Eshag Weekly Online March 06, 2011

Report on ACSC Winter Workshop

Edwina Cooper

Leon and I attended the mandatory ACSC Winter Workshop held this past week-end in Columbia, S.C. After a six hour drive and lunch break, we arrive in Columbia. I want to drive around town and campus of USC, but Leon thought we should postpone that until after we have checked into the hotel. At the hotel, there are about 4 cars at the door, but when we go inside the lobby is absolutely full of people waiting to register. There are 3 or 4 lines, and a little while we realize the line is moving extremely slow because their computers are down. Several people come thru that we know and we hug and talk, but before we get to counter we have met and talked with everyone in front of us, behind us and in the line beside us, as well as most of the candidates running for the SOS Board. It took us an hour to register. On our way to the room, we passed the registration desk for the party & workshop. After getting our wrist bands and packet for the workshop, we finally find our room and unload car. The Hospitality Suite is close to our room and has opened by this time and is overflowing into the parking lot. We don’t want to miss anything, so we hurry over there and visit for a while. After a bath and short rest, we get to the evening function just in time to eat a little something and start dancing. If they had given out awards to the couple dancing with the most people for the evening, Leon and I would have won. Saturday, we get to the workshop area early and put Shag-A-Rama flyers on every table as well as in the entry hall. First there were nominations for three SOS Board Positions that were open. There were six nominations, but the last candidate removed his name from the list. Then each of the 5 candidates try to tell us in one minute why we should vote for them. The 3 candidates that won were those up for re-election, Helen Still, DeWayne Baggett, and Ronnie Gregory. Next the Icon Winners were announced. Other information presented concerned a new record set on the sale of SOS Cards by Mid-Winter; the Augusta Club will be host for the Summer Workshop; acceptance of a new shag club into ACSC; and talks are continuing between ACSC and ASCAP on the music situation; and news of a new Shag Book by Phil Sawyer and written by professor & writer from USC. The book will hopefully be out by spring 2012. The professor told what a wonderful and colorful story the book is and announced the title “Bury My Heart at Ocean Drive” For the Love of Shag and Society of Stranders. The SOS Parade Theme for 2012 will be “The Year of the Book”. The workshop meeting adjourned at 1:40p.m. and a Shag Lesson was to begin at 2:00, which I planned to attend. We went to room to lie down for a few minutes, but went directly to sleep. When we woke up, the lesson was over and the Hospitality Room was open. As we approached the Hospitality Room, the women were latching onto Leon. Later in the parking lot while talking to a group, I told the ladies they were welcome to ask Leon to dance that night if he didn’t ask them first. That night, I thought I wasn’t going to get Leon out of there. Ha We did share about our Birmingham Club and our Shag-A-Rama party with almost everyone we talked with. Sunday, I finally got to ride around town and campus. It was a great party and helpful workshop. Thank you for giving Leon and I the opportunity to represent Beach Shaggers of Birmingham at this meeting. We met many new people and felt they knew that Birmingham was in the house.

Sally Harper and her committee have decided on the following party schedule for this year. Mark your calendars now to attend these exciting events. March 15 - St. Patrick’s Day April 19 - I.R.S. MAY 6 - CINCO de MAYO (Friday night) June 25 - DeeJay Showdown (Saturday) July 23 - Pool Party (Saturday) AUGUST 12 - TBD (Friday night) October 4 - SAR Kick-off October 11-15 Shag A Rama 2011 Panama City Beach October 25 - Halloween November 15 - Show Your Team Colors DECEMBER 9 - CHRISTMAS (Friday night) December 31 - New Year’s Eve (Saturday night) *Friday night parties Next party coming up is March 15th is the very green St. Patrick’s Day Party. Start gathering up your green clothes, hats, kiltz, and trinkets. Sally has the soups and stews lined up and request that we all bring snacks and desserts.

Remember the BeachShaggers of Birmingham is your dance club and needs your input and support. Our board of directors are always looking for new ideas to make this club better and to grow our membership.

Tuesday’s DJ Cliff Capps March 8, 2011

Come dance to Cliff’s Music

Kathy Stowers Frank Bentley Stephen Fisher Bruce Evans Nataliya Russo Billy Rikard Jeff Mulvehill Alla Mulvehill Rick Hammond Randy Martin Frank McNab Make sure you introduce yourself to these new members and ask them to dance!

Dwain Smith Judy Bryant Carol Williams Pat Deerman Dianne Myrick Hal Hamilton Nataliya Russo Linda Stringfellow Brenda Barr Edwina Cooper

3-01 3-12 3-12 3-13 3-13 3-14 3-22 3-22 3-24 3-26

SOS Spring Safari April 8 – 17, 2011 North Myrtle Beach, SC http://shagdance.com The Spring SOS Parade in N. Myrtle Beach will be held on Saturday, April 16th. If there is enough interest in our club participating in the parade, we will need a number of volunteers who are willing to work on the design of our float, construct the float that Saturday morning, and be in the parade. If you are willing to participate, please let Edwina know at ecooperau@att.net Thanks, Edwina Cooper ______________________________________________

Mike Bryan from Columbus, GA. has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Here is an update from his wife, Nancy. Mike came out of the hospital on 2/15, and went back in on 2/18, and is not back out yet. He kept running fever. He has pneumonia/infection. He has felt better the past 2 days. He's due for chemo this week, but I don't know whether he will be able to take it. Please ask everyone to keep them both in their prayers. Carl Simonetti’s mother is in the Intensive Care Unit at the Medical West Hospital in Bessemer. She does have Pneumonia . Carl ask me to send this message out to all Boppers and Shaggers , and, ask them to keep him and his Mother in their prayers. Trina Chandler and a team of 11 flew to Port Au Prince, Haiti Tuesday. They are now in Jacmel visiting an orphanage. They will be working in the orphanage for a week. Leave Haiti on the 9th and home on the 10th. The project is called Hands and Feet. There are 12 of us and we need all the prayers we can get!

Annual Shag/Lunch in Cullman

The Larkwood Club in Cullman with the support and cooperation of the BSOB and the Huntsville Shaggers will host their annual Shag Dance Event and Lunch at the Larkwood Club on Sunday March 27th. Lunch is $10.00 per person, paid in advance and will be served from 11:00 until 1:00. Deadline is March 22 for reservations. An afternoon of dancing featuring our own DJ "Cliff Capps" playing our favorite tunes. To make a reservation and pay for lunch see Sally Harper on Tue night or e-mail her at johnsally@charter.net Although Cullman is now "legally WET" Larkwood Club does not sell alcohol but you are welcome to bring your own. "Life may not be the party we hoped for ... but while we are here we might as well DANCE" ====================================================== USA Grand National Dance Championship May 26-30, 2011 Memorial Day Weekend Renaissance Waverly Hotel Atlanta, GA Website http://www.usagrandnationals.com/ Michael and LeAnn Norris http://www.michaelandleann.com/ ****************************************** Buddy Hayes has a ticket to sell to the March 18-20 Augusta Blow out Party. He is asking $60.00 This is a sold out party – so email Buddy now. shagdj44@charter.net CSRA Party Flyer http://www.csrashag.com/csrashag-main_000005.htm

From Sandy and Bob Dobbs: Call Sandy or Bob at 205-995-1447 This is our shag schedule for Greystone Elem. (5) First Grade Classes. We would love for any of our members to help us teach these wonderful kids. There are 3 classes on March 10 and 2 classes on March 11. The kids have such fun and we do too! Shag Dance Lessons Schedule Thursday March 10 Ensley-9:30-10:00 Hammers-10:15-10:45 Joseph-11:00-11:30 Friday March 11 Pollard- 10:15-10:45 Mattox-11:00-11:30

WebConnections

Take me back to the 60’s http://objflicks.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm

http://www.birminghamrewound.com/

Please come support the VFW and your BeachShaggers of Birmingham. Your attendance helps pay the rent!

THIS WEEK’s SHAGGER MY SHAG STORY by John Harper

My long journey into shagging began at the swimming pool pavilion in Roanoke, Alabama when I was about 15 years old. There I learned to fast dance, under the tutelage of guys who went to Panama City in the summers and who danced at the Hangout. Being a slow learner and one who did not want to do anything in public until I had perfected it, I spent a number of days in my bedroom with the door closed trying to get the basic step. When I finally did, I went public and enjoyed dancing on Wednesday evenings at the pavilion (which Coach Mann promptly shutdown at the late hour of 9:00 p.m.) One of the great voids in my young life was that I never went to Panama City. My family just did not take those kinds of vacations. I did not have the money to go one my own, except that one summer when I did have some money a friend asked me to go with him. I stupidly declined, instead going to band camp at Auburn University. The only thing I remember from that was that some band guy in Magnolia Hall where we stayed had a

Playboy magazine with a multi-page pictorial of Anita Ekberg. Those images stayed in my mind for some years!

But, I digress. In high school we danced the “Panama City Bop”. It was a triangular step (kick-ball-change up – 3&4 to the right –5&6 back). It is what I encountered in Birmingham in the early 90's from people who went to Shades Valley High School. I occasionally see it in some dancers in the bop world, but not many. In any event, it was markedly different in execution from the “Birmingham Bop” that we see today. I danced the bop in college and again during law school at social events. For the next two decades I danced it periodically at social functions. In about 1988, I was introduced to shag in my travels around the Southeast with the Government. I liked dancing with a few shaggers that I encountered, but made no attempt to learn the dance. I did however, become very interested in the music, most of which I had never heard before. At some point, I found some Ripete Record beach music tapes in Birmingham and played them endlessly. In the summer of 1989, I joined ShagAtlanta. In early

September, I took a solo, in-search-of-self camping vacation through the North Carolina mountains. I camped at Mount Mitchell in North Carolina (below freezing at night). I then stopped in Greenville, South Carolina and visited the New Sand Flea, a famous, but now defunct shag club that I had heard about. From there I went searching for S.O.S., which I had been told was at Myrtle Beach. I found a camping site south of Myrtle Beach, somewhat near the present airport. I spiffed up and drove to Myrtle Beach and drove around and around and around looking for the Big Party. I finally stopped at a T-Shirt shop and inquired about the whereabouts of the party and was advised that I was about 15 miles short of my goal. I drove to North Myrtle Beach and walked into the old Fat Harold’s at The Pad. I will never forget that moment. I knew instantly that I had found what was missing from my youth. In Harold’s I was leaning against a post taking in all the marvelous dancing, when Crook Stewart from

Panama City Beach (he comes to Shag-A-Rama) walked up and asked, “Are you trying to hold up that post?” We struck up a conversation, which led to a few introductions. At some point I was introduced to Marlene from Jacksonville (yes, THE Marlene we all know) and she was my first dance at S.O.S. I danced a few other times during my two nights, but mostly I just “drank” it all in, “all” including lots of the “nectar of the gods”, otherwise know as beer! Thus began my obsession with this magical dance. I continued to go to S.O.S., but did not convert my bopping to shagging until a year or so later. I was forced to because it was not easy converting shag mirror steps (popular at the time) to the bop. While at one of my early S.O.S. trips, I mentioned to Stan Mislow of ShagAtlanta my desire to have a club in Birmingham. He immediately handled me a business card from someone in Birmingham with similar a desire. That card was Phil Graf’s. Back in Birmingham, I talked to Phil, who was putting in motion the forming of the Magic City Boppers. I helped Phil draft the club bylaws and was one of the two Vice-Presidents the first year of the club’s existence. During this time I also I spent a number of Friday evenings at W.T.’s in Bessemer (where the cigarette smoke was so bad it was lethal!) Notwithstanding this, my passion was in shag and I still wanted a shag club in Birmingham. I found two ways to make that possible. First, I starting teaching shag lessons at Mountain Brook Community Education in 1991 (among the students were current members Claire and Pat Goodhew and Doug and Sandy Tilt). Second, I joined forces with a dozen or so bop club members who were captivated by the more upbeat shag music. Thus we had the nucleus for forming a shag club, which we did in February 1992, when we had our first dance at Stagger Lee’s in the Palisades. The rest is history, including winding up partying in Panama City Beach at a “Hangout”, which is just what I had always wanted in the first place!

Old Pictures from the Early Years of BeachShaggers of Birmingham