For additional information call:
Our regular second Tuesday Party Night for July will have the theam of "America the Beautiful", with Dick Neumann calling and Ann Waker will be cueing. As usual there will be a lot of fun dancing and good food the fun will start at 7:00pm. Hope to see you there on July 14th.
The Valley Twirlers are a Plus club. We dance every Tuesday at the Bostonia Recreation Center, 1049 Bostonia Street, El Cajon, CA. (See Location Map). Our caller is Dick Neumann and Ann Walker is our cue. Plus dancers are always welcome. The second Tuesday of each month is our Party Night, with rounds between tips.
For the nonparty nights the club dance from 7:00 to 9:00pm.
On the party nights (2nd Tue.) the club dances from 7:00 to 9:00pm.
Our party nights are legendary! Great food, clever decorations, and camaraderie to spare, along with topnotch calling and cueing, make these nights extra-special. Party nights are held on the second Tuesday of each month at Bostonia Recreation Center, 1049 Bostonia Street, El Cajon (See Location Map) , with Dick Neumann calling anf Ann Walker cueing.
Parties begin at 7:00 and end at 9:00 PM. . (Also see Special Dances and Events, for other activities we will be presenting.)
We will be presenting the following special dances and events throughout the year:
Beginners Square Dance Class
We will be starting a Beginners Square Dance Class on September 15. The class will be held at the Bostonia Recreation Center, 1049 Bostonia Ave., El Cajon. (See Location Map), Tuesdays, from 6:30 to 8:00PM. Our club caller Dick Neumann will be the class instructor. Plan to come and join in the fun and fellowship of Square Dancing, it is also a good form of exercise. For more fun bring along some friends. A partner is not required but it is much better if you have one. . For additional information call Nancy or Jim at (619) 469-1470 or Barbara or Stan at (619) 465-3521. Also you can e-mail us at: valleytwirlers@cox.net
The following is a list of the travel banners we have. Some of these banners have been in our custody for some time, and they would like to get back to their home club. We honor banner retrival at all our dances, so why don't you come and retrieve your. (Note this list is up to date, but photo isn't)
Dick Neumann, professional square dance caller, has been calling for the enjoyment of square dancers for over 30 years. He is an accredited member of CALLERLAB, the International Square Dance Callers Association and is the secretary for the San Diego County Square Dance Callers Association. Dick has been a recording artist on Buckskin and Ocean Wave square dance record labels.
Dick Neumann was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised in New Jersey and graduated from Edison High School in 1962. After graduation Dick joined the United States Marine Corps. Dick stayed in the Marine Corps for twenty two years before retiring in 1984 and going to work in the civilian sector where he was employed as Vice President of Quality Assurance for several electronics firms.
Dick's square dance life started while stationed at Millington, TN, where he first took square dance lessons with the Bumble Bee Squares. After being transferred to Okinawa, Japan, Dick danced with the Gecko Squares at Kadena Air Force Base. During this time, the club caller was transferred and Dick, suffering from a case of the stupids, tried his hand at calling. Dick began his square dance calling career in 1976 where he called and taught classes for the Gecko Squares and Red Hots square dance clubs. While undertaking his beginning calling career, Dick was tutored by John Walter, a fellow Marine and well established caller from Orange county California. Dick, John and the late round dance cuer Bob Malthouse provided calling and cueing entertainment for several years to military and civilian square and round dancers in the Far East.
After being transferred to California in 1982, Dick became the club caller/instructor for numerous clubs in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Imperial and San Diego counties. Some of his regular home clubs and classes have included the Western Stars, DoSi Dancers, Escondo"c"si's, Activ-8-ers, Ramblin' Rogues, Valley Twirlers, Leisure World Squares, Lighthouse Squares, Travelin' Turtles, Tip Toppers, Wagon Train Squares, Desert Sundancers and SkeeRunchers. Dick has called for individual clubs in Oregon, California and Arizona. He has been a featured caller at conventions, festivals and jamborees at the national, state and local levels.
In May of 2004, Dick's calling career was interrupted when he under went surgery for the correction of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. As this type of operation sometimes goes, there were severe post operative complications, and he spent the next 3 years in hospitals and nursing homes. After his return home in May of 2007, Dick has resumed his calling career, although he is now calling from a wheelchair.
In June of 2008 Dick rejoined the Valley Twirlers Square Dance Club as their club caller and has begun booking dances throughout southern California.
Dick and his wife Linda, reside in El Cajon, along with Mia, Linda's pet Chihuahua.
A long, long time ago, my mother brought me (and 2 brothers) to Chula Vista to be with my father who preceded us for work at Rohr Aircraft Corporation. After my marriage, my parents moved to other states and I stayed in San Diego to raise my 3 sons and continue my career. I worked for many years in the accounting field at different companies around the San Diego area. When I divorced, and had 3 little boys to feed; I was offered a job as a clerk in the Nestor Post office. After 2 years, I transferred to the San Ysidro office and then into the Federal Civil Service. While working for the Federal Civil Service, I became the Budget Director for the Naval Training Center.
I continued in my career as the Comptroller of the Submarine Development Group, in Point Loma, I was in charge of all the financial matters for Nuclear Submarines, Dive Units, Surface ships, Rescue Submarines. All in all, some 20 operating units. During the day, I was involved with overseeing the financing in the search for the Titanic and worked with the folks who discovered the ship. I was in charge of the finances for the boats (submarines) involved in the “Hunt For Red October” movie. I worked with the commanding officers of the units in the movie. I was privileged to be the lone female to attend the premier of the movie in San Diego. During my years of working at the Development Group, I had the opportunity to steer the deepest diving submarine in the world. The crew took me to 1,055 feet and said, “Ms Walker, you're in command”. I also got the opportunity to dive in a Deep Submersible Unit (certified to 20,000 feet) 'many feet' deep. I was involved with so much at the time, life was very interesting.
In 1982,while working as the Budget Director for the Naval Training Center, San Diego, I ran into a square dance friend from many years earlier. He wanted to open a 'Square Dance Caller School' and asked me to join. I said, “I am a dancer and don't want to become a caller”. He said, “I know but if you join, others will sign up”. So to help him out, I signed up - along with 7 men. I had such stage fright, I could not talk on a microphone at all. The next year, he wanted me to attend again and I shouted, 'No'. He talked me into attending 2 more sessions. I learned to (1) walk on stage, (2) talk on a microphone without fainting, (3) learned to enjoy watching folks dance to what I was calling. I called my first dance (at the insistence of one square of close friends) in the Psychiatric ward of Grossmont Hospital on Easter Sunday, 1987. Shortly after that, John Gorsh opened the “Rusty Hinges” square dance club and after one month, he was transferred out of San Diego. The club asked me to be their caller. I was their caller for approximately 5 years. During this time, a friend in San Jose (Charlie Pillman) who was in charge of a club 'Charlie's Angels', wanted me to start a club in San Diego area and call it “Ann's Angels”. I still get folks together and entertain shut-in's at nursing homes and hospitals. In June 1990, the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) asked me to teach their Orientation dance. For the past 15 years, I teach 200 - 17 year olds per class - to dance in a square dance party atmosphere. Early in 1988, I started the “Square Angels” dance club in Lakeside then moved to El Cajon. I was the assistant caller & the cuer for the Airstream Squares camping club. I have been the caller and cuer for the Valley Twirlers Square Dance club since May 2004. A most enjoyable group of friendly folks to have fun with.
For information on other clubs and dances in the San Diego Area check out one of the following Web sites:
Back Country Square Dance Association
Send E-mail comments or questions to: Valley Twirlers
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This site was first published on July 15, 1997.