Even though it was a brisk Wednesday evening, she was wearing a square dance dress under her plaid winter coat. That fall, Brenda and I were freshman at M.S.U., but it was late winter when I ran into her on campus. I met Brenda at a convention/camp, of sorts, for recent high school graduates. My beginnings with the Grand River Squares actually begins at Michigan State University. The club has always had a primary focus that square dancing is supposed to be FUN! Over the years many dancers have joined us during our nights of sashays and do-si-does. where we would have two halls of dancing all weekend. When South Church was sold, we moved our fly-ins to the Latvian Hall on Grand Ave. The church gave up their fellowship hall for the whole weekend so we could dance and not have to tear down for Sunday morning services. Later the Fly-ins were held at South Congregational Church at the corner of Madison Ave. A freak cold snap and snow caused a very cold evening of dancing. One memorable fly-in in early May, club members Ed Lannin and Dale Venneman hosted the Saturday evening potluck and dance in their barn in Coopersville. Several times neither place could host us, so we danced in the tiny Network space on Cherry St. When scheduling issues arose, we moved to the Carousel Nightclub at 76 S. Our first fly-ins were located at Club 67, 67 S. For the next four years, Howard flew in to Grand Rapids to lead the fly-ins at this unbelievable price. In 1991, Howard Richman from New Jersey volunteered to call our first fly-in for a plane ticket and half of the Saturday night raffle.
Benedicts, a restaurant in the lower level of the Oakwood Apartments for brunch, followed by more dancing at the church. Sunday morning the group gathered at T.J. The Grand River Squares hosted a Saturday evening potluck and dance to tapes at Grace Episcopal Church. Prior to the first fly-in, the Chi-Town Squares traveled to Grand Rapids to join the Grand River Squares for a weekend of dancing in the spring of 1990.
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Recently, Jim Molloy has been the Advanced instructor with the help of Dale Shannon, and Chuck moved back to the Basic/Mainstream and Plus classes. Our first Advance Class finished A1 in three years and A2 the following two years.
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Later, Gerry would take on the Plus classes as well while Chuck went to teaching Advanced full time. As the Grand River Squares grew, Gerry Wheeler, a former Cleveland City Country Dancer who had moved to Grand Rapids, taught the Basic/Mainstream class while Chuck instructed the Plus and Advanced Class. When the club was ready, we used the end of the club night to begin Plus. Because of the club’s small size, it took five years to complete a full Basic/Mainstream class. When the Network decided to let go of their building, we rented space from First (Park) Congregational Church, 10 Park Place, where the Squares presently dance.ĭancing 4-8 dancers during the first few years presented many challenges. When the Network moved to 909 Cherry St., we moved with them. The Squares moved to the new LGBT Network Building at 2316 S. Fountain Street Church offered their Fellowship Hall for a location that first winter. With help from Karl Jaeckel, who furnished the music and dancing material and much encouragement from the gay square dance community, the club began, dancing with seven dancers and a phantom. After he attended the IAGSDC conventions in 19, Chuck was ready to start the club.
Chuck had learned to square dance at Michigan State University with the M.S.U. The Grand River Squares was founded on February 9, 1988, by Chuck Novak. The following comments are from a few of our members.