November 26, 2005, St. Catharines, Advocis Greater Niagara
1st. Annual Charity Gala, Proceeds are going to benefit
Niagara
Region Cancer Centre. This was a very successful event in every way. The location
was at the Club Roma on Vansickle Road in one of their ballrooms which was
comparable to the best in Ontario or even in Los Vegas. A beautiful ballroom with
an excellent circular terrazzo dance floor under twinkling stars imbedded in the
ceiling in which you could see an occasional comet streaked across the sky. Beautiful. The music for
the evening was supplied by an 18 member band known as the " Solid Brass Swing
Band" directed by Hugh Logan. ( I reminisce: Hugh was one of the originals in a
band that I used to dance to called the Jimmy Marando Dance Band. In fact a few
of the members of Hugh's band were from the original Marando Band, including
Hugh himself.. The original Marando band played in Crystal Beach, Long Beach,
Port Dalhousie and in the Niagara Falls arena. Those were the places that I
danced at, with fond memories.) The band played a mix of the old 1940 to 1960
tunes as well as waltzes, a polka and a few Latin.
The evening began with champagne and hors d'oeuvres. Gift bags were presented to all
the ladies in attendance. Folks milled around the silent auction table,
competing for some marvelous items from gift baskets to helicopter rides. The food prepared and served by the Club Roma is what
you dream of when you think of the very best quality and its presentation. It
was more than excellent. Just when you thought things could not be better, there
was another spread of food at 11 pm and all of the ladies received a yellow rose
to take home. Everyone, both dancers and non dancers, thoroughly enjoyed
the evening. Funds raised exceeded the expectations of the hard working committee
members, Don Bonazza, Dale Mellway, Bert Schertzing and Linda Sauve.
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February 12, 2005,
Club Rheingold,
We have never been to a more friendly, happy, dinner dance location anywhere.
From the moment we stepped into the dance hall, Ferdinand the President, many
of the other executives who were greeting newcomers and or working as bar
persons or were waiters and waitresses with big smiles on their faces, made our
first visit to this club a wonderful happy experience. The main large ballroom
has tables on all 4 sides of the room. The band was located on a stage
overlooking the ballroom. The dinner consisted of a choice of chicken, cabbage
rolls, pork roast. Salad, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes, bread rolls and
European style rye bread, coffee, tea and cake were all served with warmth and
wide smiles by the staff who were in most part the wives of the club members.
One item we feel we should point out was that the men almost all came into the
club dressed in jackets, shirts with ties. Many of the women wore long dresses.
It was elegant and very beautiful to see the value that these club members and
guests placed on presenting themselves properly in this festive environment.
The band ( Nu Tones ) played an excellent variety of music but they tended to
play more rumbas ( which most dancers did not dance to properly ) than any other
specific dance. Rumbas are excellent to allow dancers to blend simple social fox
trot steps into the tempo. Of course there were a few polkas and waltzes played
as well. It was a beautiful joyous evening with a lot of camaraderie. It was
also beautiful to see families with children dancing together. We had a great
time and hope to visit again. This club is so successful that it's very wise to
call in your reservation before visiting it.
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April 2005, fun 2 dance, Grimsby Legion, Pat and Stan Vandermolen operate this dance location starting with lessons on a Sunday afternoon. The Legion ballroom is medium size with a good hardwood floor. Dancers came from Western New York as well as from the Toronto area to learn "west coast swing". and then dance to music that was DJ'd by Stan. He played
a mix of social music as well as some western tunes so that the dancers could practice their new steps learned. During the afternoon food was served which was quite adequate as a Sunday snack.
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