Welcome to the new homepage for the Arkansas State Square Dance Federation (ASSDF), Inc.; last updated
May 14, 2012. You're visitor number
since Oct. 26, 2009....when the new domain was obtained.
While it's currently
Central Time, on
in Arkansas...it's always a good time to think of square and round dancing...no matter where you are!!
Please update your bookmarks accordingly to http://www.assdf.com for the official website of the ASSDF. I had gotten a report saying that the site had pornographic material...but I have verified this website, http://www.assdf.com to NOT have any adult material. But, if you go to a website other than this one...including previous website addresses...you may run into objectionable material. I even have CHANGED the FTP password to a much longer one, with a combination of letters, numbers, punctuation marks, symbols, and high ascii characters...to make it difficult for hackers to crack.
NOTE: While I have been released from the doctor, after a cardiac cath procedure in early April, 2012 (no blockage was detected, but I do have high blood pressure)...with a combination of Arkansas' tornado season (see the ad in The Modern Square), my dancing continues to be LIMITED, due to weather unpredictability. However, I will continue to update the website, and the subscriber database for The Modern Square.
Also, increased arthritis, as well as painful sciatica attacks in the left leg, it has become extremely difficult for me to
drive outside of Pulaski County for any functions...square dancing or otherwise. I am having to use a cane, or a walker, at times...
and am having to be very careful when I do dance. If I do drive a long distance to a dance, it usually means that I
will do very little, if any dancing, once there. Plus, I hate to have to impose on others for transportation.
In late 2007, I set up a page for the ASSDF as a separate section off of my personal homepage. Then, on Oct. 26, 2009, I was able
to obtain the new domain of assdf.com for the website, and everything has been moved to the new domain. So, please update your web browsers
accordingly. Both sites are hosted by 
.
While this site looks similar to the original one (I patterned the design after it), the current site has more information.
By choosing the desired links, you'll get a glimpse of who, and what we are. We hope that you enjoy your visit, and will come back often to keep up with the happenings of our federation clubs, callers and cuers, etc. We invite you to come see that both square dancing and round dancing are Friendship Set To Music.
If you have any questions, or if you have any square or round dance related links...you can contact the webmaster, who will forward your comment to the appropriate party.
Also listed are special dances outside of Arkansas...including the National Square Dance Convention, and the Single Square Dancers USA Labor Day Dance-A-Rama. Be sure to check with the contacts listed with each dance (or websites, if so listed), for further information.
It can be VERY FRUSTRATING after driving a long distance to find that a club is ''dark'' (not dancing)... especially with the price of gasoline nowadays!! These changes can also OCCUR AT THE LAST MINUTE...and it's better to be safe than sorry, by calling ahead before you travel. This is especially true when stormy weather (thunderstorms, tornadoes, flooding, snow, ice, etc.) affects an area. A list of these changes and cancellations can be found here. For weather information and forecasts across Arkansas, click here. To follow Arkansas Skywarn, click here, and you can find them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, or get Live Audio of an amateur radio weather net in action from the W5DI Repeater.
The thought may stir memories of dancing with the same sex in elementary school, doing a swing your partner, do-si-do, etc. You may recall the first night of class, when a friend invited you to learn square or round dancing. You might have been at a ''one night stand demonstration'', put on by a church or other group. Or maybe you are curious as to what the wonderful world of square and round dancing is about.
From a personal standpoint, I remember the first night of class in 1985, as all of these women I didn't even know were giving me hugs (yellowrocks), and I thought to myself ''What have I gotten myself into??''. After graduation, it was like waiting in line for hugs, and saying ''Next!!'' (grin!).
For a further overview of square and round dancing, as well as a list of upcoming square and round dance lessons, click here. For a Square Dancers Bill Of Rights, as well as a guide to a Square Dance Graduation Ceremony...along with The Square Dancers Pledge, and a list of Graduation Dances, click here.
Also, at times, there are several groups who like to have dancers come to do a ''demonstration''. These include church or social groups...especially just before a club is to start lessons. These also include nursing homes, who have the dancers come to dance for a short time to ''help take the loneliness out of the day'' of many of the residents.
Unfortunately, the one bad thing about this is that many dancers work during the day, and have other commitments (family, etc.) outside of dancing...let alone being a good distance away from the place where the group is wanting the demonstration is to be held. Plus, the caller or cuer who is putting on the demonstration is likely to require a fee for his or her services...unless there is a high potential of individuals ''taking part in the demonstration'' to sign up for lessons. If the demonstration is being held during the day, the dancers may want a lunch provided, even if for a nominal fee.
The best advice I could give for those groups interested in a ''demo'' is to check the clubs listing, to see if there is a club in, or near your area. If so, please contact the club contact listed for more information. Unfortunately, the amount of square and round dance clubs in Arkansas is much smaller than it was nearly 30 years ago...with some parts of Arkansas having few, if any clubs in existence any more. I know this sounds disappointing and negative...but after all...square and round dancing is a HOBBY...and sometimes, other things outside of square and round dancing (job, health, family, etc.) have to take priority.
If you have a question about the status/expiration date of your subscription, please contact the Circulation Manager from the ASSDF Officers page. Please do NOT have someone else call, write, or email the Circulation Manager for YOUR subscription status. The Circulation Manager would PREFER to get the information on YOUR SUBSCRIPTION direct from YOU; and NOT via another dancer, ''second hand''. If it's the latter, and it's wrong, it could take longer to get the situation corrected.
The Circulation Manager has a LIMITED amount of extra copies of each issue each month, for those subscriptions do NOT make it to me by the 10th of the month, due to Postal Service delays, etc. It's first come, first serve. Once these are gone, unless your subscription was already in the database, you will have to wait until the next issue. Sorry for any inconvenience.
I received my copy of the May, 2012 issue of The Modern Square on April 27, 2012...so it should be making its way to subscribers mailboxes in the coming days.
Unfortunately, with a lack of advertising in the publication, it is draining the resources of the ASSDF, because of associated printing and postage costs.
While some have discussed ''going online'' (as other publications have), that would leave many who can't have, don't have, or don't want, a computer or internet access, ''out in the cold''. There are a surprisingly large number of people who fit into this category...especially in the rural areas of Arkansas...and in some areas, it's difficult to even get to a public library, where a computer would be available for use.
Plus, it'd take too much effort and time to convert The Modern Square to an online only publication. Besides, except for the club reports, articles by ASSDF Officers, selected ASSDF Callers And Cuers, special dance ads, other ads, etc.; basically, everything else from The Modern Square is on the ASSDF Website.
The ASSDF has added Booster Ads to The Modern Square. The ads will be for non-square dance related announcements, and used to support The Modern Square. For details, click here. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view/print the file.
Further details can be found here.
On another note, Arkansas was awarded the bid for the 2014 National Square Dance Convention...for more details, click here.
The ASSDF is actually 2 years older than the National Square Dance Convention (NSDC), which is overseen by the National Executive Committee...composed of past NSDC chairpersons. The NSDC is held the Wednesday through Saturday, up to and including, the last weekend of June each year, in a different U.S. city. It is billed as ''The World's Greatest Square Dance Event''. For a list of past ASSDF Presidents, past National Square Dance Conventions, as well as a poem I wrote for the 40th birthday of the ASSDF, and a tribute to one of the greatest callers in Arkansas square dancing history, the late J.D. Kerr, click here.
