January 1, 2023
Just realized that this website has been around for 27 years (or so), more or less the amount of
time for which I've been dancing. Many of the teachers I knew from back then are 27 years older than
when I met them so if they're not retired, they're probably headed in that direction. I'm not getting
out dancing as much (remember that part about being 27 years older) and I have no idea if a lot of these teachers
and dance venues are still around. These dance business were always eager to get listed (well, not entirely true;
many of them had no idea that this website existed); those same venues probably don't have this
website in mind as they shut down their business. If you know any of these business, please let me know if
those venues are no long viable. It'd nice to be able to pare down the listings to have only current
venues. If you know the dance proprietors, ask them to contact me and let me know officially that they are
no longer in business.
Whoever was around back in "the old days" might have known Lois Meinhardt, a local teacher and
enthusiastic dancer; she passed away on July 28, 2021. We didn't know about it until we were
listening to a sermon by Michael Balboni, one of my favorite ministers at Park Street Church, on
January 2, 2022. It was quite a surprise when we realized to whom Pastor Balboni was referring.
It's a shocking way to find out that someone had left this world.
You can listen to the whole sermon, Hope in
God. We can hope that Lois is at peace and continuing to rip up that great dance floor in the sky.
If you have a picture of Lois, preferably a headshot, I'd like to post it here.
On that note, it came as a complete surprise to us to hear that local dancer Doug
Sweetser
passed away in December. He was always visible on the dance floor and a favorite leader of the followers. There will be memorial service
for Doug on January 7, 2023, at 1:00 pm, at the First Church Unitarian, 19 Foster Street in LIttleton. He leaves behind
his wife, Darra, and daughter, Elle.
I thought we were done but someone just told me that a friend and local dancer, Donna LeRue, passed away recently.
She was a scholar, historian and a woman of strong faith. We're awaiting news of funeral arragements.
