The Timberline Toppers Square Dance Club was organized in 1989. Bob and Linda McKinley contacted their former instructor, Charlie Tuffield of the Kilowatt Eight's and he suggested Harold Davis as an instructor. Harold and Donna Davis began lessons in February of 1989 at the middle school with one square in attendance. Harold accepted the payment of the evening admissions, often not much, but the group continued to grow and enjoy dancing. In the late summer, the class completed lessons. The name, Timberline Toppers Square Dance Club, submitted by Ray and Marge Hill was chosen. Charter members' badges were presented to the first graduating class of 15 members (Bob & Linda McKinley, Rick & Naomi Backlund, Ray & Marge Hill, George Drake, "Boot" Gordon, Lloyd Baker, Joyce Neiderhelm, Janny Kryen, Faye Sanders, Roger & Gail Taylor, and Donna Davis). In addition to Harold Davis, our caller/teachers have included John Blessing, Robert "Bear" Miller and Mike Olivieri.
In 2006 the lesson schedule was changed to January through March to reach not only full time residents but also the many people who spend their winters in Summit County. This change made a big difference in the number of students we were able to recruit but caused difficulty in finding a teacher willing to make the drive from Denver to Summit County during the winter. We considered trying to teach with videos and records but were lucky to have Dennis O'Neal, a long time member of our club, who offered to teach our new class. We started in January 2006, with a free chili dinner and introduction to square dancing with "Bear" Miller calling. It was a huge success and Dennis stood up to the challenge of teaching this large class, graduating 38 new dancers, the largest class in the club history. In 2007 we beat our own record graduating a class of 56 new dancers.
The club has chosen not to have a "Club caller", instead inviting many area callers to be at the mike. This gives our dancers experience with a variety of callers' styles and voices. Dennis calls for several of our dances each year as well. The efforts of our callers are always appreciated as they travel long distances, often in inclement weather, and have to adjust to the altitude which is no small thing at our 9,100 foot elevation.
Members are encouraged to enjoy the many dances held in the Denver area each month. The club also supports our sister mountain clubs, The Neversummer Squares in Granby and Monarch Mavericks in Salida. It is great fun to take a full square to another club and "steal their banner" as this forces them to bring a full square to our club to retrieve it, promoting and supporting square dancing for everyone. Square dancing outside your own club is fun and the experience makes everyone better dancers.
Membership growth is from dancers who have completed lessons with us and from others who have moved into our community. The Hills, who live part of the year in Arizona, were especially helpful in the early years as angels for lessons.
Our first round dance class was started in September of 1996 with Carolyn and Harold Myers as our instructors. In 2005 round dancing was discontinued because of a lck of interest and the loss of many of the members who were regular participants. In October of 2006 we had a round dance workshop with good attendance and great enthusiam. We may try to start round dance lessons again if there is enough interest.
Timberline Toppers Square Dance Club is a member of the Denver Square and Round Dance Council and participates in the activities of this group. The club's schedule is published in the Denver Councils bulletin and we submit an article to the bulletin each month. The bulletin keeps us abreast of dance information in the Council's geographic area and all member clubs dance schedules are published in it. We support the State, National and USA West Conventions as well as other festivals and dances throughout the area. The club and dance schedule are also listed on the National and International Directory website, www.nsddirectory.com. A $10.00 subscription fee is required to access this information. It is well worth the money if you travel and want to dance in other areas as clubs across America and the world are listed here.
The Timberline Toppers square dancers enjoy good times, dancing together and sharing our activity with others.
We truly experience "Friendship Set to Music"
