Memories
Breaking Up Thanksgiving
Please send us your memories of Breaking Up Thanksgiving. We will be delighted to post them here.
Many Breaking Up Thanksgiving Memories
Breaking Up Thanksgiving was the first dance and music weekend I ever went to. I started dancing in July and then went to it in November. I remember meeting so many nice people, but thought it was strange that everyone was always talking about music and dancing, even during meals. Now, I get it.
One of my favorite memories of Breaking Up Thanksgiving at Camp Henry Horner is from the days before we had pre-registration. It was so exciting to work at the Registration table and see who showed up. People from all over the country would come (still true!). One year, Kathy Anderson showed up and told me that she had just written some new dances and would there be some time and space for her to try them out? I remember people jumping up and moving tables and chairs out of the way in the dining hall and dancers rushing forward to be the first to dance a new Kathy Anderson dance. I think she stood on a chair and called. There was a lot of happy energy in that room!
I remember a year when it snowed a whole bunch on Saturday night and how beautiful the trees were on Sunday morning. I also remember a year where it was 70 degrees on Saturday and we had a spontaneous picnic lunch out in the field with people sprawled out on blankets and food being shared and passed around. We talked about how lucky we were to be all together in such a beautiful place on such a beautiful day. I slept very comfortably in a tent that year.
I also remember the small, acoustic square dance in Ruth Lodge and how much fun it was to have a caller in each square, calling a different dance. The music was high energy and we worked up quite a sweat!
One of my favorite memories is walking through the dining hall at almost any time of the day or night and being able to go from one jam to another, listening to amazing music. Beginning to appreciate the joy of old-time music and the wealth of talent in our community.
~Shari Pergricht
My First Breaking Up Thanksgiving
I heard about the party from Stan, a banjo player who used to live here. He didn't have a car, so he thought that I might like to go, and give him a ride. I was new to the dance and music community and was glad to be invited.
I had a red plymouth duster, the only non-ford I've ever owned. I mention it because I remember the dark, cold ride, way, way, way out west, past the western suburbs, on curvy two lane roads through forests and fields, with Stan relatively sure where we were going.
I don't know if it was the first or the second Breaking Up that I went to. It started as a party at Mark Ritchies parents house in Elburn, and when I say Elburn, I mean middle of nowhere countryside west of Geneva. There was some dancing, but it was more of a music party.
The first thing I remember was how chilly the big farmhouse was, but full of music and laughter and warmth none-the-less. We danced in the dining room. We played tunes all over the house. Tony Scarimbolo taught me my first cross tuned fiddle tunes. It was almost 30 years ago, but i can still see the parlor where we sat and I learned Barlow Knife and Jimmy Shanks. Mark Ritchie showed me banjo tunes in double D tuning, all new to me. I remember a fiddler named Earl who was there from New York State and told me about the railroad he owned. Masha Goodman and Vicki Moss, leading the vibrating floor full of cloggers. People I met there that I still know today.
But there's one thing that stands out in my mind from that weekend. There was a kick-butt jam session in the dining room. I can't remember who was playing most of the instruments. In my mind it was Mark Gunther and Chirps Smith and John Terr, but they are many of my early icons and mentors and I see them a lot in my memories. But I do remember the bass player, Tom T. Ball, who came from Michigan.
They were playing the tune, "chinquapin hunting", a rollicking 3 part tune. It was an amazing groove, an organic fiddle tune machine that thundered through the house. A ring of people surrounded the jam. Cloggers were shaking the floor, myself included, with wild but rhythmic abandon. People were whooping it up.
They played for more than 10 minutes. When they finally stopped, to screams of approval, and the instruments stopped ringing, Tom. T. Ball, shaking his head, yelled "CHEESE AND RICE!!".
Cheese and rice, that was a good time. We've had many years of Breaking Up, in a bunch of different places, with some amazing dance and music and people, but that first year, when it was just a big party in a big, drafty old farmhouse, stands out sweetly in my heart. In a way, it was my coming out party for old time music and dance. Over the years I've seen lots of people have the same grand experience, and thanks to the good souls who resurrected the party this year, it will continue.
~Steve Rosen
A Square Dance Party
A Square Dance Party at Breaking Up Thanksgiving
by Paul Tyler and Gene Hubert
(These articles were originally posted to the Usenet newsgroup
Paul writes: I've been offline for more than a week, so I don't know if anyone reported on the Breaking Up Thanksgiving weekend run by the Chicago Barn Dance Company. I had loads of fun this year, even though there were nearly 400 people in attendance, causing the buildings to bulge at Camp Henry Horner.
I didn't dance a lick at the big nighttime dances. And this year I took my calling turn during the family dance hour on Saturday night. However, I did several band rotations and was pleased to see several squares called well and received appreciatively. (Last year when I said "Square your sets!" the hall cleared. I don't think it was me, because I don't remember anyone else even attempting a square.)
But the most fun of all was a smaller, acoustic square dance held in the fireplace room in one of the lodges. Three squares danced at a time for close to three hours, while the musicians pumped out tunes at one end of the long room. Callers soon gave up trying to direct the whole floor, so each square had its own caller dancing with them. Again, I ended up playing most of the time, and only called and danced once.
It was a gas. It had the feel of a old time kitchen dance or house party. I know I'm not alone in my opinion that this was the highlight of the weekend.
~Paul Tyler
Gene writes: I was there and it was the highlight of my weekend too. I had heard of dancing with a caller in each square back in the "old days", but had never experienced it in the current revival scene. I had some questions about how it would work to have each set doing a completely different dance but it worked out nicely.
There were three squares, each with their own caller for most of the evening. A funny thing happened in a square that I was calling. The walkthrus were done and the music was starting. One of the other callers started calling as soon as the tune started and before I had gotten around to calling my dance. Everybody in my set started to do what the other caller was calling! Bet that never happens at your local dance.
This event worked really well because the music, dancers and callers were all really good. We had a self selected set of dancers who chose to attend a small, acoustic square dance rather than a much larger dance that would be mostly contras. These were mostly experienced dancers who had had good experiences with squares. They also knew that the other dance would probably be horribly crowded.
With this setup, we had quick walkthrus and did break figures such as daisy chain and allemande thar that would be a real struggle to teach at most open dances.
I wish more dancers could have this kind of positive experience with squares. I hate to see the skill level for squares at many dances dropping; they have a lot of potential that many dancers are unaware of. We have a lot of good, experienced dancers out there who could be having a real blast with squares.
~Gene Hubert
Old Camp Henry Horner
For those of us who have very fond memories of the old site - welcome back! To those who are new - you will begin to understand what the old Breaking Up Thanksgiving was all about.
Breaking Up Thanksgiving started as a party for musicians and dancers to break up the long Thanksgiving weekend in someone's home, until it grew so big they had to move it to Camp Henry Horner. Then that grew so large, we had to take reservations to be sure there was room for everyone who wanted to come. It was a magical time - some of the absolute best music, best dancing and best potlucking you've ever experienced! Kids and adults alike participating in Bonnie's famous annual scavenger hunt, Dot's family dance, tye-dying BUT t-shirts, toilet-paper football.
Come join us again for Breaking up Thanksgiving at Camp Henry Horner in an idyllic setting in the woods, sharing food, music and dance with friends from all over the midwest and beyond!
~Dianne Fox
Camp Henry Horner
Although it was magical, the moment cannot be repeated. A new one will take place. If you've never been you are in for a treat. And if you have been, you know what I mean!
Remember kindergarten and the circle time? Everyone would hold hands and move around in a circle. There would be smiling, no cares to think about. That's how I remember Breaking Up Thanskgiving: Jamming, dancing, eating, laughing. The time passed with a blink, time to go home, until next year, Sunday, exchanging numbers, giving hugs until the next time, BUT knowing it would never be repeated in the same way. Having that smile when I think about those times. KNOWING THAT I AM GOING AGAIN YIPEE!!!!!!!
~Kolleen Blume
(and her youngins' who remember Stephanie
hangin'from the flagpole by her bib overalls)