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Calendar of Dances Current Newsletter Fall Folk Festival Lady of the Lake Membership information SFS welcome page About SFS Code of Conduct Discipline Policy History, old Newsletters and Photo Archives Performers' Referral List: Bands Contra Dance Bands Contra Dance Callers Children's Entertainment Dance Instruction Dance Performance Musicians/instrumentalists Music Teachers Singers, Duos, Choirs Spoken Word OTHER CONTACTS: Festivals & Camps Local related organizations etc. Instrument builders and repair Local Folk Venues Jams Local related organizations Web resources Contact Spokane Folklore Society (email link) Support our Business Members: David Lohman
Collaborative Lawyer A healthier alternative for divorcing and separating couples
Licensed in Idaho and Washington DavidWLohman@hotmail.com (208) 664-5544 The Mardi Gras Growlers "The Best Mardi Gras Party Band" West of New Orleans. Funk, Jazz, Blues, Sultry Sounds and Powerful Vocals. Booking Private Parties, Special Events and Festivals. Visit MardiGrasGrowlers.Com. Geoff Seitz in St. Louis.
He makes violins and sells other violins and instruments. Interested? email Geoff at Seitzviolins@sbcglobal.net. You can promote your business and support the Folklore Society with a business membership--$100/year |
The Woman’s Club Needs Our Help!
By Penn Fix The COVID crisis has impacted all of us in so many ways. We can’t dance! And the Woman’s Club can’t collect rent. Without this income, they are struggling to meet their ongoing expenses. Even if we aren’t dancing, we can all help by making a donation to The Woman’s Club. It is very simple, just go to their website www.womansclub.org . You can pay by credit card, pay pal, or check. It was in 1980 that my Dad told me about a hall where he and his friends as teenagers took ballroom dance lessons. He remembered fondly sneaking out of really big windows instead of dancing. Once I saw the Woman’s Club hall, I knew that we had found a home for contra dancing in Spokane. It reminded me so much of the New England town halls like those in Francistown, NH and Concord, MA where I had learned to love contra dancing. With its large windows on both sides of the hall, the Woman’s Club has been the scene of many wonderful dances for the past 40 years. But its history doesn’t start and stop with us. In 1890, a group of sixty-five women’s clubs banded together to form the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs. Today with over 80,000 members, GFWC “support arts, preserve natural resources, advance education, promote healthy lifestyles, encourage civic involvement, and work toward world peace and understanding.” In 1905, the Woman’s Club of Spokane was established and affiliated itself with GFWC. Five years later it built a wood frame building on its current site at 9th and Walnut. In 1929, architect Gustav Pehrson designed a brick terra cotta structure around the old building, expanding it to include two auditoriums, two classrooms and a kitchen. Pehrson turns out to be rather significant as he designed the Paulson, Chronicle, and Chancery buildings as well as many private homes on the South Hill. Now 115 years in Spokane, the Woman’s Club needs our help to continue their longtime contribution to Spokane. The board of Spokane Folklore Society has decided to donate $500. Our goal is for our members to help match this amount so that our community has donated at least $1000. Please help if you can! Callers’ Corner
I love contra dancing
and calling for contra danc-es!One of the most exciting and rewarding
things for me is watching beginners transform from insecure, uncertain,
anxious individual dancers into accom-plished, confident and joyful
dancers on the floor, as well as they become part of our dance
community.How does this dancer transformation take place?It starts with
the newcomer being greeted at the door by a welcoming host!That simple
act sets the tone for the evening.Other dancers, as well as the caller,
who approach the beginner and introduce themselves make the newcomer
feel that they are important.Experienced dancers who ask the new dancer
to be their partner also make them feel wanted.During the walk through,
the partner and neighbors of the beginner can be instru-mental in
helping the newbie to enjoy themself and feel
comforta-ble.Encouragement from experienced dancers and the caller
throughout the even-ing goes a long way in assisting the new dancer to
feel confident and enjoy danc-ing.The excitement of the other dancers,
and the amazing live music, is conta-gious!We can all do our part to
make an evening of contra dancing fun, memorable and important.We can
all encourage each other, keep an upbeat attitude and a smile on our
faces so that new dancers will return again and again and become
experienced dancers and grow our contra dance community.By Nora Scott SFS Reunion October 21 Thanks to our performers at our second Spokane Folklore Society Zoom Reunion. Each group presented a 15-20 minute set-Brad Sondahl -Stuart Bachman and Ken Raymond, and Margie Heller --great variety of music from English country tunes from the 1600’s, klezmer/Israeli, contra dance tunes, blues, old-time and classics from the fifties. We had about 35 people attend. Hope to see more of you next time. -Mark your calendars for our next event -Sat Dec 12 --a Zoom celebration of our 40th annual Holiday Dance. |