Personal Reflections

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DCHDC President Linda Trader presents the 2017 Hall of Fame Award to long-time member and past president Andy Anderson at the December 9th holiday party. Board members Phyllis Crutchfield and Ron Carroll join in the applause. This award is given to recognize Andy’s contributions to the instruction and preservation of hand dance, and for his many years of service in leadership and supportive roles to advance the mission of the D.C. Hand Dance Club. Andy began dancing at age 12 at College Park teen clubs and firehouses. He joined DCHDC at its inception in 1994. and served as club president in 1995-1996 and again in 1999-2000.

Thoughts from longtime member Andy Anderson:

After receiving my wonderful, prestigious award at our recent Christmas dance, I reflected on my 20-plus years with the club and wanted to share some of my thoughts.

Looking around that night, I saw a lot of new faces at the dance—which is the life line of any club. But, I really want everyone to understand the most important part of the name of our club: Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Hand Dance PRESERVATION Society.

A favorite event I attended in 2000 was the “Steel City Boogie Club” annual event in Pittsburgh, PA. There were nine club presidents in attendance and I represented DCHDC at a round table discussion during the event. What I learned that day holds true today: we have the lowest dues, we dance more per month than other clubs, we have the largest membership, we have a newsletter and we give free dance lessons. We hand pick venues that fit our priorities for a relaxed, clean place with a nice floor, good food and safe parking. Finally, we have our own DJ’s that customize music choices—beach, R&B, rock, or country—to support our unique style of dance. We are a classy group of dancers that want to dance!

How lucky we are to have a venue of some type to go to at least three times a week to dance as well as attending special functions like “Meet Me at the Beach” and our New Year’s Eve Gala, etc. Sometimes, we see each other more than our own families! We're more like a big family! 

As longtime member and former club president Tom Tassara once put it, “The Board's job is truly a labor of love.” Yes, it is, and a lot of hard work goes into planning every dance and event.

So, please, take the “job” to heart and help keep our style, D.C. Hand Dancing, alive!

“By age 18 the dance clubs in D.C. held more interest for us because we could have a beer, dance to live bands and get closer to the girls because the dance floors were small.”

—Andy Anderson