Nice weekend that once again makes me realize how important social bonds are to keeping a dance group going. The Wilde Bunch had two gatherings: one a well-planned holiday party, with our annual tacky gift exchange (I started with a drag queen doll, but didn’t get to keep her, much to my regret), the other a more informal outing to the New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus holiday concert with dinner afterwards at Garduño’s. At each event, there was at least one non-square dancing person who will probably give it a try as a result of all the socializing. But the real benefit is the fact that people who like each other and spend time with each other want to continue to spend time with each other, and therefore will want to continue to be involved with the Wilde Bunch. There were a couple of women at the concert and dinner who haven’t danced with us for a while, but who continue to come to our more non-dance related events (and who recently contributed a quilt that was raffled off and raised about $500 for the Bunch).