For the second year in a row, the Gleaning Project is holding a fundraiser and year-end square dancing party.
This year, the event, that includes a live band and caller, will be held in the hall at McLean Mill on Saturday, Sept. 30, with all proceeds going to the Gleaning Project.
The band is kind of like old-time string band,” said organizer Janette Cormier. “It’s a bunch of friends coming together to play.”
Anyone is welcome to join in on the fun, you don’t need to be a pro to attend.
“Everyone’s a beginner, basically, and it’s super family friendly too so kids can come,” Cormier said. “Last year, Anne Louise Genest (caller) would instruct the dance without the band and she would teach everyone how to do it. Once people kind of understood what was going on, the band would play and she would call the dance and they would go through all the motions again.”
Cormier and her husband have promenaded around square dance halls all over the United States and Canada, which she says are typically filled with young people.
“My husband and I love traditional music and have gone to lots of dances in the States and bigger cities. It’s super fun and there’s kind of this revival of young people doing traditional music and traditional dancing,” she said.
“That hasn’t really happened in Port Alberni or even that much in Canada, but a little bit in Vancouver and Victoria.”
Usually when Cormier tells people she’s putting on a square dance, they respond with memories of doing it in elementary school or their grandparents.
“It’s not like that anymore, it’s more of a casual, fun and active way of building community,” she said.
In conjunction with the square dance, the Pressing Matter, a mobile juicing company, will be at McLean Mill throughout the day to press apples into cider.
About 15 pounds of fruit (apples and/or pears) will yield about five litres of pasteurized, shelf-stable (and legally saleable) juice for the cost of about $7-$8.
Fruit must be registered beforehand by e-mailing heather@edentreefarm.ca.
Tickets for the square dance are $12 in advance or $15 at the door and can be purchased on Eventbrite or by contacting Cormier at 250-720-7240 or cormier.ja@gmail.com.
Cormier added that people don’t need to show up with a dance partner. If there is a person needing a partner in a square someone will step in.
Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Drinks and snacks will be available.