Pelton! Pictures really do sometimes say more than words and add so much more interest to our website. I could not do it without you guys! Thank you! Speaking of pictures…the ones from JL and Linda’s visit are now in our photo gallery on our website here, including a few contributed by JL and Linda themselves. Thanks for the memories! I am still awaiting another source of pictures from our Black and White Ball. When they come in and are posted on the website, I will let you know.
As we go on a bit of a “hiatus” this summer, our website updates will not be of the weekly variety, but more of “on a need to know” basis. As per usual, I will let you know of any updates occurring. We will be having a club executive meeting fairly soon to talk about our upcoming season, lessons and the future of 4-6 dancing in our club and other things I am sure. We shall keep you notified via our website updates so check your email periodically this summer! Ha! Ha!
Enjoy your summer everyone! I know some of us will be doing some dancing in one way or another and I hope we will have a chance to meet up some this summer! Enjoy your summer, whatever you are doing!

Capital Carousels-Black and White Ball

Originally posted by Donna Stewart May/14/2016 02:09 PM

Our 2015-2016 dance season at Capital Carousels officially finishes this Wednesday, May 18th with our Black and White Ball. A special occasion which gives us all a chance to dress up a bit in our black and white best! Dance the night away with our all dance night! No teaches! Pat has put together a program which contains many of our taught dances this past season and a few extra! In between our scheduled dance tips, Donna will also be cueing the two dances we learned at our Monday 4-6 Interest Group and I will also add the two dances taught at Swing Into Spring-time permitting of course.
Along with all the dancing, we will have a short intermission break during the evening to conduct our Annual General Meeting.
Some dancing, socializing, having fun and refreshments at the conclusion of the evening are in store for you. Sounds like quite a way to end our season! This is open to all who attend our club whether it is Wednesday or Thursday so please come on out! Cost for the evening is a very reasonable $5/person or $10/couple. Come on out and strut your stuff on the dance floor! We will look forward to seeing you there!