About

CRYSTAL CROSSTRAILERS SQUARE DANCE CLUB HISTORY

The meeting to organize the club was held on August 18,
1965. We danced twice a month for the first year. We then danced a mainstream
dance once a month after that. From 1965 till 1968 our club caller was Pete
Peterson. Jim and Lois Odums cued the rounds. In 1968 Randy Dougherty became our
club caller. He was eighteen years old. Between 1982 and 1985, The
Crosstrailers along with Randy sponsored at least one live music dance a year
featuring “The Wild Bunch” band. The average attendance at these dances was 50
squares.

In 1978 Dee Dee Dougherty, Randy’s sister, shared the
teaching and calling duties with Randy. At this time Ray and Gerry Belanger
joined our club as the round dance leaders. They continue to be our cuers to
this day with one year off that they spent in Texas (1989). From 1981 to 1984,
our club sponsored a youth square dance club called the Trailcrossers. Dee Dee
was their caller. In 1986 Randy left Minnesota to become a national caller and
Dick Rueter became our club caller. At one time Dick took some time off and we
had guest callers but Dick is our current club caller.

Twenty years ago we added a special PLUS dance in May
which was usually held on the first Tuesday of the month. The national caller
Gary Shoemake was our caller for that dance. Five years ago the club added a
plus dance for the fifth Friday of every month during the dancing season. In
2007 Gary Shoemake could not call for us so we were very happy to have Nick
Hartley from Indianapolis, Indiana as our national caller for that special
dance and he continues to do an excellent job for us.

The Crosstrailers have been teaching both PLUS and
beginners square dance lessons. The lessons have usually been held on a
Thursday night. We have a Mainstream dance on the second Friday of the month
and a PLUS dance on the fifth Friday.

In the beginning most of our members lived in Crystal and
the members used a familiar object to represent our badge. Our club badge is a
round silver badge. The idea for the badge came from the round rotating
glittering silver Crystal Ball that used to be high over the Crystal Shopping
area on Bass Lake Road. This sign is no longer in existence but at many dance
floors you can still see a large glittering silver ball in the ceiling which
reflects light. Our club has also a gold round badge which is presented to each
couple after they have celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary.

In 1979 when our club outfit was designed the Crystal
Ball was integrated into the design. The outfit for the woman was a red blouse
with a black jumper with red and silver trim. The bib portion of the jumper
contained the silver ball. The men wore a red shirt with a vest that contained
the silver ball on the back.