PORT ANGELES — A special edition of Port Angeles’ first-Saturday contra dance is set for Saturday night at the Black Diamond Community Hall, and dancers of all ages and experience levels are encouraged to come.
The fifth annual Bob Boardman Memorial Benefit Dance celebrates the life of Robert H. Boardman, the musician, diabetes nurse, avid hiker and musical mentor who died Oct. 16, 2010.
Boardman was 63 when a mountain goat killed him on Klahhane Ridge in Olympic National Park. He left behind a community of fellow music and dance lovers who host an event every autumn at the Black Diamond hall, where Boardman played many a night.
Admission to the hall, at 1942 Black Diamond Road about 2 miles south of Port Angeles, is a suggested donation of $8 for adults and $4 for children.
As in past years, proceeds benefit Centrum’s Bob Boardman Fiddle Tunes Scholarship Fund, which helps young musicians attend the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes workshops in Port Townsend each summer.
“If you never had the good fortune to know Bob or dance to his music, come and join those of us who did. Some of his spirit may rub off on you, and you’ll be glad,” organizer Tom Shindler said of this Saturday’s gathering.
It will start with a
7:30 p.m. workshop for those who want to learn or refresh their contra-dancing skills, and then come the musicians at 8 p.m.: Scott Marckx and Jeanie Murphy, who were friends of Boardman, plus as many others as can fit onto the stage.
Chandra Johnson and Rosie Sharpe are among those most likely to be up there, said Shindler.
Carol Piening from Olympia will be the dance caller, while Elizabeth Athair of Port Angeles and Jaie Livingstone of Sequim will make their calling debuts Saturday night.
Piening “always brings a variety of popular dances, to keep everyone moving joyfully to the music,” said Shindler.
With the new callers joining in, “it will be a group effort, so come and help out by dancing.”
Saturday, Nov. 1, is both All Saints Day and El Dia de los Muertos, the Latin American Day of the Dead.
And so it is a time to remember our friends with gratitude, Shindler said, “and fill the hall with caring, exuberant memories, and know that we are glad to be alive, and dancing together.”
Finally he summed up the dance’s theme: “Life is short,” Shindler said. “Don’t miss your chances to celebrate it.”
For more information about this and other contra dances coming up — including a special one Wednesday, Nov. 12, with caller George Marshall and the Great Bear Trio at the Black Diamond Community Hall — phone 360-477-7222 or see BlackDiamondDance.org.