Cane Country Squares

February saw our return to dancing for 2025 and our now regular stand at the Bundaberg Move It Expo on the 16th.

This year was our first time at performing a demo at the Expo. A high energy team showed off the basics of square dancing and the exercise potential for the mind and body. 

Matt started with the 126 beats per minute, Move It, hoedown and explained while calling, that he was running the routine while the dancers had learned each of the movements, not the routine. This has been cut into a short promo ad which you can see below. 

Next Matt ran a significantly faster hoedown followed by a signing call,  Troublemaker. To see the full demonstration you can go to our You Tube channel playlist. Thanks go to Matt, the dancers and others who helped at the stand for making it a great club promotion.

The following Tuesday was the first of our three Come and Try nights. We have had eleven people come and try square dancing over that time. The final night included a surprise supper for Pancake Tuesday. I am looking forward to seeing how many will be continuing with our twelve week learner program. 

On Friday the 7th of March we celebrated Cane Country Squares 42nd birthday. The night included the Tuesday night SSD group, alternating with Plus level dancing. 

Laura and Adrian were chosen to cut the cake and supper consisted of a variety of “something small” to share, brought in by members. 

Previous years cakes, during the times of extra Covid concerns, had been turned into cupcakes rather than a large cake. Sandy went to the extra effort of combining these two themes with tiny cupcakes.

We had a good turn out with two squares for SSD and one for Plus. The hall was decorated and lots of us dressed up in our club colours of green and yellow / gold.

The night also included a humours poem from Sandy, lucky door prize of a box of chocolates and a raffle for a breakfast tray including sausages, bacon, eggs, avocados and other breakfast fruit and vegetables.

Go to our 2025 photo gallery, https://canecountrysquares.blogspot.com/p/photo-gallery-2025.html and video page, https://canecountrysquares.blogspot.com/p/videos-2025.html to see more of the night.

Welcome back to dancing in 2025. 

The Tuesday night group started last night at the new time of 6pm and the first Friday night group will start tomorrow at 6:30pm.

Coming up is the Come and Try Nights to start off the new learner program. 

The Come and Try nights are on Tuesday 18/2/24, 25/2/24 & 4/3/24. 6pm start till 8:30pm, alternating with the full SSD dancers. Bring a friend along and let them know their first night will be free.

We will also be performing a demo at the Bundaberg Move It Expo at the Bundaberg Multiplex from 12:15pm. Come and visit at our stand from 10am till 1pm on Sunday 16th of February.

The 2024 Photo Gallery is now up to date with last years event photos, including the recording night on Friday the 13th, Fridays Sport theme night, Tuesdays Graduation night and the end of year break up and Christmas dance for the Tuesday and Friday group.

The videos have also been uploaded to YouTube and you can find the links from our 2024 Club Night Videos or go direct to our YouTube page https://www.youtube.com/@canecountrysquares/playlists

I didn’t take videos of the packed hall for the 2024 Free Christmas Dance so you will have to make do with the photos this time.

If you missed the end of year news letter, that explains some of the changes set for 2025, you can read it from the link here.

Our 2025 Dance Calendar also available under the News and Events Menu. If you want reminders of the very latest changes go to our Events Calendar page. You can add to this your own Google Calendar from the link at the bottom of the page.

The updated 2025 Dance Calendar will be available as soon as we have added the fun theme nights for the Tuesday Group. A rolling supper will start from next week on Tuesdays, with a kettle instead of the urn, to make it easy for you to make yourself a cuppa anytime. Our milk in the fridge will have our name written on it.

The wrap up to the end of our 2024 dance year has come quickly.

We had a lovely afternoon tea social at Sandy’s place on Sunday 3rd of November, with lots of dancers attending, just to share some good food and company. Some none dancing spouses also came along to join in with the social side of our club.

On the 16th of November we had our SSD graduation dance with certificates going to Adrian, Laura, Mia, Trevor, Di, Cinnamon and Karen with Colleen being presented her certificate the following week.

We had a great night of dancing and a special treat of orange juice and cupcakes for supper.

Next year will see the Full SSD dancers with their own dance brackets, alternated with the new learners. Our experienced dancers, that have been attending Tuesday nights for years, will continue to help with the learners and be rewarded with the fun of dancing the full program on the same night. To fit both brackets in, dancing will now start at 6pm. The first night back is the 4th of February 2025.

Read more about the trail and potential future changes to the 2025 dance program in our Newsletter here.

The SSD group had their break up night on the 3rd of December. We had a special Christmas supper and the Christmas selfie frame came out for the first time this year.

Our Black Friday theme night was held on the 13th of September. Normally when we all dress in the same colour, it is harder for the caller to keep track of couple positions in a square. With Matt away, Rob predominantly played recordings of Matt’s singing calls that didn’t come from a theme night. It was a fun night as always while making fun of comments made by Matt to people that may or may not have been in the current square dancing.

Matt was back in person for our Sports theme night on the 4th of October. Outfits included paddle boarding, golf, bike riding, walking / running or general exercise, tennis and team supporters. Sandy and Jo L came as potential Wimbledon doubles champions. Jo L wanted to experience how tennis players carry their tennis balls while playing, dancing half the night with her ball tucked under her skirt.

Keep an eye out for an update to our club calendar with a coming social night, graduation dance and our end of year free Christmas dance. Bring some change for the Christmas hammer raffle. The dance will start slightly later than normal to allow for us to have a meal together at the Melbourne Hotel first. 

Follow the links to see photos and videos from our theme nights. More will be added to the photos and videos soon.

The Queensland Callers’ Association held their 3rd Quarterly Meeting for 2024 on Saturday 24th August 2024 in Bundaberg.

Hosted by Cane Country squares, the QCA held their meeting on Saturday morning at our regular hall at 89 Targo Street with a Plus session dance in the afternoon and a SSD / Mainstream dance that evening.

With most of the callers and partners arriving in Bundaberg early, many joined us on our regular Friday Club night, 23/8/24. The hall was packed with extra dancers also arriving from the Hervey Bay Square Dance Club.  

A few even stayed on till the Sunday to join in with our A level dancers.

We had a great turn out for the Plus Dance on Saturday from 1:30pm – 4pm, with two squares on the floor for most of the afternoon.

The main event was the SSD and Mainstream Dance from 7pm – 10pm with up to three squares on the floor.

At both Saturday sessions we were treated to calls from our own Matthew Mills, Alan Evans, Glenn Wilson & Elaine Davis.

Visit our 2024 Photo Page to see more and check out the singing caller via our links on our 2024 Video Events page or directly from our YouTube Page.

Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th of August was a fantastic weekend of dancing at our hall at 89 Targo St in Bundaberg. It was amazing to have up to three squares on the floor on Saturday afternoon for the Plus session. We had a large group visiting from Hervey Bay Square Dance Club and a couple from South Australia. 

The Bundaberg Regional Council Community Micro Grant Program provided $1000 to Cane Country Squares for our local dance weekend with James Reid as our guest caller. 

Saturday and Sunday afternoons had a rolling supper. Saturday night had a more traditional supper break with raffles, lucky door and lucky spot prizes being drawn.

Dancing to a different caller is always an entertaining challenge with an unfamiliar voice to tune into and new choreography. It also gives our club caller, Matthew Mills an opportunity to dance. At some point on Saturday night, Matt had an L plate pinned to his shirt as a joke about how rare it is to see him in a square.

Saturday night was the first time some of our SSD level have had a chance to dance to a caller other than Matt. Another first for some, was experiencing a large group from another club dancing together with us. Everyone dressed up for the event, most in the traditional square dance style including our new dancers.

Sunday afternoon was a second chance for the SSD and Mainstream dancers to hear James Reid call. Sunday always has a more casual dress option with dancers from out of town leaving for home straight after the dance.

It was excellent to have so many stay for the Sunday dance, easily making two squares for the entire two hour session.

As always, James Reid did not disappoint and fully entertained us for the entire weekend. James kept us on our toes with his wonderful voice and fun and challenging choreography, often getting cheers from the squares at the conclusion of each dance.

Check out our 2024 photo gallery for more of the weekend. Videos of the weekend will be added to the 2024 Events video library links to our YouTube channel.

August 3rd & 4th 2024

Location: 89 Targo St, Rum City Band Hall, Bundaberg, QLD, 4670

Saturday          3rd

        • Plus – 2pm to 4pm

        • SSD / MS – 6:30pm to 9:30pm

Sunday          4th

        • SSD / MS – 2pm to 4pm

Cost: $7 per Session

There will be Raffles and a lucky door prize.

The Bundaberg Regional Council Community Micro Grant Program provided $1000 to Cane Country Squares for our local dance weekend with James Reid as our guest caller. 

Our annual Dance for Heart fund raiser was held Friday 3rd of May 2024. Dancers dressed in red with some adding a heart theme. Matt looked spectacular in his heart suit pants and matching tie. Marilyn made a new square dance skirt specifically for the event, from pieces of other red and white skirts.

We had just under two squares. At one point, in addition to a normal square, we had a half square up on the floor, entertaining themselves by completing movements as best they could. You get a brief look at the extra group in one of the videos uploaded from the night.

It was good to see Alan back on the floor, also dancing Plus. We had more than enough for a Plus square with dancers taking turns to dance that level.

Anita didn’t get her morning walk and danced most of the night to get her step count in.

With Jo L away, Sandy stepped in to run the kitchen for supper, adding a couple of humorous signs.

Funds were raised on the night from the door takings, donations and a raffle for a huge fruit tray. The fruit tray was won by Loraine. The door prize went to Gina and the lucky spot was won by Marilyn.

The funds raised will go towards supporting the HeartStart Cornish Walking Track Program in Bundaberg.

Visit our 2024 photo gallery to see more photos from the night and check our 2024 club night video page to view the latest additions to our YouTube channel.

With Matt away, calling in Victoria, we still got two squares enjoying the night of dancing to recordings of Matt from previous nights.

Rob ran the recordings to suit the dancers in attendance with workshops and singing calls from Matt. 

SSD learners practiced Scoot Backs. Even though we know Matt is not in the room, it is still funny to see people react to their names given in instructions by Matt on the recordings.

The Plus team got in 12 minutes of dancing to complete their hoedown recording. Without Matt to tell us where we were going wrong, the recording was rewound and restarted a few times as the dancers worked together, to figure out what was going wrong with some movements. 

Check out the photo gallery for a few more photos from the night. 

Remember to dress in red and bring a little extra cash for our Heart Dance fund raiser next Friday.

Learn how to square dance in a relaxed, informal environment with a range of music on offer.

This Tuesday 16th April, 6:30pm, is your last chance to try square dancing before the class closes to new people. 

If you enjoy yourself, stay for the 12 week program of fun to exercise your mind and body. 

Your first night is free!

Class continues with the 12 week program from 23rd April.

Arrive at 6:15 for 6:30pm start.