If your rumba hasn’t done the cha cha for some time, here is an opportunity to swing out of that funk. Get on the national dance craze bandwagon and join the Jubilee-Reveleers Dinner Dance Club.
The club’s got a shindig coming up in October where you could waltz the night away or quick step to your heart’s content.
And for those who aren’t particularly clubby, or are usually too busy to join a group, you only show up three times a year.
Jim Leo / Herald file photo
Folks began the club almost 60 years ago for “popular young married couples.” Through the years, clubs have merged, for instance, the Jubilee and Carousel dance clubs joined the Reveleers.
Membership is $35 per year, and the spring, fall and December dances are usually $50 per person for dinner and music, often at the Everett Golf and Country Club.
The next dinner dance is Oct. 14 and features the Trish Hatley Quintet. For more information, call Tom Carlson at 425-355-6859.
At the winter formal in 1951 (they called it “Soir en Paris,”), there was a French motif with a sidewalk cafe, checkered tablecloths, candles in bottles and small vials of French perfume for favors.
Members had wonderful senses of humor. People made their entrances over a gangplank at a Shipwreck Dance. A ship’s bell also was wired to certain vital plumbing fixtures.
Club member Colleen Kohler from Everett had a quick answer for why she’s stuck with Jubilee-Reveleers for decades.
“We love to dance,” she said.
Names of some early members could be found among the upper crust of Everett society, including the Stuchells, Newlands, Cruickshanks, Dykemans, Solies, Petershagens, Fowldses, Lagozzinos, Sevenichs, Lauers, Mitchells and Youngstroms.
One time the Jubilee-Reveleer’s Dinner Dance Club had a dinghy party. At a harvest dance, there was jug time, vittles and jig time. At some dances, each lady received a gardenia, and their dates got cigars.
One gathering featured popular appliance door prizes.
I love the names of bands who provided entertainment: Danny Holmstrom and his Orchestra; the Bob Marshall Combo; Jack Potter’s Orchestra; the Buddy Romane Show; the Dick Nelson Combo; Sophisticates Swing Band; the Bill Nelson Band, Swingtime Quartet; the Keith Jacobson Trio; Dancing DJs; The Gold Dusters; Sally King Quartet; Bob Hammond Trio and Men Working.
Original member Carol Stuchell said the group, formed in 1948 and was made up of mostly young parents who could get the teen from next door to baby-sit. Several of their friends joined at the same time. A Seattle dance instructor offered lessons on the fox trot and swing.
“We had a lot of doctors,” Stuchell said. “They were fun to watch dance.”
Many of the parties were formal, although through the years, they offered Western hoe-downs, Arabian nights and fiestas. The best Halloween mask in 1953 looked like a picnic basket filled with fancy foods.
Though the club has younger members, including Stuchell’s daughter, evenings often begin with traditional music enjoyed by older dancers, who may head home while the younger set revs up selections, she said.
On weeknights, Harry and Carol Stuchell recently tuned in to “Dancing With the Stars,” a show on ABC-TV that plans a second season. Contestants tried their hand at Stuchell’s favorite styles, such as the rumba and samba.
If you like to dance and be with people, join the club, Stuchell advised.
Don’t worry if you aren’t up to snuff on hot Latin rhythm; they’ve been known to do the chicken dance.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@ heraldnet.com.
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