Well, everyone. This is my last letter to you as your 2022 President. It has been a ride to say the least. I can retire from this as of December 31 and know that I have done my absolute best. I have devoted this entire year to the OD Shag Club to try to make it the best it can be. Do I feel like that has happened? No, I really do not. There have been a lot of things beyond my control, but I tried very hard to involve our members and show them what this wonderful dance community is like. I felt like we gave them every opportunity to feel important and useful and to showcase their many valuable talents. I have laid awake at nights to try to come up with things that will make our members feel welcome and I do believe that for the most part that was accomplished. Could we do that with everyone? No. When you have 670+ members it is hard to know every face much less names. Please know if you were or are new, you are welcome and you need to help us by making yourself known. I will still see you at FH at least 2 times a week. Please do make yourself known. I am also going to stay involved with the entertainment, the parades, the Blues Cruise, and the beach parties so please help me by introducing yourself and volunteering to help. If you have been around for a while, please continue to say hello. I am also going to help out with another local club so you may also see us there.

December not only “changes the guard” as they say but it also brought a very busy month to your board. As most of you know, your board voted to not be in the Christmas parade due to the cost of their new rules. We also had to withdraw from our clean sweep job as the State of SC also changed some road requirements that did not work with our membership. So, even though we did not participate in either of those things, we still had a busy month. Our Thanksgiving party in November was attended by 256 people. Our December party was attended by 250+ (uncertain of exact number). Those 2 events were so well attended and for both of them our food was absolutely delicious. OUR SPOTLIGHTS: Thank you, Terry, Kathy, Paulette and all who volunteered to serve. Thank you for those that make themselves available to clean up. You are awesome and the rest of us could not do it without you. Thank you to Connie and Charlie Pangburn for the

November has closed out another month. One more and it will be another year. November brought us Thanksgiving and what a Thanksgiving Party we had. This year has flown by for us and when talking to others it seems as though most feel that way. You know what they say, time flies when you are having fun.

Fat Harold’s looked so good. Lulu has told me multiple times that it is the most beautiful it has ever been. So good to hear. It took 8 of us around 5 hours to make it sparkle. Terry and Kathy at the helm again for all of us to enjoy.

Our Thanksgiving party was so well attended. We had 256 people and got them all fed thanks to Terry, Kathy, Paulette and all our serving volunteers. A big thanks to all. I would appreciate it if you will say Thank You to all our food volunteers and clean up crews. It is so nice to have people like them in our mist.

We are making the three of our food leaders Terry and Kathy McCoy and Paulette Miller our Spotlights for November. What most of us do not think about is that there is so much that goes on behind the scenes. Not only do they cook and serve but they have to not only buy the stuff, they have to pick up all things necessary and then cut up all the necessary ingredients beforehand. Then they have to clean it all up. It takes a team. Then it takes the leader of the team. I think it is time for us to all think about what it takes to have something as great as we had at Thanksgiving. Just so everyone also knows Paulette Miller made all of the delicious dressing. I don’t think we can ever thank them enough for what they do for us.

Before you know it Christmas will be upon us. Be sure to get your shopping done early to avoid the crowds. No matter how much online shopping people do, there seems to still be a crowd. Whatever you do, please be safe.

 This season of the year brings us all to a very busy time of the year. There are so many in need and the OD Shag Club will be asking you to help us feed and give to families that struggle all the time for the things that we take for granted. Remember when you come to the Christmas party on December 10^th to bring what you can of non-perishable goods or donations or if you feel like it both with you to the party. Hopefully, those of us who are so lucky in life will share with those less fortunate.

Thanks to all who are helping the OD Shag Club with its charities.

Remember, be kind, love one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and above all dance like no one is watching. It is with you feet that you move but your heart that you dance.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Loving Shag Life

Donna Williams

Ken Dawkins

Well, it’s that time again. Everywhere you go you see Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations and ads. How can that be? Today it is near 80 degrees here in NMB and it is November. The streets are still too busy, the grocery store shelves are still partially empty, and Fat Harold’s still feels like SOS every Wednesday and Friday night. As we would have said 60 years ago “Bummer.” It appears this is more the norm than the unusual in what used to be our little town of NMB. 

        October brought us our elections and our Halloween Party with our Monster Mash crew. It was a hit!! Our mad scientist, Dracula in his RIP casket, and Frankenstein, all made an appearance. We had monsters, vampires, ghouls, zombies, and coffin bangers. Everyone contributed to the graveyard smash, and it was an absolute hoot. We had so much fun. 

       The elections went off smoothly. Your new 2023 Board will be President Wayne Baldwin, VP Charlie Pangburn, Secretary Monica Powell and Treasurer Rick Kosko. The 3 new Board members are Al Cosgrove, Lou Garrenton and Connie Livingston. Congrats to all. 

Our spotlight this month is Ken Dawkins. Ken or Kenny as he is called is one of the people this club is so fortunate to have. When we came together as a parade committee and picked a theme that meant making a Sphinx from scratch and building a float, Ken Dawkins was right there on top of it with his tool belt, his hammer, and his wonderful ideas of how to get the job done. When we put the monster mash dance theme together, Ken again stepped up and built us a casket for Dracula. He is a man of many talents. His greatest claim to fame is his kindness. He is an asset to us not only for his skills but also for his wonderful attitude and constant smile. When you see him, please say Thank You for sharing his exceptional talents. Get ready Kenny, 2023 is not far away. Have we got a job for you!!

Stay tuned for next month’s spotlight of the month. It will be my last. Until then, remember to be kind to one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and dance like no one is watching. It is with your feet you move but it is with your heart that you dance.

Loving Shag Life

Ken Myers

Here we are again. Another month gone by. Boy, what a month we have had. It was one of those hang on to your hat months- A Clean Sweep, our Dance classes started, our 2^nd Beach party, our golf tournament, SOS for 10 days including Fun Sunday and Fun Monday, our Brunch, and our golf cart drawing. Did someone say we are retired?

Thanks to Joan and Bill for setting up our Clean sweep. John and Nancy are doing a great job with our dance classes. Attendance has been smaller, but our newbies are bringing a cheering section with them, and it has been fun for all. Our 2^nd beach party was another huge success. How many years has it been since you saw 100 people doing the hokey pokey and on the beach no less. It was a hoot. We had so much fun. The golf tournament had the most players ever. We had 120 golfers, and the raffle was phenomenal. Thank you, Kay, for all your hard work on making the baskets and making them pretty to boot. Thanks also goes to all our hard working volunteers for a job well done. You will see below our spotlight this month is the guy who put it together and what a job he did. What can you say about SOS? It has returned!!!!!  Yea Rah. Fun Sunday and Fun Monday were filled with great people and great music. Our Brunch was terrific. Thank you, Terry, Kathy, Paulette, and crew. A special thanks to OD Arcade for another great breakfast. Last but not least was our golf cart drawing. We sure made our winner happy. The golf cart is now in Va and he and his daughters we happy to come get it. Thank you to Jim and Sharon for their hard work on that. I hope that everyone sees that “It takes a Village” as they say. Everything we do is dependent on our wonderful giving volunteers who work over an over again to make things happen. We are so blessed to have people who care about other people and are willing to work for a Thank You. I want so badly to be able to personally thank all the behind the scenes, in front of the scenes and all who continually give and give and do not ask for anything in return. THANK YOU ALL FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO. WITHOUT YOU WE WOULD BE NOTHING BUT A NAME. WITH YOU WE ARE EVERYTHING ANYONE COULD ASK FOR. I AM SO PROUD TO BE YOUR PRESIDENT. NO ONE COULD ASK FOR MORE!!!!!!!!!!!”

Our spotlight this month is Ken Meyer. He is a quiet member of our club and just came to the rescue of the golf tournament. When we started, we had a handful of inexperienced people trying to pull things together. He rescued me way back at the beginning of the year and went with me to Eastport. This totally inexperienced person that I was had no clue. Ken said “Donna, I will go with you.” He did and I watched him and listened to him and he was magic. The Pro and Ken worked out details and off we went. As the months rolled on Ken had 2 knee replacements and timed them to work out with the golf tournament schedule. He did the paper work to get the golfers, (and there were 120, the largest number of players we have ever had). He kept us all informed and the magic show went on until the end of the day. Thank you Ken Meyer(and wife Carol) for what you did to make this awesome day a success. It is not just about what you did(you saved the day) but who you are that makes you a beautiful, special human being. We are so lucky to have you.

Stay tuned for next month’s Spotlight for the month. Until then, remember to be kind to one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and dance like no one is watching. It is with your feet that you move but it is with your heart that you dance.

 Loving shag life

Donna Williams

Summer is almost over and here we are getting ready for SOS. What a wonderful time of year. Keep your fingers crossed that we get through another year without a hurricane. The summer has flown by quickly and we as a club have experienced a busy time of year in spite of the heat and rain. It’s like living in Florida again.

As I said in last month’s letter, we are getting more new members each month. So wonderful to see. I check the box each Wednesday and Friday when I go to Fat Harold’s and it is amazing how quickly the 25 apps I print at a time disappear. I guess the excitement of our fabulous end of the year parties is still enticing to some.  It’s great our September with SOS, October with Halloween, November with Thanksgiving and December with our Christmas “gala” are so inviting that people still want to join us. Welcome to all who chose to join us in August.

August also gave over 100 of us a memory we will never forget. DANCING BAREFOOT IN THE SAND!!!!  I cannot remember the date I did that for the first time, but I will always remember the feeling. I hope that many of you felt the freedom and excitement that I hoped it would give you. What a great night we had. When I got the idea to do this, I was not sure where to start to make it happen, but it went like a charm. The City of North Myrtle Beach was great to work with. Every department head had no problem with us having our beach party. Even though we had a rain date of September 13^th, the weather cooperated, and it was wonderful to be amongst our members barefooted and having a great time. JJ Kinlaw pumped our music to us from the Pavilion and did a fabulous job. Thank you, Jessica Whorley for permission for that. We put our 100+ chairs in a circle and we danced inside the circle and for those that preferred not to dance as a couple, we joined hands and circle danced to allow everyone to experience the feeling. It was so successful we are, weather permitting, having a repeat performance. We hope to see you September 13, our original rain date. Next years President has stated he hopes to carry on our “NEW TRADITION” by doing it again in 2023 as well. Thank you all who attended and made it a huge success. We hope it is a lifetime memory for you!!

September will be a busy month. Be sure to join us for our beach party, golf tournament, Brunch, golf cart ticket drawing, clean sweep, Fun Sunday, Fun Monday and all of the other events that make SOS, The OD Shag Club and North Myrtle Beach the place to be.

Our 2^nd Spotlight of the month is Kaye Hughes. Kaye is known by many as one of the hardest working workabees you will have the pleasure of meeting. We are so fortunate that she and her husband Mark moved to Longs. She constantly is doing something for our club. She is our backup photographer and has taken many pictures in her short time here. She and Mark with a large group of friends support local bands. She did 99% of the designing and sewing of the golf carts that helped us win 1^st place in the Most Original of the April parade. Currently she is focused on the Raffle for the Golf Tournament on the 17th. I understand at this time she has as many as 95 raffle prizes ready to raise money for the tournament. Kaye is a very talented, always willing to help our club, beautiful lady that we are so lucky to have with us. Please say thank you when you see her for all she does.

Stay tuned for next month’s Spotlight for the month. Until then, remember to be kind to one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and dance like no one is watching. It is with your feet you move but it is with your heart that you dance.

Another month has gone by and we are still adding new members. A thanks needs to go to Diane Bauer for handling all these numbers and lists for so many of us. “It takes a village as they say.” My time is on the downside and there are so many things I want to say and do before I can’t. I cannot say enough thanks for all the support I have been given and am receiving from our volunteers. As I have told many of you in conversations, the majority of us worked hard for years. Some of us still do. At 76 years old, I feel 19 when I get up in the mornings and it is because I live the good life with the right kind of people. Thanks to all of you, you inspire me, and you make me a better person. I tell my husband Burnie, “I am going to die at 104 on the dance floor and that means you have to be 106.” For many of us, when we retire-as THEY call it-we begin to realize that we are no longer as useful as we were for so many years. We begin to question this growing old stuff. After 2 years in retirement, I could not handle being idle, so I went to school for a new career. We bought a townhouse in NMB in order to be here more frequently for the dance. Finally in 2010 we moved here full time. My life changed at that time by becoming full time with the best group of people anyone can surround themselves with. THE OD SHAG CLUB MEMBERSHIP!!!  I have watched our membership grow this year and watched as people have realized they can, again, feel like they contribute. They can share their talents, their knowledge and skills and feel good about being able to add to the experience-whatever it is. Our parade group stepped up and shared and worked and worked. Our golf cart fundraiser group stepped right up and have done amazing things. Our golf tournament people are coming forth daily to pull it together for September 17. Our Junior SOS people came out in numbers. EVERY SINGLE MONTH our food crew does their thing. There are too many to mention one by one, but they all are here for the rest of us. Please say thanks. Ladies and Gents each of us is blessed to be a part of this club. Some of us may have more bumps in the road than others. If that happens to you, hold out your hand and tell someone. Most of our membership are loving, honorable, giving, caring people. Most of us want to make this club be the best it can be. To do that it cannot be about power. It has to be the desire to make it the best!!! YOU can help us meet that goal. Bring us your ideas, share your knowledge and skills. I can assure you, your current President wants your input.

For this reason and others, I am going to pick a monthly spotlight person (who is not on the board) through December from our membership who goes beyond for this club. He or she may or may not be known to you. If not, walk up and introduce yourself and see for yourself why they are important to the club. I will do my best to provide a picture.

Our first spotlight is on Lou Martino. Lou is our web master, our photographer and has been, until Covid, our co-chair of our dance team. He has been a member of this club approximately 30 years. He does most of the picture taking and All of the website changing and posting.  He knows our bylaws inside and out and wants things to be done right. He is also a really smooth dancer. If you see a guy with a mischievous smile on his face and a camera in his hand it is probably Lou.  As co-chair of the dance team, he shared his knowledge of the dance with many organizations, conventions, schools and members. Say hi and thank him for years of honorable service to our great club. Tell him we need him.

Stay tuned for next months Spotlight for the month. Until then, remember to be kind to one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and dance like no one is watching. It is with your feet you move but it is with your heart that you dance.

We are now past ½ of the year. The old saying is “Time flies when you are having fun.” I do believe that is true. Living at the beach and finding wonderful friends in this great lifestyle is beyond fun. I never thought when we bought a 2^nd home here in 2004 and a full-time home in 2010 that I would ever be looking back and thinking how in the world did this happen to me. You read all kinds of ads about living the dream and most of us think that is just someone trying to draw us in to what ever they are selling. I feel like we really ARE living the dream. I’m going to tell you what you are missing if you are not a part of this great club. The main reason we moved here was to be able to dance whenever we wanted to. The 2^nd reason was that the people we met at the club(s) but mainly Fat Harolds were so nice to us and made us just want to come back and come back to be around these beautiful caring people and dance to phenomenal music. Burnie got very sick and had months and months of treatment in Charleston only to be dropped from the program because his body was not responding. The entire year+ we received calls, can I get your groceries, can I drive him to Charleston, what can I do, even can I clean your house. It was all these beautiful people who are a large part of this great club. We knew very few people well outside of this shag life group here. They became our local family and still to this day they are. This wonderful group of human beings have talents and career experiences that make them such an asset to the world but especially to our little corner of the world. They gave this club 6 weeks of their life for the SOS parade and the excitement seeing it come to fruition was so much stronger than the weariness of work, work, and more work. All this time, we were selling golf cart tickets. We have 90 some left. Please buy a few. Now we are knee deep in the September golf tournament. What a great day it is. Fun at the beginning, fun at the end and all in between. Please volunteer to work it. You will not regret doing so. Last but never the least, serving on our Board. August is the big month for nominations. Though we don’t always agree we are a unified Board. You must have a unified board to get the respect of your members. Without respect there is no leadership. With 650+ members we have people from all over on our board and in our club but for the most part most of us want the same thing. WE WANT THIS CLUB TO BE THE BEST IT CAN BE. That can only happen when people share ideas, talents, time and effort. Come forth and share your talents, your dreams and your skills and help us get to our goal. We need you and you need this shag life. It is a wonderful thing and gets better all the time. Please let us teach you that your dreams can really come true. Tues, August 23 we are going to have a beach party if weather permits. If not, it will be September 9. Details to follow but you will be able to take off your shoes and dance in the sand and experience what an awesome thing YOUR shag club can do for you.

Remember to be kind to one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and dance like no one is watching. It is with your feet that you move but it is with your heart that you dance.

Loving Shag Life

It is June and Summer is here. We had February weather in April and July weather in May. Now we will see what June brings. Our roads are full, our restaurants are full, our beaches are full and our dance floors are full and certainly all our empty land is filling up. New houses everywhere. 

Our month was a bit less stressful for all of us compared to April that was an extremely busy month. We have received so many wonderful compliments on our parade participation. Yea Rah to our Parade Committee, workers and players once again. Yea Rah to our Golf Cart Ticket sales. Yea Rah to our Ways and Means. We are so proud and grateful for each of you. 

We had our cook out and annual corn hole tournament at our regular monthly party on the 21^st. Another huge Thank you goes out to Terry and Kathy and team(this time Ken Dawkins and Joe Harrill) who made cooking 200 hot dogs and 200 hamburgers look so easy. Thank-you Paulette – you served us well. We are also very fortunate to have great cooks in our mist. Thanks to all who contributed. We donated what was left over. 

Our web master Lou and his dance partner Susan won their first CSA contest. The OD Shag Club is very proud. 

We do have golf cart tickets left so please if you see a member and can purchase a $5.00 ticket, please let us know. Jim’s email is on this website as a board member.

We are getting some notices that some people are not getting their emails. We check their addresses out and they are correct. Our gal Susan checks her list and they are going out. PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM IF YOU ARE NOT GETTING AN EMAIL.

Our June party is also our New Member Meet and Greet. If you are a new member, please come with your name tag on. If you do not have one, please get one at registration. Connie has a surprise for some lucky new person. 

Please show your support to the club with our 50/50, Ways and Means, Golf cart tickets, the golf tournament and later in the year our Christmas families. We so appreciate what you do as members of this great club while having such a wonderful time. It’s called Shag Life and the people are awesome and it is awesome. If you are not a part, you are missing a life changing chance. 

Remember to be kind to one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and dance like no one is watching. It is with your feet you move but it is with your heart that you dance.

Loving Shag Life

Here we are-already into another month. Bottom line-we made it with great success and smiles on our faces. We had 226 registered at our great 40^th Anniversary on the 21^st– 3 days later on the 24th we had 225 registered at our brunch- 6 days later we took approximately 60 people on a wonderful stroll down Main Street for our annual SOS parade.

The 40th was such a success. Our 21 volunteer bakers provided us with great treats. There is a separate write up on the 40^th that can be read on the website. Thank you, Linda Campbell, for being my right hand for this. Thank all of you who contributed. You made it happen.

A huge thanks to Terry and Kathy for all the planning and prep for our Brunch. As always, the Arcade out did itself on our breakfast. Thanks everyone who worked it for us – 50/50, those who served, worked the hospitality, membership, ways and means, and golf cart ticket sales. Thanks Murl-you made it. 

Our club was totally awesome in the parade. We hit the streets with dancers, float riders (including our mystery “Little Egypt” who wowed the whole parade route with HIS “special number wearing a ruby in his tummy and a diamond on his toe”)  and an unbelievable golf cart caravan. What great crowd pleasers. Thank you Lou-you were so into it. The bottom line for all the weeks of work by a crew of 12-16 most of the weeks 2 times a week was a 1^st place win for the Most Original category. There are so many people to send a special thanks to, but I don’t want to start naming because it will be 3 pages long and with my memory, I would probably miss someone. I do have to thank Linda Campbell for helping me with EVERYTHING. Thanks to Kaye Hughes for all her exceptional talents. Thanks to Ways and Means and Golf Cart Ticket sales staff for your dedication during SOS. Thanks to a great Board who are functioning as a TEAM for you to make this all happen. THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who has done anything.

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR CLUB by purchasing golf cart tickets and Ways and Means products. We need volunteers to come forth to help with sales for the upcoming months.

Remember to be kind to one another and treat each other with respect have fun and dance like no one is watching. It is with your feet you move but it is with your heart that you dance.

Loving Shag Life-Donna

Spring is here and April gives us a month of exciting events. Our March was another month flown by. “They” say that as you age the days seem to get shorter. Guess that lets you know how old you really are and not how young you feel. March was a windy and cooler month great for our Chili/Soup party. As always, our food team (Terry and crew) did an excellent job. Not only are we lucky to have them but we are also lucky to have, amongst us, super and willing to help members who are great cooks. Thanks to all who fed us so well. Thanks also to our great Ways and Means team for all your hard work. We are looking forward to all the new “surprises” for SOS. The St Partrick’s Day parade and festival was another success story. We won 1st place for Most Enthusiastic and also a spot in the NMB times parade page. Thanks to all who joined us for the fun. Your smiles and greetings were well received. Jim and crew did a grand job with the ticket sales at the festival. Again, thanks to all who worked and bought tickets. Without your support we would be nowhere.

Hang on for April. It is a going to be a great month for our wonderful club. We have been and are working diligently on our float and 40th Anniversary drop in. You would not believe how much talent we have in our mist. Wait until you see it!!!!!!!! The invitations to the 40th has been met with unbelievable yes results. Please come forward with your golf cart or as a walker for our parade. We need your help to make a lasting impression of the largest shag club there is. We would love to have you. Golf cart workdays will be announced. Float and parade workdays are ongoing. We are making great progress. We will also be “calling all bakers” for our 40th anniversary so be thinking of what beautiful and delicious creations are your specialties’. Thank you in advance.

See you at the 40th on the 21, the brunch on the 24th and the parade on the 30th. Help us celebrate being able to be together and what a wonderful group of members we have. Remember to be kind to one another and treat each other with respect have fun and dance like no one is watching. It is with your feet you move but it is with your heart you dance. Until next month-Donna

Our second month has flown by. The February weather was like a yoyo. Even the cold days were good days as we planned for our Famous Oyster Roast which was to take place on the 19^th. The crew worked most of the 2 and 3 days prior to actually fixing the bushels of oysters. Arriving early at the Arcade on the morning of the roast prepared to set things up, I was amazed at the great heart pump pulling up and seeing our great team who spend the days making it happen. It just does the heart good to see the effort, the camaraderie, the efficiency and how much the guys work together to provide for the rest of us. So proud to be a part of something soooo good. While there I found out there had been a crew of ladies who had cut, cooked and prepared all the foods necessary to make the delicious chicken bog the night before. Thank you ladies for doing all of that. It too, was delicious. Set up was a breeze with the help of Ray and his Arcade crew and before we knew it, all was done. If you missed the Oyster Roast, you need to make plans to be there next year. What a great event. We had a large turnout, great music, great food and smiles were abound. What a huge success all the way around. A big 50/50, Ways and means, Golf cart ticket sales and by the way, Thanks Sharon for making those goodies, Food, Music, and clean up help were all awesome. Way too many people to thank by name. You know who you are and Thank you all for all you do for us all. You are the best!!!!!

This month coming up is a practice for April when we will have so many big events. March brings us St Patrick’s day parade, golf cart ticket sales at the festival and our annual March Chili and Soup party. Put your party hats on, dress up your golf cart for the parade and come to the party hungry and buy some tickets. We have some catching up to do for that sporty, good looking golf cart with all the bells and whistles.

We thank you for supporting our February event, are looking forward to seeing you this month and hope you are ready to party hardy for SOS and all of our events in April. In the meantime, be kind, love one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and above all else dance like no one is watching.      

Our 2022 new year has begun with a January winter weather experience in NMB. Unlike most years where we have a few days of cold, we were the recipients of a few weeks of cold. SOS Mid winters started us out, and in spite of the weather, the year began with fun had by all.  As most already know, our board elected to postpone the 40^th Anniversary party and to not host our normal brunch. It was certainly the right thing to do with the bad weather roads in many parts of North and South Carolina. You will be happy to know the famous OD Oyster Roast will go on as scheduled on February 19^th. Our 40th Anniversary Drop In has been rescheduled for Thursday, April 21, 2022. Please mark your calendar. While you are doing that, please make note that our December Christmas party will be held the SECOND (2^ND) SATURDAY of December instead of our regular 3^rd Saturday of the month. This is due to the Christmas family giving that we do, goes through the school, and we have to have our people and their people transferring food and gifts while school is still in session.

At the ACSC meeting much conversation was about the SOS parade and it was a sad announcement that our own Wendy and Donnie Schultz had to hand over the reins of the SOS parade due to Donnie’s work location. However, to our delight the head honchos are now our own Terry and Kathy McCoy. Thank you, Terry and Kathy for all you do!!! Congrats to them. We know they will make us proud. It does leave a big hole in our own parade preparations though, as they can no longer participate with the OD Shag club SOS parade planning or showing. If you would like to volunteer to do a little but have a lot of fun including getting your golf cart parade ready, please contact your board or our parade liaison Linda Campbell. Don’t forget we also need a good showing at the NMB St Patrick’s Day parade scheduled for March 12. We have made a change in our event structure for the Parade and Golf Tournament. We are having committees for both of those so if you want further info or want to participate, please contact Linda Campbell for the parade committee and Sheryl Barker for the Golf Tournament.

GOLF CART TICKETS ARE HERE. BUY YOURS EARLY AND OFTEN. The cart is a yellow, silver, and white beauty with Bluetooth speakers, back seat belts and other great things. You can check it out at Graham’s Golf Cart on Main Street. It really is a beauty. You need to double up on your buying to win this one. Tickets will be on sale at the Oyster Roast but our Chair, Jim Robinson is making house calls to get us started. If you win you can sIn the meantime, be kind, love one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and above all else dance like no one is watching. Those are the things that will make others want to come back, become new contributing members and you too will look forward to 2022 as the year of the beginning.

step up your show off. We need your help.

Finally, In the meantime, be kind, love one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and above all else dance like no one is watching. Those are the things that will make others want to come back, become new contributing members and you too will look forward to 2022 as the year of the beginning. Until next time.

Donna

2021 is now behind us. We look at fresh eyes toward a great 2022 in hopes that our membership numbers grow, our attendance grows and we are all able to hug and be with each other in large numbers. The ACSC has announced that 99% of the “normal” events will take place.

I want to thank every person who has given of their time and efforts to support this great club. We have many who supported whatever we had to do to make it work. Now on to a new year, a new beginning with a new board and new members who are showing great signs of what it takes to make the club “the best it can be.” Thank you for the past and the future. We have a few major committee chairs to still be filled so if you can, please step up. Let us know what you want to do. We will appreciate your help.

2021 brought many challenges and quite a bit of sadness. We have lost a good number of members and several past officers of our club. We have and will continue to keep their memories alive. I will not provide names as I may miss someone and that would not be the right thing to do. Better safe than sorry.

The participation at our monthly events is growing with each event. Hopefully that will continue. Our “come back quarter” (the last of the year) brought us closer to the numbers of 2019. We look forward to expanding even more. We will take a look at the Covid numbers as they come out and may have to change a few things as we go. If so, please be patient and understand we have to protect the majority.

In the meantime, be kind, love one another and treat each other with respect, have fun and above all else dance like no one is watching. Those are the things that will make others want to come back, become new contributing members and you too will look forward to 2022 as the year of the beginning.

Presidents Letter

As we have completed our last quarter of 2021, we are combining our October, November, and December letter. We have in these last 3 months attempted to make our conversion back to normal life. Yea Rah.

In October we had our annual Halloween party with 117 people in attendance. The Witches dance group showed up again with a higher number of participants than before. What a hoot. Everyone seems to enjoy their dance. The food was delicious as always and a good time was had by all.

November brought us to our “holiday” season with another great Thanksgiving feast from our hardworking food group. We increased our attendance to 157 all who seemed to be very pleased with the food and fun. Our prestigious Al Cain award winner for 2021, Billy Powell was announced to the delight of many. Congratulations were given by all.

Before you knew it, we were having our December party. Our attendance at 201 had a fun filled night along with our own OD Shag Club Rockettes who switched as elves for Christmas. Add to that a Christmas dinner abound, the generosity of our membership with our annual drive for Christmas family donations, what a night to remember. We collected $600+ in cash donations and enough food to feed an army. The food donations to 7 families this year was exceptional and we want to Thank everyone who participated in the success of this endeavor. Thank you all for all you did and do each and every Christmas. 

Until next month

Looking back on September, we had another busy month.  Our annual golf tournament was held on Saturday Sept 18th at The Valley at Eastport Golf Club. Once again, we had great weather for the event and a great turnout of golfers as well with over 100 players. Judy Caulder organized the event and Mark Casey and Ken Meyer lined up the golfers.  The morning started off with Krispy Kreme doughnuts donated by Al Cosgrove and Bojangles sausage biscuits.

Our SOS Brunch was on Sunday Sept 19th at the OD Arcade. Another great brunch with plenty of hot food and good times.  Attendance was low again but good with around 185. Our DJ, Charlie Glazer kept the floor hopping.

With about 25 members in attendance, the winning golf cart raffle ticket was drawn on Saturday Sept 25th in front of Harold’s.  Mike Graham from Graham’s golf carts had the honor of pulling the ticket.  And the winner was Sandy Hutchins from Laurinburg, NC. Congratulations!

Once again, Gordon Robinson lined up another fun Blues Cruise on the Hurricane II, with music provided by Charlie Snuggs Blues Crew.  This is always well attended and a treat.

Joan Bacon coordinated the clean sweep held on Saturday October 2nd. The volunteers met at Decker’z, had a quick breakfast of sausage biscuits, and went up and down Main St picking up trash. Several bags were filled to the brim!

Next up, the Elections/Halloween Party to be held on Oct 16th at Harold’s. Hope to see you there!

Welcome back everyone!  We are finally getting back to a more normal routine.  It is so nice to get to see everyone again.

The May party was a lot of fun.  Got to see many friends new and old and dance again.  We had a great turnout of around 160 people.  The Main Slice really delivered on the pizza, keeping us supplied with plenty of hot pizza and a great variety as well.  Many thanks to them and to all those that helped serve.

June brought us the rescheduled Spring SOS.  The change in time also brought the heat and humidity of summer.  Attendance was lower than normal but pretty good considering all the obstacles of the new time. Our Brunch was held the first Sunday of SOS as usual, and we had around 200 for the event.  Once again, the food, service and music were all top-notch!  There was plenty of food for all and time to dance and socialize.

SOS also gave Ways & Means their first big shot at selling club merchandise, and they did not miss the opportunity to do so.  Wayne, Anita and Sue sold over $3100 worth!  The Golf Cart Raffle Committee also took advantage of SOS and was able to sell out of all 3500 tickets for the 4^th year in a row! Jim, Monica, Lori and crew have once again found a way to continue the success. Many thanks again to all that helped with both committees to make them successful! Without your help, none of this would be possible.

As we look forward in July our annual Fun Run (old Poker Run) will be held on Saturday July 24.  We will begin at the OD Arcade and end up at Fat Harold’s.  This is always a lot of fun and well attended.  Make your plans now to participate. 

We will also start our Beginner Shag Classes on July 21 with HOF Shagger John Barringer and his partner Nancy Sook.  There has been a lot of interest in this and we are glad to be able to provide lessons again.  They will be teaching in the back room at Harold’s on Wednesday nights at 6:00pm. 

While last year was challenging at best, we are moving back to where we were before then.  I hope to see you soon!  Keep the dance in your heart!

Welcome back everyone! It has been over a year since we have been able to gather and dance at our favorite club. Now, as things begin to open even more, we can start to return to our normal routines we so have missed.  The music, the dance, and mostly our friends.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful spot for the Memorial Service we held on Thursday April 2. The sun was out, the water calm and tranquil. Very fitting for remembering the loved ones we lost over the last year. I want to thank Paulette Miller for heading up the event and Linda Campbell for all her help as well.  And the many people who helped put together the list of names and contacted family members and friends.  Thank You!!!  I would also like to thank Christina Cooper Black for her performance.  We received many thanks from people in attendance.

Fat Harold’s re-opened on April 22 and the OD Pavilion on May 1. We have much to be thankful for.  We have a second chance.  Let us not forget those who cannot be here with us to join in this re-opening.

We will resume our monthly business meetings in the back room of Fat Harold’s on the first Tuesday night of each month. Our first monthly party will be Saturday May 22 at Fat Harold’s for those who are comfortable being indoors.  Our deejay will be Jimmy Buffkin and we will be serving pizza.  We hope to see everyone!

“Life is like dancing – it’s not about getting from one place to another.   It’s about enjoying each step.”

It is hard to believe that has been almost a year since we have been able to meet and dance.  With all the restrictions and mandates, we have had to look at other means to connect with our members and conduct club business.  2020 President Billy Powell and his board led the way for us to be able to conduct our elections and to provide a way to see each other from a safe distance.  We were also able to help provide a little cheer for 3 families at Christmas as we have been accustomed to doing. 

As we begin this year again under the same restrictions, we look forward to having more drive-throughs with the next one occurring on Saturday March 20. Terry McCoy and his crew are busy putting together another great meal for us.

Our fundraising committee has begun to sell tickets for our Golf Cart Raffle. This provides us with the funds needed for our member events, various parades, and SOS activities.  Please be sure to help your club by buying tickets and offering to help sell tickets.

This past year was extremely hard to endure as we lost many dear friends and members, then were not able to gather to celebrate their lives.  Under consideration is to have a Celebration of Life in mid to late spring on the beach to honor them.  More details will be coming.

The light is at the end of the tunnel.  With the vaccination process under way, we can only hope that we can get back to the lifestyle we have all become accustomed to and love.

Hello ODSC Members,

The corona virus has had many implications to our daily lives and to the lives of our entire community.  The impact to our economy has been significant and those who were struggling financially are now struggling even more.  Also, the organizations that help to keep our dance and shag community alive for the future also have expenses that did not stop because of corona virus. 

This year, we could not hold either of our charity fund raising events that help support these organizations.  However, the ODSC is in relatively good financial condition and your ODSC Board made the decision to donate to some of these organizations through our Foundation anyway to help them in their endeavors.

While the donation dollars are not as big as past years, they are still significant to these organizations.

• North Strand Helping Hands – $2,500.00
• Junior SOS – $1,500.00
• NMB Explorers – $1,000
• Teen Angels – $400
• Toys for Tots – $100

We chose these organizations because they have significant impact to our local community or to the dance we love.

Hope to see you soon!

Hello ODSC Members,

Social distancing, masks, 6 feet apart, Covid 19, coronavirus, Wuhan virus, all of these words or phrases are words that we have heard constantly since March.  Unfortunately, they have also meant that we have not been able to get together and enjoy the dance we love and each other’s company.

At this time, a definitive decision has not been made for the June party, but we are trying to figure out a way to have the Charity Fun Run in July if we are allowed to have under the governor’s restrictions.

I would like to send out a big “hurrah” to Jim and Monica Palmieri.  They are still diligently trying to sell raffle tickets.  They sold almost 600 tickets this past weekend at Graham’s Golf Cart.  Thanks to all those who came out and purchased tickets and to those who helped sell tickets.  We still have a long way to go and if you could take a bundle of ten tickets and sell them, we would all be appreciative.  Contact Jim or Monica to help.

Another group that is still working hard is Ways and Means.  Wayne and Anita Baldwin and Sue Wehner along with their webmaster helper, Lou Martino have set up items to sell via our website.  Please support their efforts by going to the website and make a purchase.  These items make great gifts and when we do get back together, you will look spiffy in your new ODSC apparel. 

In closing, I hope that everyone is weathering this “storm” well.  Stay safe and hopefully this situation will improve soon.

God Bless you All!

The Oyster Roast has come and gone and once again was a great success.  Members were showing up before 4:00 p.m. and by 6:00 p.m., the Arcade was packed.  The Oyster Roast crew led by Terry McCoy and Donnie Schultz worked extremely hard to put on this event.  The work started on Friday afternoon and continued thru Saturday night.  The chicken bog was outstanding and I am told the oysters were also (I personally don’t eat the nasty things).  Hopefully, everyone got their fill and no one went home in the slightest bit hungry.  It takes at least 25 hard working people to do this.  EVERYONE should make an effort to thank all of these people for the work they did to support our club.

I would also like to thank everyone that pitched in and helped clean up after the Oyster Roast.  The breakdown went smoothly, thanks to all those who helped!  THANK YOU!!!

Our March party will be on March 21^st at Fat Harold’s.  I don’t know what the Food Committee has planned, but I am sure it will be tasty.

Don’t forget the St. Patty’s Day Parade on March 14^th.  This is an easy parade to participate in and is a lot of fun.   It also helps to demonstrate that we are a supportive member of our community.

Hope to see you at the business meeting on March 3^rd.

The January brunch was a great party.  Having the opportunity to see all the junior shaggers was exciting and also a great reminder that we need to support them to keep our dance going into the future.

As all of you know, February is when one of our biggest events is held…. The World-Famous Oyster Roast!  This event requires a tremendous amount of work both before (preparation, set-up, cooking and serving) and after (clean-up).  Please contact Terry McCoy or Donnie Schultz to help with the before and after.  A lot of labor is needed and a great time is had by all involved. 

EVERYONE can help clean up after the event.  Tables to be taken apart, oyster shells cans cleaned and of course all the trash cans.  Don’t be one of those people who just eat and leave for others to do all the work.

The Oyster Roast will be held on February 22 at the OD Arcade.  Members are free and guests are $25 per person.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Another new year….2020!  I am looking forward to another successful year at the ODSC.  Thanks to everyone who worked and/or participated in our events last year.  A big thank you to all those who volunteered to be Committee Chairs for 2020.  All committees have been filled except for one very important one.  We are still in need of a Parade Committee Chair.  We usually participate in 3 parades per year with the biggest being the SOS parade in April.  This parade is a lot of fun and our participation brings a lot of recognition to our club.  We have also won First Place in the category we have entered for at least the last 15 years, maybe longer.  If you would like to take on this committee or know of someone that does, please contact me as soon as possible.

Our January party will be the Mid-Winter Brunch at the OD Arcade. I hope to see all of you there.  Don’t forget Clean Sweep will be the following Saturday on the 25^th.  This is a lot of fun and great community service.

In closing, I would like every member to ask themselves what they can do to help support the ODSC.  Only with active participation of its members can the club achieve its potential.