History of the freewheelers
One of the members of Bob Wright’s Hayloft class, Edith Townsend had graduated from another singles group's class the season prior and was somewhat frustrated. Edith was married, but her husband chose not to take classes. Since she was married, she was not allowed to join that club; and since she came to dances alone, she was not too well received at couples clubs. We empathized with her and felt that there should be a club where singles and married people could come to dance. Since about 80% of our current class was single anyway, we decided to try an experiment and on the 3rd Sunday of July 1985, a club was formed with Edith as our 1st member, quickly joined by 55 charter members.
As a result of a contest, the name of "FREEWHEELERS" was adopted. Our badge was designed as the result of another contest. Both our badge and our banner is a representation of a square dance couple dancing on a large wheel. Our banner was made by Charter Members, Shirley and Roger Olsby. The club caravan outfit for the ladies consists of turquoise blouse, white skirt, turquoise petticoat and white shoes. The men wore dark trousers, white shirt and a turquoise tie, but this has been changed to turquoise shirt and white tie. You may wear any variation of the above, as we just want our members to caravan with us.
On the 3rd Sunday of February we have our Annual Pie Dance. The club members bring pies and the club furnishes the ice cream. We always have a good variety of pies, so it is hard to decide which kind you want. But there are usually enough pies so you can take another piece!
The 1st Sunday of May each year the Freewheelers sponsored a dance aboard a Washington State Ferry, which went from Anacortes up through the San Juan Islands. We usually had at least 25 squares of dancers aboard and one year we had 37 squares. It was always a lot of fun! Then in 2000 the Ferry System had all the seats bolted down ending the tradition.
Every year on the 3rd Sunday of July, we observe our anniversary with an alternating mainstream and plus dance.
Our original caller was Bob Wright. He started his calling career in 1966 with a group of 4H students. He has also called for: Circle M's, Skagit Squares, Hoot "n" Hollers, Homesteaders, Allemanders, Evergreen Squares, Haylofters and the Single Stars. We added Debbie Taylor as our cuer in 1990 and she has been our cuer ever since. In 1995 we added Don Wood to our calling team, as Bob was temporarily traveling in his job with Boeing. In 2002 Don quit calling for us, so we hired Roger Spiese as our club caller. Dennis “Spyder” Webb started doing our class sessions in September 2010 and calls for our level dances. We have been very fortunate to have this great team! Each one has been an asset to our club.
The 25th Anniversary Dance on July 18, 2010 was also Bob and Shari Wright’s Retirement Party and his last time calling for us. As the two of them were the ones who originated the Freewheelers Square Dance Club, the club made Bob and Shari, Honorary Lifetime Members. Thank you Bob for calling for us for 25 years!
The Freewheelers have been most fortunate to have many highly dedicated members who have devoted a lot of their time and energy throughout the existence of the club and have kept the club running smoothly. The current Board is: Randy Lewis – President; Carol Harris - Vice President; Dorothy McReynolds – Secretary and Tom Corning - Treasurer.
And the changes continue, starting with the 2018 / 2019 dance season in September, the Freewheelers move to a new hall and change their time. The first Sunday of the month dance will be Mainstream and the 3rd Sunday dance Plus. Pre-rounds are 6:30 - 7:00 followed by the dance from 7:00 - 9:30.
As a result of a contest, the name of "FREEWHEELERS" was adopted. Our badge was designed as the result of another contest. Both our badge and our banner is a representation of a square dance couple dancing on a large wheel. Our banner was made by Charter Members, Shirley and Roger Olsby. The club caravan outfit for the ladies consists of turquoise blouse, white skirt, turquoise petticoat and white shoes. The men wore dark trousers, white shirt and a turquoise tie, but this has been changed to turquoise shirt and white tie. You may wear any variation of the above, as we just want our members to caravan with us.
On the 3rd Sunday of February we have our Annual Pie Dance. The club members bring pies and the club furnishes the ice cream. We always have a good variety of pies, so it is hard to decide which kind you want. But there are usually enough pies so you can take another piece!
The 1st Sunday of May each year the Freewheelers sponsored a dance aboard a Washington State Ferry, which went from Anacortes up through the San Juan Islands. We usually had at least 25 squares of dancers aboard and one year we had 37 squares. It was always a lot of fun! Then in 2000 the Ferry System had all the seats bolted down ending the tradition.
Every year on the 3rd Sunday of July, we observe our anniversary with an alternating mainstream and plus dance.
Our original caller was Bob Wright. He started his calling career in 1966 with a group of 4H students. He has also called for: Circle M's, Skagit Squares, Hoot "n" Hollers, Homesteaders, Allemanders, Evergreen Squares, Haylofters and the Single Stars. We added Debbie Taylor as our cuer in 1990 and she has been our cuer ever since. In 1995 we added Don Wood to our calling team, as Bob was temporarily traveling in his job with Boeing. In 2002 Don quit calling for us, so we hired Roger Spiese as our club caller. Dennis “Spyder” Webb started doing our class sessions in September 2010 and calls for our level dances. We have been very fortunate to have this great team! Each one has been an asset to our club.
The 25th Anniversary Dance on July 18, 2010 was also Bob and Shari Wright’s Retirement Party and his last time calling for us. As the two of them were the ones who originated the Freewheelers Square Dance Club, the club made Bob and Shari, Honorary Lifetime Members. Thank you Bob for calling for us for 25 years!
The Freewheelers have been most fortunate to have many highly dedicated members who have devoted a lot of their time and energy throughout the existence of the club and have kept the club running smoothly. The current Board is: Randy Lewis – President; Carol Harris - Vice President; Dorothy McReynolds – Secretary and Tom Corning - Treasurer.
And the changes continue, starting with the 2018 / 2019 dance season in September, the Freewheelers move to a new hall and change their time. The first Sunday of the month dance will be Mainstream and the 3rd Sunday dance Plus. Pre-rounds are 6:30 - 7:00 followed by the dance from 7:00 - 9:30.
