FolkMADS sponsors Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos contra dances, concerts, camps, and other special events. "Contra" dances include contras, squares, mixers, and couple dances. Unless noted on the calendar otherwise, admission is $5 for members, $6 for nonmembers. You need not come with a partner. Free instruction for beginners starts at 7:30 p.m. Dances begin at 8 p.m. and are smoke-free and alcohol-free. Children and teens are encouraged to participate if supervised by an adult.

Albuquerque Dances 1st and 3rd Saturdays. Location as noted on calendar.

Santa Fe Dances 2nd and 4th Saturday contra dances and 5th Saturday English Country dances. Odd Fellows Hall, 1125 Cerrillos Road (south of Cordova Drive on the western side of Cerrillos).

Taos Dances 3rd Saturdays, call for details, 776-1580.

Megaband Practices All musicians welcome.

ABQ Megaband Albuquerque Megaband practice is held at the Blue Dragon Coffee House, 1517 Girard NE, Albuquerque, the Tuesday before the 3rd Saturday dance. Bruce Thomson, 268-6003, or email Jane Phillips (remove "NOSPAM" when emailing) for more info or to be added to the listserv.

Santa Fe Jam Sessions First and third Thursdays, 7:00 p.m., at Katherine Bueler and Gary Schiffmiller's, 924 Osage Ave. 995-1125, for details.

Acoustic Jam 7 p.m. before the Albuquerque dances. All acoustic musicians are welcome and all types of music are played. Call Jay Cutts for more information, 281-0684.

2005 Officers/Directors

Ongoing Events

Folkmads Membership Alert!!

We have had various problems with FolkMADS memberships paid this year. If you mailed a check to the P.O. box to renew your membership in 2005, please check your mailing label on this November/December mailing and see if it accurately reflects your membership expiration date. If it is incorrect, send your name, complete address, phone number, check number, date you wrote the check, and WHETHER OR NOT YOUR CHECK HAS CLEARED THE BANK to Ken Shaw, ken@NOSPAMkenshaw.net (remove NOSPAM when emailing) or PO Box 23142, Santa Fe, NM 87502. If you paid cash at a dance, but your membership label was not updated, let Ken know that as well. If your label is correct, you do not need to do anything. We are very sorry for the problems we have had, but are committed to resolving them. Thank you for your help in doing so.

Done Gone is played by a lot of bluegrass fiddlers, usually in the key of Bb.  Ruthie Dornfeld. Joel Bernstein, and Keith Murphy on "Ways of the World" (Foxglove FG9801CD) transposed it to C and a good tune suddenly becomes awesome, especially the fiddle's slide up to high C.

Ruthie, now based in Seattle, is one of the most exuberant fiddlers around.  She's a master of many styles including Celtic, Scandinavian, and Latin, as well as American fiddle music from New England to Texas. She's been in a couple of notable bands including the Poodles and the American Café Orchestra.  This CD features outstanding accompaniment on guitar, banjo, and harmonica that is worth paying close attention to.

ABC Notation

X:47

T:Done Gone

M:4/4

L:1/8

S:Ruthie Dornfeld - Ways of the World (Foxglove9801CD)

N:Transcribed by Bruce Thomson

K:C

|z6cd|:"C"ecGE CEGA|cdeg a2g2|c'2ge agea|"G"gede dcAc|"C"ecGE CEGA|

cdeg a2g2|c'2ge agea|"G"[1gede "C"c2cd:|"G"[2gede "C"c4||"Am"[c4a4] ageg|aga2 c'4|

[c4a4] ageg|aged cdeg|[c4a4] ageg|aga2 c'4|"C"c'2ge agea|"G"gede "C"c4|

|:"Am"A3B AGEG|ABcd efg^g|a2ea gedc|"Em"e3f edcB|

"Am"A3B AGEG|ABcd e4|"Em"E2E4DC|E2DC "Am"A,4:|

During the Albuquerque Dance, the Annual General Membership Meeting and Election of the Board of Directors will be held. This is your chance to have a say about how FolkMADS is run, so plan to be there, volunteer to serve, and cast your vote!

Serving on our board provides an opportunity to meet and work with fellow dancers, musicians, and singers. New skills can be learned and old skills can be rejuvenated. Our goal is to recognize all of the talents that members bring to the organization. We especially need volunteers to help with publicity and event booking.

Frequently Asked Election Questions:

Why does FolkMADS do this every November and muck up a good dance?

FolkMADS is a non-profit corporation registered with the state of NM and the IRS. This means that we do not pay sales tax for purchases and those contributions to FolkMADS (other than membership dues) are tax deductible. It also means that we have formal bylaws, hold an annual meeting of the membership, and elect a Board of Directors from whom corporate officers are chosen. As part of our bylaws we have chosen to have the meeting and election at the 3rd Saturday dance in November in Albuquerque.

So what happens at this meeting and election?

Near the check-in table will be an easel with a sign up sheet for the elections. Anyone who wishes to "stand for the Board" can put their name on the sign up sheet. There are 11 slots on the Board but as many people as want to can sign up. Around 9:15 sign ups for the Board will be closed and the General Meeting will be called. The current FolkMADS president will briefly review "the status of FolkMADS" and answer any questions from the floor. Then we will look at the total number of sign ups for Board membership. If fewer than 11 have signed up, they are automatically elected to the Board of Directors. If the number is more than 11, there will be a runoff election.

What if I want to be on the Board and can't attend the dance?

If you want to stand for the Board but will be unable to attend the dance, you must submit your name to the FolkMADS Secretary, no later than Friday, November 18^th. The current Secretary is Regina Jenner and her number is (505) 266-0051 in Albuquerque, or e-mail her at secretary@folkmads.org. There can be no absentee nominations at the dance itself.

This sounds like a lot of trouble, why should I care about any of this?

The Board controls everything that FolkMADS spends money on during the year. This includes scheduling bands and callers, how much these bands and callers get paid, booking special concerts, running the annual FolkMADS Dance Camps, and a host of other things.

If you would like to help the organization but don't want to serve on the board, there are many other volunteer opportunities available, including newsletter preparation, newsletter mailing, dance hall scheduling, general publicity, etc. If you want to help (in a large or small way) let to board know!

Albuquerque Folk Festival Managers Sought

The Albuquerque Folk Festival is seeking a few good local people with a volunteer spirit and some spare time during 2006 to manage major positions. Especially, right now we need a new Publicity Manager. This person must be a writer, able to produce flyers, press releases and work actively with the media. We also need people to manage vendors, ticket sales, and a possible raffle. If you can help, contact Linda Starr, 505-255-6037. A brunch planning meeting will be occurring at the Frontier Restaurant on Central across from UNM at 11 a.m., Saturday, September 17. Call Linda for more info.

Albuquerque Dance Location Cheat Sheet

November 5: Contra - Dance Studio November 13: Second Sunday Dance - Dance Studio, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. November 19: Contra - Albuquerque Square Dance Center December 3: Contra - Albuquerque Square Dance Center December 11: Second Sunday Dance Dance Studio, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. December 17: Contra - Dance Studio

Albuquerque Square Dance Center 4909-15 Hawkins NE, one full block west of I-25 and 1/2 block north of Ellison. Take the Ellison/San Antonio exit, go west (away from Sandia mountains), turn north (right) at the first intersection past the motels. Dance Studio 4217 San Mateo NE, 1 block south of Montgomery on the west side of the street. Gated parking area behind the studio. For security reasons, do not park behind Auto Zone.   NOTE: Bring clean dance shoes that don't leave black marks.