Page 43 - RSCDS Toronto Golden Jubilee Book

Bob Blackie’s Fabulous Flings
. . . Milly McConnell
When my two sisters and I heard that a group called ASTA was hoping to sell the last few seats on their second trip to Australia and New Zealand,
we immediately phoned Bob Blackie
Farewell Ball was a special treat with Ian Powrie playing in the band. The next day, on the plane to Canberra, we became terribly bedraggled when the plane made a sudden drop
and our drinks were spilled all over us. Refills were expensive, so Bob, learning a lesson from this experience, from then on always showed up with a bottle of "Feeling Better". We never bought another drink on a plane again.
On another trip, the Hawaiian Fling, we had a whist drive, and when the game ended, Bob decided that we would put on sketches our final party. I organized our participants into "A Short History of the Hawaiian People." With the only male in the group cast as the dancer, and his mother-in-law, who was on holiday from England, paired up with me as Yankee sailors, we entertained everyone with great enthusiasm. Bob loved it!
The Wide World of SCD - A Devil of a Link with Tasmanians
. . . Ken Adamson & Glenna MacDonald
This short story is about a special rela- tionship that devel- oped between danc- ers from Ontario and Tasmania; Scottish Country Dancing was the common language.
In 2002, at the New Zealand Summer School in Christchurch, we Toronto dancers formed a friendship with a Tasmanian couple, Denise and Rod Comrie. This
friendship was strengthened in 2004 when Rod and Denise attended TAC in Waterloo, danced with the Calvin
trips . . .
Milly McConnell
and thus became some of his regular "Flingers". However, when my twin grandchildren were born, we took over the job of being their "nanny" until they went into nursery school so that we did miss out on The Malaysian Fling.
This first trip took us to Perth for their winter school where we were billeted with local dancers until the Winter
Summer School, New Zealand
Social Group, and enjoyed dinners with the other Toronto dancers whom they had met in Christchurch, namely, Jane Robinson, Margaret and Heinz Rieger, Elizabeth Hannah, and John Kennedy.
At the 2006 New Zealand Summer School in Dunedin, our cultures blend- ed as twelve Canadians and seven Australians, including Rod and Denise, gathered for dinner to celebrate New Year's Day.
After the Summer School, Ken
and Glenna visited Tasmania and danced with the Tasmanian group in Launceston.
Plans are now underway for Denise and Rod to visit Toronto in October 2007. While experiencing the fall colours and hiking on the Bruce Trail is a priority, they hope to attend the Monthly Dance and the White Heather Ball, to visit some of the social groups, and to gather over dinner with the many friends they have made among the Toronto Association dancers.
While both New Zealand summer schools were memorable, the lasting effect of the summer school experi- ence is the relationships that have been formed or strengthened. If The Happy Meeting is on the October program, it will have special significance to the Ontario/Tasmania link.
Dancing Vacation
. . . Lisa Mitchell
When one thinks of Prague, one doesn't usually think of Scottish Country Dancing! But that idea was dispelled when Dvorana, a dance company in Prague, hosted "A Scottish
Winter School, Perth, Australia
School began. Then we moved into Jewel House with the New Zealanders, who taught us Maori dancing. The
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