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December 2011
Lotawana Sailors
In the fall of 1972 several couples from the
Roadrunners Square Dance club that lived at Lake Lotawana and some members of
the Lake Lotawana Sportsmen Club met with Gary and Margy Mahnken at the
Sportsmen Club to talk about forming a square dance club. Plans were made to
have lessons on Wednesday nights. We had over four squares and with a little
help from some Roadrunner couples the name of the Lotawana Squares was chosen
and Maurice and Betty Livingston were voted in as president. Now we have
graduated our first class of square dancers and there was lots of enthusiasm.
Our first dance was held on Sunday, April
15, 1973. We had ninety visiting couples and many callers. Everyone felt that
our club got off to a good start. Now we had over 16 couples and were eligible
to be federated. The Federation visited our club and we were federated into the
Heart of America Federation of Square Dance Club September 9, 1973. Sponsoring
clubs were Roadrunners, Hee Haw Squares, and Spinnin' Wheels. We were a young a
enthusiastic club that did a lot of visiting. We had our first smorgasbord at
our December dance as a money making project. In January of 1975 we had our
first group picture taken and by 1976 our club had 41 couples and 11 singles. We
were growing and participated in many venues from working concession stands to
raise money to dancing at a county fair, We were all young and full of
enthusiasm; and by 1982 we had grown to 100 couples and were probably the
largest club in Kansas City. In April of 1983 we held another smorgasbord to
celebrate our 10th anniversary In that time we moved around some to accommodate
our crowds, leaving the Sportsmen Club, which we had outgrown, and went to Blue
Valley Activity Center in Independence and holding our lessons at Walnut Gardens
Church. By 1993 our club was 20 years old and mixed in with our money raising
events we received the Vigorous Visitor Banner from the Federation each year. In
1994 our membership was declining and we moved back to the Sportsmen Club at
Lake Lotawana with 49 couples, of which some were not active. By 1996, with
complaints of the driving distance to the Club we moved to the American Legion
Hall in Blue Springs, a beautiful facility with air-conditioning. At the
beginning of the dance season we had 25 couples. That year we attended the
Missouri State Dance Festival. In 2003 we became members of the state West
Central District; in 2005 we added Joyce Shelley as dance line leader. The club
continues to enjoy good attendance and membership is stable with 20 couples many
of whom have joined from clubs closing. |
