Happy Halloween!

Back in October 1991 (back when there were a lot of caller note services, and I think I subscribed to almost all of them), Rusty Fennell published a description of a totally silly Halloween call in his Mainstream Flow notes:

Spook ‘Em: From any four-person ocean wave, all dancers lean forward and look in the direction of the dancers facing their same way in the wave (alias Take a Peek) and LOUDLY say “BOO”. Timing is 4 beats by the time they rock back from their ocean waves to move into the next call.

He adds:

In the beginning, I try to be very dramatic when teaching spook ’em, explaining that this will probably be a “holiday call” that will endure the years. But, when I offer them the last part of the definition (the boo part), they know that they have been had…and the fun will begin.

Well, every once in a while, I break out Spook ‘Em around Halloween. This year, I decided to do it with the Half Crazies, my C2 group. Admittedly, Spook ‘Em doesn’t seem like much of a challenge call…but it actually provided a bit of a workout on some concepts.

I did things like:

• Spook ‘Em, but interrupt after the first part with a Trade the Wave (I told them that Spook ‘Em is a two-part call: (1) take a peek and (2) say “boo”)
• Swing the Fractions 4/5, but interrupt after each part with a Spook ‘Em
• As Couples Spook ‘Em
• Spook ‘Em and Circle 1/4
• Rotary Spook ‘Em
• Lines Spook ‘Em Thru
• Spook ‘Em Along
• Spook ‘Em Perk Up
• Stretch Spook ‘Em (both from parallel and tidal waves)
• Stretched Wave Spook ‘Em
• Once Removed Spook ‘Em
• Cross Concentric Spook ‘Em
• Checkpoint Spook ‘Em by Spook ‘Em
• Triple Wave Spook ‘Em
• Offset Waves Spook ‘Em
• &etc

It was all extremely silly, but the Stretch and Stretched Wave, Cross Concentric, and Checkpoint, where they actually had to do something before or after doing the call, provided a little bit of interest (albeit with terrible flow).

Rusty Fennell doesn’t seem to be calling any more; the only real on-line legacy I can find is an article in the Article Co-op: New Idea to promote Square Dancing as a social activity.

It’s too bad all those old note services can’t somehow be put on-line. I know I go back to my old copies periodically to get ideas and inspiration, and they’d be great for new callers to peruse.