September 2009 - On Top of the World Communities Info

September 2009 The World News® 33SquareDancingWalter LampWelcome to the Circle Squares Club,the On Top of the World square dancingclub. We welcome all returning membersfor another year of fun and dancing. Yes,there is exercise involved, but the funkind.First, I would like to thank MaureenLea, on behalf of the entire club, for hertime and effort over the past two yearsin writing these articles. She successfullykept us well informed, as I’m planning todo also.Second, hearty congratulations to ournewest members who joined our class lastOctober and due to their weekly trainingsessions, they graduated on July 28.The evening of the graduation startedwith a potluck social dinner for everyone.The tables, as well as the dancers, weredecked out in our club colors: red, whiteand black. Great variety of food and weall walked away stuffed.Then we proceeded with the graduationceremonies. The lighting of thesquare dance candles, handing out of theLions ClubDianne LovelyOn Top of the World Lions Club wouldlike to welcome new Lion Dennis Phillipsto our club. Dennis is already hard atwork creating a web site for the club.District Governor, Estelle Clark, madeher official visit to our club on July 14 andspoke to us about our new internationalpresidents theme for the coming year. LionsClubs are in 205 countries with over1,318,908 Lions in 45,000 clubs. GovernorEstelle presented her new “Hat’s OffAward” to Lion James McCabe; congratulationsLion Jim.On July 28, our new Zone Chair, AlicePantaleo, made a visit to our club.The On Top of the World Lions collectused inkjet cartridges, eyeglasses and cellphones, you may drop yours off at severaldifferent locations, one being the Health& Recreation Building behind the informationdesk. Eyeglasses are refurbished thensent to third world countries to help theless fortunate. The inkjet cartridges andcell phones are recycled and the moniesare used to help children and our manycharitable projects that we support.You too could become a Lion, callmembership chair, Marty Schley, at 307-1286.diplomas, club information and a well deservedround of applause from the currentmembers. Just a year ago, I was sittingin those same chairs.The graduates included Skip and CarolSpencer; Ellie and Sherman Gans; Fredand Karin Roberts; Tony and Faye Lesinski;Ellie Cyr and Norman Lallier. Otherswho attended classes, but weren’t able toattend graduation are Jim Bell; Gordy andDodie Phillips; Mary Knight; Ruth Bonnar;and finally, Ted and Sharon Nichols, whohave danced previously, but just neededsome “brush up dancing!”And, of course, the evening was followedby their first dance as new members.They will now be joining us for ourregular Tuesday night dances.Finally, special thanks to the currentofficers; we appreciate their efforts tomake this past year, a fun time for all ofus square dancers.Now, it’s time to look ahead. On Tuesday,Sept. 29, at the Arbor Club Ballroomfrom 6 to 8 p.m., our annual free-fundance will be held. It’s where we open ourdoors to all in the community, who wouldlike to try square dancing or are just curiousto find out what this fun is all about.We encourage current members tobring new guests or neighbors. As previouslymentioned, anyone is welcome andsee if it’s possible to enjoy it, more thanme.The new officers, who have alreadybeen announced, are looking forward tothe new year. We encourage all membersto help out in some way, either at theweekly dance or at a special dance setup.I’ve been dancing for two years now.I enjoy the dancing, the laughter and thepeople with whom I share a square with.I hope you will too.If you have any questions about thefree-fun dance on Sept. 29, or squaredancing itself or why I like it so much,please call me at 854-9378.Line DancingSherry AshenfelterOur September through June danceyear is about to begin. Experienced Level1, Level 2 and Intermediate students returnto classes on Monday, Sept. 14. Wewelcome the 76 newcomers who begintheir line dance career on Wednesday,Sept. 16. Level 1 and newcomer classesare full with a waiting list.Students within each class vary in theirlevel of interest and skill. Our goal is tochoose dances that can be successfullylearned by most of the students. We offeroccasional special workshops for studentswho like a greater challenge.Forty-five line dancers participated in asummer workshop to learn Splish Splash.Splish Splash is a 128-count dance with a32-count tag. Chill Factor, by request, willbe taught at the next special workshop onSept. 24 from 3:30 to 5 p.m.For optimal learning conditions andfloor safety, all classes beginning in Septemberwill be limited in size with pre-registrationrequired. For information aboutclasses and the new pre-registration procedure,please call 873-9440.www.OnTopoftheWorldInfo.comBallroomDance ClubRichard P. VulloOur new dance lesson season beginsThursday, Sept. 11 at the Arbor Club Ballroom.The intermediate class is scheduledat 11 a.m. and beginner class at noon.Intermediate dancers will start with FoxTrot and beginners with an Introductionto Ballroom Dancing. Please register foryour class by calling our dance instructor,Trish Sands at 351-2423, or Dick Vullo at854-6772.During this coming year, both classeswill learn new steps in rumba, cha cha,waltz, tango, swing, meringue, samba andother dances. It’s a great way to learn andpractice your dancing steps and meetyour neighbors, who also enjoy dancing.Membership dues are only $6 per yearand 4 lessons each month are only $20.Singles are always welcome.Here at On Top of the World, we havedancing on Friday nights at the ArborClub Ballroom and Friday and Saturdaynights at Circle Square Commons. In addition,there are numerous venues in theOcala area for dancing during the weekand on weekends.We’ll be at the “Get Acquainted Coffee”on Thursday, Aug. 27 at the Health& Recreation Ballroom from 9 to 11 a.m.to answer your questions and accept yourreservations. Come and join us to improveyour dancing and enjoy the socialscene. Dancing is like everything else inlife, use it or lose it.The On Top of the World “Dancin’ OnThe Top” committee will have its nextdance on Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Health& Recreation Ballroom. The theme willbe cruising and the dress will be cruisecasual. Fred Campbell Entertainment willprovide music and entertainment. Ticketsare $6 per person and will be availableevery Monday and Wednesday beginningAug. 31 through Sept. 16 from 8 a.m. to10:30 a.m. in the Health & Recreation Ballroom.For more information, please call JackStone at 873-3083 or Dick Vullo at 854-6772.Submit Articles by E-mail tootownews@otowfl.comBallet ClubEugenie MartinIn July, four dancers in our group spentan exciting day in Sarasota, where wedrove to take a ballet class taught by myfriend, Gina the ballerina. Yes, she doeshave a last name - Wexler - but everyoneuses the former name, because ballet isher true passion. Gina is a talented balletteacher and occasional performer, and itwas a joy for us to participate in her classand have lunch with her.For 20 years, Gina was my neighboron New York City’s Roosevelt Island, theplanned community on the East Riverconnected to Manhattan by an aerialtramway. When a ballet studio opened onthe island in the early 80s, Gina draggedme to class.It changed my whole life. I got a chanceto appreciate from the inside an art formI had loved from the outside. I began tolearn steps I had seen dancers do dozensof times. My form improved as time wenton. I had joined the ranks of the ballerinas.While some of us who dance in our matureyears do perform in public, most ofus do not. We do it primarily for exerciseto beautiful music and for fun. And, asGina the ballerina says, for our souls. Wehave no strict rules or regulations and,although we work at our own individuallevels, we have a real group feeling. Sortof like a little casual corps de ballet.If you want to try a class, all you needis exercise clothes and socks. We teachTuesdays and Thursdays 1 to 2 p.m. andMondays 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. All of ourclasses are held in the Arbor Club studionext to the indoor swimming pool. Forinformation, please call me at 854-8589.Happy dancing!Going Out of Town?Download a PDF of theWorld News atwww.ontopoftheworld.com/newspaper5