The Record

Volume L No. 7 Tom Sandow - Publisher August, 2006

 

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

By Bob Phelan

Vacationing see you soon.

 

BIRTHDAYS

Terry Leonard 8/30

Lynn Leonard   8/31

Don Snodgrass 9/10

Gary Kendall   9/12

 

ANNIVERSARIES

Snodgrass 8/22/1959

Phelan     9/10/1994

Strickler 9/13/1945

 

Note: Birthday and Anniversary listings run from newsletter date to newsletter date not 1st of month to 1st of month.

 

 

WELCOME TO SUSAN

By Avis Walker

The Clutch Busters have a new member!!! Early in the summer we had a visitor who liked us so much that she decided to join the club and she has been brave enough to stick with us through the hot summer months.

Welcome to Susan Kennedy!! We are very glad to have you join us.

 

So if you haven't been around this summer find Susan and say "Howdy"

and "Welcome".

 

Everyone please add Susan to your club roster:

 

Susan Kennedy

2258 Acacia Drive

Concord , CA 94520

Phone: (925) 676-0585

E-mail: sgkennedy@sbcglobal.net

Birthday info: 6/10

 

FAREWELL TO JOE AND BONNIE JO ZEHRUNG

By Tom Sandow

On August 3rd the Zehrungs came to club for the last time to say goodbye.

They are off to fulfill their dream of moving to Utah and their new home that has been waiting for them for a year.

 

It's sad to say goodbye to a couple that has meant so much to our club.

We'll miss their friendship and Bonnie's wonderful poems. Our loss is Utah 's gain.

 

Fortunately, Joe and Bonnie Jo will be back for our 50th Anniversary party, giving us one last chance to say goodbye. That's worth the price of admission all by itself.

 

Their new address is:

630 West 2400 South

Perry , UT 84302

 

They are keeping their E-mail address and they will use their cell phone for a

while: 925-348-4296.

 

In typical fashion Bonnie left us a gift as they said goodbye.

 

Dear Clutch Busters,

These twenty plus years, we've had so much fun.

We've danced in the evening, we've danced in the sun.

We've learned that friendship is special and true.

We've learned to love each of you.

 

Yes, we will miss each of you.

But moving to Utah is our dream come true.

The door will be open so please come and call.

We'd love to see you - one and all.

 

Please send The Record - Let's keep in touch.

Thanks for the memories - Thanks so much.

 

Joe & Bonnie Jo Zehrung

August 2006

 

 

HISTORY OF THE CLUTCH BUSTERS SQUARE DANCE CLUB - FIFTY YEARS OF NOTES By Lois Lollich In 1958 the club started dancing at Meadow Homes School and this was their home during the school year until 1998; dancing at different locations during the summer months. Since leaving Meadow Homes School the club has danced at Gregory Gardens Elementary, Valley View Middle School , Oak Park Center , and sharing the Pacheco Community Center with the Diablo Singles and Doubles during the summer months. In September 2006, we began dancing at the Mt. Diablo Woman's Club.

 

In August 1959 the Clutch Busters made and entered a float in the Concord Pow Wow parade. They won First Place . They entered a float in the next four parades, winning 2 more First Places and two Second Place prizes.

 

Until 1974 the club held 12 Hoedowns a year on the third Saturday of each month.

In 1975 the number of Hoedowns was reduced to eight a year. At present, the Clutch Busters host three Hoedowns a year through the NCSDA.

 

Club activities in the earlier years included a group trip to the Silver State Square Dance Festival in Reno each year. Camping weekends (real camping - in TENTS!) with Saturday dancing. A favorite destination was Calavares Big Trees State Park.

Camping trips have become weekend outings in RVs and boats (next month, Lois will tell us about a very unusual result of one of these weekend camping trips).

Over the 50 years groups of club members have attended many other weekend square dance festivals. A popular destination is McCloud , CA for a week's program of dancing.

 

The Anniversary Dinner Dance has always been a highlight of the year. Other club activities include Pot Lucks, the Halloween and Christmas parties and the Family Picnic. In 1989 and 1990 there were Abalone trips to Point Arena. 1989 was also the year of the first annual Car Rally.

 

We have always been blessed with fine Callers/Instructors. Elmer Radcliffe was the original caller for the Clutch Busters until 1983. Bill Bankert called for the club through 1985. Richard Mansfield was the club caller from 1986 to December 1998.

Since January 1999 to the present we have been pleased to dance to the calls of Gary Kendall.

 

Reviewing the club's rosters we see that in 1958 the Clutch Busters had 40 couples.

In the 60's and 70's membership was about 60 couples. At present time the Clutch Busters have 32 members. Of special note, Tim Moon, a current member, was a part of those three squares that formed the club in 1956.

 

 

ICE CREAM SOCIAL

By Sue Sandow

MMMMMMM! YUMMY!! Our End-of-Summer Ice Cream Social will be on August 31st.

I'll have a sign-up sheet ready on the 10th. Make sure you bring your appetites on the 31st!

 

 

CLUTCH BUSTERS' PICNIC

By Lisa Woodard

Mark you calendars now --- the CB Picnic is coming up on Sunday, September 24th!

This year's picnic is being held at the home of Alfreda Young and Joe Gerhards in Concord .

Directions and parking recommendations will be available in September. Car-pooling is suggested, not only to aid in parking but it's just plain good for the environment and saves on gas!

 

Sign-ups for the picnic will be circulating soon, so keep a watch! Also, keep in mind that this year our grilling selection will be a little different from past picnics --- the all-time favorite -- grilled Tri-Tip will be offered and, as many have requested, grilled Chicken will also be provided. Sign-ups will be circulating for both your grilled meat preference and your potluck contribution, so be sure to indicate your selections on both sign-up lists, so we can get an accurate idea of how many will be attending.

 

The club will be providing soft drinks, and we ask that you provide your own beer or wine.

Additionally, you will need to bring your own place setting and a folding chair. Arrangements are being made for tables, shade canopies and umbrellas, however, hats and sunscreen are recommended. We will have some activities and games available, and also encourage you to bring your own favorite card or board game.

 

As they say in the Big Easy - Laissez les bons temps rouler (Lay say lay bohn tohn roo

lay) - Let the good times roll!

 

 

ANNIVERSARY PARTY UPDATE

By Joe Gerhards

Progress on the Anniversary Party continues. This week, the committee will mail out about 60 or so invitations to past members, callers, etc. We hope many of these people will attend.

These invitations are very professional and beautiful thanks to the assistance of Liz Phelan's sister. We are looking forward to a very momentous evening of fun and exploring the 50 years of the Clutch Buster history. Are you ready? We again thank all who have participated in making this happen.

 

 

BUCKSKIN! BUCKSKIN! WHO HAS THE GOLDEN BUCKSKIN?

By Lisa and Tracy Woodard

Ah! The saga continues - last newsletter - the Concord Stompers had claimed the Buckskin from the Clutch Busters and rumors were flying that the Martinez Swingers were making plans.

 

Well they successfully claimed the Buckskin from the Concord Stompers on June 7th. Then with a flurry of enthusiasm and quick coordination, a group of Clutch Busters visited the Martinez Swingers on Wednesday, June 14th, and claimed the Buckskin back again.

 

Exercising a great deal of stealth and cunning the Clutch Busters held onto it tight for a month!

 

Then on Thursday July 27th, both the Concord Stompers and Delta Squares launched the next declaration for possession of the Buckskin. In the middle of the 100+ degree heat wave we were all suffering through, both clubs arrived at our Thursday night workshop in full square dance attire ready to wage battle for the Buckskin. After the dust of sign-in and the dancing of the first square of the evening settled, the Delta Squares were declared victorious in their claim of the Golden Buckskin.

 

We all danced another tip and celebrated after with ice cream sundaes as speculation swirled about who would claim the Buckskin next!

 

 

BEGINNER CLASS UPDATE

By Tom Sandow

With about six weeks to go until our Newer Dancer class, things are starting to pick-up. We've already passed out flyers at the 4th of July celebration in Pleasant Hill during the square dance demo that the Clutch Busters participated in. Many thanks to everyone who has taken flyers to distribute since then. The more flyers we can post the better our chances of having a very successful class.

 

Besides flyers we have an ad running on the Astound Cable Community Channel (channel 31 in

Concord ) and we are on the Community Calendar on the Winner's Circle Western Wear website (HYPERLINK " http://www.winnerscirclewestern.com/event_calander.htm "). We will also have an ad in the Concord , Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek community newspapers two weeks prior to our first class.

 

Please let me know if you would like more flyers to post. I'll get them to you ASAP.

 

 

NEWS FROM THE ALLEY

By Avis Walker

Seeing as there wasn't a Record in July I'll try my best to condense 2 months of bowling without taking up the whole August Record. It will be hard to do though because we have had a fun summer of bowling.

 

Figuring that people would disappear for the summer I tried to jazz up bowling the last week of May by having a circulating prize for strikes as well as the usual gutter recognition prize. I had a small chocolate bunny for the gutter prize, which Liz Phelan won, and a larger gold wrapped chocolate bunny for the strike recognition prize, which Don Lollich took home. Don had a great day with a 141, a 156 and the last game hitting right on his average of 118. Unfortunately Don left his chocolate bunny in the car during lunch at Co-Co's so he ended up with chocolate mush.

 

The lull I had expected didn't happen in June. In fact we had some very welcome company. Joan and Ron Trujillo arrived from Southern California just in time to bowl NO TAP Tuesday on June 6th.

After rolling 3 fabulous NO TAP games of 261, 266, and 244; Ron was no longer quite so welcome.

We did however let him join us for lunch at I HOP.

 

When NO TAP results were announced on June 13th it was no surprise when Ron took men's first place and $8.00 with a whopping 909-handicapped series. Great bowling Ron!! Joan took women's third place for $4.00. Liz Phelan was back after being ill and her friend Karen Katich joined us also.

 

June 20 we really had a full house on our end of the lanes with Ron and Joan still visiting and Pat and Bill Scott surprising us by driving across the hill. Our friends Paul and Sandy Frey joined us and the Phelan children joined Liz and Karen. Bob Erwin had a very good day when he rolled a 149, a 154 and a 138 without even being there. Allen had put in Bob's name thinking he was just late so the guys bowled for Bob.

 

On June 27th Allen was a star bowler when he rolled a 171, a 157, and a179. We had two new bowlers join us on our lanes. Mary and John Gekas were looking for some fun folks to bowl with and joined us. We are trying to recruit them for our September class but no luck so far. We decided to try Chevy's as a new place for lunch but found out that their idea of separate checks was to leave room between amounts due on the bill. When you have 20 people at lunch that can be a problem!!

 

On the Fourth of July some of us were at Pleasant Hill Park doing a Demo square dance. (Can you believe we gave up bowling to do that!!) However I understand they still had 8 bowlers on our lanes that day. Thankfully they held NO TAP Tuesday over until the 11th when more folks were there. We had 20 bowlers that day with the Scotts coming across the hill again. When the results were announced the next week John Walker had rolled men's high series with an 823-handicapped series and winning $9.00. John had another good day on the 18th with a 175 and 225 scratch games.

 

July 25th found us singing €œHappy Birthday€ to John Walker. We let him celebrate his birthday and roll the high game of the day of 194. We took him to Carrow's for lunch where he was serenaded again over a piece of cherry pie. After lunch when he and I went to the Pleasant Hill Rec. Dept.

to pick up some play tickets they serenaded him again in lieu of a discount on the tickets.

 

So folks that brings us up to date From The Alley for June and July and I think I did it all on one page. We hope you had as much fun this summer as we have so far. Come join us some Tuesday.

 

 

FROM YOUR OFFICIAL HALLOWEEN HEADQUARTERS

Guess the theme contest and clues:

Clue 1: Did you pass stones? - January

Clue 2: Rack em' up - February

Clue 3: 51, 53, 57 - March

Clue 4: That sure looks like an uncomfortable belt - April

Clue 5: Sometimes it's just torture- May

Clue 6: You can only move them one space at a time. - June

Clue 7: Where's the utensils? - July

Clue 8: Let the games begin - August

 

If you're ready for a guess, contact Dorothy Evans, Elizabeth Phelan or Bob Phelan.

Lets pick up the guessing pace this year!

Spooky.... guessing.......

 

There will be a pumpkin-carving contest this year. There have been 5 correct guesses as of the

June

Newsletter. Correct Guessers: John and Avis Walker, Kathy O'Toole, Tracy and Lisa Woodard

 

 

COFFEE

By Sue Sandow

Thank you Avis for handling the coffee while we were out for Tom's surgery.

 

Here is the coffee sign-up list for the August 10th thru Sept. 28th:

Aug. 10 Turgeon

Aug. 17 Walker

Aug. 24 Gerhards

Aug. 31 O'Toole

Sep.   7 Strickler

Sep. 14 Sandow

Sep. 21 Bennett

Sep. 28 Kennedy

 

Thank you to everyone for your help.

 

 

SODAS

By Jack Strickler

Here is the soda sign-up list from August 10th thru Sept. 28th, 2006:

Aug. 10 Sandow

Aug. 17 Lollich

Aug. 24 Woodard

Aug. 31 O'Toole

Sep.   7 Kennedy

Sep. 14 Phelan

Sep. 21 Lollich

Sep. 28 Sandow

 

Duties include picking up the sodas and soda ice chest along with the empty can pail and the

garbage pail on the date you signed up for and then returning them (with ice and remaining sodas

in the chest) the following week.

 

Thanks to everyone for signing up!

 

 

THANK YOU LISA

By Tom Sandow

Many Thanks for the excellent work Lisa Woodard did with The Record while I was recuperating.

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

AUGUST

Aug. 13 - NCSDA - Day at the Ball Park - Oakland A's vs. Tampa Bay , 1PM (Contact: Bill Price for

Reserve Seating by July 14th)

Aug. 31 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' ICE CREAM SOCIAL

 

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 6 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' BOARD MEETING -Ted Turgeon's home @ 7:30 PM

Sept. 7 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' GENERAL MEETING

Sept. 9 - Concord Stompers Hoedown

Sept 10 - DOCK PARTY The Leonard's Boat - Pittsburg Marina (contact Lynn and Terry Leonard)

Sept 14 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' NEW DANCER CLASS Mt. Diablo Women's Club, Concord 7:30-8:45 PM

Sept 16 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' ANNIVERSARY PARTY Holiday Inn, Concord, CA

Sept 24 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' PICNIC at the Gerhard / Young's home (watch for further details)

 

OCTOBER

Oct.   4 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' BOARD MEETING

Oct.   5 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' GENERAL MEETING

Oct.   7 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' 50th ANNIVERSARY HOEDOWN - Concord United Methodist Church

Oct. 14 - Martinez Swingers Anniversary Hoedown

Oct. 26 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' HALLOWEEN PARTY

 

NOVEMBER

Nov.   1 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' BOARD MEETING - 7:30 PM

Nov.   2 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' GENERAL MEETING - Nomination of 2007 Officers

Nov.   3 - Delta Squares Newer Dancer Hoedown - 8:00 - 11:00 p.m. September Mainstream and Plus

tips

1141 Laurel Road

Laurel School Multipurpose Room

Laurel Road & O'Hara Road

Nov. 10/11 - Frolicking Fall Festival - Red Bluff, CA

Nov. 23 - Thanksgiving - Dark

 

DECEMBER

Dec.   1 - Martinez Swingers Newer Dancers Hoedown

Dec.   6 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' BOARD MEETING - Sandow's home 7:30 PM

Dec.   7 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' GENERAL MEETING - Election of 2007 Officers

Dec. 14 - CLUTCH BUSTERS' CHRISTMAS PARTY

Dec. 21 & 28th - Dark for the holidays

Dec. 31 - Pleasanton Singles and Pairs New Years Eve Dance 8:30 - 12:15

St. Phillip Lutheran Church, Dublin

 

 

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE RECORD

Thank you to the following people who contributed their time and effort to the creation of this

newsletter.

 

Editing:

Sue Sandow

Articles:

Joe Gerhards

Lois Lollich

Bob Phelan

Sue Sandow

Jack Strickler

Avis Walker

Lisa Woodard

Tracy Woodard

Joe & Bonnie Jo Zehrung