I first learned about the square dance group three years ago when my wife, Lyla, and I went to a dinner in the Society of United Fishermen (SUF) hall during the annual accordion festival in Eastport, NL. Our friends Jeff and Barb Penney invited us to go to the fund raiser with them because they said we might have a chance to do a bit of square dancing after the meal. Little did we know that the event would be the start of a dancing love affair with the Time in the Hall Square Dancers. After the meal, the student square dance group from Holy Cross School Complex showed off their dancing prowess to an appreciative audience. Kelly Russell payed while his wife Tonya called the dance. Their teacher Jill Penney, who taught square dancing at the school, used her organizational skills to make sure everyone was in the correct position to perform the intricate moves that are so much a part of the dancing. When the students had finished their show, Mabel Hunter, the leader of the adult square dance group, asked if anyone in the audience would like to join them while they did the Virginia Reel. Not being overly shy, the four of us eager beavers were soon out on the dance floor having a grand time. We didn't understand all the moves but it never took away from the fun we were having. After the dance Mabel asked us if we would be willing to join their group. Our friends were not sure if they could do it on a regular basis but we were ready to give it a try. It was my first time square dancing since doing the Lancers in the community hall, in North West River, back in the mid-1960s. The dance group came together in July, 2012. Kelly Russell and his wife were giving lessons at the Shriner's Park near Sandringham. Mabel and some of her friends were invited to come along and try out the square dancing. Shortly after that Mabel and her friends decided that it would be a good idea to set up a square dancing club. Several names were put forward to call the new group. In the end, they voted on the name Time in the Hall Square Dancers as the best one for the group. Gord Handcock and Gord Bull were their initial trainers who helped them learn the first couple of dances. Of course one has to be properly attired when performing in front of audiences. So, everyone got fitted out: the women with white blouses, black shoes and skits that flared out when having a good swing and the men with black shoes, pants, bow tie and a white short sleeved starched shirt. Originally, there were only members from the Eastport Peninsula. Now there are people from Glovertown, Trytown and Culls Harbour who also head out twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday nights, to go to the SUF Hall for a couple of hours to do a variety of square dances. Usually, we start with the Virginia Reel as a warmup before we get in to more complicated dances. Roger Bradley, our accordion musician, keeps the music lively so that it's a pleasure to go through all the moves, swinging and toes tapping in each dance. When we are asked to do a performance for any group, Gord Kelly accompanies Roger with his guitar. Keeping one's mind sharp is a positive feature of these dances. When we have learned all the right moves of one dance then we move on to learning the correct moves of the next one. Getting lots of exercise and socialization with such a fun group makes you want to keep going back time after time. Running the Goat, Time in the Hall Dance and The Centreville Dance were the original ones learned. Then Sandra Handcock taught us the Fogo Island Dance and these were our standard dances until Eugene and Emily Papail and Sadie and Robert Parsons came from the Burin Penisula to teach us the Lancers. It was a fun filled weekend learning all the new moves. They also showed us how to dance a beautiful new waltz called The Texas Waltz. It took a lot of concentration and patience, mastering the moves. There are always requests for the group to perform at different venues since we've been dancing. We've been asked to come to seniors homes in various places in the province. Not only is it a pleasure for us but the appreciative audiences like to reminisce, after each performance, how they loved to do the same dances when they were much younger. Our performances have also taken us to Grand Falls and Gander to perform at Legions, NL 50 Plus Club and annual Nurses Conventions. We even made the trek to Clarenville to perform at their Farmer's Market. On a hot lazy day in August we were asked to perform for the citizens of the Lake Side Home in Gander. While they were munching on mouthwatering bowls of ice cream we kept them entertained with our lively foot stomping revelry. When there was a lull in our square dancing, Gord sang a couple of old fashioned waltzes. Many of us took the opportunity to get out some residents and dance along with them. As each person took our hands their smiles became a little wider and a lightheartedness overtook their whole demeanor. You could surmise that their thoughts were traveling back to a much younger time when they could tip the light fantastic in some distant dance hall. Certainly, a really big highlight for the Time in the Hall Square Dancers came in the summer of 2018 at the annual Eastport Peninsula Accordion Festival. Pauline Thornhill came out to film us for a Land and Sea program. It was a marvelous weeklong event. We danced informally for her at the SUF hall, without our formal costumes, and more regal attire accompanied us when we displayed our dancing prowess in front of audiences at the Eastport Theatre and on a Salvage red shed stage in midafternoon. We should still be in the midst of our laughter, lightheartedness and revelry, dancing around the SUF ballroom floor while listening to our caller telling us each move as we step danced, swung and dipsy doodled around with our dance partner. Last March, 2020, Covid-19 brought everything to a screeching halt! Several times throughout the past year it looked like we would be able to go back to dancing when the Covid numbers in the province were very minimal. Just as we got our hopes up, there was always another wave that dashed any thoughts of stepping the light fantastic. Perhaps, we thought a pot luck get together, with all dance members, might allow a bit of social distance dancing after the meal. Instead of swings and close contact we could try more imaginative ways to dance. Elbow touching could replace times when we had to swing. More step dancing would be another social distanced way of dancing. The Virginia Reel would certainly allow for these maneuvers. But nothing worked out. The most one can do at home is practice an old fashioned waltz or watch and rewatch our Land and Sea taped show. But the requests keep coming in for us to do performances for various groups. As soon as the pandemic is over we keep telling them. When we are allowed to step on the dance floor again we will be a happy bunch of dancers.   Submitted By: NULL