Well, we had a good time at the Florida Dance Stampede. I really like the hotel that this event is held in and we had a great room!! The Conovers made an announcement that they won't be hosting the event again but that the event itself WILL GO ON. They have done a lot for line dancers with this event and they are going to be missed. I'm interested to see who takes it over and I'm sure we will be getting information about that down the road a little bit. Thanks, Wayne and Yvonne, for being such nice hosts all these years; for making the line dancers feel important at this event and for introducing pro-am to Florida. We all wish you luck in this new phase of your life. I asked the Conovers to write us a little note about their plans and hope to be able to post it soon.

They did a couple of very nice things at this event, too. There is a young group of dancers who will be traveling to compete and they raised money over the weekend for them and they did a wonderful demonstration at the event.

They also did a Dance With the Stars event to help raise money to send to Phyllis Cannon-Whipple who has had the year from hell. She has had three knee surgeries in just the last few months and is now having a complication from the last one and other nightmares, including being diagnosed with breast cancer before that. I agree with Wayne that she is an important part of our line dance family and if you would like to help her out at this time, just let me know and I will send you her address. We all wish her well and over $600 was raised just from one little announcement during the show on Saturday. I thought that was wonderful and I know Phyllis will truly appreciate it. She's a very proud lady and it's particularly painful for her to have to need the help at this time but it's a wonderful thing to know that when our dance family needs to come together we can really make a difference!! I hope to see Phyllis out and around this year and after this past year she deserves a charmed future!!!

There was a good turnout for this event as you'll be able to see from the pictures. For all of you looking for shoes Grant Austin was there with a good supply and it looked busy all the time. I can't tell you how many people ask me about shoes so we always appreciate when there is a vendor there selling them. I think every shoemaker uses some strange size guide and it's so frustrating to try to order them. You can see his catalog (with shoe sizes) at www.danceconnectionstore.com. I bought a pair that are stretchy and they are so comfy!!!

There was a very good lineup of instructors for this event: Louie St. George playing a great mix of music, Barry Durand, John Robinson, Guyton Mundy, Brian Barakauskas, Jean Brewer, Jan Ramsey, Hal Hill, Marilyn McNeal, Kathy Brown, Christine Bass, and Donna Caudill (who did a workshop on how to choreograph a dance.) I asked her to keep good notes so hopefully we will be getting them soon. I think this is a great addition to the weekends. Here's the complete workshop schedule if you would like to see what was taught and there were a couple not on the schedule. I'm sure people will send in their favorites:
http://www.cwdancing.com/stampede/2006workshop.xls.

I know that Guyton taught FRICTION ADDICTION which wasn't on the schedule. Brian B. taught a dance called TUSH, and John Robinson taught a dance called FOOL'S POLKA that I heard good comments about. I think the rest of them were listed on the schedule. There were a few dances I hadn't seen before that I thought were cute. One was BABY COM' ON, by Bev Carperter that Christine Bass taught. I didn't get there in time for the lesson but it looks like a cute dance. Marilyn McNeal taught RACY LACY, by Metelnick/Biggs. I got there in time to just quickly learn this one and it's fun to upbeat music. Guyton taught GEEK IN THE PINK, Johanna Barnes. I had learned this at Barry's event and it's going to be taught in Boston so it was good to be able to go over it again and Guyton did a really good job of teaching it. That same hour he taught FRICTION ADDICTION and I needed a review on this one too. Kathy Brown taught BOP THE B, Kathy Brown and Lindy Bowers, and this one fills the floor every time. Very cute, easy dance. Barry Durand taught SUNSHINE (love this music) and SUNDAY MORNING. I had learned these before. It was nice to have a lineup of beginner line dances taught by Jean Brewer, Jan Ramsey and Hall Hill because there are always a lot of beginners and teachers who need beginner dances attending this event. The name of the dances taught for beginner were: TWO TIMES, HOG WILD, I LOVE THIS TOWN, BACK PORCH PARADISE, WASN'T THAT A PARTY, DISCO REMIX, THE ONE FOR ME, ROMANCE, RUMBA ROSE, SUNDAY DRIVE, WHENEVER I'M LONELY, VACATION POLKA, TIME TO BOOGIE, WHAT A MAN, ZATCHU, GYPSY, DANCIN' THING.

One little beginner dance I saw for the first time was THIS LITTLE LIGHT, Jo and Rita Thompson. It's super easy and I love the music and it's just fun so take a look at it. It looks so cool on the floor when everyone is doing it. I'm sure it will be done in Boston next weekend so watch it -- no get up and do it -- when it's played. You can learn it on the floor. I did. Brian B taught a new one called TUSH, Raymond Sarlemijn (music by ZZ Top and alternative Kenny Chesney -- people preferred ZZ Top) and Stacy said she really liked that one. I think this one was popular at Worlds. Some others she saw that I didn't was FOOL'S POLKA by John Robinson (I've Been a Long Time Leaving, by Dean Miller) and TALK ABOUT IT, Joy Huggins.

ENJOY THE PICTURES (and there's quite a few from the show). I just told you about the line dance portion of the weekend but there were also couples lessons and couples in the show.)
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