WB_120618

wilmettebeacon.com LIFE & ARTS
the wilmette beacon | December 6, 2018 | 33
Wilmette square dancing group keeps locals active
Hilary Anderson
Freelance Reporter
Laura Lash heard about
the activity from a checker
at her local Jewel grocery
store.
Dave Mischler and wife,
Mande, saw a poster advertising
it.
The two couples attended
an introductory square
dance lesson at Wilmette’s
Recreation Center and
were pleasantly surprised
with what they found.
“We wanted to do something
different for our date
night,” Lash said. “Square
dancing seemed like a fun
activity my husband and I
can do and enjoy together.”
“We saw a poster about
the lessons, decided to
give square dancing a try
and jumped right into it,”
said Dave Mischler, a Wilmette
resident.
“It turned out to be more
fun than we thought possible.
It is two years later
and my wife and I are here
at the Wilmette Recreation
Center sometimes three
evenings a week and we
attend monthly dances.”
Both couples now are
members of the North
Shore Squares.
Mischler is so smitten
with square dancing that
he has become a caller and
instructor.
“My husband and I are
ballroom dancing dropouts
because we both have left
feet,” said Lash, an Evanston
resident. “It is more
like walking to the music
and not worrying about
who is leading as in other
dances. There is no pressure
and the caller tells
you what to do. You can
do it even if you think you
have a tin ear.”
Dave Mischler informs
new students square dancing
does not require a
sense of rhythm; it is a
team effort.
“When my wife and I
first started, we did something
wrong and crashed,”
Dave Mischler said. “No
one frets about mistakes.
We just start again and
work at it until we get it
right. There always is a lot
of laughter in the learning
process and euphoria when
it comes together.”
Wilmette’s Barb Clayton
first became introduced
to square dancing in gym
class when then Northfield
gym teacher Jim Clarkson
introduced it to her.
Clarkson, now deceased,
was a square dance caller
and instructor. A Northfield
park is named in his honor.
“Square dancing is an activity
that challenges your
mind and body,” Clayton
said. “I had so much fun
doing it in grade school
I recruited my husband,
Keith, sister, Laura Ash,
and her husband, Steve
(both Northfield residents),
to take the beginners class
at the Wilmette Recreation
Center with me last January.
We had a blast.”
Mischler agrees square
dancing challenges the
brain and body.
“It also is an exhilarating
and social activity,” he
said. “There is something
for everyone. You can
keep it simple or go up the
levels.”
There are some misconceptions
about square
dancing.
“This is not the square
dancing of your grandfather,”
Clayton said. “We
are ‘modern’ squares.”
Another is square dancing
only uses country music.
“Who knew we could
Members of the North Shore Squares dance during a Sunday, Dec. 2 session at the Wilmette Recreation Center.
Photos by Rhonda Holcomb/22nd Century Media
square dance to contemporary
songs like ‘YMCA,’
the Beatles’ ‘Penny
Lane,’ or Michael Jackson
songs,” Clayton said.
Mischler added much of
the music his group uses in
square dancing is from the
60s, 70s and 80s.
All agree square dancing
is welcoming to everyone.
The group encourages
socializing.
“Come as a couple or
single,” Mischler said. “It
does not matter whether
you are married, divorced,
single or widowed. We invite
young people as well.
Our youngest participants
range from fourth graders
to grandparents and beyond.
You are always engaged
with each other and
will make good friends.
We hope people will want
to join and have fun. It is a
cost-effective activity.”
Our square dancing attire
is jeans casual, Mischler
added.
Dancers (left to right) Jim Lash, Andrea Versenyi, Melanie Gordon, Jeffrey Lisa and
Kevin McDaniel make some moves.
“You wear what you
want,” he said.
“It is a great way to start
working off those holiday
pounds or start working
on that New Year’s resolution
to become more active
and physically fit like my
husband, Keith, and I did
when we started the beginners
class last year at the
Wilmette Park District’s
Recreation Center,” Clayton
said.
New beginner sessions
start Jan. 7 at the Wilmette
Park District’s Recreation
Center. They run Monday
evenings for two hours
(7:30-9:30 p.m.) with an
extra 20 minutes pre-class
“extra help” session starting
at 7:10 p.m.
The North Shore
Squares will hold a preview
class at the Wilmette
Rec Center, 7:30-9 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 18.
“We want square dancing
to survive,” Mischler
said.
For more information,
visit www.NorthShoreSquares.com
or email
northshoresquares@
gmail.com.