NEWS INDEX (Click on index item or scroll down page)
Summertime's Golden Oldies Ball August 2010 Summertime's Annual Garden Party 25th July 2010 Summertime's Old Time Dance July 2010 Strictly Come dancing with Heather and Larry Summertime's Old Time Dance 29/5/2010 OTDS Ball of the Year Torquay May 2010 Summertime's Golden Oldies Club restarts - 19/5/2010	Marge Day 1923-2010 Brighton to London via Summertime - 10/5/2010 Official Birthday Photograph Released Carrington House Hotel Ups Its Game Summertime Dancing's Golden Oldies Dance Weekend March 2010 Summertime Dancing Joins the Wey Valley Association Summertime's Old Time Dance Feb 2010	Summertime in Bournemouth Feb 2010 What a Wonderful Surprise Happy 50th Heather and Larry - 25/1/2010 Summertime OT Club Update - 18/1/2010 Blue Skies in Bournemouth - 10/1/2010 OLDER NEWS

Summertime Dancing's Web Site Receives its 10,000th Visitor
On Sunday 29th August 2010 Summertime Dancing received its 10,000th visitor since the revamped site was launched in April 2009. We are very grateful to our visitors' interest and hope to continue to keep attracting visitors to the site. If you have any comments on ways to improve the web site please contact us.

Report on Summertime's Golden Oldies Ball - 28th August 2010
The 2010 Summertime Golden Oldies Ball of the year was held at the Normandy Village Hall on a dry summer's evening on Saturday 28th August following a week of heavy rain and Autumnal weather. An excellent attendance of 90 people turned out for the event. One attendee, Barry, undertook a 90 minute cycle ride to get to the event. The MC's for the evening were Richard Purcell and Joyce Hutchins (photo below). The photo on the left shows Larry Green our organist for the night. His performance was outstanding with some of the tunes he played being featured on his next CD "Moonlight Kiss" to be released in September. My favourite track that he played tonight was Pie Jesu. He also informed us he is appearing (very briefly) in a forthcoming BBC1 prime time documentary "The Young Ones" to be aired mid September. It covers the topic of Ageing. In view of the topic I am surprised the BBC didn't get Richard to star in it! Richard and Joyce were as always supported in leading off by their teaching assistants Joan and Gerald Bibby. In addition they were also ably supported in leading off dances by Tricia and Brian, Hilary and Tony, Joyce and John, Pat and John, Jean and Ray, Irene and Colin, Jenny and Philip (Chairman of the Wey Valley Sequence Dance Association), Joan and Derek and Yvonne and Ron. With all this support Richard had plenty of time to consume his beer and have a quiet smoke :-) The programme consisted of 20 dances and was a varied mix of Modern Sequence (mainly 2004 and earlier), Traditional and Classical Old Time and included old favourites such as the Woodside Waltz (1965), Pain Mambo (1996), Saunter Serenata (2009), Iris Foxtrot (1958), Engagement Waltz (1969), the once very popular Quando (1979) and Eivona Quicksteps (1974), Wedgewood Blue Gavotte (1959), and a "rising star" modern sequence dance - Pacino Cha Cha (2010). The progressives were the Bossa Nova Blues (1982) and the Tuesday Blues (1979). The evening's dancing finished with the Old Time favourite, the Friendly Waltz where two circles had to be formed because of the high numbers. A large raffle was held with many donations from the attendees. Richard was given a winning ticket to stop him sulking. The evening was also the 58th wedding anniversary of Betty and John, two of Summertime's Golden Oldies regulars. We wish them every happiness for the future. It had also been Chairman Brian's 80th birthday earlier in the week. Another rare event which has to be mentioned here was that Richard was seen to wash his own tea cup. He is never normally seen in the kitchen. The evening was conducted in a great atmosphere by Richard and Joyce. Photos of the evening can be found on Photo Album page 23. The next Summertime Dance is an Old Time Dance scheduled for 27th November 2010 with Antonair in the Normandy Village Hall. Nigel Carter 28th August 2010

Summertime's Annual Garden Party 25th July 2010
Sunday the 25th of July was the date chosen by Richard for Summertime's annual Garden Party. Richard chose the event's date such that it competed with the Farnborough Airshow for attendees with the latter attracting the most by a small margin. A very warm June afternoon was the order of the day and although clouds kept threatening the afternoon was free from precipitation Despite a bad winter coupled with a tree being blown down, Richard had managed to present the garden to its usual high standard with plenty of flowers to bring joy to hayfever sufferers. An ample spread of cakes, scones, sandwiches and Hilary's famous sausage rolls ensured that starvation was kept at bay. Gordon was kept busy dispensing tea and ~~little~~ sympathy. The event raised over £60 for the Help for Heroes Charity. Photographs of the event can be seen on Album Page 22. Nigel Carter 26th July 2010

Report on Summertime's Old Time Dance - 10th July 2010
The third Summertime Old Time Dance of the year was held at the Normandy Village Hall on Saturday 10th July 2010. Richard's advanced planning timed the dance to be on the day the area had received a Met Office Level 2 Health Heat alert. For once thermal underwear or Sowesters were not the order of the day. In addition Richard had also chosen the day to coincide with the World Cup third place play-off although fortunately England was not in it. In any case the winner had already been chosen by Paul the psychic octopus. Despite all of this 75 guests attended from all over Southern England. The bench outside the hall was in demand between dances during the evening as a cooling off station. The hall doors were all left open to provide a through draft to help keep us all cool. Our MC was Richard Purcell supported by Joyce Hutchins. Music was provided by David Last who played superbly as always. David had had a nightmare journey to Normandy being stuck for an hour on that infamous carpark the M25 but this did not affect his playing of wonderful music. David's new easy listening CD "Endless Love" was played as people arrived and during the interval and is excellent "chilling out" music. In my opinion it is ideal to listen to whilst drinking a bottle of chilled white wine, sitting on the patio, on a summer's evening. Proceedings were opened by Bernard partnering Joyce for the Sindy Swing - his party piece. During the evening Richard and Joyce were also ably supported in leading off dances by Gerald and Joan, Tony and Hilary (his new bionic knee working well), Pat and John (all from Summertime), Anne and Michael (Waterlooville), Carol and Ethel (Milford),and Sue and Alison all the way from Bath. The programme consisted of 20 dances with the normal mix of Traditional Old Time and Classical Old Time, including the Tamarack Tango (2010), Skye Swing (2009), Saunter Shiraz (2008), Bermuda Foxtrot (1965), Over the Top (1918), and the Veleta (1900). The set dance was the Caledonians with the heat making it a pleasure to dance! The progressive dances were Over the Top and the Mayfair Quickstep with spot prizes being awarded governed by the customary bottle spinning. Graham again failed to receive a prize although I feel he was cheated out of one by Richard's dubious eyesight. Richard also led community singing (unfortunately by example) during the Tuesday Blues A raffle was held with excellent prizes many of which were donated by the attendees. Milford SDC had their usual run of good luck in the raffle. Despite the heat Richard and Joyce ensured the evening was conducted in a light hearted manner. Photos of the evening can be found on Photo Album Page 21. The next Summertime Old Time Dance is scheduled for 27th November 2010 with Antonair. Summertime's Golden Oldies Sequence Dance with Larry Green is scheduled for the 28th August both to be held in the Normandy Village Hall Nigel Carter 10th July 2010
Strictly Come Dancing with Heather and Larry
The following is a report submitted by two of Summertime Dancing Members Heather and Larry Smith: "On Friday 18th June 2010 we checked onto the Warner Leisure "Cricket St Thomas" Hotel in Somerset for a 3 night "Strictly Come Dancing" Experience Break. Our celebrity experience was to include meeting Karen Hardy and Craig Revel-Horwood, an hours question and answer session with each of them (Karen on Saturday and Craig on Sunday) and an opportunity to be photographed with them (see photo copied left by kind permission of of Martin Smith Photographers, Chard Somerset - 01460 65854). The weekend also included ballroom and latin classes with professional dancers from Karen's troupe who also entertained us with a fabulous 2 hour show on Saturday evening. Karen also performed with them and gave a truly spectacular performance. As well as the chance to "take to the floor", Sunday evening culminated in the final of the dancing competition wiith Craig and two professional dancers commenting and marking in the format of the TV show. This however was only meant as a guide as the audience then voted and this was the vote that decided the outcome. We fully recommend these "Strictly Come Dancing" breaks and were informed they will be continuing next season. So there will be plenty of opportunity to get your dancing shoes on and "GO FOR IT"". Larry Smith 12/7/2010
Report on Summertime's Old Time Dance - 29th May 2010
The second Summertime Old Time Dance of the year was held at the Normandy Village Hall on Saturday 29th May 2010 on a fairly dreary day weather wise as to be expected on a Bank Holiday weekend. The only ray of sunshine was that generated by Richard. The event was fairly well supported with over 60 people attending from all over Southern England. Numbers were slightly down from the usual number probably due to the event clashing with the Eurovision song contest and the feverish excitement that generates :-) Needless to say the UK came last again. Perhaps we should enter Richard as the UK representative next year as his singing is definately up to the required European standard. Our MC was Richard Purcell supported by Joyce Hutchins (photo left). Music was provided by Antonair who played at his usual high standard despite having just recovered from a bout of food poisoning during his recent coach holiday in Italy. Richard and Joyce were ably supported in leading off dances by Gerald and Joan, Pat and John, Anne and Michael (Waterlooville), Carol and Ethel (Milford),and Sylvian with Richard. The programme consisted of 20 dances consisting of the usual mix of Traditional Old Time and Classical Old Time including the Latchford Schottische (1909), Valse Martine (1951), Heather Waltz (1957), Saunter Surfinia (2007) and the Tamarak Tango (2009). The set dance was the Lancers with Antonair playing the music. The usual chaos in the sets ensued. During the progressive dance Graham was allowed to spin the bottle to determine the spot prize winners as he never wins a prize. He still failed to win. Gerald caused confusion during the Tango Serida by taking advantage of Richard's temporary absence from the room by calling out "Ladies Forward" even though it was not a progressive. He then went and hid as total chaos resulted with those who had heard him progressing and the other three quarters of the dancers not progressing. Richard threatened him with incarceration for the rest of the evening if he didn't behave. As the event also included an American Supper there was an extensive food spread at the interval with Richard and Joyce providing free wine to raise people's spirits in view of the gloomy weather. After the interval Joyce and Richard led off with the Waltz Debonair which was almost Richard's undoing as his back froze half way through. However he bravely soldiered through although he pulled some strange faces. The customary raffle was held with many super prizes donated by the attendees. Despite the weather the evening was great fun as usual. Photos of the evening can be found on Photo Album P age 20. The next Summertime Old Time Dance is scheduled for 10th July 2010 with David Last in the Normandy Village Hall. Nigel Carter 30th May 2010

Old Time Dance Society's Ball of the Year – Torquay 21st-24th May 2010
Friday Around 200 Old Time Dancers converged on Torquay, the English Riviera for the Old Time Dance Society's Annual Ball of the Year dedicated to the memory of Bryan Smith the Society's first President. Glorious sunshine greeted us on arrival at the Livermead House Hotel on Torquay Sea Front. Having unpacked we sat on the hotel lawn sipping cold beverages, with temperatures in the 80's until it was time to change for dinner. Dinner was very good with an excellent choice. The Ball was held in Torquay's imposing Town Hall, which was of a suitable size to house us all. The Town Hall has been awaiting refurbishment since the Second World War as could be seen by the blackout paint still being present on the upper windows. Apparently refurbishment is to start soon. Things move slowly in the West Country. The proceedings were opened by the Society's Chairman Grahame Baldwin. Dancing was very challenging as the floor was extremely sticky. Roller skates would have been more useful than dance shoes. Thirds and fifths went right out the window but at least for once I had a good excuse for my poor footwork. Keith and Eve Stubbs were the MC's and Leaders for the evening's Pre Ball Dance and they put on a splendid show in the trying conditions including trying to make themselves heard in echoey hall acoustics. These are also scheduled for improvement in the planned refurbishment. The programme for the night ranged from the old – Waltz of the Bells, Alison Waltz, La Czarine to the new – Saunter Shiraz. Also included were dances I was not familiar with, being relatively new to Old Time Dancing, such as the Blues Foxtrot and the Jazz Twinkle which looked a fun dance. Communal singing broke out during the Kaybee Saunter with a duet by Grahame and Peter which made Richard's singing look good. It was very warm in the hall as there was no air conditioning. No need for thermal underwear. It was nice to see young blood amongst the attendees suggesting there may be a long life left for the Society. The coach ride back to the hotel took us on a tour of South West England as apparently the driver was unable to turn right into the Hotel because of the size of the coach and had to travel to Paignton to turn round. This was greeted from choruses of “Show me the Way to go Home” from the more vocally challenged of the Group. Saturday Hot sunny day with hardly a breeze or cloud in sight. Small fire in cigarette disposal bin outside the hotel after breakfast but quickly extinguished by a waiter. Temperatures soared during the day to well into the 80's. The Summertime contingent spent the morning shopping with the ladies stocking up on skirts , tops and ball gowns for forthcoming dances and cruises. To keep Richard's energy levels up, the shopping was interspersed with a visit to a coffee shop, fish and chip shop and a pub. We stumbled across a shop selling all sorts of home remedies where several of us got very excited trying out vibrating cushions ending up buying two of them. Dinner was very good but it was a bit of a rush to get to the coach on time as the hotel was also catering for two large wedding groups. Chris Everitt had a cunning plan to help people climb into the bus by using Ron Urquart's aluminium case as an extra step. Unfortunately this was dented by ladies high heels. The Town Hall caretaker, Dave, had spent 5 hours scrubbing the floor and had performed a miracle with the floor shining like a new pin. This made the evening's dancing much more pleasurable. There was also a small improvement in the hall acoustics as the loudspeakers had been repositioned. The MC's for the evening's Ball of the Year were Jeff and Muriel Aldren who combined with the much improved floor state gave a masterful display. It was an excellent variety of dances again ranging from the old - The Old Time Waltz (1800) , Veleta (1898) to the Regency Mazurka (2009). They also had the Dinky One Step on the programme which is Gerald and Joan's party piece but unfortunately they were not there to enjoy it. Two of the evening's dances were ones that the Aldren's had won Inventive Competitions with – The Chester Waltz (a pretty little waltz which I wasn't familiar with) and the Ragtime Swing which is a Summertime Club favourite. It's nice to see the inventors dance their own dance as it demonstrates how it was intended to be danced originally. The Lancers was the evenings Set Dance and 11 sets of dancers leapt with enthusiasm around the floor. The group photo above shows David Last our organist for the event (left) with the Leaders for the weekend (L-R Keith and Eve Stubbs, Jeff and Muriel Aldren and Richard and Joyce). The raffle held during the evening made an excellent £288. Chris informed us he had a another cunning master plan which he had agreed with the coach driver whereby the coach would go straight to the hotel without a lengthy tour of SW England. However like all master plans it fell apart and the coach sailed past the hotel and we visited Paignton again. To make amends Ron and June and the Hull Group had organised an illicit homemade buffet in the bar area for those with the stamina to stay up late. Sunday Again the weather was hot and sunny. Four of Summertime decided to go to Plant World only 4 miles down the road. Yours truly programmed the GPS with the appropriate post code and the GPS guided us down every narrow lane in Devon until we found ourselves back in Torquay. Eventually after an hour we found it and scraped a very stressed Richard off the ceiling. However it was well worth the visit with separate gardens featuring plants from different countries of the world. Sixty odd members of the OTDS went via bus train and boat to Dartmouth for the day led by Hazel festooned with a pink whistle, and clipboard. As she hadn't a tour guide's umbrella the group presented her with a large pink windmill to act as a gathering point on the tour. The windmill could be found decorating David's keyboard in the evening. The main problem was persuading the number 12 bus driver to let them all on a bus (see photos). They decided to wind Richard up by texting him with the message that David Last was injured and unable to play that night. When Richard returned to the hotel David was suitably bandaged up (see photo right) and the group were practising community singing ready for the evening. Richard went for a lie down. It is understood that Hazel is organising scuba diving in the North Sea for next year's Old Time Dance Society's Ball of the Year. Many follically challenged attendees were suffering from sunburnt scalps after the day's activities. They should have bought the Society's hats to wear! The evening's Post Ball Dance was professionally MC'd and led by Joyce Hutchins and Richard Purcell and was a less serious affair. The Leicester Tribe greeted all of Richard's announcements and leading offs with a chorus of whistles, trumpets and other weird instruments. They had even equipped David Last with a pink whistle to blow. He should stick to the organ. Throughout the evening their headgear changed to represent different nations. Even Richard and Joyce joined in wearing tasteful Scottish attire for the Skye Swing (see photo pages). This all added to the evening's fun. Again Dave the caretaker had spent 4 hours recleaning and polishing the floor and his efforts were appreciated by everyone present. Richard and David Last had spent time adjusting the speaker positions again and modifying the microphone's audio frequency spectrum to minimise echoing and had been largely successful. The programme was again a varied programme of old or relatively old – Quadrilles, Liberty Two Step and new - Skye Swing and Saunter Serenata, a beautiful saunter written by OTDS members Steven Shaw and Helen Blackburn. Richard had planned for the last waltz to be the Friendly Waltz however the powers that be moved it to just after the interval for inexplicable reasons. Richard used his vibrating cushion to keep his back going through the evening and generously offered its use to the ladies present. Chris's master plan finally worked and the coaches went straight back to the hotel rather than a tour of Devon where after a drink at the bar we retired to our rooms. David Last was at his best and played superbly throughout the weekend and certainly joined in the fun of the event. Photos of the Ball of the Year long weekend can be found on Album Page 6 - Social Photo Page and Album Page 7 - Dance Photo Page. Monday The long drive home in the hottest day of the year so far. As Richard wasn't with us complaining about my SatNav we were able to visit Stourhead Gardens on the way home and they were magnificent. Many thanks must go to Chris Everitt in organising a splendid event supported by the rest of the Committee. Next years Ball of the Year is to be in Scarborough. Details of all OTDS forthcoming events can be found on their website. Nigel Carter 24/5/2010
Summertime's Golden Oldies Club Restarts 19th May 2010
Summertime's "Golden Oldies" Club restarted today for the summer season. The Club meets on Wednesday evenings at Normandy Village Hall from mid-May to mid-September. The Club provides relaxed summer evenings of popular Old Time, Classical and older Modern Sequence dances. In addition each week a "rising star" from last years new Modern Sequence dances is chosen for the programme. Over 50 people turned up for the first night and were treated to a very varied programme including: Skye Swing, Bens Waltz, Tango Las Vegas, Jordan Quickstep, Saunter Serenata, Feta Foxtrot, Rumba Tamara, Let's Jive, Tamarack Tango, Harlequin Swing, Waltz Catherine, Bedworth Blues etc. The selected "rising star" dance was the Amethyst Waltz. Apart from Richard and Joyce, dances were led off by Gerald and Joan (Summertime's teaching assistants) and Pat and John. The customary raffle was held. On a sad note we were informed that Marge Day (see previous article), a stalwart of Summertime Dancing and Ted Winkworth, a well known face at sequence dance clubs in the area, had both passed away. *Nigel Carter 19/5/2010*

Marge Day 1923 - 2010
We were very upset to learn the Marge Day passed away on the 18th May 2010 aged 87. Marge has been a stalwart of Summertime Dancing having been a founder member. She was also a member of Normandy Sequence Dance Club for 50 years and, until recently, a long serving member of the Old Time Dance Society. Marge was the chief teamaker at all Summertime Dancing's events including Richard's regular Garden Parties. In this she was aided by her great friend, Ethel Madgwick, who passed away last year and the pair of them were known as the "Hinge and Bracket" of Summertime Dancing. Marge will be greatly missed and to her many friends and family we offer our sincere condolences at this time. Nigel Carter 19//5/2010

Brighton to Yorkshire via Summertime - 10th May 2010
Brenda and Michael from Yorkshire in their immaculate MGB RA long oadster took part in the MG Owners Club run to Brighton last weekend and on their way home popped in to see what Summertime's Old Time Club got up to at their Monday afternoon session. Over 50 people attended and apart from Brenda and Michael, four other visitors, Herbie, Pauline, Richard and Shiela, had also come a long way, having travelled over from Kent. They were treated to a varied programme from the old - Veleta and the Lancers to the new - Tamarack Tango. The progressive dance was Over the Top (just like Richard). We also celebrated Jackie and Lloyd's Birthday's who provided an ample supply of cakes to accompany our tea. Congratulations were also in order for two of the Summertime regulars who were present - Sylvian Elderton who has been elected President and Philip Nicholls Chairman of the Wey Valley Sequence Dance Association. The next formal Summertime Dances are the Old Time Dance with Antonair on the 29th of May and the Golden Oldies Ball on the 28th August with Larry Green. Visitors will be most welcome. Nigel Carter 10/5/2010

Official Birthday Photograph Just Released! - 19th April 2010
Last Monday Richard celebrated his ~~83rd~~ 64th birthday (photo left by Brian Read - click on photo for larger image). As he told me he was extremely impressed by the fact that it was a once in a lifetime mathematical event whereby the final two digits of his date of birth (1946) when reversed gave his age (he needs to get out more). The Summertime Club afternoon therefore was conducted in a party spirit made doubly so as Herbie Smith (on the left in the photo), a stalwart of Summertime Dances, was also celebrating his birthday but was too shy to disclose his age but I don't think it was 21. Also shown in the photo is Joyce in an attempt to improve its compositional value. It is a tribute to medical science that Richard has made it this far and fingers crossed he will make it through to next year's big event when he becomes officially an OAP. Nigel Carter 19/4/2010

Carrington House Hotel Up's It's Game
Many of our guests to the Old Time holiday last September were very disappointed with the dining facilities, menu and service in the restaurant. We put these matters to the manager Paul le Roi and boy did they pull out all the stops to improve arrangements for us. A private dining room, table cloths and linen serviettes, an excellent menu and really good service all of which made a real difference to the hotel experience which was always otherwise very good. Despite having 95 line dancers also in the hotel they managed to feed us all with good quality, hot food and on time this year. We still have plenty of places for our September OT holiday this year so if you were put off please reconsider and come along and join us once again. You can download a booking form here. Hope to see you later. Best wishes Richard & Joyce 22/3/2010
Summertime Dancing's first "Golden Oldies" Dance Weekend at Bournemouth 19th-21st March 2010
Summertime Dancing held their first "Golden Oldies" Sequence Dance weekend at the Carrington House Hotel from the 19th to the 21st March. Over 60 people attended the holiday from all over the UK. The dance programme for the weekend was a mixture of established still popular modern sequence (over 4 years old), classical (up to the present day) and some Traditional Old Time. This was the first holiday this year not blighted by false Met Office severe weather warnings. However it would have been nice if the weather could have been brighter when we arrived. However Richard and Joyce provided plenty of "sunshine" for the weekend although a bout of colds and "woman flu" had threatened some of the attendees (including Joyce) in the preceeding week. The weekend started with the usual "renew acquaintances" sherry reception (not cheap sherry either!), with the noise level being inversely proportional to the amount of sherry remaining in the guests' glasses. The hotel provided our group with an amply sized, well appointed private dining room (see photos) close to the ballroom for all our meals for the duration of the holiday with excellent service and food thus putting right the issues we had had last year. It certainly exceeded by a mile my expectations and I had to do every dance just to keep my weight down. The private dining room made the weekend a little more "special". Friday night's dancing was to David Last's excellent music. He played my favourite tune "So in Love" from his new CD but it was marred by Richard's singing. As a result the newly adopted Summertime Mascot, Brian's dog Jasper, spent the evening hiding under the table with his paws over his ears to escape the singing. Eighteen dances were on the programme including the Veleta, Freda and Mahonia Foxtrots, Grasmere Waltz, Quando Quickstep, Tango Solair and the Saunter Shiraz. Joyce and Bernard opened the evening by leading off the Sindy Swing. Other dances were led off by Joan and Gerald, Trisha and Brian, Audrey and Bill, Anne and Mike, Jenny and Philip, and Margaret and Shirley. All these couples led off throughout the weekend. The odd remaining dances were led off by Richard and Joyce! Richard and Joyce gave a quick walk through of the Jacqueline Cha Cha which was the evening's progressive dance although the dance itself hardly progresses round the room. A Club raffle was also held during the evening. Saturday morning was a teaching session with Richard and Joyce teaching the Patricia Waltz (one of the early modern sequence waltzes -1954) and the new classical Tamarack Tango which won the Classical Section at the NCDTA competition in January 2010. The tango, written by Ian and Sue Webster, is a simple but enjoyable Club Dance and was easily picked up by everyone. Saturday night's dancing was to Antonair with his sing-a-long style, although as I am a youngster most were written before my time so I didn't know the words. This did not deter the other guests who had a wide range of singing styles. Amongst the 18 dances on the programme were the Tamarack Tango, Bedworth Blues, Trelawney Tango, Skye Swing, Wedgewood Blue Gavotte and the Saunter Serenata. The colour theme for the evening was "Spring Colours". The evening's raffle proceeds are to go to the Help 4 Heroes Charity and amounted to £110. The raffle contained many excellent prizes many of which were donated by the attendees. On the final morning the weekend's dancing consisted of requests and ended with the Rose Lane Waltz before we all had our Sunday lunch and departed in bright sunshine. The two weekend quizzes were won by Blondelle and Hilary who won a bottle of wine each. The very full weekend was great fun although tiring on the feet. For those who prefer to see pictures, the "comic book" of this event can be found on Album Page 19. The next Summertime Golden Oldies holiday is to be held from the 5th -7th August 2011 at the Wessex Hotel. See the Holiday's Page for details on all forthcoming Summertime Holidays. Nigel Carter 21/3/2010
Summertime Dancing Joins the Wey Valley Sequence Dance Association
The Wey Valley Association, of which Joyce is a Life Vice President, comprises a group of 30+ dance clubs from a wide circle around Guildford in Surrey. Members meet regularly to learn a selection of the new ballroom, latin and classical (Old Time) sequence dances usually from a qualified teacher. This hopefully gives uniformity to the teaching and dances in the area. We hope that in joining the Association we may be able further promote Old Time Dancing in the South. Unfortunately many sequence dancers still do not realise that Old Time was in fact the first sequence dancing and Ballroom and Latin Sequence came along about 100 years later. This seems to encourage a division with some rather than just accepting that OT is just part of the package and of course the silly decision to change the name to Classical Sequence didn’t help much either. We need to enlighten people that classical is just OT with its original name. How often do we hear “Oh I don’t do Old Time” and then they get up and dance Saunter Shiraz or Tango Solair? It would be nice if Old Time became just as acceptable as the other two disciplines but we shall have to wait and see. Richard Purcell 16/3/2010
Summertime's Old Time Dance on the 27th February 2010
The first Summertime Old Time Dance of the year was held at the Normandy Village Hall on Saturday 27th February 2010 on a fairly dreary day weather wise. As a result Richard had made the dress theme for the night "cheerful colours". The event was extremely well supported with over 80 people attending from all over Southern England. Despite the severe weather warning for Southern England they came from as far away as Bath (Paul and Hazel Harding, Sue, Alison and Andrew), Oxfordshire and Norfolk (Brian Faulkner). One (Trisha) even came from New Zealand which is also south of the Wash. There were also parties from Waterlooville, Milford, Tadley and the London area. Our local sequence clubs would be very grateful if they could attract anywhere near this number of attendees! We were very pleased to see the new Old Time Dance Society (OTDS) Vice Chairman Paul Harding accompanied by his wife Hazel. Paul is also the Membership Secretary of the OTDS. Our colourful MC was Richard Purcell (tanned a strange rust colour having just returned from Teneriffe) supported by Joyce Hutchins. Music was provided by David Last who played superbly including music from his new CD "Songs of Cole Porter" of which "So in Love" is my favourite track. Richard and Joyce were ably supported in leading off dances by Gerald and Joan, Trisha and Brian, Tony and Hilary, Anne and Michael, Rose and Michael, Carol and Ethel and Sue and Alison. In addition Richard partnered Sylvian in leading off the Tango las Vegas and Brian partnered Joyce in leading off the Premier Two Step. The night was a special celebration for Mike and Anne Jessop who were celebrating their Golden Anniversary (photo above left). Wine was provided to toast the happy couple and they provided cake all round beautifully wrapped up as little parcels in gold trimmed favours. Our warmest congratulations go to both of them. The programme consisted of 20 dances consisting of the usual mix of Traditional Old Time and Classical Old Time including the Caledonians (18th century), Over the Top (1918 progressive), Lingering Blues (1929), Empress Mazurka (1954), Regis Waltz (1964), Alison Waltz (1967), Premier Two Step (1959), Saunter Serenata (2009) and Skye Swing (2009). The customary raffle was held with many super prizes donated by the attendees. Richard won a prize so didn't have to sulk. Easter eggs were offered as spot prizes during the progressive dances with Richard spinning the infamous wine bottle from the International Hotel in Bournemouth. However due to his jet lag he trod on the bottle and almost ended up in an undignified heap. The evening was great fun as usual. Photos of the evening can be found on Photo Album page 4. The next Summertime Old Time Dance is scheduled for 29th May 2010 with Antonair in the Normandy Village Hall. Nigel Carter 27th February 2010

Summertime in Bournemouth - 7th -12th February 2010
On Sunday 7th February around 60 attendees negotiated the directions of their GPSs (or wives - less reliable) and arrived in sunshine at the Marsham Court Hotel for 5 nights and 2 mornings of dancing. This is a new venue for Summertime’s Holidays and the hotel looked after us well. Unlike last time there were no severe weather warnings from the Met Office so the full complement were able to attend. The weather for the week varied between bright sunshine and sleety showers. For 4 of the nights music was provided by David Last who was brilliant. During the week he played some lovely music from his new CD - "Songs of Cole Porter". There were two themed nights - "A Touch of Red" - see photo above and a "Sparkle Ball". A practice session was held for two of the mornings. Richard and Joyce taught the Diamond Jubilee Two Step (1996) and the Regal Gavotte (1967). The planned programme was varied with dances from new classical OT such as the Bedworth Blues, Saunter Shiraz and Valentine’s Gavotte to old traditional OT favourites such as the Kaybee Saunter, Pride of Erin Waltz, Empress Mazurka and the Doris Waltz. The set pieces were the Lancers, Quadrilles and the Caledonians. During the week Richard and Joyce were assisted in leading off by Ray and Jean, Archie and Sylvia, Gerald and Joan, Tony and Hilary and Margaret. On Tuesday night, the evening programme was made up entirely of requests which were described by Richard as having been carved on a tablet of stone by Moses. Some were even older than Richard and he had to get volunteers to help lead a few of them. Tony and Hilary deserve special mention as Richard pressured them to do the Military Two Step despite Tony having a hospital appointment shortly for a double knee replacement. For prosterity I have listed the dances below: Georgella Blues, Waltz of the Bells, Regency Saunter, Dinky One Step (Gerald and Joans Party Piece), Tuesday Blues (prog), Royal Empress Tango, Milbrook Foxtrot, Military Two Step (led off by Tony and Hilary), Saunter Reve, Liberty Two Step, Blues Glide (led off by Archie and Sylvia), Tango Brazil, Fiona’s Polka, White Rose Foxtrot, Festival Glide, Granchester Saunter and the Destiny Waltz. David Last’s music was blown off his stand during the Lancers on Monday night due to the high winds generated by whirling dancers. He cured this for the Quadrilles on Wednesday night with the use of clothes pegs (patent pending - see photos). Archie and Patrick had a moment of confusion during La Mascotte and ended up dancing with each other having misplaced their partners during one of the figures (see photos). Two raffles were held, the Club raffle and the Help 4 Heroes Charity Raffle which made £100. Despite much grumbling from Richard, he did actually win a prize in each raffle. On Monday and Wednesday there were no morning sessions so those days were free and we were all given a pass out with the result that many gentlemens' wallets ended the week much lighter. Joan became the semi-official tour guide for the hotel library showing many guests the extensive facilities (see photos). However as far as Richard was concerned, the highlight of the week was the Bar Special of John Smiths Bitter at £1-50 a pint. Two mandatory competitions were held and the worthy winners were: General Knowledge Quizz - Pat and Olive, and the Crossword - Roy following a nail biting tie-breaker. The Elimination Dance was won by Rhona and Brian. On the Thursday, Eileen celebrated her Birthday and we were also told that Derek was celebrating his 80th on Saturday (pictures on Album Page 18). They were both suitably embarassed by having to stand in front of everyone whilst "Happy Birthday" was sung. On the final night we ended the week with the Friendly Waltz. The week was very tiring but thoroughly enjoyable with a great atmosphere. For those who prefer pictures, the comic book of this event can be found on Album Page 18. Nigel Carter 13th February 2010

What a Wonderful Surprise - 5th February 2010
Summertime members Mike and Anne Jessop's daughter Michele arranged a surprise to celebrate Anne's 75th birthday and their forthcoming Golden Wedding. They were just told to be at Michele's House by 6.15. Last Saturday Anton and Erin with Orchestra and supporting dancers were appearing at Portsmouth Guildhall and this was the surprise arranged for them. According to Anne the show was excellent. At the end of the show Michele and family decided that they would not rush out, but wait a while to let the crowds move even though it was getting late. Then Michele sprung her biggest surprise , She had e-mailed Erin earlier in the week and arranged for the family to meet Anton & Erin hence the photograph. "What a wonderful and thoughtful Daughter knowing just what her Mum & Dad would like."

Happy 50th Anniversary Heather and Larry
Summertime's long time members Heather and Larry Smith celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary today by spending the afternoon at Summertime's Old Time Club surrounded by their friends. Well over 60 people attended proving that Old Time is alive and well in our area. Heather and Larry provided wine and a super cake to refresh the masses. Their wedding album was also on display to show how little they have aged :-) In their younger days Heather and Larry danced Old Time competitively. I am not sure how well they did but I do know they won the Surrey Federation Clarke Cup. The afternoon's programme was a variety of old and new Old Time dances. Amongst the programme was Heather and Larry's party piece, the Gargrave Gavotte, which they led off impeccably. Richard and Joyce walked us through the Saunter Serenata and played some of the dances on the next Club's Dance Programme for revision. We also practiced the Lancers which caused much merriment. We wish Heather and Larry a very Happy Anniversary and look forward to their Diamond Anniversary for more free cake and wine. Photos taken of the event will be found on Album Page 3. Nigel Carter 25/1/2010

Summertime's Old Time Club Update - 18th January 2010
With the snow finally gone, Summertime's Old Time Club met today and over 50 attended glad to be able to get out of their houses at last. Most of the local sequence clubs have not met over the last 10 days and people have been getting fed up with staying in (other than those of us who ventured down to Bournemouth last weekend for Summertime's OT Holiday weekend). Two new members turned up today poached from the world of line dancing! Today's lesson was on the Saunter Serenata; an attractive saunter written by Steven Shaw and Helen Blackburn who are also leading one of the evenings at the Old Time Dance Society's Spring Weekend. Richard spent a lot of effort explaining arm movements and alignment which I will probably have forgotten next week and therefore will incur his wrath :-) Its hard enough remembering the steps. Among the other dances on the programme were the Over the Top Two Step (progressive), Tango Brazil, Valentine's Gavotte, Alison Waltz, Saunter Reve, Bermuda Foxtrot and the Helena Quickstep. As a one off, today's raffle was held to suppport the Haiti earthquake appeal and some £60 was raised from the proceeds and donations. Future charity raffles will again support H4H. New members and visitors are always welcome for an afternoon of low stress fun. Please come along at 13:45 on a Monday to Normandy Village Hall. Beginners are very welcome and will soon pick up the dances. Nigel Carter 18/1/2010

Blue Skies Greet Summertime in Bournemouth - 10th January 2010
Despite over hyped "end of the world weather warnings for Southern England" from the Met Office, supporters of Summertime braved the elements and travelled to the Wessex Hotel in Bournemouth for a weekend of Old Time Dancing. Most travelled by car with one partially sighted lady travelling on her own by coach and one couple travelling by train. On arrival we were greeted by blue skies and sunshine. The most snow in Bournemouth was that we had brought down with us on our cars !! We were delighted that Brian Faulkner was able to attend having had to drive down from Norwich but he hadn't encountered any significant problems apart from trafffic. Unfortunately a number of expected attendees decided not to risk the journey and therefore did not attend. My party decided to go down a day early in case the journey took longer than expected. However I needn't have worried as the worst snow I found was getting out of my drive. I had to clear 10" of snow off the drive. In fact there were negligible amounts of snow south of Winchester with the main roads being clear. It took no longer than usual to drive to Bournemouth and in fact it was easier due to less traffic being on the road. My party travelled well prepared with a shovel, old carpet, flasks of hot water, food and blankets but in fact none of it was needed. Despite the reduced numbers the holiday was in my view a great success with an air of camaraderie as we had all braved the elements to get there. MC's were of course Richard and Joyce who were as usual excellent fun, with music throughout the holiday being provided by David Last who had travelled down from Ipswich without any problems. David played the best I have ever heard him with some beautiful classical pieces and as our group was vitually the only guests in the hotel he was able to pull all the stops out. The dance programme was a varied mixture of Traditional and Classical Old Time featuring dances such as the Sherrie Saunter (1949), Cuckoo Waltz (1950), La Mascotte (1907), Imperial Waltz (1955), and Doris Waltz (1908) mixed in with newer Classical Old Time dances such as the Regency Mazurka (2009) and Summertime Blues (2003). Richard and Joyce taught the Saunter Serenata (2009), and also walked through the Bedworth Blues (2008) and Skye Swing (2009) all fairly new Classical Old Time dances. Apart from Richard and Joyce dances were also led off by Brian Faulkner and Pamela Lang, Philip and Jenny Nicholls, Heather and Larry Smith and Hilary and Nigel Carter. Brian and Pamela also led off the Tantivita Two Step (1918) as they had requested it for the final day. This went down very well with the attendees. I certainly had never seen it before and will have to get Richard to teach it to me. On the final night a charity raffle was held with the proceeds from the raffle being donated to H4H (Help for Heroes) charity; the charity now supported by Summertime Dancing. In fact £105 is being donated to the charity with £60 coming from the raffle, £15 from donations, £13 from the Summertime Book Club and £17 being donated from a Salvation Army mince pie sale. Joyce and Richard also arranged the customary quizzes with prizes being won by Blondelle Prescod and Hilary Carter. The hotel was excellent with generous helpings of good food and superb service due to the tireless efforts of Sandra the Restaurant Manageress from Austria. I tried practicing my German on her with very limited success. Five of us on the first day also partook of the massage service operated from a salon in the hotel known as "Invisible Touch". We all had the "Quickie Stress Relief" massage which we all needed after an evening with Richard. I was in especial need having had a private lesson in the morning from Richard on how to walk properly in a desperate attempt by him to improve my dancing. The massage was excellent and sorted out my neck and shoulder pain issues. Richard was such a physical wreck that he went for a second longer session the next day. The massage service has agreed to offer to all Summertime supporters holidaying in Bournemouth discounted services which I can thoroughly recommend. Booking should be made in advance by phone or email. All details can be found on the web site at http://www.invisibletouch.org/. On the final night, again the Met Office were forcasting heavy snow for Southern England especially on my route home but none of it happened so my journey home was again very easy with much less traffic than normal. We thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and are very glad we ignored the Met Offices (false) warnings for our area. Photographs of the holiday can be found on Album Page 17. Nigel Carter 10/1/2010

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NEWS INDEX

(Click on index item or scroll down page)

Summertime's Golden Oldies Ball August 2010

Summertime's Annual Garden Party 25th July 2010

Summertime's Old Time Dance July 2010

Strictly Come dancing with Heather and Larry

Summertime's Old Time Dance 29/5/2010

OTDS Ball of the Year Torquay May 2010

Summertime's Golden Oldies Club restarts - 19/5/2010

Marge Day 1923-2010

Brighton to London via Summertime - 10/5/2010

Official Birthday Photograph Released

Carrington House Hotel Ups Its Game

Summertime Dancing's Golden Oldies Dance Weekend March 2010

Summertime Dancing Joins the Wey Valley Association

Summertime's Old Time Dance Feb 2010

Summertime in Bournemouth Feb 2010

What a Wonderful Surprise

Happy 50th Heather and Larry - 25/1/2010

Summertime OT Club Update - 18/1/2010

Blue Skies in Bournemouth - 10/1/2010

OLDER NEWS

Summertime Dancing's Web Site Receives its 10,000th Visitor

On Sunday 29th August 2010 Summertime Dancing received its 10,000th visitor since the revamped site was launched in April 2009. We are very grateful to our visitors' interest and hope to continue to keep attracting visitors to the site. If you have any comments on ways to improve the web site please contact us.

Report on Summertime's Golden Oldies Ball - 28th August 2010

The 2010 Summertime Golden Oldies Ball of the year was held at the Normandy Village Hall on a dry summer's evening on Saturday 28th August following a week of heavy rain and Autumnal weather. An excellent attendance of 90 people turned out for the event. One attendee, Barry, undertook a 90 minute cycle ride to get to the event.

The MC's for the evening were Richard Purcell and Joyce Hutchins (photo below). The photo on the left shows Larry Green our organist for the night. His performance was outstanding with some of the tunes he played being featured on his next CD "Moonlight Kiss" to be released in September. My favourite track that he played tonight was Pie Jesu. He also informed us he is appearing (very briefly) in a forthcoming BBC1 prime time documentary "The Young Ones" to be aired mid September. It covers the topic of Ageing. In view of the topic I am surprised the BBC didn't get Richard to star in it!

Richard and Joyce were as always supported in leading off by their teaching assistants Joan and Gerald Bibby. In addition they were also ably supported in leading off dances by Tricia and Brian, Hilary and Tony, Joyce and John, Pat and John, Jean and Ray, Irene and Colin, Jenny and Philip (Chairman of the Wey Valley Sequence Dance Association), Joan and Derek and Yvonne and Ron. With all this support Richard had plenty of time to consume his beer and have a quiet smoke :-)

The programme consisted of 20 dances and was a varied mix of Modern Sequence (mainly 2004 and earlier), Traditional and Classical Old Time and included old favourites such as the Woodside Waltz (1965), Pain Mambo (1996), Saunter Serenata (2009), Iris Foxtrot (1958), Engagement Waltz (1969), the once very popular Quando (1979) and Eivona Quicksteps (1974), Wedgewood Blue Gavotte (1959), and a "rising star" modern sequence dance - Pacino Cha Cha (2010). The progressives were the Bossa Nova Blues (1982) and the Tuesday Blues (1979). The evening's dancing finished with the Old Time favourite, the Friendly Waltz where two circles had to be formed because of the high numbers.

A large raffle was held with many donations from the attendees. Richard was given a winning ticket to stop him sulking.

The evening was also the 58th wedding anniversary of Betty and John, two of Summertime's Golden Oldies regulars. We wish them every happiness for the future. It had also been Chairman Brian's 80th birthday earlier in the week. Another rare event which has to be mentioned here was that Richard was seen to wash his own tea cup. He is never normally seen in the kitchen.

The evening was conducted in a great atmosphere by Richard and Joyce. Photos of the evening can be found on Photo Album page 23.

The next Summertime Dance is an Old Time Dance scheduled for 27th November 2010 with Antonair in the Normandy Village Hall.

Nigel Carter 28th August 2010

Summertime's Annual Garden Party 25th July 2010

Sunday the 25th of July was the date chosen by Richard for Summertime's annual Garden Party. Richard chose the event's date such that it competed with the Farnborough Airshow for attendees with the latter attracting the most by a small margin. A very warm June afternoon was the order of the day and although clouds kept threatening the afternoon was free from precipitation

Despite a bad winter coupled with a tree being blown down, Richard had managed to present the garden to its usual high standard with plenty of flowers to bring joy to hayfever sufferers. An ample spread of cakes, scones, sandwiches and Hilary's famous sausage rolls ensured that starvation was kept at bay. Gordon was kept busy dispensing tea and ~~little~~ sympathy.

The event raised over £60 for the Help for Heroes Charity. Photographs of the event can be seen on Album Page 22.

Nigel Carter 26th July 2010

Report on Summertime's Old Time Dance - 10th July 2010

The third Summertime Old Time Dance of the year was held at the Normandy Village Hall on Saturday 10th July 2010. Richard's advanced planning timed the dance to be on the day the area had received a Met Office Level 2 Health Heat alert. For once thermal underwear or Sowesters were not the order of the day. In addition Richard had also chosen the day to coincide with the World Cup third place play-off although fortunately England was not in it. In any case the winner had already been chosen by Paul the psychic octopus. Despite all of this 75 guests attended from all over Southern England. The bench outside the hall was in demand between dances during the evening as a cooling off station. The hall doors were all left open to provide a through draft to help keep us all cool.

Our MC was Richard Purcell supported by Joyce Hutchins. Music was provided by David Last who played superbly as always. David had had a nightmare journey to Normandy being stuck for an hour on that infamous carpark the M25 but this did not affect his playing of wonderful music. David's new easy listening CD "Endless Love" was played as people arrived and during the interval and is excellent "chilling out" music. In my opinion it is ideal to listen to whilst drinking a bottle of chilled white wine, sitting on the patio, on a summer's evening.

Proceedings were opened by Bernard partnering Joyce for the Sindy Swing - his party piece. During the evening Richard and Joyce were also ably supported in leading off dances by Gerald and Joan, Tony and Hilary (his new bionic knee working well), Pat and John (all from Summertime), Anne and Michael (Waterlooville), Carol and Ethel (Milford),and Sue and Alison all the way from Bath.

The programme consisted of 20 dances with the normal mix of Traditional Old Time and Classical Old Time, including the Tamarack Tango (2010), Skye Swing (2009), Saunter Shiraz (2008), Bermuda Foxtrot (1965), Over the Top (1918), and the Veleta (1900). The set dance was the Caledonians with the heat making it a pleasure to dance! The progressive dances were Over the Top and the Mayfair Quickstep with spot prizes being awarded governed by the customary bottle spinning. Graham again failed to receive a prize although I feel he was cheated out of one by Richard's dubious eyesight. Richard also led community singing (unfortunately by example) during the Tuesday Blues

A raffle was held with excellent prizes many of which were donated by the attendees. Milford SDC had their usual run of good luck in the raffle.

Despite the heat Richard and Joyce ensured the evening was conducted in a light hearted manner. Photos of the evening can be found on Photo Album Page 21.

The next Summertime Old Time Dance is scheduled for 27th November 2010 with Antonair. Summertime's Golden Oldies Sequence Dance with Larry Green is scheduled for the 28th August both to be held in the Normandy Village Hall

Nigel Carter 10th July 2010

Strictly Come Dancing with Heather and Larry

The following is a report submitted by two of Summertime Dancing Members Heather and Larry Smith:

"On Friday 18th June 2010 we checked onto the Warner Leisure "Cricket St Thomas" Hotel in Somerset for a 3 night "Strictly Come Dancing" Experience Break.

Our celebrity experience was to include meeting Karen Hardy and Craig Revel-Horwood, an hours question and answer session with each of them (Karen on Saturday and Craig on Sunday) and an opportunity to be photographed with them (see photo copied left by kind permission of of Martin Smith Photographers, Chard Somerset - 01460 65854).

The weekend also included ballroom and latin classes with professional dancers from Karen's troupe who also entertained us with a fabulous 2 hour show on Saturday evening. Karen also performed with them and gave a truly spectacular performance.

As well as the chance to "take to the floor", Sunday evening culminated in the final of the dancing competition wiith Craig and two professional dancers commenting and marking in the format of the TV show. This however was only meant as a guide as the audience then voted and this was the vote that decided the outcome.

We fully recommend these "Strictly Come Dancing" breaks and were informed they will be continuing next season. So there will be plenty of opportunity to get your dancing shoes on and "GO FOR IT"".

Larry Smith 12/7/2010

Report on Summertime's Old Time Dance - 29th May 2010

The second Summertime Old Time Dance of the year was held at the Normandy Village Hall on Saturday 29th May 2010 on a fairly dreary day weather wise as to be expected on a Bank Holiday weekend. The only ray of sunshine was that generated by Richard. The event was fairly well supported with over 60 people attending from all over Southern England. Numbers were slightly down from the usual number probably due to the event clashing with the Eurovision song contest and the feverish excitement that generates :-) Needless to say the UK came last again. Perhaps we should enter Richard as the UK representative next year as his singing is definately up to the required European standard.

Our MC was Richard Purcell supported by Joyce Hutchins (photo left). Music was provided by Antonair who played at his usual high standard despite having just recovered from a bout of food poisoning during his recent coach holiday in Italy. Richard and Joyce were ably supported in leading off dances by Gerald and Joan, Pat and John, Anne and Michael (Waterlooville), Carol and Ethel (Milford),and Sylvian with Richard.

The programme consisted of 20 dances consisting of the usual mix of Traditional Old Time and Classical Old Time including the Latchford Schottische (1909), Valse Martine (1951), Heather Waltz (1957), Saunter Surfinia (2007) and the Tamarak Tango (2009). The set dance was the Lancers with Antonair playing the music. The usual chaos in the sets ensued.

During the progressive dance Graham was allowed to spin the bottle to determine the spot prize winners as he never wins a prize. He still failed to win. Gerald caused confusion during the Tango Serida by taking advantage of Richard's temporary absence from the room by calling out "Ladies Forward" even though it was not a progressive. He then went and hid as total chaos resulted with those who had heard him progressing and the other three quarters of the dancers not progressing. Richard threatened him with incarceration for the rest of the evening if he didn't behave.

As the event also included an American Supper there was an extensive food spread at the interval with Richard and Joyce providing free wine to raise people's spirits in view of the gloomy weather. After the interval Joyce and Richard led off with the Waltz Debonair which was almost Richard's undoing as his back froze half way through. However he bravely soldiered through although he pulled some strange faces.

The customary raffle was held with many super prizes donated by the attendees.

Despite the weather the evening was great fun as usual. Photos of the evening can be found on Photo Album P age 20.

The next Summertime Old Time Dance is scheduled for 10th July 2010 with David Last in the Normandy Village Hall.

Nigel Carter 30th May 2010

Old Time Dance Society's Ball of the Year – Torquay 21st-24th May 2010

Friday

Around 200 Old Time Dancers converged on Torquay, the English Riviera for the Old Time Dance Society's Annual Ball of the Year dedicated to the memory of Bryan Smith the Society's first President. Glorious sunshine greeted us on arrival at the Livermead House Hotel on Torquay Sea Front. Having unpacked we sat on the hotel lawn sipping cold beverages, with temperatures in the 80's until it was time to change for dinner. Dinner was very good with an excellent choice.

The Ball was held in Torquay's imposing Town Hall, which was of a suitable size to house us all. The Town Hall has been awaiting refurbishment since the Second World War as could be seen by the blackout paint still being present on the upper windows. Apparently refurbishment is to start soon. Things move slowly in the West Country.

The proceedings were opened by the Society's Chairman Grahame Baldwin. Dancing was very challenging as the floor was extremely sticky. Roller skates would have been more useful than dance shoes. Thirds and fifths went right out the window but at least for once I had a good excuse for my poor footwork.

Keith and Eve Stubbs were the MC's and Leaders for the evening's Pre Ball Dance and they put on a splendid show in the trying conditions including trying to make themselves heard in echoey hall acoustics. These are also scheduled for improvement in the planned refurbishment. The programme for the night ranged from the old – Waltz of the Bells, Alison Waltz, La Czarine to the new – Saunter Shiraz. Also included were dances I was not familiar with, being relatively new to Old Time Dancing, such as the Blues Foxtrot and the Jazz Twinkle which looked a fun dance. Communal singing broke out during the Kaybee Saunter with a duet by Grahame and Peter which made Richard's singing look good. It was very warm in the hall as there was no air conditioning. No need for thermal underwear. It was nice to see young blood amongst the attendees suggesting there may be a long life left for the Society.

The coach ride back to the hotel took us on a tour of South West England as apparently the driver was unable to turn right into the Hotel because of the size of the coach and had to travel to Paignton to turn round. This was greeted from choruses of “Show me the Way to go Home” from the more vocally challenged of the Group.

Saturday
Hot sunny day with hardly a breeze or cloud in sight. Small fire in cigarette disposal bin outside the hotel after breakfast but quickly extinguished by a waiter. Temperatures soared during the day to well into the 80's. The Summertime contingent spent the morning shopping with the ladies stocking up on skirts , tops and ball gowns for forthcoming dances and cruises. To keep Richard's energy levels up, the shopping was interspersed with a visit to a coffee shop, fish and chip shop and a pub. We stumbled across a shop selling all sorts of home remedies where several of us got very excited trying out vibrating cushions ending up buying two of them.

Dinner was very good but it was a bit of a rush to get to the coach on time as the hotel was also catering for two large wedding groups. Chris Everitt had a cunning plan to help people climb into the bus by using Ron Urquart's aluminium case as an extra step. Unfortunately this was dented by ladies high heels.

The Town Hall caretaker, Dave, had spent 5 hours scrubbing the floor and had performed a miracle with the floor shining like a new pin. This made the evening's dancing much more pleasurable. There was also a small improvement in the hall acoustics as the loudspeakers had been repositioned. The MC's for the evening's Ball of the Year were Jeff and Muriel Aldren who combined with the much improved floor state gave a masterful display. It was an excellent variety of dances again ranging from the old - The Old Time Waltz (1800) , Veleta (1898) to the Regency Mazurka (2009). They also had the Dinky One Step on the programme which is Gerald and Joan's party piece but unfortunately they were not there to enjoy it. Two of the evening's dances were ones that the Aldren's had won Inventive Competitions with – The Chester Waltz (a pretty little waltz which I wasn't familiar with) and the Ragtime Swing which is a Summertime Club favourite. It's nice to see the inventors dance their own dance as it demonstrates how it was intended to be danced originally. The Lancers was the evenings Set Dance and 11 sets of dancers leapt with enthusiasm around the floor.

The group photo above shows David Last our organist for the event (left) with the Leaders for the weekend (L-R Keith and Eve Stubbs, Jeff and Muriel Aldren and Richard and Joyce). The raffle held during the evening made an excellent £288.

Chris informed us he had a another cunning master plan which he had agreed with the coach driver whereby the coach would go straight to the hotel without a lengthy tour of SW England. However like all master plans it fell apart and the coach sailed past the hotel and we visited Paignton again. To make amends Ron and June and the Hull Group had organised an illicit homemade buffet in the bar area for those with the stamina to stay up late.

Sunday

Again the weather was hot and sunny. Four of Summertime decided to go to Plant World only 4 miles down the road. Yours truly programmed the GPS with the appropriate post code and the GPS guided us down every narrow lane in Devon until we found ourselves back in Torquay. Eventually after an hour we found it and scraped a very stressed Richard off the ceiling. However it was well worth the visit with separate gardens featuring plants from different countries of the world.

Sixty odd members of the OTDS went via bus train and boat to Dartmouth for the day led by Hazel festooned with a pink whistle, and clipboard. As she hadn't a tour guide's umbrella the group presented her with a large pink windmill to act as a gathering point on the tour. The windmill could be found decorating David's keyboard in the evening. The main problem was persuading the number 12 bus driver to let them all on a bus (see photos). They decided to wind Richard up by texting him with the message that David Last was injured and unable to play that night. When Richard returned to the hotel David was suitably bandaged up (see photo right) and the group were practising community singing ready for the evening. Richard went for a lie down. It is understood that Hazel is organising scuba diving in the North Sea for next year's Old Time Dance Society's Ball of the Year.

Many follically challenged attendees were suffering from sunburnt scalps after the day's activities. They should have bought the Society's hats to wear!

The evening's Post Ball Dance was professionally MC'd and led by Joyce Hutchins and Richard Purcell and was a less serious affair. The Leicester Tribe greeted all of Richard's announcements and leading offs with a chorus of whistles, trumpets and other weird instruments. They had even equipped David Last with a pink whistle to blow. He should stick to the organ. Throughout the evening their headgear changed to represent different nations. Even Richard and Joyce joined in wearing tasteful Scottish attire for the Skye Swing (see photo pages). This all added to the evening's fun.

Again Dave the caretaker had spent 4 hours recleaning and polishing the floor and his efforts were appreciated by everyone present.

Richard and David Last had spent time adjusting the speaker positions again and modifying the microphone's audio frequency spectrum to minimise echoing and had been largely successful. The programme was again a varied programme of old or relatively old – Quadrilles, Liberty Two Step and new - Skye Swing and Saunter Serenata, a beautiful saunter written by OTDS members Steven Shaw and Helen Blackburn. Richard had planned for the last waltz to be the Friendly Waltz however the powers that be moved it to just after the interval for inexplicable reasons. Richard used his vibrating cushion to keep his back going through the evening and generously offered its use to the ladies present.

Chris's master plan finally worked and the coaches went straight back to the hotel rather than a tour of Devon where after a drink at the bar we retired to our rooms.

David Last was at his best and played superbly throughout the weekend and certainly joined in the fun of the event. Photos of the Ball of the Year long weekend can be found on Album Page 6 - Social Photo Page and Album Page 7 - Dance Photo Page.

Monday

The long drive home in the hottest day of the year so far. As Richard wasn't with us complaining about my SatNav we were able to visit Stourhead Gardens on the way home and they were magnificent.

Many thanks must go to Chris Everitt in organising a splendid event supported by the rest of the Committee. Next years Ball of the Year is to be in Scarborough. Details of all OTDS forthcoming events can be found on their website.

Nigel Carter 24/5/2010

Summertime's Golden Oldies Club Restarts 19th May 2010

Summertime's "Golden Oldies" Club restarted today for the summer season. The Club meets on Wednesday evenings at Normandy Village Hall from mid-May to mid-September. The Club provides relaxed summer evenings of popular Old Time, Classical and older Modern Sequence dances. In addition each week a "rising star" from last years new Modern Sequence dances is chosen for the programme.

Over 50 people turned up for the first night and were treated to a very varied programme including: Skye Swing, Bens Waltz, Tango Las Vegas, Jordan Quickstep, Saunter Serenata, Feta Foxtrot, Rumba Tamara, Let's Jive, Tamarack Tango, Harlequin Swing, Waltz Catherine, Bedworth Blues etc. The selected "rising star" dance was the Amethyst Waltz. Apart from Richard and Joyce, dances were led off by Gerald and Joan (Summertime's teaching assistants) and Pat and John. The customary raffle was held.

On a sad note we were informed that Marge Day (see previous article), a stalwart of Summertime Dancing and Ted Winkworth, a well known face at sequence dance clubs in the area, had both passed away.

Nigel Carter 19/5/2010

Marge Day 1923 - 2010

We were very upset to learn the Marge Day passed away on the 18th May 2010 aged 87. Marge has been a stalwart of Summertime Dancing having been a founder member. She was also a member of Normandy Sequence Dance Club for 50 years and, until recently, a long serving member of the Old Time Dance Society. Marge was the chief teamaker at all Summertime Dancing's events including Richard's regular Garden Parties. In this she was aided by her great friend, Ethel Madgwick, who passed away last year and the pair of them were known as the "Hinge and Bracket" of Summertime Dancing.

Marge will be greatly missed and to her many friends and family we offer our sincere condolences at this time.

Nigel Carter 19//5/2010

Brighton to Yorkshire via Summertime - 10th May 2010

Brenda and Michael from Yorkshire in their immaculate MGB RA long oadster took part in the MG Owners Club run to Brighton last weekend and on their way home popped in to see what Summertime's Old Time Club got up to at their Monday afternoon session. Over 50 people attended and apart from Brenda and Michael, four other visitors, Herbie, Pauline, Richard and Shiela, had also come a long way, having travelled over from Kent.

They were treated to a varied programme from the old - Veleta and the Lancers to the new - Tamarack Tango. The progressive dance was Over the Top (just like Richard).

We also celebrated Jackie and Lloyd's Birthday's who provided an ample supply of cakes to accompany our tea.

Congratulations were also in order for two of the Summertime regulars who were present - Sylvian Elderton who has been elected President and Philip Nicholls Chairman of the Wey Valley Sequence Dance Association.

The next formal Summertime Dances are the Old Time Dance with Antonair on the 29th of May and the Golden Oldies Ball on the 28th August with Larry Green. Visitors will be most welcome.

Nigel Carter 10/5/2010

Official Birthday Photograph Just Released! - 19th April 2010

Last Monday Richard celebrated his ~~83rd~~ 64th birthday (photo left by Brian Read - click on photo for larger image). As he told me he was extremely impressed by the fact that it was a once in a lifetime mathematical event whereby the final two digits of his date of birth (1946) when reversed gave his age (he needs to get out more).

The Summertime Club afternoon therefore was conducted in a party spirit made doubly so as Herbie Smith (on the left in the photo), a stalwart of Summertime Dances, was also celebrating his birthday but was too shy to disclose his age but I don't think it was 21.

Also shown in the photo is Joyce in an attempt to improve its compositional value.

It is a tribute to medical science that Richard has made it this far and fingers crossed he will make it through to next year's big event when he becomes officially an OAP.

Nigel Carter 19/4/2010

Carrington House Hotel Up's It's Game

Many of our guests to the Old Time holiday last September were very disappointed with the dining facilities, menu and service in the restaurant. We put these matters to the manager Paul le Roi and boy did they pull out all the stops to improve arrangements for us.

A private dining room, table cloths and linen serviettes, an excellent menu and really good service all of which made a real difference to the hotel experience which was always otherwise very good. Despite having 95 line dancers also in the hotel they managed to feed us all with good quality, hot food and on time this year.

We still have plenty of places for our September OT holiday this year so if you were put off please reconsider and come along and join us once again. You can download a booking form here. Hope to see you later.

Best wishes

Richard & Joyce 22/3/2010

Summertime Dancing's first "Golden Oldies" Dance Weekend at Bournemouth 19th-21st March 2010

Summertime Dancing held their first "Golden Oldies" Sequence Dance weekend at the Carrington House Hotel from the 19th to the 21st March. Over 60 people attended the holiday from all over the UK. The dance programme for the weekend was a mixture of established still popular modern sequence (over 4 years old), classical (up to the present day) and some Traditional Old Time. This was the first holiday this year not blighted by false Met Office severe weather warnings. However it would have been nice if the weather could have been brighter when we arrived. However Richard and Joyce provided plenty of "sunshine" for the weekend although a bout of colds and "woman flu" had threatened some of the attendees (including Joyce) in the preceeding week.

The weekend started with the usual "renew acquaintances" sherry reception (not cheap sherry either!), with the noise level being inversely proportional to the amount of sherry remaining in the guests' glasses.

The hotel provided our group with an amply sized, well appointed private dining room (see photos) close to the ballroom for all our meals for the duration of the holiday with excellent service and food thus putting right the issues we had had last year. It certainly exceeded by a mile my expectations and I had to do every dance just to keep my weight down. The private dining room made the weekend a little more "special".

Friday night's dancing was to David Last's excellent music. He played my favourite tune "So in Love" from his new CD but it was marred by Richard's singing. As a result the newly adopted Summertime Mascot, Brian's dog Jasper, spent the evening hiding under the table with his paws over his ears to escape the singing. Eighteen dances were on the programme including the Veleta, Freda and Mahonia Foxtrots, Grasmere Waltz, Quando Quickstep, Tango Solair and the Saunter Shiraz. Joyce and Bernard opened the evening by leading off the Sindy Swing. Other dances were led off by Joan and Gerald, Trisha and Brian, Audrey and Bill, Anne and Mike, Jenny and Philip, and Margaret and Shirley. All these couples led off throughout the weekend. The odd remaining dances were led off by Richard and Joyce! Richard and Joyce gave a quick walk through of the Jacqueline Cha Cha which was the evening's progressive dance although the dance itself hardly progresses round the room. A Club raffle was also held during the evening.

Saturday morning was a teaching session with Richard and Joyce teaching the Patricia Waltz (one of the early modern sequence waltzes -1954) and the new classical Tamarack Tango which won the Classical Section at the NCDTA competition in January 2010. The tango, written by Ian and Sue Webster, is a simple but enjoyable Club Dance and was easily picked up by everyone.

Saturday night's dancing was to Antonair with his sing-a-long style, although as I am a youngster most were written before my time so I didn't know the words. This did not deter the other guests who had a wide range of singing styles. Amongst the 18 dances on the programme were the Tamarack Tango, Bedworth Blues, Trelawney Tango, Skye Swing, Wedgewood Blue Gavotte and the Saunter Serenata. The colour theme for the evening was "Spring Colours". The evening's raffle proceeds are to go to the Help 4 Heroes Charity and amounted to £110. The raffle contained many excellent prizes many of which were donated by the attendees.

On the final morning the weekend's dancing consisted of requests and ended with the Rose Lane Waltz before we all had our Sunday lunch and departed in bright sunshine. The two weekend quizzes were won by Blondelle and Hilary who won a bottle of wine each.

The very full weekend was great fun although tiring on the feet. For those who prefer to see pictures, the "comic book" of this event can be found on Album Page 19.

The next Summertime Golden Oldies holiday is to be held from the 5th -7th August 2011 at the Wessex Hotel. See the Holiday's Page for details on all forthcoming Summertime Holidays.

Nigel Carter

21/3/2010

Summertime Dancing Joins the Wey Valley Sequence Dance Association

The Wey Valley Association, of which Joyce is a Life Vice President, comprises a group of 30+ dance clubs from a wide circle around Guildford in Surrey. Members meet regularly to learn a selection of the new ballroom, latin and classical (Old Time) sequence dances usually from a qualified teacher. This hopefully gives uniformity to the teaching and dances in the area.

We hope that in joining the Association we may be able further promote Old Time Dancing in the South.

Unfortunately many sequence dancers still do not realise that Old Time was in fact the first sequence dancing and Ballroom and Latin Sequence came along about 100 years later. This seems to encourage a division with some rather than just accepting that OT is just part of the package and of course the silly decision to change the name to Classical Sequence didn’t help much either.

We need to enlighten people that classical is just OT with its original name. How often do we hear “Oh I don’t do Old Time” and then they get up and dance Saunter Shiraz or Tango Solair?

It would be nice if Old Time became just as acceptable as the other two disciplines but we shall have to wait and see.

Richard Purcell

16/3/2010

Summertime's Old Time Dance on the 27th February 2010

The first Summertime Old Time Dance of the year was held at the Normandy Village Hall on Saturday 27th February 2010 on a fairly dreary day weather wise. As a result Richard had made the dress theme for the night "cheerful colours". The event was extremely well supported with over 80 people attending from all over Southern England. Despite the severe weather warning for Southern England they came from as far away as Bath (Paul and Hazel Harding, Sue, Alison and Andrew), Oxfordshire and Norfolk (Brian Faulkner). One (Trisha) even came from New Zealand which is also south of the Wash. There were also parties from Waterlooville, Milford, Tadley and the London area. Our local sequence clubs would be very grateful if they could attract anywhere near this number of attendees!

We were very pleased to see the new Old Time Dance Society (OTDS) Vice Chairman Paul Harding accompanied by his wife Hazel. Paul is also the Membership Secretary of the OTDS.

Our colourful MC was Richard Purcell (tanned a strange rust colour having just returned from Teneriffe) supported by Joyce Hutchins. Music was provided by David Last who played superbly including music from his new CD "Songs of Cole Porter" of which "So in Love" is my favourite track.

Richard and Joyce were ably supported in leading off dances by Gerald and Joan, Trisha and Brian, Tony and Hilary, Anne and Michael, Rose and Michael, Carol and Ethel and Sue and Alison. In addition Richard partnered Sylvian in leading off the Tango las Vegas and Brian partnered Joyce in leading off the Premier Two Step.

The night was a special celebration for Mike and Anne Jessop who were celebrating their Golden Anniversary (photo above left). Wine was provided to toast the happy couple and they provided cake all round beautifully wrapped up as little parcels in gold trimmed favours. Our warmest congratulations go to both of them.

The programme consisted of 20 dances consisting of the usual mix of Traditional Old Time and Classical Old Time including the Caledonians (18th century), Over the Top (1918 progressive), Lingering Blues (1929), Empress Mazurka (1954), Regis Waltz (1964), Alison Waltz (1967), Premier Two Step (1959), Saunter Serenata (2009) and Skye Swing (2009).

The customary raffle was held with many super prizes donated by the attendees. Richard won a prize so didn't have to sulk. Easter eggs were offered as spot prizes during the progressive dances with Richard spinning the infamous wine bottle from the International Hotel in Bournemouth. However due to his jet lag he trod on the bottle and almost ended up in an undignified heap.

The evening was great fun as usual. Photos of the evening can be found on Photo Album page 4.

The next Summertime Old Time Dance is scheduled for 29th May 2010 with Antonair in the Normandy Village Hall.

Nigel Carter 27th February 2010

Summertime in Bournemouth - 7th -12th February 2010

On Sunday 7th February around 60 attendees negotiated the directions of their GPSs (or wives - less reliable) and arrived in sunshine at the Marsham Court Hotel for 5 nights and 2 mornings of dancing. This is a new venue for Summertime’s Holidays and the hotel looked after us well. Unlike last time there were no severe weather warnings from the Met Office so the full complement were able to attend. The weather for the week varied between bright sunshine and sleety showers. For 4 of the nights music was provided by David Last who was brilliant. During the week he played some lovely music from his new CD - "Songs of Cole Porter". There were two themed nights - "A Touch of Red" - see photo above and a "Sparkle Ball".

A practice session was held for two of the mornings. Richard and Joyce taught the Diamond Jubilee Two Step (1996) and the Regal Gavotte (1967). The planned programme was varied with dances from new classical OT such as the Bedworth Blues, Saunter Shiraz and Valentine’s Gavotte to old traditional OT favourites such as the Kaybee Saunter, Pride of Erin Waltz, Empress Mazurka and the Doris Waltz. The set pieces were the Lancers, Quadrilles and the Caledonians. During the week Richard and Joyce were assisted in leading off by Ray and Jean, Archie and Sylvia, Gerald and Joan, Tony and Hilary and Margaret.

On Tuesday night, the evening programme was made up entirely of requests which were described by Richard as having been carved on a tablet of stone by Moses. Some were even older than Richard and he had to get volunteers to help lead a few of them. Tony and Hilary deserve special mention as Richard pressured them to do the Military Two Step despite Tony having a hospital appointment shortly for a double knee replacement. For prosterity I have listed the dances below:

Georgella Blues, Waltz of the Bells, Regency Saunter, Dinky One Step (Gerald and Joans Party Piece), Tuesday Blues (prog), Royal Empress Tango, Milbrook Foxtrot, Military Two Step (led off by Tony and Hilary), Saunter Reve, Liberty Two Step, Blues Glide (led off by Archie and Sylvia), Tango Brazil, Fiona’s Polka, White Rose Foxtrot, Festival Glide, Granchester Saunter and the Destiny Waltz.

David Last’s music was blown off his stand during the Lancers on Monday night due to the high winds generated by whirling dancers. He cured this for the Quadrilles on Wednesday night with the use of clothes pegs (patent pending - see photos). Archie and Patrick had a moment of confusion during La Mascotte and ended up dancing with each other having misplaced their partners during one of the figures (see photos).

Two raffles were held, the Club raffle and the Help 4 Heroes Charity Raffle which made £100. Despite much grumbling from Richard, he did actually win a prize in each raffle.

On Monday and Wednesday there were no morning sessions so those days were free and we were all given a pass out with the result that many gentlemens' wallets ended the week much lighter.

Joan became the semi-official tour guide for the hotel library showing many guests the extensive facilities (see photos). However as far as Richard was concerned, the highlight of the week was the Bar Special of John Smiths Bitter at £1-50 a pint.

Two mandatory competitions were held and the worthy winners were: General Knowledge Quizz - Pat and Olive, and the Crossword - Roy following a nail biting tie-breaker. The Elimination Dance was won by Rhona and Brian.

On the Thursday, Eileen celebrated her Birthday and we were also told that Derek was celebrating his 80th on Saturday (pictures on Album Page 18). They were both suitably embarassed by having to stand in front of everyone whilst "Happy Birthday" was sung.

On the final night we ended the week with the Friendly Waltz. The week was very tiring but thoroughly enjoyable with a great atmosphere. For those who prefer pictures, the comic book of this event can be found on Album Page 18.

Nigel Carter 13th February 2010

What a Wonderful Surprise - 5th February 2010

Summertime members Mike and Anne Jessop's daughter Michele arranged a surprise to celebrate Anne's 75th birthday and their forthcoming Golden Wedding. They were just told to be at Michele's House by 6.15. Last Saturday Anton and Erin with Orchestra and supporting dancers were appearing at Portsmouth Guildhall and this was the surprise arranged for them. According to Anne the show was excellent.

At the end of the show Michele and family decided that they would not rush out, but wait a while to let the crowds move even though it was getting late.
Then Michele sprung her biggest surprise , She had e-mailed Erin earlier in the week and arranged for the family to meet Anton & Erin hence the photograph.

"What a wonderful and thoughtful Daughter knowing just what her Mum & Dad would like."

Happy 50th Anniversary Heather and Larry

Summertime's long time members Heather and Larry Smith celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary today by spending the afternoon at Summertime's Old Time Club surrounded by their friends. Well over 60 people attended proving that Old Time is alive and well in our area. Heather and Larry provided wine and a super cake to refresh the masses. Their wedding album was also on display to show how little they have aged :-)

In their younger days Heather and Larry danced Old Time competitively. I am not sure how well they did but I do know they won the Surrey Federation Clarke Cup.

The afternoon's programme was a variety of old and new Old Time dances. Amongst the programme was Heather and Larry's party piece, the Gargrave Gavotte, which they led off impeccably. Richard and Joyce walked us through the Saunter Serenata and played some of the dances on the next Club's Dance Programme for revision. We also practiced the Lancers which caused much merriment.

We wish Heather and Larry a very Happy Anniversary and look forward to their Diamond Anniversary for more free cake and wine.

Photos taken of the event will be found on Album Page 3.

Nigel Carter

25/1/2010

Summertime's Old Time Club Update - 18th January 2010

With the snow finally gone, Summertime's Old Time Club met today and over 50 attended glad to be able to get out of their houses at last. Most of the local sequence clubs have not met over the last 10 days and people have been getting fed up with staying in (other than those of us who ventured down to Bournemouth last weekend for Summertime's OT Holiday weekend). Two new members turned up today poached from the world of line dancing!

Today's lesson was on the Saunter Serenata; an attractive saunter written by Steven Shaw and Helen Blackburn who are also leading one of the evenings at the Old Time Dance Society's Spring Weekend. Richard spent a lot of effort explaining arm movements and alignment which I will probably have forgotten next week and therefore will incur his wrath :-) Its hard enough remembering the steps.

Among the other dances on the programme were the Over the Top Two Step (progressive), Tango Brazil, Valentine's Gavotte, Alison Waltz, Saunter Reve, Bermuda Foxtrot and the Helena Quickstep.

As a one off, today's raffle was held to suppport the Haiti earthquake appeal and some £60 was raised from the proceeds and donations. Future charity raffles will again support H4H.

New members and visitors are always welcome for an afternoon of low stress fun. Please come along at 13:45 on a Monday to Normandy Village Hall. Beginners are very welcome and will soon pick up the dances.

Nigel Carter 18/1/2010

Blue Skies Greet Summertime in Bournemouth - 10th January 2010

Despite over hyped "end of the world weather warnings for Southern England" from the Met Office, supporters of Summertime braved the elements and travelled to the Wessex Hotel in Bournemouth for a weekend of Old Time Dancing. Most travelled by car with one partially sighted lady travelling on her own by coach and one couple travelling by train. On arrival we were greeted by blue skies and sunshine. The most snow in Bournemouth was that we had brought down with us on our cars !! We were delighted that Brian Faulkner was able to attend having had to drive down from Norwich but he hadn't encountered any significant problems apart from trafffic. Unfortunately a number of expected attendees decided not to risk the journey and therefore did not attend.

My party decided to go down a day early in case the journey took longer than expected. However I needn't have worried as the worst snow I found was getting out of my drive. I had to clear 10" of snow off the drive. In fact there were negligible amounts of snow south of Winchester with the main roads being clear. It took no longer than usual to drive to Bournemouth and in fact it was easier due to less traffic being on the road. My party travelled well prepared with a shovel, old carpet, flasks of hot water, food and blankets but in fact none of it was needed.

Despite the reduced numbers the holiday was in my view a great success with an air of camaraderie as we had all braved the elements to get there. MC's were of course Richard and Joyce who were as usual excellent fun, with music throughout the holiday being provided by David Last who had travelled down from Ipswich without any problems. David played the best I have ever heard him with some beautiful classical pieces and as our group was vitually the only guests in the hotel he was able to pull all the stops out.

The dance programme was a varied mixture of Traditional and Classical Old Time featuring dances such as the Sherrie Saunter (1949), Cuckoo Waltz (1950), La Mascotte (1907), Imperial Waltz (1955), and Doris Waltz (1908) mixed in with newer Classical Old Time dances such as the Regency Mazurka (2009) and Summertime Blues (2003). Richard and Joyce taught the Saunter Serenata (2009), and also walked through the Bedworth Blues (2008) and Skye Swing (2009) all fairly new Classical Old Time dances.

Apart from Richard and Joyce dances were also led off by Brian Faulkner and Pamela Lang, Philip and Jenny Nicholls, Heather and Larry Smith and Hilary and Nigel Carter. Brian and Pamela also led off the Tantivita Two Step (1918) as they had requested it for the final day. This went down very well with the attendees. I certainly had never seen it before and will have to get Richard to teach it to me.

On the final night a charity raffle was held with the proceeds from the raffle being donated to H4H (Help for Heroes) charity; the charity now supported by Summertime Dancing. In fact £105 is being donated to the charity with £60 coming from the raffle, £15 from donations, £13 from the Summertime Book Club and £17 being donated from a Salvation Army mince pie sale.

Joyce and Richard also arranged the customary quizzes with prizes being won by Blondelle Prescod and Hilary Carter.

The hotel was excellent with generous helpings of good food and superb service due to the tireless efforts of Sandra the Restaurant Manageress from Austria. I tried practicing my German on her with very limited success.

Five of us on the first day also partook of the massage service operated from a salon in the hotel known as "Invisible Touch". We all had the "Quickie Stress Relief" massage which we all needed after an evening with Richard. I was in especial need having had a private lesson in the morning from Richard on how to walk properly in a desperate attempt by him to improve my dancing. The massage was excellent and sorted out my neck and shoulder pain issues. Richard was such a physical wreck that he went for a second longer session the next day. The massage service has agreed to offer to all Summertime supporters holidaying in Bournemouth discounted services which I can thoroughly recommend. Booking should be made in advance by phone or email. All details can be found on the web site at http://www.invisibletouch.org/.

On the final night, again the Met Office were forcasting heavy snow for Southern England especially on my route home but none of it happened so my journey home was again very easy with much less traffic than normal.

We thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and are very glad we ignored the Met Offices (false) warnings for our area.

Photographs of the holiday can be found on Album Page 17.

Nigel Carter

10/1/2010

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