Swinging 21ers Square Dance Club

August: Gone. September: Half over. Covid-19: no end in sight. The Swinging 21ers are still without a meeting place and the area is still under restrictions on indoor meetings, let alone all the hand-to-hand contact implicit in square dance. We did get together on Zoom this month and after taking a few minutes greeting each other and catching up on what's new (not a lot!) we were treated to a presentation on the history of cocktails. I'm not sure how that relates to square dancing, but it WAS interesting. Still, we WILL get back to our beloved activity sometime! Until then, be careful and stay healthy! Here's a memory from 2019:

Another month - gone - and the bad ol' COVID-19 bug is still very much with us. This is sort of a good news/bad news post; due to the Elks lodge currently limited to actual Elks members, limitations on the number of participants and restrictions on indoor events we have had to CANCEL our annual fundraising dance for the Elks Crippled Children's Project. Many thanks to those who have attended in the past and - hopefully - in future years! The good news is that the club has decided that we need to get together in at least a virtual mode - so we will be holding Zoom meetings on the first and third Tuesdays so we can keep up with our member's doings. Unfortunately, still no idea as to when we will be ably to resume actual dancing.

Here we are at the end of June, and - you guessed it! - still not dancing. This ought not be any great surprise to anyone as our state and local governments haven't sanctioned groups of people doing indoor activities yet. Still... I'm REALLY missing the fun and fellowship that is Square Dancing. We're probably looking at sometime after Phase 4 of the reopening and then it will probably be masks, gloves and such. A little news, though: when we DO get back to dancing we'll be doing it to a new caller, Rich Reel. And our long suspended new dancer's class well be gently restarted at the beginning - we've had too long a gap for new skills already. This means that there will be another chance for folks not yet into square dance to (finally) get out of their houses and into an old something new. We'll keep you posted!

Sorry, friends! The word is out and the Fremont Elks Lodge will remain closed to all activities through the month of May. It looks like all of us Square Dancers will have to live through another month of activity withdrawal. On the "Plus" side (at least in some respects) the board has decided that there has been SUCH a long interruption in our beginner's class that the wisest thing will be to start the class over - when we CAN start over. We'll let you newer dancers (and want-to-be dancers) when that will happen - NEW DANCERS WILL BE WELCOME!

I hope that all of you out there are staying healthy! Myself, I'm having Square Dance withdrawal symptoms.. The club has been notified by our venue (the Fremont Elks Lodge - thank you Elks for supporting us!) that all events have been cancelled through the end of April, so dancing remains on hold at least that long. Be careful out there - we want and need our dancers back when this is all over!

As the threat of COVID-19 sweeps the country, we at the Swinging 21ers have chosen to take a step back and see how things progress. The board has chosen to suspend our weekly dances for the rest of March and to cancel the Newer Dancers' Hoedown planned for March 29. As April nears we will take another look at conditions and decide when to resume our weekly meetings. In the mean time, please be safe, stay healthy, and - when the dancing resumes - KEEP DANCING!

The class proceeds - progress is noted weekly in the "Class Notes" section of our web site at 21ers.org . Calls which have been taught are noted with a check mark.

Want to know what was taught last week? Check for check-marks at http://21ers.org/Class_Notes.htm If you missed last week, don't worry.. this will all be repeated at oujr Jan 21 (final open) class.

Why would someone WANT to Square Dance? Here's some possible reasons: * It's good mental exercise. Square dancers must listen carefully to the caller and respond quickly and accurately. * It's good physical exercise. Square dancers typically walk as much as several miles in an evening of dancing. * It's good social exercise. Square dancers work together as a team to ensure that all are having fun. Where else will you find a team sport with no opposing team?... * It's not difficult. It's a dance form with no fancy footwork, just a simple gliding walk. * It's not expensive. Typical club nights average around $5.00 per person and hoedowns (our "big" dances) are usually in the $10-$20 range * It's just plain fun! How do you get started? Join a class. The Swinging 21ers of Fremont's 2020 beginners' class has one more open night on Jan 21; after that the class will close. Come dance with us!. See more

Welcome to 2020! Looking for a New Year's Resolution that's fun (and easy) to keep? If you are currently a square dancer, keep at it. It's good exercise and a great place to meet with friends. If you are NOT currently a square dancer (or just haven't been an active one for a while) consider getting into (or back into) the activity. Swinging 21ers will be be having a class for new dancers starting January 14 in Fremont California!

On Dec 10,2019 we celebrated the graduation of our newer dancers' class and welcomed the class members (and a few other dancers transferring in) to full membership. Next month, on Jan 14, we will be starting our next new dancers' class. If you are in the Hayward/Fremont/Newark area here in California (or at least close enough to drive to Fremont on Tuesdays!) here's your chance to pick up a new skill and meet and dance with a friendly bunch of people.

If you are looking for us on Tuesday, Sept 2, at our usual location, I fear that you are out of luck! The Swinging 21ers will be acting a hosts/servers at the Elk's Lodge #2121 Labor Day event on Sept 1st. We'll be doing some demos, inviting the Elks members for a brief intro to Square Dance, and doing a bit of dancing "just for fun" - the on Tuesday, we rest.

Meet us at the Fair! The Alameda County Fair is coming in June and the 21ers will be meeting THERE on June 20th and 27th. This will take the place of our usual Tuesday night meetings - we would go to the fair on Tuesdays, but the fair is not open on Tuesdays.