El Camino Reelers
Web Site: http://www.reelers.org
Started: 1985
Admitted to IAGSDC: 22 Aug 1986 as Full Member
Status: Active
History: Started by Marilyn Martinyak and Pat Dixon as an alternative to the gay square dance clubs located an hour away in San Francisco. Due to its location, the club is well-known as a "geek repository", boasting members employed by Adobe, Sun, Google, and Yahoo.
- From the Program Book of the 3rd IAGSDC Convention, held in San Francisco in 1986:
- El Camino Reelers (ECR) was founded by two members of Western Star Dancers,Patricia Dixon and Marilyn Martinyak. Planning took place throughout the summer of 1985 and included a great deal of help and encouragement from Western Star. Our first class began in September followed by another class in January 1986.
Classes: A combined Mainstream-Plus class is taught once yearly, generally starting in late August or early September, and finishing up the following April or May. Advanced classes are taught periodically. ECR graduated its first Challenge (C1) class in June, 2013.
Club Caller[s]: Rich Reel, Dave Decot, Kurt Gollhardt
Past Club Caller[s]: Bill Hanzel, Mike Luna, Vicki Woods, Harlan Kerr, Andy Shore
Levels: Plus, Advanced, Challenge-1
Dance Location[s]: St. Andrews United Methodist Church / 4111 Alma Street / Palo Alto, CA (map)
Fly-Ins Hosted:
- "Slide Thru Silicon Valley" June 30 - July 3, 1995
- Cubberley Community Center, Palo Alto, CA--Callers: Mike Jacobs, Andy Shore, Deborah Parnell, John Sybalsky
- "Shakedown Along The Fault" (West Coast A&C Weekend) October 3-5, 1997
- Mount Alverno Confrence Center, Redwood City, CA--Callers: Vic Ceder, Kiyoshi Kikuchi, John Sybalsky, Anne Uebelacker, Rob French, and CJ Smith
- "Slide Thru Silicon Valley: From Stetsons To Jetsons" January 7-9, 2000
- St. Andrews Methodist Church and Cubberley Community Center, Palo Alto, CA--Callers: Vic Ceder and Andy Finch
- “Slide Thru Silicon Valley: The Summer of Love” July 5-7, 2001
- Palo Alto High School, Palo Alto, CA--Callers: Anne Uebelacker and Neil Heather
- “Download the Boat” September 6, 7, 8, 2002
- Cupertino High School, Cupertino, CA--Callers: Vic Ceder and Michael Kellogg
- "Slide Thru Silicon Valley: ECR@25” April 2-4, 2010
- Holiday Inn, San Jose, CA--Callers: Sandie Bryant, Michael Kellogg, Andy Shore, Rich Reel, Harlan Kerr
Conventions Hosted:
- 1986 | Star Thru The Golden Gate
- 1996 | Stars, Thars and Cable Cars
- 2005 | Star Thru The Silicon Galaxy
- 2013 | Weave Your Heart in San Francisco
Notables:
- Marilyn Martinyak, IAGSDC Chair, ??-??
- Mary Rorabaugh, IAGSDC Treasurer 1991-2?
- Randy Clarke, IAGSDC Vice Chair, 1994-5
- Andy Shore, Gay Callers Association President, ??-??
- Mary Gold, Alotta Gelotta, and Patsy Sue Venear, Honky Tonk Queen, 2001
- Andy Shore, Golden Boot Award Golden Boot 2002
- Gypsum Rock Lee, Honky Tonk Queen, 2003
- Julie Dubbs, ECR club administrator - 19??, named plaintiff in landmark gay rights case [1]
- Diamond Lane, Honky Tonk Queen, 2017
- Allan Hurst, Golden Boot Award Golden Boot 2019 IAGSDC History Project, Committee Member for both the 2021 and 2022 IAGSDC Conventions.
Stories:
Videos:
On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 2:31 PM, Ed Wilson <edwilson@cruzio.com> wrote:
A couple of years ago, a group of El Camino Reelers had the opportunity to dance on “Square Dance Live”, a program on that airs on several local community cable channels. The caller was Mike Luna, one of ECR’s earliest callers. Mike produces the show with his buddy Charlie Class, the announcer. They recorded us for two segments, close to an hour altogether. For us it was totally unscripted; we just went in and did it.
We were promised copies of the show and they finally arrived this week. Fooling around with the DVD this morning, I decided to see if I could take one singing call and upload it to YouTube at http://youtu.be/7HM8FUUzN_8.
Spin-Off Clubs:
- Sequoia Ocean Waves co-founded by ECR member Lyn Platten
- Santa Cruz Squares founded by ECR member Neil Heather
