Ocean Bay and St James Elementary Schools 

by

Lou Martino

OCEAN BAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

ST JAMES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CLICK HERE to see Photos of Ocean Bay Elementary School

CLICK HERE to see Photos of St James Elementary School

Photos by Lou Martino

On March 28, 2018 the OD Shag Club Dance Team was asked to demonstrate and teach the Shag Dance at the Ocean Bay Elementary School during their Music Appreciation Day which is like Fine Arts Day only it focuses on Music. Our point of contact was Kristie Jacobs who I might add was the teacher of the year 2017-2018.

We were to teach and demonstrate the Shag Dance from 8am until 11am to 1st thru 2^nd grader on the first day and the second day were to teach and demonstrate to the 3^rd thru 5^th grade. We focused on the 3^rd graders since they were studying South Carolina History.

Since the dance team had two events on March 29, 2018 one at Ocean Bay Elementary School and the other at St James Elementary School, we had to split into two teams.

Our point of contact at St James Elementary was Kayleigh Vanlandingham. Her request to revisit St James Elementary was that the students responded so well to our visit last year that they wanted us to return this year. After all, these will be our future shaggers.

Both days were attended by our early risers, since we had to be at Ocean Bay Elementary at 7:30am which is located on International Drive in Myrtle Beach and St James Elementary which is located just this side of Surfside Beach. They were both early mornings for the team but it was well worth the trips after seeing the enthusiasm of the students and their love of the music.

On the first day Linda Campbell and Lou Martino headed our team at Ocean Bay Elementary supported by John and Lori Setzer, Barbara Hopper and Donna Williams. Linda introduced the team and began the instructions and the demonstration. We were very impressed with the amount of energy and discipline of these “young-ins”.

They all wanted to learn how to shag. They were all fine until they had to find a partner. The girls were more forward than the boys. However, after they saw how much fun they could have, they all began to dance with each other.

The first day went very well and we all had a great time.

The second day was a little challenging since we had to split our team into two events. Linda Campbell, along with John and Lori Setzer and Barbara Hopper took Ocean Bay Elementary. They were to teach 3^rd thru 5^th graders.

Lou Martino, Mike and Bonnie Bejzak and Donna Williams went to St James Elementary. They were to teach pre-kindergarten thru kindergarten. The students here were just great.

At each location we had a 25-minute time frame to teach and demo the shag dance and in each class, there were 25 to 50 students so we had our work cut out for us. But with the cooperation and structure of the class, we had no problems and we had a lot of fun.

Thank you, Kristie Jacobs and Kayleigh Vanlandingham, for including the OD Shag Club Dance Team in your Music and Fine Arts Day.

Some special thanks go out to those members of the OD Shag Club Dance Team for getting up so early to promote and preserve the Shag Dance.

Photos by Lou Martino

Chili Cook Off

by

Bill Bacon

Click Here to see Photos of this event

On March 17^th the O.D. Shag Club held our Annual Chili Cook-Off at Fat Harold’s Beach Club. The theme for the Cook Off was western so many members dressed up with their cowboy hats, boots and western attire. We had a great turnout, but it would have been nice if more people had brought chili. The chili I took was gone before I got to it. Maybe that was because it was so good! As good as it was though, unfortunately it was not good enough to win. Vickie Harrison won the $75.00 first prize with Donna Williams winning

$50.00 for second place and Dolly McDermott winning the $25.00 third prize. Gail Johnson won the Logo prize and Monica Powell won the money for wearing her name t ag. It pays to wear those name tags and Logos. Ken Meyer won the big prize for the evening, the 50/50 with a payoff of $233.00!!!

Tim Shumway, Mollie Putnam and Kristie McDonald had the enviable task of getting to taste all the chili, but then had the unenviable job of selecting the winners! That must have been a hard job and we thank you, even if you didn’t pick the best chili I have ever made!!

Our special thanks to Donnie and Wendy Schultz and the other members of the Food Committee and everyone else who made it all happen! Also, thanks to everyone who brought chili and desserts!

Photos by Lou Martino

Dance Team at Belk’s

by

Lou Martino

Click Here to see Photos of this event

On March 22, 2018, the OD Shag Club Dance Team performed at Belk’s at the Myrtle Beach Mall between the hours of 3PM and 5PM. The store theme was “Girls Night”.

We were welcomed to the Shoe Department by our own Cindy Day. As always, the staff at Belk’s welcomes us with open arms. Thank you, Cindy, for inviting us to Belk’s and allowing us to promote the OD Shag Club and the dance that we love so much the “Shag”.

As is our normal routine, Linda Campbell introduced each team member and gave a little introduction as to the evolution of Carolina Shag. Her voice was heard though out the store, so as we began to dance more customers came to watch us dance.

Belk’s provided us with a DJ “Scott” who was nice enough to play the songs that the team would dance to. We provided the music and he played it as requested by the team.

Each couple of the team danced twice for around one and a half minutes each time though out the two-hour block. We had 17 members of the dance team present.  

I would like to thank the members of the team that danced at this event. From left to right: Mike Bejzak, Bonnie Bejzak, Lou Martino, Linda Campbell, Lori Setzer, John Setzer, Billy Byrne, Cathy Jamiolkowski, Barbara Hopper, Rich Jamiolkowski, Burnie Williams, Donna Williams, Cherie Patalik, Larry Boyer, Connie Livingston, Callie White and Ted Sobol.

Also, a special thank you goes out to Belk’s for the gift bags they presented to each of our members. We all appreciate your generosity.

Photos by Lou Martino

St Patrick’s Day Parade

by

Billy Powell

The OD Shag Club was well represented in the 2018 North Myrtle Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  We had 25 golf carts and 86 people participate this year.  A great time was had by all before, during and after the parade.  This year, we thru out over 15,000 strands of beads during the parade.       

Bill and Diane Millman were our banner carriers this year and their costumes were outstanding!  Many thanks to Rich and Karen Young and Sonny Tomberlin who helped me register everyone and hand out beads and all the other administrative tasks before a parade begins.  I could not do all of this without the help of my significant other, Monica.  Her help and support during and after all of the parades is immeasurable.

I know that it requires getting up a little earlier than most of us would like to be in this parade, but I promise you the fun and fellowship that you have makes it well worth the effort.  If you did not participate this year, please consider making next year’s parade.

Our next parade is on April 28, the SOS Parade.  I am looking forward to a great turnout this year for SOS.