For the last few years we've been having a simple potluck dinner for our Dance Camp guest artists prior to the Thursday evening dance. We want to make sure they're fed and on-site for sound check, and have a chance to relax and meet some of our community.

Plans this year: 6:00 Square & Round Center - Potluck - 7:30 -10:30 - Dance

If you want to participate in the potluck, please bring something GOOD and HEALTHY to share (hints: a bag of Doritos doesn't count as good and healthy; we have a musician coming that needs VERY Gluten-Free food (please mark it so if it isn't obvious); a few vegetarian dishes are nice, too!).

Sorry, Jeanette informed me last year that alcohol is not permitted, so we need to stick to other drinks. Bring your own, otherwise we'll have some coffee, water and some sort of "juice" available.

Anyone participating in potluck (other than our guest artists) are expected to help with the clean-up of the potluck, too. Please pitch in! :)

This will be a fun dance, as always, and it's shaping up to be a fantastic weekend! I look forward to seeing you all on the dance floor!

Barbara Rowland

Please remember to add an auction donation to your packing list for camp. Even if you are not attending, you can donate to the auction by bringing your donation to Thursday night's dance at the Square and Round Center. There will be a collection bin in the dining room and forms for donations of other goods and services. Your donations help fund Dance Camp scholarships.

A few hints and reminders about what to donate and the registration process at camp. Remember, bring your item or complete your donation form for other goods or services when you register. Don't forget to bring your check book so that you can bid on all those great items at camp.

BEFORE CAMP:
1. Use your creative juices to come up with unique items or services to donate for the auction..
2. If you want a record of your donation for tax purposes:
A. Fill out a tax donation form detailing each item and have it signed by a volunteer when you drop off your items.
B. Bring your auction items to camp and drop them off at the Chapel on Friday evening or Saturday morning, after you pick up
3. If you do not want a record of your donation for tax purposes:
A. Bring your auction items to camp and drop them off at the Chapel on Friday evening or Saturday morning after you register.

WHEN YOU REGISTER:
1. Register at the Registration Cabin
2. Drop off desserts at the Dining Hall
3. Bring you auction items (including forms for donated services) to the Chapel.
4. Claim your id button.

Thank you for helping to make our auction fundraiser a successful and entertaining event!
Kathy Kline
Auction committee
kathyann.kline@yahoo.com
350-2204

Hey Bears and Bear Friends!! If you have been procrastinating about signing up for the Dancing Bears Memorial Day Weekend Dance Camp, now is the time!! It's the Dancing Bears' last dance offering before we take a break for the summer…no more until we start back up in September. Camp starts with a dance Friday night May 27th and the fun doesn't stop until 4 PM on Monday, May 30.

If you have never been to Dance Camp, here's the scoop. Camp is always chock full of glorious dancing: during the day there are lots of Contra and Square workshops plus we teach Swing; Waltz; Cajun; Scandinavian Turning Dances and; Night Club 2 Step. And there will be other engaging workshops-such as singing, juggling, yoga, Guest Artist specialty workshops (calling and band musicianship) and, for the younger Cubs, a family dance and swim class. Each night (and Monday afternoon) there is a big Contra/Square dance featuring the all the Guest Artists and on Saturday and Sunday, that dance is followed by a late night DJ Dance. If you want something less structured, there is relaxing by scenic King's Lake, canoeing, enjoying the woods and hanging out with the most wonderful community of Bears! The meals are catered by Organic Oasis. Yum!

This year, we are hosting two fantastic bands--Contra Nova with Steve Hickman, John Devine, Ralph Gordon and Buckdancer's Choice with Scott Meyer, Brian DeMarcus, Jay Marvin and, Nate Williamson--and two delightful out-of-state callers: Carol Ormand and David Millstone. Our Guest Artists' bios are posted on the Bears' Website at http://thedancingbears.com under the Dance Camp link.

Also on the website you will find our Registration Form and all the details to make your Camping knowledge complete. If you have questions, please feel free to e-mail Linda at ravenwoman@alaska.net or Barb at barbara@alaskabike.com.

We'd love to have you join us!

We Bears know the value of Community, Dance, Music and Desserts. Help support our wonderful Dance Camp by bringing a Decadent Dessert, which will be sold to hungry Bears during the dances. Along with your dancing shoes, pack a special dessert that will delight other campers, keep our feet dancing and support this great event. These great desserts will be sold in generous individual portions for $3. Cookies, pies, cakes are all welcome. Hint: chocolate is a favorite among Bears!

Bring your dessert to Camp and hand them to volunteers in the Dining Hall, wrapped in large portions or you can let us do the wrapping at Camp. We really appreciate your support. If you have questions, call Elsa Aegerter at 947-0870 or email at elsajess@gmail.com. See you at Camp!

An opportunity to spend a good part of the day at King's Lake cleaning up winters passage on Saturday, May 21st.

Don't miss it. We put on a great lunch spread, last year the butterscotch brownies were a hit (I'm planning a making another batch) and you get to stake out a cabin before the rest arrive! We finished about 3 p.m. last year.

Bring your self, a water bottle, and some gloves for picking up downed branches and sticks to sweep out some cabins and spruce the place up!

So I know how many bodies to feed, please let me know if you are planning on coming.

Email works: jhj@gci.net or 345-3652

Looking forward to it!

Jennifer Hall Jones

Dance Camp is just a month away so it is time to start thinking about what you will bring for the dance camp auction. What can you contribute? We are looking for the unique, unusual, divine, one of kind item that will create a bidding frenzy and raise money for our dance camp fund.

Be creative and think about services you can offer or items you can donate. Even if you are not coming to camp your donations are welcome. Homemade pies, special dinners, private dance lessons, outdoor adventure trips, unique dance clothing or jewelry, art work, handmade socks are some examples of popular items from the past.

Bring donations to Camp, drop off at the next dance, or contact Kathy Kline (kathyann.kline@yahoo.com) to donate before Camp.

Remember to bring extra cash or your checkbook so you can take home a must have Dance Camp auction item.

Here is a group of Dance Camp announcements from the current newsletter that should be helpful.

Calling all people for a lovely weekend of rewarding work and connecting with friends to make Dance Camp the memorable weekend it can be. Strong winds from the winter/spring have left the ground littered with downed branches (we need 3 chainsaws and same amount of operators to deal with the mess), plus many more hands for collecting debris/wood and cleaning out the cabins and various bathrooms.

Salvation Army continues to upgrade the cabins, so fewer repairs will be needed, but the whole place still needs our dedicated effort in anticipation of our attendance Memorial Day weekend. Lunch will be provided AND you get to put your name up on any cabin you choose.

Please email Jennifer at jhj@gci.net, or call 345-3652 to let me know you are coming so I know how many to feed... When: Saturday May, 21st, 2011 Meet at the Northway Parking Lot, in front of Office Max at 9 a.m. if you want to carpool, otherwise meet at King's Lake Camp at 10 a.m.

Please bring some work gloves for picking up wood, a full water bottle and perhaps an extra handkerchief too. Last year it was really dusty and we finished up about 3 p.m! Go Bears. You rock.

Dance Camp is just a month away so it is time to start thinking about what you will bring for the dance camp auction. What can you contribute? We are looking for the unique, unusual, divine, one of kind item that will create a bidding frenzy and raise money for our dance camp fund.

Be creative and think about services you can offer or items you can donate. Even if you are not coming to camp your donations are welcome.

Homemade pies, special dinners, private dance lessons, outdoor adventure trips, unique dance clothing or jewelry, art work, handmade socks are some examples of popular items from the past. Bring donations to camp, drop off at the next dance, or contact Kathy Kline (kathyann.kline@yahoo.com) to donate before camp. Remember to bring extra cash or your checkbook so you can take home a must have dance camp auction item.

Even if you are a newsletter reading Bear we strongly encourage you to sign up for the listserv. We will post all the latest info on Camp to the listserv and we would hate for you to miss some significant tidbit because your address isn’t included. Signing up is easy…just go to the Bears' Website at www://thedancingbears.com and you will find, on the home page, the appropriate box in which to type your address. It is also easy to remove your name from the list after Camp should you not want to continue to receive dance related emails.

Registration for Dance Camp will be happening starting March 1, 2011. Bears with memberships and addresses that are up to date will receive the registration form in the mail. As soon as those forms hit the mailboxes, we will announce via the listserv that the form is available for downloading from our website. ALL registration forms must be MAILED (with an envelope and a stamp...not e-mailed or hand delivered!) to our registration folks. Applicants will be admitted to camp on a first come, first serve basis (keeping in mind we work to maintain gender balance.)
Again this year, we will have two fantastic bands (Contra: Steve Hickman, John Devine, Ralph Gordon and Old Time/Cajun: Scott Meyer, Brian DeMarcus, Jay Marvin & Nate Williamson) and two wonderful out-of-state callers: Carol Ormand and David Millstone. Their bios will be posted in the not-too-distant future on the Bears' Website at www://thedancingbears.com under the Dance Camp link. Camp will fill rapidly and we would hate for you to miss out. To avoid potential trauma and disappointment, we urge you to register as soon as you get your form.

Is your membership current?? Do we have your correct mailing (as in street, not e-mail) address?? If we don't have your correct mailing address and/or your membership isn't current, your registration form will NOT magically arrive in your mailbox by March 1st. Don't know??? To see if your membership is current you can check with the kind folks taking your money at the next dance; they should have a current membership list. If you have moved or are not sure we have your correct address, you can contact the Membership Bear by e-mail at: members@thedancingbears.com or you can call him at 338-6390 (Anchorage number). The Membership Bear takes care of keeping the names and addresses of current members organized. He also takes care of the newsletter/dance schedule mailing list and the "save a tree" program.
You can join or renew your Dancing Bears membership at the next dance or by getting the membership form from our website....www://thedancingbears.com. (You must mail it in; there is no online membership registration.) You can become a member or update your membership on the Dance Camp registration form…but you will not receive the form in the mail by March 1 and you will have to download it from our website.

Cost for this year's Dance Camp will be the same as the last two last years. Camp tuition will be $240 for Perky Bears…and it grows as you procrastinate on getting your registration in. As always, if you might be looking for a way to lighten the financial load for Camp “tuition”, we have several scholarships available. Scholarships cover half the cost of your camp fee and entail participating in 7-8 hours of camp work, generally helping in the kitchen, but there are also some for other activities such as helping with the silent auction and camp and bathhouse cleanup.
Scholarships are awarded on a first come, first served basis. A scholarship does NOT guarantee that you will get into camp...you still need to register as usual. And you must be CONFIRMED as a Scholarship Bear BEFORE registering as one. The details of the tasks and the registration process may be less confusing if we chat about them verbally, so if you are interested in a scholarship, please contact Barbara Rowland (223-2327 in Anchorage, or email barbara@alaskabike.com) soon to get the scoop!!
Happy Dancin'!! We can't wait to see you at camp!!
Questions? Contact Linda at ravenwoman@alaska.net 907-258-1937 or Barbara at barbara@alaskabike.com 907-223-2327

Greetings All! The Dancing Bears Dance Camp is coming Memorial Day weekend, May 27-30! We are looking for folks who want to teach us to dance, as well as musicians who will play for those classes. In past years, in addition to our "usual" dance and music classes, our classes have included yoga, massage, Irish dance, juggling, rounds, and shape note singing--all taught by talented locals. It's a great way to be a part of Camp and you even get paid a little!! We always have kids coming to camp every year so a kid or family workshop could be just the thing. If you have a workshop in mind that you would like to offer, please send me a short description and information on what your workshop would need in the way of music/supplies/space and we'll give it our consideration. If you know of folks who might be interested but aren't on this listserv please share this request with them.
Feel free to contact me via email at ravenwoman@alaska.net or call 907-258-1937 (Anchorage).
I'm looking forward to seeing you at Camp!!!
Keep on dancin'!
Linda Hearn