Newsletter of the Central Illinois English Country Dancers

Summer 2000

The attendance at the monthly dances this spring was better than average. In particular the dances in January and February were outstanding. In January we had 35 dancers, thanks to a group of Girl Scouts who attended to gain some experience for their dance badges. The George Washington's birthday dance in February had 30 dancers, including some of the Girl Scouts coming back again. The only real disappointment was the dance on Friday in April. This evening had only 14 dancers in attendance. The Halloween dance on a Friday last fall was well attended and we will be doing that again, but it doesn't look like Friday is a particularly good day to hold a dance, unless it's a special occasion.

We had a good crowd for our 5th annual Playford Ball, ending our season in June. There were some very imaginative costumes, which I hope will inspire others in the future. Thanks to everyone who helped to make the evening a success, in particular Sherry Dewan who provided a large number of flowers, which were a simple, but very elegant decoration for the hall.

In addition to our regular monthly dances and our Ball there were some special events this past spring. On the sixth of May we once again took part in the May Day celebration at the Botanical Gardens in Lake of the Woods Park near Mahomet. We were able to get quite a few kids and adults to join us in a Maypole dance as well as some other English dances. It's always hard to know what sort of effect this type of event has, but I think it's the sort of thing we need to continue to do. It makes people aware of our group and helps us continue to recruit new dancers.

The other extra event we had this spring was to hold a dance at Crystal Lake Park. We had hoped to have a spring dance at Allerton Park, in addition to our dance there in the fall, but apparently the springtime is a popular time for people to have weddings and there were no Sunday afternoons available at Allerton. So we switched the event to Crystal Lake and had a nice afternoon of dancing near the Anita Purvis Nature Center in Urbana.

The Hallowe'en Masquerade dance was so successful last year that we will be doing it again on Friday, October 27. We will be starting the dance at 8:00 p.m. this year and I hope everyone will be able to attend. Once again everyone is encouraged to come in costume and wear a mask.

I hope everyone has a good summer and remembers the pool party on July 15 and the dance in the Sunken Gardens at Allerton Park on September 24.

Summer and Fall 2000 Shedule:

Most dances will be held at the Springer Cultural Center, 301 N. Randolph in downtown Champaign. We ask for a $1.00 donation at these dances to pay for the use of the facility. There may be an admission charge for special events.

Saturday, July 15: Pool party at Jane Hobgood's, 3 Illini Circle, Urbana. Swimming starts at 3:00, dancing in the pool at 4:00, potluck dinner at 5:30. Call 328-1708 for directions. Rain date: Sunday, July 16.

Saturday, September 9: dance 7-9 p.m. at the Springer Center.

Sunday, September 24: Dance at Allerton Park. Picnic 1-3, dance 3-6. Admission free.

Friday, October 27: Halloween dance 8-10 p.m. at the Springer Center.

Saturday, November 18: dance 7-9 p.m. at the Springer Center.

Sunday, December 3: dance 3-5 p.m. at the Springer Center.

Saturday, December 16: 6th Annual Christmas Ball. Channing-Murray Foundation. Dance warm-up 7-8 p.m. Dance 8-11 p.m. Admission $5.00.

For further information:

Jonathan Sivier at 217/359-8225 (j-sivier@uiuc.edu) or
Jane Hobgood at 217/328-1708
The CIECD webpage; http://www.prairienet.org/ciecd/

For the current schedule and further information return to the CIECD webpage
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