General Chairman
Wayne and Elaine Irwin
Southeast Area
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Wayne and Elaine Irwin
General ChairmanComing Soon...
To contact:
Wayne and Elaine Irwin: E-mail
Your 66th WI Convention Volunteer Team Members
Assistant General Chairman
Wayne and Lucy Mattson
Southeast Area
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Wayne and Lucy Mattson
Assistant General ChairmanWayne & Lucy are members of Spring City Squares in Waukesha, Four Corners Plus club in Milwaukee, and Foxy Squares in Wind Lake (town of Norway). We have served in various capacities in Wisconsin conventions and in State and Southeast Area organizations over many years – notably being General Chairman of the 2013 Convention in Oconomowoc and the (approved but canceled) 2021 Convention in Brookfield. We are currently board members of the Wisconsin Convention Corporation, which oversees the annual Wisconsin convention. We bring a great deal of experience to serving as 2025 Chairman of the Special Events Committee and the Showcase of Ideas Committee.
The Special Events committee plans the opening and closing ceremonies of the convention. Our goal is to make these events entertaining as well as informative. Closing ceremonies include presentation of Hall of Fame Awards and a preview of the following year’s convention.
The Showcase of Ideas at the convention is intended to provide examples of ideas that have been used by Wisconsin clubs to promote the activity in each area. There are also educational displays from organizations such as the United Square Dancers of America (USDA), and the Square Dance Association of Wisconsin (SDAW), as well as square dance historical displays and books of remembrances of square dancers who have passed away.
We invite all convention goers to attend the Special Events and to look over and learn from the many display tables at the Showcase of Ideas.
To contact:
Wayne and Lucy Mattson: E-mail
Secretary
Pat Faherty
Area
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Pat Faherty
SecretaryComing Soon....
To contact:
Pat Faherty: E-mail
Treasurer
Dennis Faherty
Area
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Dennis Faherty
TreasurerComing Soon...
To contact:
Dennis FahertyE-mail
Registration Chairman
Angelo & Kathie Rentas
Area
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Angelo & Kathie Rentas
Registration ChairmanInformation still to come....
To contact:
Angelo & Kathie Rentas: E-mail
Publicity Chairman
Scott and Brenda Deal
Southwest Area
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Scott and Brenda Deal
Publicity ChairmanInformation coming soon...
To contact:
Scott and Brenda Deal: E-mail
Programming-Squares
Ron Mueller
Area
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Ron Mueller
Programming-SquaresComing Soon...
To contact:
Ron Mueller: E-mail
Programming-Rounds
Kathy Nickel
Area
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Kathy Nickel
Programming-RoundsInformation still to come...
To contact:
Kathy Nickel E-mail
Education Chairman
Sharon Albright & Bob Tjensvold
Area
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Sharon Albright & Bob Tjensvold
Education ChairmanSharon was introduced to square dancing in the early 70’s and danced for 4 years. Then her life took a different path and she did not get back to square dancing until 1999 when she took Mainstream classes again. She graduated as a Mainstream dancer in 2000 and a Plus dancer in 2021. In 2004 she helped workshop a new class of dancers and got hooked on the idea of teaching and calling. In 2006 Sharon became a full caller. She is a member of the Northwoods Levis & Lace Square Dance Club in Woodruff, WI. She has held several different offices with Northwoods Levis & Lace. Sharon has held offices in the CNW Square Dance Assoc, Central Wis. Callers Assoc, SDAW, and WSDLCC. Sharon has been chairman for several different committees for previous Wisconsin conventions and was General Chairman of the Wisconsin Square & Round Dance Convention in 2014 and again in 2022.
Bob was introduced to square dancing in 2010 when he met Sharon in her shop. She asked him if he would be interested in learning to square dance. She invited him to watch a square dance and then invited him to join the new class. Since she had invited him to class she decided to be his dance partner. Bob graduated as a Mainstream dancer in 2011 and as a Plus dancer in 2012. He and Sharon continued to dance as partners at Northwoods Levis & Lace, and other area clubs. As their friendship grew, Bob asked Sharon to marry him. They were married on May 11, 2013. Now he is Sharon’s official “Caller Hauler”. Bob is a member of the Northwoods Levis & Lace Square Dance Club in Woodruff, WI. He has held offices in Northwoods Levis & Lace Square Dance Club and CNW Square Dance Assoc. Bob has been a committee chairman, along with Sharon for previous Wisconsin Conventions and he and Sharon were the General Chairmen for the Wisconsin Square & Round Dance Convention in 2022.
To contact:
Sharon Albright & Bob Tjensvold: E-mail
Youth Chairman
John & Katharina Harden
Area
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John & Katharina Harden
Youth ChairmanInformation still to come....
To contact:
John & Katharina Harden: E-mail
Housing/Camping Chairman
TBD
Area
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TBD
Housing/Camping ChairmanInformation still to come....
To contact:
TBD: E-mail
Retail Sales
Ellery & Karen Gulbrand
Area
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Ellery & Karen Gulbrand
Retail SalesWe are Ellery and Karen Gulbrand from Green Bay Wisconsin. Both of us are lifelong Wisconsinites. Ellery grew up on a dairy farm on the shore of Lake Michigan near Kewaunee and Karen a little bit south of there in Manitowoc. Ellery worked as a mechanical design draftsman and retired in 2012 after 47 years from Paper Converting Machine Company. Ellery engages in our local community, serving as President of the Village Tree Board, Commissioner on the Village Plan Committee, and Secretary of the Howard/Suamico Historical Society. He is active at our church and serves as Director of Outreach. Ellery volunteers at “The Cup of Joy” which is a Christian family friendly entertainment venue. Karen worked for many years as a licensed Insurance Agent specializing in Employers Group Life and Medical Benefits. A career change took her to the education field where she worked as a Paraprofessional in Education working with Emotionally Challenged students in the district. She retired in 2012 from the Green Bay Area Public Schools. Karen volunteered for twelve years on the Board of Directors of the Brown County Fair, overseeing all the commercial and food vendors at the fair. Currently she helps Ellery with his secretarial work and serves on the Shepherding Board at our church. We have been married for 58 years and our family includes three children, eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
We were introduced to the Square Dance World by friends in 1973 and have been involved ever since. Over the years, we have held many offices (numerous times) in our local club, area dancers’ association, state conventions, and the state association. It was our honor to work on the Youth Committee for the 28th National Square Dance Convention held in Milwaukee, WI in 1979. In 2016 we were inducted into the Wisconsin Dancer Hall of Fame. We were one of three couples inducted in the first year of that program. We served as Assistant General Chairman for the Wisconsin Square Dance Convention for two conventions and served as General Chairman in 1995.
Currently we are members of the Romeo and Calicos Square Dance Club in Appleton, WI. Ellery is Vice President of the Romeo & Calicos Square Dance Club. Karen is President of the Wolf River Area Dancers Association and Treasurer of the Square Dance Association of Wisconsin (SDAW). We serve as Delegates from the Wolf River Area Dancers Association to the SDAW. We serve as Executive Secretary for the Wisconsin Square Dance Convention Corp and are the President for the United Square Dancers of America. It was our honor to work as the Bid Chairman for the 73rd National Square Dance Convention held in Milwaukee in June of 2024. After the bid was accepted, we became the Program Chairman for the 73rd National Square Dance Convention®. We served as Co-General Chairman for the 65th Wisconsin Square and Round Dance Convention held in Oshkosh.
To contact:
Ellery & Karen Gulbrand: E-mail
Services
Eldon & Virginia Boehm
Southwest Area
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Eldon & Virginia Boehm
ServicesEldon Boehm started square dancing when he was about 16 - Cross Trails Club in Madison with Vern Weisensel. Eldon belonged to a square dance club called Wings and Swing in Omaha, Nebraska in 1973, while he lived there. Later, he belonged to a singles club in Madison - Mad City Squares, after military service in 1974.
Virginia Boehm first started square dancing in 1977 when she took lessons at Mad City Squares.
We met at Mad City Squares. We married in 1979 and kept dancing for awhile. We joined Grand Squares because we didn't want to belong to a singles club any longer. When we started raising a family in 1987, we stopped dancing.
When Eldon retired in 2010 we took lessons again at Westport Squares for a refresher. We got back to Round Dancing also. We belong to Dancing Shadows Round Dance Club. We also have taken Plus lessons several times and refresher courses to get more practice. We have had a good time with Square Dancing.
Virginia is still working for a Financial Planner - Admin Assistant. We have a son, Matt, 32 and a daughter, Kim, 36 and her husband Raf. We belong to Westport Squares Sq Dance Club and Badger Rovers Sq Dance Club and Dancing Shadows Round Dance Club.
Eldon has gone to a National Convention in California in 1975. Both of us went to the National in Iowa in 2016. We were in charge of Services at the State of WI Sq & Round Dance Convention in Baraboo in 2016 and in Middleton in 2019.
To contact:
Eldon & Virginia Boehm: E-mail
Showcase of Ideas
Jan Pitas
Area
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Jan Pitas
Showcase of IdeasInformation coming soon....
To contact:
Jan Pitas: E-mail
Fashion Show
Betty Riley
Area
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Betty Riley
Fashion ShowInformation coming soon...
To contact:
Betty Riley: E-mail
Special Events
TBD
Area
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TBD
Special EventsComing Soon....
To contact:
TBD: E-mail
Souvenir Book
Dan & Mary Albrecht
Area
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Dan & Mary Albrecht
Souvenir BookComing Soon...
To contact:
Dan & Mary Albrecht: E-mail
Webmaster
Tracy Hollatz
Central Northwest Area
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Tracy Hollatz
WebmasterI first started square dancing back when I was in the 7th grade. I loved to dance, and line dancing was my favorite part. I danced until college and then took time off to raise my family. In 2016, not having a partner for square dancing, I took clogging lessons and danced on the local clogging exhibition team. In 2017 I was able to talk my daughter into taking square dance lessons and I finally returned to my favorite activity. In 2023, I married Myron Hollatz, a caller/cuer for square dancing from Minnesota. We met at an Iowa State Square Dance Convention the previous year.
My second favorite activity is web design. I have worked on a number of websites in the past but I am currently the web designer for the Swingin' Beavers square dance club, the Square Dance Association of WI (SDAW), SW-SDAW, Westport Squares, Badger Rovers square dance camping group, the Wisconsin State Convention, and the MN Federation website.
I served one year as Vice President for the Swingin' Beavers club, two years as Publicity Chairman for the WI State Convention, and three years as the Webmaster for the Convention. Myron and I are the General Chairs for the 2027 WI State Square & Round Dance Convention - Aloha! I look forward to meeting you in a square!
To contact:
Tracy Hollatz: E-mail
Medical Services
Flash & Mary Ann Gordon
Southeast Area
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Flash & Mary Ann Gordon
Medical ServicesFlash took square dance lessons and graduated in 1979. He volunteered to be part of the team to provide emergency medical services for the National Convention held in Milwaukee that same year. He has been a familiar figure at all Wisconsin Conventions for Medical Services for many consecutive years.
Mary Ann started square dance lessons with the Swingin’ Single Squares. She graduated in the class of 1987. She met Flash at a dance at SSS and were married in 1990.
We participated in Fashion Shows in 1990 and 1998. We were members of two Exhibition Groups, and have attended local, state and regional events. We were Vice Chairman of Housing at the National Convention for 2024, and have attended other National Conventions.
To contact:
Flash & Mary Ann Gordon: E-mail
Computer Services
Scott and Brenda Deal
Southwest Area
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Scott and Brenda Deal
Computer ServicesScott graduated from Oklahoma State University, with an associate degree in drafting and worked within the Aerospace Industry and later in computer technology, which eventually brought us to Wisconsin in 2009. Brenda graduated from the California College of Paramedical and Technical College, as a Respiratory Therapist and has worked in health care for over 34 years. We met and married in Southern California in 2008.
Scott has danced for over 40 years in Oklahoma, Washington, and California. Brenda loved to dance but “No one square dances in California”. It took a relocation to Wisconsin in 2009 for Brenda to find out what Modern Western Square Dancing is all about. As a couple, we took lessons with Tom Nickel and the Swingin’ Beavers Square Dance Club and have never looked back.
We have two married daughters and 3 grandchildren. Scott’s daughter, Dana, danced with the Mavericks and participated in the Pacific Northwest Teen Square Dance Festival (PNTSDF). Scott was a Junior square coach for the Mavericks and a Buckskin advisor.
As a couple, we currently serve on the United Square Dancers of America as Social Media Chairmen for our 6th year and have also served as Secretary for 3 years. Within our State, we were Publicity Chairmen for the Square Dance Association of Wisconsin (SDAW). We were the General Chairmen for the 60th Wisconsin Square and Round Dance Convention in 2019 with 667 dancers in attendance from all over the US and Canada. In our Southwest Area of the Square Dance Association of Wisconsin (SW-SDAW), we have held offices as President, Vice President, and Secretary. We have held multiple offices within our local club as well. We are members of 3 clubs (Swingin’ Beavers Square Dance Club, Diamond Squares Plus Club, and Badger Rovers Campers). Scott has served as webmaster for 5 square dance websites in Wisconsin.
It is our love for square dancing along with our talent and experience in publicity and social media that has driven us to promote Square Dancing as a wonderful way to exercise and develop lifelong friendships. We look forward to bringing the 73rd National Square Dance Convention® to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2024.
To contact:
Scott and Brenda Deal: E-mail
Volunteer?
Are you interested in volunteering to help put on a Convention?
Please reach out to this years'
General Chairman
