Page 17 - RSCDS Toronto Golden Jubilee Book

Social Groups
But most important, says teacher Jean Noble, the purpose is to enjoy dancing.
A warm welcome awaits dancers any Tuesday evening who would like to join the happy dancers of the Hillcrest Group.
. . . Jean Noble
Humbercrest Dancing at Humbercrest United
Church started in September 2006. We had enjoyed two years of lessons at Swansea with teacher David Booz and musician Laird Brown. We thought it would be wonderful to continue danc- ing in our neighbourhood.
We knew that Humbercrest United Church had a gym floor that would
be terrific for dancing, so we arranged to use it on Wednesday evenings. We have enjoyed excellent leadership from four teachers – Deirdre MacCuish Bark, Keith Bark, David Booz, and Vicky Zeltins. They kept us on our toes with a variety of teaching styles and a continu- ous supply of new dances.
We welcomed new and experienced dancers to our social group and we have attracted a small but loyal group of dancers in our first season.
We are planning to continue the Humbercrest Social Group in September 2007 with Deirdre MacCuish Bark as our leader for ten weeks. We hope that you will join us!.
. . Barbara Kalmuk
Midtown
The group was first conceived in December, 1999. This millennium proj- ect was designed to provide daytime dancing downtown on a weekly basis.
Approval was willingly granted by the Toronto Association and, on April 5, 2000, they held their first dance class at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, which is on Bloor Street near the Spadina subway station.
The group is small, but loyal and friendly. They have a total of twenty- two members, but the general weekly turnout is around twelve dancers. The dedicated teacher, Isabelle MacPherson, brings her own music to set their feet
In 1972, Betty
also formed the Newtonbrook Children’s Group, with the assistance of Margaret Ann Hunter, who taught with Betty part-time, and assumed full responsibility for the group in 2000.
For many years, on the Sunday clos- est to St. Andrew’s Day, November 30, Newtonbrook Scottish danc-
ers dressed in full
acted as ushers and greeters for the church service at
Newtonbrook.
Following the ser-
vice, the dancers
were treated to
lunch and a party
with Betty and
her husband, Tom
Thompson.
Midtown Social Group - Teacher, Isabelle MacPherson (back row, 4th from left)
tapping. To enhance the dancing, the large gym hall has a lovely wooden floor surrounded by red velvet drapes.
The group hopes to continue to provide great fun, great music, and great danc- ing to anyone who may be interested and available during the day, at this convenient, central location.
. . . Flora Crawford
Newtonbrook
The group originated in Newtonbrook United Church in 1969, under the direc- tion of Betty Thompson, who had been dancing with the Petronella Group.
Bob Watters, one of the original group members, said that the dancers were told they could attend the 1970 Tartan Ball, but that they could dance only three dances, one of which was The Reel of the 51st Division. Not having learned the entire program, the group was not experienced enough to dance anything other than those three dances, and they were not to mess up a set of other dancers.
Tom & Betty Thompson
"glittering gear"
Betty taught the Newtonbrook group from
1969 to 1987, when she invited Kathleen Kynoch, who joined Newtonbrook in 1986, to share the teaching respon- sibilities. Finally,
Margaret Anne Hunter
in 2002, Kathleen assumed full respon- sibility for the class and is the current teacher.
. . . Kathleen Kynoch and Donald Holmes
Nobleton
The group was formed in September of
2001. The group meets in the upstairs hall of the Nobleton Community Arena from September until May on Tuesday evenings from 8:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. It is a very social gathering with dancers coming in from Tottenham, Brampton, Alliston, Woodbridge, Aurora, Schomberg, and a variety of other communities.
Maureen Richardson is the teacher of the group. She has been dancing for
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