The RECORD Volume XXXXV No. 3 Robert Kratz - Publisher March, 2004 President's Message by Martha Erwin February seemed like the month of the walking wounded; one back went out bending over to pick up two teaspoons, another from closing a drawer, a couple knees needed rest as the result of getting healthy at exercise classes, the flu came for a visit and stayed way way too long, a bad case of the shingles (is there any other kind than 'bad'?) and a near disaster with a falling tree, talk to Allen about that one. I'm sure all of the above are glad March is upon us! That was the down side of February. On the up side, we celebrated Valentines Day and welcomed our Newer Dancers with the February Potluck chaired by Kim. It was a wonderful party. Thank-you, Kim for being our hostess. The decorations trio made our room festive, thank you Kathy, Joe and Alfreda, and all who brought camellias for the tables. CB's, you out did yourselves with the sumptuous food! Oh, My! Next time I say be sure to bring 'lots', I won't emphasize it quite so much. Then we waddled to the floor to dance with Mike Wright, who Gary got to sub while he was travelling to a part of the country where every station on the radio played Country Western music! Our Angels introduced our Newer Dancers, we look forward to getting to know each of you better and better. Seven of our Newer Dancers and about the same Club dancers went to the Martinez Swinger's Hoedown on February 27 and brought home the coffee for having the most dancers from a visiting club. Good Going CB's!! March is upon us and is an exceptionally busy month. Bowling/Pizza party will be history when you receive this newsletter, thank you to Mary Gregovich for arranging the bowling and to Avis Walker for arranging the Pizza. Our Hoedown is March 12 held at the same place we dance on Thursday, followed by an After Party with Frank and Shirlee Birsa. Directions to Birsa's home will be available at the Hoedown, or call someone if you like to know these things in advance, and/or want to share a ride. Then there's the Car Rally hosted by Lois and Don Lollich; a sheet will be available at Thursday night Workshop to indicate you want to carpool. It really works well to have four in a car; a driver, a navigator, and two spotters, but there are some who prefer going it alone or in larger vans. Birthdays Joe Gerhards 3/9 Flo Roberts 3/9 Ted Turgeon 3/11 Anniversaries Kathy O'Toole/Herb Yonge 3/23/03 Hoedown This Friday March 12. The theme for our New Dancer/Plus will be 'Come Dance in the Garden'. Many of our new dancers have expressed their desire to attend and we should all have a great time. This Red Light/Green Light extravaganza will be held at the Oak Park Center (our usual dance location) at 8:00 pm. on March 12, this Friday night. Everyone is asked to voluntarily bring a wrapped door prize (something new you might want to take home from a hoedown) or a nice potted plant, pot foil wrapped and/or decorated. So arrive early and bring that delicious food the CBers are known for. Safety Issue During our Thursday night class some of our single women dancers are leaving alone after the new dancer class and after the plus dancing. While we are in a safe area, the club felt the men in our group should make themselves aware of when these ladies are leaving and provide escorts to their cars or make sure they are leaving in a group. CB Car Rally XV by Don Lollich This year's Rally will start from the T.J. Max parking lot at the corner of Bailey Road and Clayton Road in Concord. This is the same place the last Rally started. The first car will be started out about 12:30 pm. This is the year of the Lewis & Clark Discovery, this this is our Rally of Discovery. We will take you some places we are guessing most of you have never been. You may not be interested in all of them, but they are of current interest. There will be several long drives between instructions, but the hills are green and trees in bloom. Enjoy the drive. We will end as usual at a restaurant. The dinner choices, at $20.00 per person, are as follows: All dinners include bread and butter, salad with house dressing, scalloped potatoes, steamed vegetables and either coffee or iced tea. Chicken Dijonaisse, pan seared boneless chicken breast nesting over spinach leaf served with Dijon sauce. Pork Tenderloin Rossini, Medallion of Pork wrapped in bacon, broiled, nesting over scalloped potatoes, served with port and raspberry vinaigrette. Full bar is available, House wine is $11.00 per litre carafe. Registration fee is $1.00 per person. Make checks payable to Donald Lollich. Cash is acceptable. Sign up sheet will be available starting 2/26/2004. Please bring your own clip board and pencils. NOTE: We will be going into areas where pets are not allowed, even inside a car. Leave all doggies, kitties and other non-human travel companions at home. From your Official Halloween Headquarters- by Bob Phelan Guess the theme contest and clues: Clue 0: Definitely larceny. - December Clue 1: Your cold logs. - January Clue 2: It Slices, It dices, It shish kabobs too. - February Clue 3: Pittsburg has 'em. - March If you're ready for a guess, contact - Dorothy Evans , Elizabeth Phelan or Bob Phelan. Spooky.... guessing....... There will be a pumpkin carving contest this year. There have been 4 correct guesses as of the February Newsletter Beginner Class Our new dancers are having a great time and already seem a part of our group. Several came to the bowling party, have attended other club new dancer hoedowns and will be at our red light - green light hoedown this Friday. They are a wonderful group of people and will do well in square dancing. Thank you to all the angels and for club member support of the class. Remember to come early (7:15) so we are set up and ready to dance at 7:30. Spring Campout The Terry and Lynn Leonard Campout will be May 21, 22 and 23. Terry needs sign ups before May 1 to make reservations. Activities and extent of the outing will depend on the number of CBers and their friends who attend. Terry has to have the names of participants early so space can be reserved. We were not able to reserve the needed space last year because we did not sign up early enough. Watch for a sign up list at a square dance class near you. CB On The Web Bob Phelan has created a Clutch Buster Web Site at www.free.hostdepartment.com/B/Bobliz/CBWEB.html Bob has put a lot of work in this, assisted by Dorothy Evans, and it is now working. You can view our calendar there and current and some past news letters. Bob has edited the news letters to take out member's phone, address and e-mail information, so it will not appear on the web site. Check it out. Bob is planning on expanding this site, include pictures and is open to ideas. Golden State Roundup This year's Golden State Roundup, the primary annual NCSDA dance of the year, will be the weekend of May 29, 29, 30 at the Pleasanton Fair Grounds. RV parking is available and the official hotel is the Crown Plaza in Dublin. See the official flyer for full details. This year parking passes are available for $15.00 for the three days, or $8.00 per day for individual day parking April Kendall, the force and power behind our caller Gary, will be in charge of the dance's fashion show 'Flair for Fashion' on Saturday, May 29 at 12:30 pm. Bowling/Pizza Party by Avis Walker Mary and Milan Gregovich and Avis and John Walker were co-hosts to the Clutch Buster annual Bowling/Pizza Party on Sunday, March 7th. Traditionally this event is held the first Sunday of the year but this year, so club members would have a chance to attend the NCSDA dance in Alameda and give our fun loving caller, Gary Kendall and his lovely wife, April, a chance to join us, we postponed it until March. Wouldn't you know that Gary and April got sick and could not join us. Shows just how far Gary will go so he won't have to wear a black lei. We hope you can make it next year. We missed having you there. I am glad to report that we had the best turnout ever for this party. We had 39 bowlers and about 45 at the Pizza Parlor. Some were current C.B. members and some were retired C.B. members and we were especially glad to welcome 6 of our neophyte members from our new dance class. I'm also glad that so many people look good in black because just about everyone bowling had a turn wearing the black lei that went with the honor of signing their name on the bottle with the black balloon to signify that they had rolled a gutter cleaning ball. Some got to wear it more than others and the competition for that particular prize was the hottest of the day. Out of 39 bowlers 25 got to sign their names a total of 83 times. The contest for the Title of GG of 2004 (Gutter Girl/Guy) was won by neophyte member Megan Carmody for getting to sign her name the most times. She won a certificate and a cuddly little tiger. Dorothy Evans took home the bottle with the black balloon for rolling the last gutter ball of the day. Another bottle was awarded to Rose Bree for rolling the last strike of the day and that bottle really surprised me. I had put the gutter ball bottle into a cereal box and wrapped it because I knew we would need a lot of room to sign those names but I should have done the same thing for the strike bottle. I didn't get to count all the signatures on that one but all sides of the bottle were filled and we awarded a prize to neophyte member Lisa Woodard for the most strikes by a woman. The man with the most strikes had already won the high game trophy. Although bowlers left a lot of splits standing only a few of them had any luck picking them up and that bottle went to Walt Jones for the last split pick-up of the day. we also had some serious, real life trophies to present to neophyte member Diana Lorentzen for women's scratch high game of 166 and Frank Smith for men's high scratch game of 184. The high scratch series trophy for the total of 2 games bowled went to Marlene Sewell with a 300 and Ken Williams with a 343. We tried to have prizes for as many categories as possible and we awarded small dishes filled with chocolates or Famous Amos cookies for the following categories: 160 – 169 Milan Gregovich with a 166 150 – 159 Allen Wesdorf with a 158 140 – 149 Bill Scott with a 149 and Bob Erwin with a 147 130 –139 Herb Yonge and Ken Wygal tied at 139 120 – 129 Jack Bree and Frank Birsa tied at 128 100 – 119 Bob Phelan with a 118 and John Evans with a 116 76 – 99 Tracy Woodard with a 99 and Martha Erwin with a 92 Lowest score who did not win any other prize ( hers was NOT the lowest score) earned Kathy O'Toole-Yonge a jar of candy kisses. Because 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place people who had rolled the most gutter balls had already won other prizes we awarded Liz Phalen ( GG of 2003) a 4th place prize (she tied with Dorothy Evans for 4th.) Wynell Snodgrass (the original GG) received a special award for only rolling 2 gutter balls this year. We had a new competition this year. At the beginning of their second game bowlers were to predict what their score would be for that game and we had prizes for those who hit it on the nose. I had gotten this idea from a flyer I saw for a tournament and this is what you had to do to qualify for the tournament. Of our bowlers only Don Snodgrass would have qualified. He hit his prediction right on the nose. Others came close and were awarded prizes also. Rose Bree was 1 point off, Ken Wygal and Allen Wesdorf were 2 points off. Some of the predictions were very interesting. Some folks had very, very high hopes and some did not give themselves enough credit and bowled way over their predictions. Neophyte member Carl Lorentzen was awarded a prize because his prediction for his second game was what wife Diana bowled. A basket of goodies was passed around so everyone went home a winner. Mary and Milan and John and I hope that everyone had a fun time and will be back to join us next year. Summer Dancing We will be dancing with the Diablo Singles and Doubles this summer as we have for the past few years. Our caller Gary Kendall and the DSD caller Bert Swerer are working out a program that will accommodate both our new dancers and all of us 'experienced' dancers. Tentative date for starting the summer session is June 10th. Where Are Those Cans? Our garrulous soda chairman, Jack Strickler, is wondering where all the used soda cans are going. He reports soda sales are up but the returned can rate has declined recently. The little red plastic bucket is there for used cans (not garbage please). 'If you want to keep the cans, feel free to do so' said Jack, 'But please dispose of them properly'. Jack does recycle the cans and those funds are returned to the club treasury. News From the Alley Your Alley Reporter is back on line. I hope some of you have missed the bowling articles if not 'I'm sorry' because you are in for a triple dose while I try to play catch up since December. Way back on Dec. 9th, 2003 I was unable to go bowling that Tues. but John brought home the news that Pat and Ray Pardee's son Tyler rolled 5 strikes in a row for a high game of the day of 188. Allen Wesdorf was 2nd high game with a 169 followed by Bob Erwin with a 161. He failed to tell me that Pat Pardee rolled a 181; the high game for all the women in the league. Dec. 16th found us still struggling with the new equipment that had been installed to upgrade the alleys. I, however, loved it when it gave me a strike for 9 pins down making me 4 strikes in a row and high game of the day with a 179. I'm not proud, I'll take it, especially when that gave me high series of the day with a 475 acing John out by 15 pins for the day. Sometimes life is sweet. Wynell Snodgrass had a fun day too. She bowled her highest game so far with a 137 and ended up with a 346 series. If she keeps this up we are going to have to take away her GG (Gutter Girl) Title. We had received a phone call from our bowling buddies in Sun City Southern Calif. Joan and Ron Trujillo wishing everyone a happy holiday and checking to see how John was doing with his new finger-tip bowling ball. They shared the news that Joan had rolled a 719 NO TAP series. The Tuesday before Christmas we didn't have many bowlers but we did have guest cheerleader Peg Wygal. Don Snodgrass started the day with his first three balls being strikes. The high game of the day went to Pat Pardee with a 180 but Ken Wygal made a very good showing and bowled a 143 and a 146 on a 110 average. I think it helps to have your own private cheerleader!! Again Wynell Snodgrass had a very good day and rolled a 331 series. If she doesn't watch out that 100 average is going to be hers to live up to. We left the year 2003 behind us on Dec. 30th with some of our folks having a very good day. Allen Wesdorf rolled 5 strikes in a row and took the high game of the league with a 216 game and a 535 series. His highest game ever he says. Congratulations Allen!!! John Walker hit a nice high 180 game and a 455 series. Don Snodgrass rolled a very nice 158 game. January 6th Avis and John were absent as he was nursing a sore thumb from his finger-tip ball and Avis was nursing a sick granddaughter. I was told we had 11 bowlers to start the New Year and that Ex CBers Pat and Bill Scott joined the group for lunch at Fresh Choice. January 13th John joined the Non-bowling, Rummy Tiles players as his thumb was still hurting only to get tromped by Mary Gregovich. None of the bowlers had a spectacular day until Pat Pardee rolled a 191 in the 3rd game and Don Lollich rolled a very respectful 151 on a 119 average. January 20th John and I were absent as we were of cruising The Sea of Cortez for my birthday but Pat Pardee reported to me that Shirlee and Frank Birsa returned to our bowling group after a long absence to recover from hip surgery. Welcome back to the fun lunch bunch!! On January 27th, all rested up from vacation, Avis rolled the first turkey of the day and won the first game with a 187 while Ken Wygal picked up the 7-9 split. Pat Pardee took the second game with a 198 and Allen Wesdorf topped the day by starting his 3rd game with a turkey and rolling a clean game of all spares and strikes for the 2nd highest game of his career of 213. Congratulations Allen!! Now we expect to see you do that in front of the whole club at the Bowling /Pizza Party of March 7th. February 3rd brought Shirlee Birsa into the lead with the first turkey of the day when her first three balls were strikes and she rolled a very nice 154 game. During the morning she was followed by turkey bowlers Pat Pardee, John Walker and Avis Walker gobbling and strutting their stuff. Avis Walker picked up the 1-3-5-7 split and John Walker claimed a second turkey when he rolled two for himself and one for Allen who had to leave early. With the help of Pat Pardee, Bob Erwin and Avis Walker; Allen managed to beat John by 2 pins. February 10th found us with Don Lollich returned from his not so sunny Arizona vacation and bowling a very nice 147 and a 137. He doesn't want me to tell you what his third game was. Just the way the names were put up on the score board that day we ended up with the finger-tip bowlers, Allen Wesdorf and John Walker on one team and Bob Erwin and Avis Walker on the opposite team. Such is the beginning of a competition in this group. We are happy to be able to report that Bob and Avis beat Allen and John 3 out of 3 games. This was made possible mainly by Bob bowling 4 strikes in a row for an eagle and the high game of the day of 193. He tells me this is his highest game ever!!! Congratulations Bob!! And thanks for putting me on the winning team. February 17th the scores weren't very high but they sure were close. The first game John Walker edged Bob Erwin out by 1 pin with a 145. Avis Walker took the second game with a 158 against Allen Wesdorf's 156 and John Walker's 154. Avis also took the 3rd game with a 150 against Bob Erwin's 145 and Allen's 143. February 24th saw Frank Birsa getting back into the swing of bowling with his new hip as he rolled a turkey in his first game. Unfortunately not swinging enough as another of those quirky scoreboard lineups put the Mrs. Birsa, Snodgrass and Walker in direct competition with the Mr. Birsa, Snodgrass and Walker. Even though John Walker managed to have the high score for all three games (once only by 1 pin) the Mrs. Team beat the Mr. Team 2 out of 3 games and only lost total pins by 21 pins. Congratulations to Milan Gregovich for high game of the day of 170 and for not being put opposite his wife to bowl. We celebrated Mary Gregovich's birthday with 'Happy Birthday' sung over a candle on a bowling alley donated doughnut hole and bid farewell to Janet and Tom Lococco as they take off to witness Baseball Spring Training in Arizona. I hope they have a warmer trip than Don Lollich had as Tom is planning on travelling light and only packing shorts. We had another email from our Southern Calif. friends Joan and Ron Trujillo. They are off for a long 5th wheel adventure across the U.S. and back. They told us about a NO TAP Tournament they had participated in on a trip to Laughlin, Nevada . Out of 35 couples they came in 5th place the 1st day and 1st place the 2nd day winning a trophy and $123.00 thanks to Ron's bowling back to back 300 games. NO TAP is such fun and we are really sorry our bowling alley has decided not to do it any more. That gets us all caught up with the news from the alley. Hope it wasn't overwhelming and that some of you may decide to join us some Tues. for bowling or just for lunch if you'd like. Garage Sale Jack Giolitti has once again come through and offered his abode as the site of our April 17 Garage sale. We will have full details on drop off dates and work times for the sale in the next Record. Some new rules for this year. Be sure what you bring is in good condition and has a chance of selling. 'One's man's junk is another man's treasure' has its limits. Also any electronics, including computers, must have the donors name attached and you will be asked to take it back home if it does not sell. Ice Cream Social Kathy O'Toole agreed to host our May 13 Ice Cream Social. She will need strong arms to scoop and ice cream lovers to eat. More in the May issue of the Record. Coffee Assignments by Carol Giolitti March: 04. Lollich 11. Moon 18. O'Toole-Yonge 25. Giolitti April: 01. Pedersen 08. Evans 15. Roberts 22. Snodgrass 29. Strickler May: 06. Giolitti 13. Walker 20. Turgeon 27. Young June: 03. Zehrung Call Chairman if ill or on vacation or need supplies.Carol Giolitti Soda Assignments by Jack Strickler March: 04. Kratz 11. Snodgrass 18. Snodgrass 25. Hamblin April 01. ????? 08. Evan 15. Lollich 26 Zehrung 29 Moon May 06. Gregovich Upcoming Dances from Martha Erwin March 12, Red-Light/ Green-Light Dance Clutch Busters : Gary Kendall calling Newer Dancer and Plus Level Oak Park Center 7:30 – 11:00 March 19, St. Patrick's Day Dance Diablo Singles & Doubles : Bert Swerer calling Newer Dancer Level Oak Park Center 8:00 – 10:30 March 27, Spring Hoedown Ripsnorters : Jet Roberts calling Plus Level / Rounds College Park High School 201 Viking Drive, P.H. 8:00 – 11:00 April 18 : NCSDA Golden Doors Newer Dancer Level : Mike Wright, Gary Kendall, Eric Henerlau other info: see flyer April 23 – 25 California State Square Dance Convention Cal-Expo, Sacramento Workshops for Mainstream to Challenge Vendors Special Events: Package A: Square Dance Night at the Harness Races, Thursday, April 22 Package B: Captain's Champagne Brunch Cruise 'Spirit of Sacramento' Paddlewheeler Sunday, April 25. April 29, Thursday, Party Night Hoedown Diablo Singles & Doubles : Bert Swerer calling Newer Dancers/Fun Level Pacheco Community Center 5800 Pacheco Blvd., Pacheco 7:30 – 9:30 May 28 – 30 : Memorial Day Weekend, Golden State Roundup Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton Workshops for ALL Levels, Newer to Challenge Vendors July 9-11 California's Family-Fun Festival Nevada County Fairgrounds, Grass Valley Mainstream – A-2 Lots of Games Vendors Contributors to the Record The following Clutch Busters have graciously contributed their time and talent in submitting articles and information to the Record this Month Editor Chris Kratz Contributors: Martha Erwin Don Lollich Bob Phelan Avis Walker Carol Giolitti Jack Strickler Who is this Clutch Buster Bob Phelan 1. The Phelans have two young boys at home. 2. Bob writes the halloween theme clues. 3. Liz is a Star Treck fan and is really into the TV series Star Gate. 4. Bob works for MCI. 5. Bob created our WEB site, background color blue.