General Information

I will be hosting the 18th annual Tech Squares weekend, exclusively for Tech Squares family and friends at East Hill Farm in Troy, NH (about 2 hours from Cambridge, MA),

This weekend features three sessions of Sandie Bryant calling full Plus, at speed, and Mary Pickett cueing rounds. This weekend's plus level dancing is harder than the dancing you encounter on Tuesday nights. In addition there are mini-sessions during the day on Saturday covering a wide range of dance activities most of which are aimed at Plus dancers. The weekend also includes star tips at all levels, higher level rounds, and a midnight contra dance. The festivities start Friday with dinner at 6:30 and run through the end of lunch on Sunday. You are welcome to arrive after lunch on Friday, or stay later on Sunday. In the past Friday afternoon has seen good puzzle and board game sessions, along with drill or practice dancing sessions.

The Saturday morning and afternoon activities will be scheduled based on your indicated interests. Some examples from previous years: dancing arky, gemini, and mirror, hexagons, playing with a few challenge concepts, progressive squares, classic singing calls, dancing to tapes of the Pacific Northwest Teen Festival, calling and dancing in the pool (including hexagons), calling and dancing on ice skates (watch that flow), and dancing extra tips of A2, C1, and an hour of rounds. Please note your interests on the registration form; tell us your favorites from the past and suggest new ideas for this year. If any callers or cuers would like to lead a dance session, please note that, too.

Some of the more interesting unscheduled activities from the past years include visiting the barns, feeding/milking animals, and dancing Casino Rueda.

Caller School: Come a day early and attend a 1-day caller school. The school starts Thursday night, includes 3 sessions of ~2.5 hours each, including mike time. In order for this to be successful we need at least 5 and at most 9 people to sign up. Indicate your interest on this survey. Sandie will orient the school to Tech's unique skills and interests. The cost for the caller school is $60 plus the extra day costs (see next).

Extra Day: Come a day early and spend time doing whatever you want to. The caller school will need dancers and there are plenty of other activities available (including sleeping). You may arrive anytime after lunch on Thursday. $87 (assumes basic housing) gets you an extra room night and Friday breakfast and lunch. We are offering a light meal Thursday night (soup, salad/sandwich, beverage, dessert) for an additional $12.

While this is a singles weekend, please obtain a partner before joining your square. Casual attire for all daytime sessions. Optional dress-up for evening sessions.

East Hill Farm hosts square dance and family weekends. Included are lodging for three days and two nights, six meals, snacks, and coffee, tea, and lemonade available all the time. They have a floating wooden dance floor which can hold 12 squares, several recreation rooms, an indoor swimming pool, whirlpool, sauna, and outdoor ice rink. All the facilities are non-smoking. In addition they are a working farm with much to see and do on the farm. Finally, they have an extensive set of hiking trails, which are suitable for skiing and snowshoeing.

The rates are on the application form. In order to encourage MIT undergraduates to attend, there is a special rate for them of $100 per person. For everyone, the prices listed include everything (food, lodging, tax, tips, and dance fee).

This will be our fifth year at East Hill Farm. To get orientated to the facility, Sola Grantham has created this map of the grounds. While most of your time will be spent in the main building, much of the housing is in separate buildings around the property. These buildings are 1 to 5 minutes walk from the main building.

Do we all fit? Last year we did, and the year before. Based on your comments we limit admission to 120 paying dancers and have instituted a Weekend Application Policy for what to do if we are oversubscribed. Your most important job is to sign up by the deadline.

Housing is available for everyone in a variety of buildings and price ranges on the property. You should plan on two people per room, each in a twin bed, or together in a double, queen, or king bed. There is no price savings for extra people in a room, though we can have 3 or 4 in some rooms using cots. We may be able to offer a limited number of single rooms.

East Hill Farm has three levels of housing:

• Basic: smaller, older rooms, double or 2 twin beds, some with shared baths. Many can be connected with other rooms. This will be MIT undergrad housing as well as best bet for families with baby monitors, as some of these rooms are in the main inn.

• Midprice (+$10): newer, larger rooms, mini fridge, private baths, ceiling fan, either a queen bed or two twin beds, and great views.

• Deluxe (+$24): newer, spacious rooms, king or 2 twin beds, most have private baths, most w/ small refrigerators, A/C, TV, and nice sitting rooms. Most are 2 bedroom suites, some are in larger configurations.

Your registration form has some questions relating to this housing. While I will do my best to satisfy housing requests, I am leaving myself complete freedom while doing room assignments. You may not get your room from last year. Certain awkward sections of housing will be offered to groups who will fill them.

Dogs: While EHF allows dogs, there is an extra charge and they are only allowed to be housed in certain rooms. Also, we want to ensure that they don't bother the other people in that housing. Therefore, you can indicate on your application that you would like to bring a dog, but until we assign housing and let you know that it worked out, it isn't a sure thing.

Financial aid: We offer MIT undergraduates a steep discount and financial aid for others. If you can help contribute towards this aid, it would be appreciated. The system works because lots of us contribute. I expect the amount will be under $20 -- it was $8 last year.

To make the collecting of financial aid easier, I will no longer keep secret who contributes to financial aid. If I post a list of people and how much they owe, it will include the financial aid so others will be able to infer that you are a contributor. If this is a problem, let me know.

If you need financial aid, please read our Financial Aid Policy. This system has worked well and allows everyone who is interested to attend.

History

Year	Caller	Cuer(s)	Venue	Dancers	Attendees	Rooms
1995	John Sybalsky	Veronica McClure and Hope Belanger	LSF	47	47	28
1996	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	LSF	64	69	39
1997	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	LSF	54	58	31
1998	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	LSF	56	61	34
1999	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	LSF	50	52	29
2000	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	LSF	69	73	41
2001	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	LSF	74	78	40
2002	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	LSF	88	92	43
2003	Jerry Jestin	Dave Goss	LSF	69	71	37
2004	Jerry Jestin	Mary Pickett	LSF	78	86	41
2005	Vic Ceder	Mary Pickett	LSF	77	84	37
2006	Vic Ceder	Mary Pickett	LSF	85	92	39
2007	Dave Wilson	Mary Pickett	LSF	101.5	111	43
2008	Dave Wilson	Mary Pickett	EHF	116	133	70
2009	Tim Marriner	Mary Pickett	EHF	110	118	69
2010	Tim Marriner	Mary Pickett	EHF	99	115	71
2011	Sandie Bryant	Mary Pickett	EHF	96	114	65

Revised: $Date: 2012/01/10 17:37:08 $