Dear Friends,

  Gail and I are celebrating our tenth wedding and dancing anniversary
on Friday December 28.  We will be sponsoring the FOURTH FRIDAY
MILFORD DANCE.  There will be Free dancing for all, as well as a
potluck in the banquet hall behind the stage, at the TOWN HALL.

Potluck : 6:00 pm
Dance   : 8:00 pm

Sit in musicians and callers as usual. Sylvia Miskoe will be leading
the band.

Y'all come and have a good time!

For more information call 978-597-8016 or 207-372-8657

Jim and Gail Birch

Hello,

Winter is coming: It snowed in the northern parts of the state on Monday
- and in Nelson. The rest of us should see some snow soon. And the
holiday season is fast approaching, too. I already have information
about eight holiday dances and events. All are now listed in the
schedule. I'll have more to say about them over the next few weeks. If
your dance is planning a holiday event, let me know about it.

First, this Friday, Nov. 9th, Dudley Laufman will receive the 2001
Governor's New Hampshire Folk Heritage Award at the Capitol Center for
the Arts  in Concord. Information and tickets are available at:
http://webster.state.nh.us/nharts/newsandcalendar/gaa/gaainfo.html Join
him if you can as he receives this prestigious award.

This week I wanted to say a little bit about the Monadnock Folklore
Society. They have a number of events and projects in the works. First
the MFS will again present Nowell Sing We Clear in concert on December
14th, followed the next day, on December 15th, with the Umpteenth Annual
Nelson Solstice Party. If you've never attended the Nelson Solstice
Party, its worth the trip. It starts with a concert by Alouette Iselin
and friends. Then there's a dance with all the local callers and
musicians and a few surprises can *always* be expected.

The MFS is also developing the Johnny Trombly Scholarship for young area
musicians. Here's how they described the scholarship in the recent Fall
MFS Newsletter.

    "Bob McQuillen has been listening to and observing contra dance music
for much of his life. he knows that it helps to start young, and he
wants to encourage young musicians. He has established the Johnny
Trombly Scholarship to help this process. Mac started us with $1,000 and
has tasked MFS with building this financially and administering it."

    "This scholarship will be available to Monadnock Region residents for
the funding of music camp, lessons or other directly related expenses.
In the beginning of 2002 we will be taking applications and have a board
of 3 to administer it."

     "Our first awards will be in time for the summer 2002 camp season.
At Mac's suggestion, it will be offered statewide once we get our
procedures in place. The board would like to expand to a number of
scholarships to encourage participation by interested young people in
folk music and dance. 10% of the Nelson Monday Night Dance proceeds will
go toward this fund. Other funding methods are being considered and
donations from the area community will be happily accepted."

Watch their web page for more information about these and other MFS
projects: http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/MFS.shtml

Finally, I wanted to mention another, more unofficial, event that
happens the first Wednesday of each month in Milford, NH. (I was there
earlier this evening.) The Milford Town Hall band, who you can hear at
the Milford dance, meets with other local musicians at the Foodees
Restaurant on the Milford Oval every first Wednesday. Its a great place
to listen to great contra, Irish, Scottish, and other styles of music
over a meal of Foodees pizza. On Wednesdays, Foodees serves a pizza
buffet. There's salads and at least a couple dozen varieties of Foodees
pizzas. Their special recipes are only available at Foodees:
Mediterranean, BLT, Cheese burger, Tomato-basil, Reuben, Pesto Fajita,
and lots of other pizzas you never knew existed. I usually prefer their
pizzas over any others (except the ones we make at home). You can choose
whole wheat, sourdough, and other crust varieties and put almost
anything on top. So Foodees pizzas and great music are a combination
that can't be beat in Milford: http://foodeesmilford.com/

And now (finally) the dances this week:

Saturday, Nov. 10th: Francestown, Frank Woodward and New Boston Fancy.
Saturday, Nov. 10th: Gilmanton, Sue Hunt with Kathy Zimpher, Rich and
Libby Danahy.
Saturday, Nov. 10th: Sandown, Byron Ricker and Fiddler's Loft Band.
Sunday, Nov. 11th: Concord English Country Dance, Marianne Taylor with
Bill Possi & Justine Paul.
Monday, Nov. 12th: Nelson, Great music, great callers (ahem..), great
dancers (even the beginners)

Keep on dancing,
Rich Hart.
New Hampshire Dances: http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/

Happy Halloween,

With the beginning of the month, we have a week with a lot of dances
again. There are eight dances in New Hampshire to chose from over the
next week. There often seem to be more dances at the beginning of each
month than at the end.

An interesting special event happening this week is the French-Canadian
Soirée happening in Manchester on Friday night. The Soirée begins at 7
PM at the St. John the Baptist Parish Hall and costs $10. Among the
artists expected to be there are Dudley Laufman, Roberta Sutter, Wilson
Langlois, Joe Pomerleau, Robert Perreault, Rejeanne Letourneau, Jeanne
Trepanier, and Robert Choiniere. Reservations are strongly recommended:
(603) 622-7531. This event is sponsored by the Manchester Historic
Association and the NH Federation of Musical Traditions.

Next week on Nov. 9th are the Governor's Arts Awards where Dudley
Laufman will receive the Folk Heritage Award this year. Tickets for the
ceremony are $22.50 and are available through the state web site:
http://webster.state.nh.us/nharts/newsandcalendar/gaa/gaainfo.html
Dudley and Jacqueline are planning a dance and party to celebrate the
award later in the winter.

Now the dances, check the schedule for details:
http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/q401.html#november

Thursday, Nov. 1st: Dover, Lamprey River Band.
Friday, Nov. 2nd: Windham, Frank Woodward and the Windham musicians.
Friday, Nov. 2nd: Wolfeboro, Tom Chiappisi calling and the Caravan Dance
Band.
Friday, Nov. 2nd: Manchester, French-Canadian Soirée.
Saturday, Nov. 3rd: Peterborough, Steve Zakon-Anderson with Amy Larkin
and Bob McQuillen.
Saturday, Nov. 3rd: Deerfield, Chrissy Fowler with Amy Cann and Timm
Triplett.
Saturday, Nov. 3rd: Wentworth, Sue Hunt calling with Jordan
Tirell-Wysocki.
Monday, Nov. 5th: Nelson, Swing, swing, swing with Don Primrose.

Keep on dancing,
Rich Hart.
NH Dances: http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/

Hello,

First, I must apologize for an incorrect date last week. Mike McQuown
was not here last weekend, but he will be here at the Nelson dance next
week. Mike McQuown, from Durham, North Carolina will bring his accordion
to play couples dances for us - schottisches, polkas, hambos, etc. It
should be a great addition to the contras we always do on Mondays.

Also, before we knew of Mike's pending visit, a couples dance workshop
was planned for 7 PM, before the Nelson dance this coming Monday. So
come to Nelson early to learn - or practice - a variety of couples
dances, with Mike McQuown and the regular Nelson musicians.

Great New Hampshire Dances - Milford.

The following is the first of what I hope will be a series of
descriptions and histories of the various New Hampshire dances. I'll
write about the dances that I attend regularly and know something about.
If you know something about a particular dance - especially seacoast or
northern dances that I don't attend often, please consider writing a
description to include here.

Come to the Milford dance this Friday night. If you've never been there,
the dance is held in a wonderful, large hall on the second floor of the
town hall building, right on the Milford oval. The band is usually one
of the largest in New Hampshire - 20 musicians or more most nights.
Sylvia Miskoe has organized the band for a number of years. Have a good
look at Bill Fitzpatrick's wheeled bass that he made out of metal
heating ducts. He plays there nearly every month. There is always a good
fiddle section in the band; a few flutes or fifes; usually a horn or
brass section; a piano; a hammered dulcimer; and a collection of other
instruments. Sit-in musicians always welcomed.

There are also at least three callers, and often more there, including
myself, Frank Woodward, and others. Most of the Milford dancers are very
experienced, but there are always a few beginners and some children and
teenagers there, too. Expect one or two long contra lines in the big
hall, but there is plenty of room for additional lines when a really big
crowd shows up.

The Milford dance was started just over 10 years ago to raise funds to
repair and remodel the town hall. The work is now long completed, but
the dance continues in the hall that benefited, at least partly, from
money raised by the Milford dancers. The price is still $5. The dance
happens from 8-11 PM every 4th Friday. And be sure to bring clean soft
soled shoes to help protect the floor.

And now the dances this week (there aren't many this time):

Friday, Oct. 26th: Milford, The Milford Band with a bunch of callers.
Saturday, Oct. 27th: Dover, Swallowtail.
Monday, Oct. 29th: Nelson, Couples workshop at 7; all the regulars at 8;
wear a Halloween costume.

Keep on dancing,
Rich.

thank you for that lovely gift, Bond!
Terese
--- BondPerry@... wrote:
> This autumnal poem reminds me of a NH contra dance:
>
>
>
>                          >
> October's Party
> George Cooper
>
> October gave a party;
> The leaves by hundreds came-
> The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
> And leaves of every name.
> The Sunshine spread a carpet,
> And everything was grand,
> Miss Weather led the dancing,
> Professor Wind the band.
>
> The Chestnuts came in yellow,
> The Oaks in crimson dressed;
> The lovely Misses Maple
> In scarlet looked their best;
> All balanced to their partners,
> And gaily fluttered by;
> The sight was like a rainbow
> New fallen from the sky.
>
> Then, in the rustic hollow,
> At hide-and-seek they played,
> The party closed at sundown,
> And everybody stayed.
> Professor Wind played louder;
> They flew along the ground;
> And then the party ended
> In jolly "hands around."
>
> This seasonal poem made me think of a dance, could
> almost hear Dudley calling
> "Paul Jones".
>
>
>


__________________________________________________
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Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals.
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This autumnal poem reminds me of a NH contra dance:



                        

October's Party
George Cooper

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came-
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best;
All balanced to their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
New fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow,
At hide-and-seek they played,
The party closed at sundown,
And everybody stayed.
Professor Wind played louder;
They flew along the ground;
And then the party ended
In jolly "hands around."

This seasonal poem made me think of a dance, could almost hear Dudley calling "Paul Jones".

Hello,

There were some great dances last weekend, as most of you know. Dudley
Laufman and Renn Tolman ran a great dance in the Nelson town hall
Saturday evening, just like they were done 50 years ago. Renn was
visiting from Alaska. Others drove a considerable distance to attend.
Most of the numerous dancers were Nelson natives or ex-natives. I expect
that many of the regular dancers were in Francestown or Gilmanton, or
maybe the special dance in Fitzwilliam. The dance was so successful that
I hear they may try to do it again.

The Fall Ball in Peterborough on Sunday was very well attended, with
great music and calling. I know most of you were there. I especially
enjoyed the medley that Jay Unger and Molly Mason played for one dance.
It included a collection of tunes with a military theme, including
Battle Hymn of the Republic, Dixie, and others, and ending with the
Mickey Mouse theme song. Who says you can't make a political statement
with music?

I have also just learned that Dudley Laufman will win the NEW HAMPSHIRE
FOLK HERITAGE AWARD of the Governor's Awards in the Arts this year. The
award will be presented Friday night, November 9th at the Capitol Center
for the Arts, Concord, NH. You can read more about the awards and get
tickets here:
http://webster.state.nh.us/nharts/newsandcalendar/gaa/gaainfo.html

These awards are presented every two years and they are an important
event in the New Hampshire Arts calendar. Bob McQuillen won this award
in 1997, so Dudley is the second contra dance musician to be honored in
this way.

This Friday the Holderness dance continues its third-Friday-only
schedule. I hear that this Friday is also Byron Ricker's birthday and a
celebration is planned for the event.

The Kingston dance is also on Friday night. They have lined up a great
schedule of callers and musicians for the rest of the year at Kingston.
This Friday Bill Olson will be calling with Scrod Pudding, from Maine.

Finally, I've learned that a guest musician is planning to attend the
Nelson dance on Monday. Mike McQuown, from Durham, North Carolina will
bring his accordion to play couples dances for us - schottisches,
polkas, hambos, etc. It should be a great addition to the contras we
always do on Mondays.

Now the dances this week- details at the web site:

Friday, Oct. 19th: Kingston, Bill Olson and Scrod Pudding.
Friday, Oct. 19th: Holderness, Byron Ricker and New Boston Fancy.
Saturday, Oct. 20th: Concord, Frank Woodward with New Boston Fancy.
Saturday, Oct. 20th: Walpole, Don Primrose with Britany Orlebeke, Peter
Siegel, Seth Houston.
Sunday, Oct. 22nd: Portsmouth, Marianne Taylor with Sarah Hydorn &
Justine Paul.
Monday, Oct. 23rd: Nelson, All the regulars and a guest.

Keep on dancing,
Rich Hart.
NH dances: http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/

Rich wrote:

> There may or may not be an English dance in Concord on Sunday as well.
>
Indeed there is.  Marianne Taylor leads the dances with music by Roberta
Sutter & Bill Possi.  That's 6:30 to 9:30 tonight at Howard Auditorium,
99 Pleasant Street, on the grounds of the old State Hospital.  Enter the
State Office Park South at the sign for 97-101-105 Pleasant and look for
the 5th building on the right.

Elsewhere in central New Hampshire...we had a nice little dance in
Gilmanton last night at a one-time location.  The word on the Academy
Building auditorium, the regular stomping ground for this dance, is that
the creaky old floor has been ripped out and the new boards are in place
and sanded and ready for a few coats of polyurethane.  Things are
looking good for a shiny new floor in time for the November 10 dance.

Hello,

This week the news is all the dances there are to choose from. Of
course, the big dance is the fall ball in Peterborough on Sunday, but
there are also four dance on saturday night night as well. Two of the
Saturday dances are special ones, while the other two are the regular
dances in Gilmanton and Francestown.

The special Saturday dances include a family and contra dance in
Fitzwilliam Diane Goodman calling and music by Paradocs. The family
dance starts at 7:30 and the regular dance begins an hour later. Both
the caller, Diane Goodman, and the musicians do not appear often at
dances here. Larry Seigel is visiting here for a week or so from his
home in Minnesota. He played with his group "Guys Who Talk" at
Peterborough last week. Although Paradocs, used to be two musicians with
Ph.d's (Larry Seigel and Cary Bluhm), it now seems to have three
members.

The other special Saturday dance is a dance in Nelson. It is being
organized by Renn Tolman and Dudley Laufman who hope to reproduce an old
Nelson dance as they were done 50 years ago. Renn is visiting from
Alaska and this Saturday ended up being the only day they could schedule
the dance. The old dances like Money Muck will be featured. Harvey
Tolman and other old-time musicians will play.

Note that the Gilmanton dance will take place in the old Gilmanton Town
Hall in Gilmanton Iron Works, instead of the Academy Building, where the
floor is being redone.

Finally the Fall ball starts at noon on Sunday with Rodney Miller's
"AirDance" and Lisa Greenleaf calling. They are followed by "Moving
Violations" (Vandy Kaynor's & Ron Groslein's band) with Steve
Zakon-Anderson calling, and then finally Jay Unger & Molly Mason play
with David Kaynor calling. The dance ends at 10 PM. Bring something to
eat (or expect to eat out) as I don't think there will be any food
available in the hall.

There may or may not be an English dance in Concord on Sunday as well. I
haven't heard any details about that dance. Call to be sure if you want
to go to the English Country dance. I'm also not sure of who is playing
at Francestown.

Now the dances:

Saturday, Oct. 13th: Francestown: Frank Woodward and New Boston Fancy,
maybe?
Saturday, Oct. 13th: Gilmanton, Dave Harvey with Heather Mike & Mike
Morris
Saturday, Oct. 13th: Fitzwilliam, Diane Goodman and Paradocs (all 3 of
them)
Saturday, Oct. 13th: Nelson, Special old time dance.
Sunday, Oct. 14th: Peterborough, Fall Ball.
Sunday, Oct. 14th: Concord, English dance, call to confirm.
Monday, Oct 15th: Nelson, on the Ides of October.

Keep dancing,
Rich Hart.

One more dance for this weekend:

Saturday, Oct. 6:  Deerfield Town Hall, Peter Yarensky with Sarah
Hydorn, Burt Feintuch, and Cal Howard

Hello,

There are some fine dances coming up this month, but before I list this
week's dances, I wanted to mention a book I recently got. The book is
"Mouth Music - Poems & Prose Poems" by Dudley Laufman. The book is
constructed in a typical Laufman style. Its a thin (41 pages) paper-back
book filled with Dudley's view of dancing and life. Unlike most of
Dudley's other books which are filled with dances and music, this one
contains poems and short stories about dancing, music, and country life.
Some present Dudley's view of the current dance scene, while others are
pure fantasy. Here's one of the shorter, untitled poems:

	 My fiddle
	 behaved well
	 tonight

	 fitting snugly
	 under my
	 face

	 hair flowing
	 over
	 her shoulders

	 bulging
	 in the right
	 place

Ask Dudley about the book when you see him, or you can order a copy from
him through the Laufman web site: http://www.laufman.org/Books.htm

Finally remember the Nelson potluck supper before the dance on Columbus
Day, Monday night. Bring a dish to share with the other dancers.

And don't forget the Fall Ball happens in Peterborough next week on Oct.
14th.

Now the dances this week:
Thursday, Oct. 4th: Dover, Lamprey River Band.
Friday, Oct. 5th: Wolfeboro, Tom Chiappisi with the Caravan Dance Band.
Friday, Oct. 5th: Windham, Frank Woodward, Art Bryan and friends.
Saturday, Oct. 6th: Peterborough, Steve Zakon-Anderson and Guys Who
Talk.
Monday, Oct. 8th: Nelson, Fall potluck supper at 7PM, dance at 8.

Keep on dancing,
Rich.
NH Dances: http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/

Hello,

Its a fifth Saturday coming up, so the dances this Saturday are both
special ones. First Dudley and Jacqueline Laufman are holding one of the
fifth Saturday junkets at their home in Canterbury. They always request
that you bring your instruments, a flashlight, and snacks for these
events.

Just over the border in Norwich, VT, a special Norwich Double Dance will
happen on Saturday. Another Double Dance was scheduled last winter over
New Year's weekend in Dover. They had a great line-up of musicians and
callers scheduled, but unfortunately that dance was snowed out. These
double dances are scheduled to raise money for the Ralph Page Dance
Legacy weekends: http://www.neffa.org/%7Eneffa/rplw.html  Its a double
dance because there are two callers (Tony Parks and David Millstone) and
two bands (Old New England and an extended Northern Spy) for a dance
that lasts from 7 PM to midnight.

Finally, a note about the October 8th Nelson dance. There will be a fall
pot-luck supper starting at 7pm before the dance on the 8th.

Now the dances this week:

Friday, Sept. 28th: Milford, The Big Milford Band with Rich Hart, Frank
Woodward, and others calling.
Saturday, Sept. 29th: Canterbury, Laufman Kitchen Junket.
Saturday, Sept. 29th: Norwich, VT, Norwich Double Dance.
Monday, Oct. 1st: Nelson, Still some surprises every week.

Hello,

First, I'm not sure whether I should say anything more about last week's
tragedy or not. Part of me wants to say something, while another part of
me says 'just get on with our lives'. But the following quote from
Martin Luther King seems even more appropriate today:

'Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot
drive out hate; only love can do that.  Hate multiplies hate, violence
multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending
spiral of destruction.... The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting
hate,
wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into
the
dark abyss of annihilation.'
Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength To Love, 1963

Now to get on with our lives, and dances.

The Dover Dancing Cat Contra will be moved to the Kittery Grange Hall
for this month only from its normal venue at the Dover Town Hall.
Repairs are being done at the Dover Town Hall.

I just added an ad to the NH Contra Dance web site for the first time.
Until now I have avoided adding links to web sites for commercial
organizations, although I have received a number of requests to do so.
Patrick McCullough has created the Contracopia web site at:
http://www.contracopia.net/cgi-local/smart/ccaffil.cgi?affid=NHCC01 Its
a great site where you can both listen to and buy contra dance music on
CD and tape. It seems most appropriate. Patrick is doing this site on
his own. No big companies are involved. And, if you were to buy a CD
after getting to the Contracopia site through the NH contra dance site,
I will get a small commission to help pay some of my expenses, which are
now maybe $10/month for the contra dance site, not including my time or
PC.

Let me know what you think of Contracopia, and the NH contra dance site,
as well.

Now for the dances this week:

Friday, Sept. 17th: Holderness, Byron Ricker with New Boston Fancy.
Friday, Sept. 17th: Kingston, Chris Ricciotti with Old New England.
Saturday, Sept. 22nd: Dover/Kittery, Lisa Greenleaf with The Moving
Violations
Monday, Sept. 24th: Nelson, the evening light is fading, but the music
and dance continues.

Keep on Dancing,
Rich.
NH Contra site: http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/

Today I deposited $242 to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund thanks to
those in attendance Saturday night at the East Concord Community
Center.  With a fair showing from dancers whose "home dance" is
Gilmanton or Holderness, the money was given in the name of the "central
New Hampshire contra dance community."  My thanks to all who joined us,
with special big thanks to caller Byron Ricker and musicians Sarah
Nelson, Jerry Weene (who almost didn't make because of car trouble), and
Francis Orzechowski (who joined us at the very last minute when it
looked like Jerry wouldn't be there).

The Concord contra dance has been around only since the late 1980s but
we carry on a tradition that goes back much further.  Tonight we will
continue that tradition at the East Concord Community Center.  As we
come together tonight, dancers will have a chance to participate in
another tradition: helping our neighbors.  There will be no admission
charge tonight although the ol' black hat will be there by the door.
All money placed in the hat will be deposited Monday into the Red Cross
Disaster Relief Fund on behalf of our dance community.

Our caller tonight is Byron Ricker.  Jerry Weene and Sarah Nelson are
the scheduled musicians and others are welcome to join in.  The East
Concord Community Center is just off I-93 Exit 16.  Get onto NH132
South, take the first right onto Eastman Street and look for the 5th
building on the right.  Park along the street, directly in front of the
building (if there's a spot), or by the tennis courts just down the
street on the left.  Please do not park in front the apartment building
just north of the community center.

I wanted to let you all know that the Concord dance will hold a moment of silence to remember the events of the past week. Also, there is an effort to have the proceeds of the Nelson dance on Monday be donated to the Red Cross or some other disaster relief organization.

Finally, I received the attached photos that show how many friends we really have, when we need them. I don't normally load your mailboxes with such non-dance stuff, but I think this time, this is appropriate.

Rich.
 

Susan Poser wrote:

  

 

Awesome photos attached. 
In case you think no one else cares about America...
European Union
 
 

Munich, Germany
 
 

Minsk, Belarus
 
 

France
 
 

Prague, Czech Republic
 
 

London, UK
 
 

Pristina, Kosovo
 
 

Palestinians in East Jerusalem
 
 

Zagreb, Croatia
 
 

Sweden

Rome, Italy

Ottawa, Canada

Volkswagen Autostadt Auto Museum, Germany

Frankfurt, Germany
 
 

hi Rich
i just sent e-mails to Don and Byron with my idea to
make the dance a benifit to help with the tragedy;
even to see if the town would waive the hall rental
fee.......what do you think?

ps...glad your mother is doing ok
Pat


__________________________________________________
Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help?
Donate cash, emergency relief information
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/

Hello,

Our prayers go out to all those who have been affected by the senseless
attacks in New York and Washington. Many events are now being scheduled
to remember or benefit victims and their families. Please let me know if
your dance will be canceled or modified in some way in response to the
events on Tuesday. I will provide the information for all on the NH
dances web site. So far, I assume that all the dances this week will
continue as scheduled.

Also, I had told a few of you about the bypass operation that my mother
was to have this week. She had a very successful 5-way bypass on Tuesday
morning - perhaps the best morning in the past decades to have been
under the influence of anesthesia. We now expect her to recover fully
over the next month or two. Thank you for your prayers for her. She is
recovering nicely now.

Now, I have a great web site for those who would like to block spam. A
couple of weeks ago I submitted my email address to removeyou.com:
http://www.removeyou.com/ Almost immediately our junk email seemed to
decrease. The spam we now receive is considerable reduced from what we
received a month ago. This site seems to work and to provide a great
service. I recommend that you try it if you receive more spam than you
want.

And finally Charlie Seelig, has created a great new and informative web
page for the Dover dances. Links will be added to his page from the NH
dances site: http://www.tiac.net/users/cseelig/contra/dover.shtml

And now the dances this week:

Sept. 14-16th: Star Island, Star Hampshire, and there may still be
openings.
Sept. 15th: Concord, Byron Ricker and friends.
Sept. 15th: Enfield, Ruth Sylvester with Nat Hewitt and friends.
Sept. 15th: Walpole, Paul Rosenberg with Lise Brown, Selma Kaplan, and
George Wilson.
Sept. 16th: Portsmouth, English Country dance with Marianne Taylor.
Sept. 17th: Nelson, Still fun and Roger Treat is back from Canada, too.

Keep on dancing,
Rich.
New Hampshire dances: http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/

Hello,

The weather is cooling; a few trees are beginning to change color;
apples and pumpkins can be found at farmers' markets; and vacationing
dances have returned and the fall dance schedule has begun. This week
the Gilmanton dance returns with Peter Yarensky and Musical Chairs.

Alan Block will play at the Francestown dance this week. He's a great
fiddler, but he doesn't play for dances often, so don't miss him. I also
saw a fine poem in the recent "Country Dance and Song Society News,"
called "Francestown, New Hampshire." Its written by Keith Spiro and it
provides a poetic view of Francestown dances that anyone who's attended
a dance there will recognize. Keith has given me permission to include
the poem as part of the New Hampshire Dances web site. Read it here:
http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/FtownSpiro.shtml

Now the dances this week:

Thursday, Sept. 6th: Dover, Lamprey River Band.
Friday, Sept. 7th: Windham, Frank Woodward with Windham Musicians
(sit-ins welcome).
Friday, Sept. 7th: Wolfeboro, Tom Chiappisi and the Caravan Dance Band.
Saturday, Sept. 8th: Francestown, Frank Woodward with Allan Block and
Damaris Rohsenow.
Saturday, Sept. 8th: Gilmanton, Peter Yarensky & Musical Chairs.
Sunday, Sept. 9th: Concord, English Country - Leslie Lassetter, Roberta
Sutter & Amy Larkin.
Monday Sept. 10th: Nelson, When will Roger Treat return from Canada?

Keep dancing,
Rich Hart,
NH dances: http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/

Hello,

Here are a few notes and the dances for this Labor day Weekend.

First, after weekly dances all summer, the Holderness dance will take a
brief vacation until their next dance on Sept. 21st. Byron hasn't
decided yet whether the Holderness dance will happen once or twice a
month after that. I'll let you know what the decision is as soon as I
know.

I've just gotten news on the 5th Annual Fall Ball (I think that's the
right number). The Fall Ball will happen on *SUNDAY*, October 14th. It
will start at noon and last until 10 PM. Callers will be Lisa Greenleaf,
Steve Zakon-Anderson, and David Kaynor. More details can be found in the
schedule.


The Brattleboro Dawn dance happens this weekend. They are doing advanced
ticketing, so it may or may not be possible to get a ticket now. If
anyone knows the current status send au a note. Details are available at
their web site: http://www.dawndance.org/

Finally, the Star Hampshire, 10th Traditional Music & Dance Weekend
happens on Sept. 14th-16th out on Star Island. I'm not sure if there are
any more openings or not. Call Patrick Stevens for information at
603-436-8372.

Now, the dances this week:

Saturday, Sept. 1st: Peterborough, Steve Zakon-Anderson with  Susan
Conger and Bob McQuillen.
Saturday Sept. 1st: Tamworth, Eric Rollnick and Two Rivers
Sunday, Sept. 2nd: Brattleboro, Brattleboro Dawn Dance.
Monday, Sept. 3rd: Nelson, the winter season begins, no snow in Nelson
yet, still great dancing.

Have a great Labor day Weekend,
and keep dancing,
Rich.

Hello,

The Kingston dances starts this Saturday. Here's what dance organizer,
Glenn Coppelman, said about the dance in a note to many dancers:

     "The first edition of the reincarnated
Kensington/Lee/Madbury/Newmarket
     dance will take place this Friday (August 17) in the Kingston, NH
Town Hall.
     Start time is 8:00pm, and the fee is $6.00 per person.  There will
be a
     dessert Pot Luck at the Break.  Claire Mattin is calling, with Burt
Feintuch
     on fiddle and Bill Zecker on piano. Looking ahead, Old New England
will be
     playing on September 21, and Scrod Pudding on October 19."

Find directions and more information on the Kingston dance at:
http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/Kingston.shtml

I also hear there is still space available at the 10th annual Star
Hampshire Traditional Music and Dance Weekend. It happens Sept. 14-16 on
Star Island off the New Hampshire coast. You need to catch the ferry at
Portsmouth for a 1 hour ride to the island. The program includes New
England contras, squares, couples dance, Cajun dance workshops, and
group singing with Scrod Pudding and JimmyJo and the Jumbol'ayuhs.  An
historic candlelight chapel service is also included. For $200 per adult
you get 2 nights lodging, 6 meals and all the music and dance. Contact
Patrick Stevens for registration information:

Patrick Stevens
21 Prospect St.
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Home Tel: 603 436 8372
Work Tel: 603 431 4849
Fax: 603 431 1870
pstevens@...

Now for the dances:
I may not be able to send this email out next week, so I'll include a 2
week schedule now.

Friday Aug. 17th: Holderness, Byron Ricker and New Boston Fancy.
Friday Aug. 17th: Kingston, First dance with Claire Mattin, Burt
Feintuch and Bill Zecker.
Saturday, Aug. 18th: Walpole,
Saturday, Aug. 18th: Enfield, David Milstone and Old New England.
Sunday, Aug. 19th: Portsmouth, English with Marianne Taylor, Justine
Paul and Sarah Hydorn.
Monday Aug. 20th: Nelson, Just a couple more summer Nelson dances this
year.

Friday, Aug. 24th: Holderness, Open mike for callers.
Friday, Aug. 24th: Milford, Open mike for callers, and the Milford Town
Hall band.
Saturday, Aug. 25th: Dover, Dan Pearl and The Lizards.
Saturday, Aug. 25th: Tamworth, Dudley Laufman and two Fiddles.
Monday Aug. 27th: The last dance before the summer people go home..

Find details and last minute updates here:
http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/q301.html#august

Keep dancing,
Rich Hart.
http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/

Hello,

With summer vacations and the recent hot weather, its a slow week for
dances. I've received news about a couple of future dances you should
put in your calendars. On Friday, August 17th the new third Friday
Kingston dance is scheduled to begin with Claire Mattin calling the
first dance: http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/Kingston.shtml . On
September 29th, there will be a special double dance with two callers
and two great bands just over the border in Norwich, VT. Proceeds from
the double dances will go to support the New England Dance Legacy
Weekend that happens in Durham in January.

Jim Birch suggested that I add pointers to web site information, so I
have tried to do that this time. I notice that Yahoo! Groups does not
include the web site pointer, so I will try to remember to include it
myself.

These are the dances this week:
see the schedule for details:
http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/q301.html#august

Friday, Aug. 10th: Holderness, Byron Ricker with Jerry Weene, Seth
Austen & Beverly Woods.
Saturday, Aug. 11th: Francestown, Frank Woodward with New Boston Fancy.
Saturday, Aug. 11th: Tamworth, Byron Ricker with Jerry Weene, Deanna
Stiles, and Sue Hunt.
Monday, Aug. 13th: Nelson, Hopefully a cooler evening with Harvey, Mac,
and all the others.

Keep dancing,
Rich.
NHDances site: http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/

Hello,

Summer is in full swing: sweet corn, tomatoes, watermelon, swimming,
picnics, and hot crowded dance halls. But it's not going to last much
longer. Enjoy it while you can.

There is a great festival in Vermont this weekend. If you want to take a
trip up to Burlington, Vermont, this is a great reason to do it. The
2001 Champlain Valley Folk Festival happens on Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday at UVM off of I-89. Expect lots of music and dancing. Check their
web site for details: http://www.cvfest.org/cvfest2001/

Note that most of the dances this weekend are on Friday, as both
Peterborough and Deerfield are still taking their summer vacation.

And now for the dances this week:

Thursday, Aug. 2nd: Dover, Lamprey River Band, guest musicians and
callers welcome.
Friday, Aug. 3rd: Holderness, Byron Ricker with Whiskey Before
Breakfast.
Friday, Aug. 3rd: Windham, Frank Woodward with New Boston Fancy.
Friday, Aug. 3rd: Wolfeboro, Tom Chiappisi and the Caravan Dance Band.
Saturday, Aug. 4th: Tamworth, Dudley Laufman and Two Fiddles.
Monday, Aug. 6th: Nelson, Bob McQuillen returns to join all the others.

Keep dancing,
Rich.

Hello,

It looks like the new mailing list is working. I've received a few
messages on the new list and I hope you have as well. I'd like to ask
those of you who don't receive this message to let me know, but I expect
that those who need to hear this request may not receive it ;-). In any
case, all the mailing list messages are saved on the Yahoo! Groups site,
so anyone can read all our past email there.

There's a new dance series starting next month in Kingston. This is
actually the third Friday dances that used to happen in Kensington. They
have now officially moved the dance to Kingston. I'll have more
information about the first Kingston dance in August. There is a web
page already for this dance:
http://www.ultranet.com/~harts/nhdances/Kingston.shtml . I think its the
first dance in New Hampshire that had a web page before the dance began.

There are still a few New Hampshire dance series that don't have a web
page. In those cases, I either don't have all the information, pictures,
or enough time. Pictures are usually key. If you can send me a good
picture or two of a dance, or dance location, that is usually enough to
get me to make the web page.

Also, some of the dances, such as those at Milford and Nelson, depend on
dancers to bring cookies or desserts to the dance for refreshments. Even
if a dances doesn't usually feature potluck desserts, a batch of cookies
is always a great thing to bring to a dance.

Now the dances this week:

Friday, July 27th: Holderness, Open mike for callers with Alan Block and
friends.
Friday, July 27th: Milford, Open mike for callers and the Milford Town
Hall Band.
Saturday, July 28th: Dover, Laura Johannes with Carol Bittenson, Roberta
Sutter, and Alan Bradbury.
Saturday, July 28th: Tamworth, Frank Woodward and New Boston Fancy.
Saturday, July 28th: Canterbury, Dudley Laufman with Two Fiddles, at a
special dance after the Canterbury fair.
Monday, July 30th: Nelson, A fine summer evening in Nelson with a great
collection of musicians and callers.

Keep Dancing,
Rich Hart.

For all you dancers who might like to try something different,
please note this upcoming event!  Plenty of space in the
workshops still!

WEST AFRICAN ARTS FESTIVAL
Sandwich, NH
August 2, 3, 4
Contact 284-7414 for info and reservations

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

DANCING AND DRUMMING WORKSHOPS
with BAMIDELE  Aug. 2, 3, 4
Dance 9-10:30  Drum 10:45-12:45
1 class - $15     both classes - $25      all classes 3 days - $70
Oxen Barn, Sandwich Fairgrounds
Advance reservations requested, but tickets available at the door
also.

Bring a drum, or something to drum with; shoes for dancing on
dirt floor.

The  Bamidele Dancers are art educators, composers,
musicians, dancers and choreographers from Africa, the
Americas and the Caribbean who are dedicated
to the preservation of African and African rooted cultures through
dance, music and song. Members have expertise in African,
Caribbean and Brazilian culture.

BAMIDELE PERFORMANCE
August 4,   8 pm   Oxen Barn, Sandwich Fairgrounds  $8
Advance reservations requested, but tickets available at the door
also.

DINNER BY SEKOU SYLLA OF BAMIDALE and
West African Art Lecture by Josephus Olufemi Richards
August 2nd,    6:30 p.m.     Benz Center $18
advance reservation only

STORYTELLING WORKSHOP BY KHAZZALY DIALLO
FOR KIDS    Aug. 3rd,  2:00 - 4:00    Benz Center  $10
Ages 8-13
Advance reservations requested, but tickets available at the door
also.


STORYTELLING PERFORMANCE BY DIALLO
Aug. 3  7 p.m.  Methodist Meeting House  $5
Advance reservations requested, but tickets available at the door
also.


FABRIC DYEING WORKSHOP
Aug. 3rd,  2-5 pm  Fire Station  $35
advance reservation only -- call 284-6335

Hi,

The mailing list does appear to be working as expected. There are at
least 4 ways to join that I know of: (1) At the groups.yahoo.com web
site, (2) Through the contra dance web page, (2) by sending email to
nhdancers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, (4) or, I as moderator, can add you
as I just did for most of you. With at least the last two, you don't
need to be a Yahoo! groups member. I'm still not sure about the other
two methods.

You may not yet have noticed that we are just one of 25 contra dance
Yahoo! Groups:
http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Entertainment___Arts/Performing_Arts/Dance/Folk_\
and_Traditional/Contra_Dance

Our group is not yet listed in that group, but when it does get added to
the contra dance list, we should be very close to the number 10 spot, as
we currently have 48 members.

I'll see you in Nelson tomorrow - at least many of you,
Rich.

Looks like it's working. I haven't signed up to a Yahoo member, so if they
accept this, that verifies your expectations that it will be simple and not
require us to sign up to participate.

Hope to see you all at Falcon Ridge next week-end.

Penny Geis


----- Original Message -----
From: <born2contradance@...>
To: <nhdancers@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2001 8:20 PM
Subject: [nhdancers] contradance news group


> just wanted to be the first to post here.  looking worward to hearing
> from all of you fellow contradancers, especially from Nelson.
> Pat Reed
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> nhdancers-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

just wanted to be the first to post here.  looking worward to hearing
from all of you fellow contradancers, especially from Nelson.
Pat Reed