Berger Callers - What's up?

68th National Square Dance Convention - Atlanta, GA

7/5/2019

The 68th National Square Dance Convention did not disappoint!

I started the week at the GSI Caller School and had the privilege of learning from some incredibly talented callers. A special thanks to the staff for working so hard to support caller education.

Barry Johnson, Kimberly Curlee, Ted Lizotte, Tony Oxendine, Charlie Robertson, Scott Bennett, Dee Dee Dougherty-Lottie, Walt Burr, Brad Caldwell, Me, Jack & Sherry Pladdys, Lisa Lincoln, Al Hipkins

I spent the rest of the week calling, dancing, working the CALLERLAB booth, networking, and having an absolute blast!

A major highlight of the Convention was dancing to and calling with the Ghost Riders Square Dance Band! They were even gracious enough to stand for a picture with me! If you can't tell, I was super excited! ☺️

Glad everyone got the color memo! Black & White for the win!

I hope you enjoy these photos from the Convention. You can click on the photos to view them larger. This is not even close to a complete representation of all of the fun I had! It is always so great seeing old friends and making new ones too!

Thanks to everyone who made this week so memorable! ❤

Calling at The Villages, FL

5/19/2019

May brought a new adventure for me - it was my first time calling in Florida! Mike & Wanda David are good friends of my family. They moved to Florida several years ago and invited me to come call for their club, The Orange Blossoms in The Villages, FL. What a fun dance! Thanks so much to Mike & Wanda for their generous hospitality and to The Orange Blossoms for such a warm welcome.

CALLERLAB Convention

4/18/2019

Thank you to everyone who made the 46th CALLERLAB Convention so memorable! I'm incredibly appreciative of the support and encouragement I have received so far and grateful for the opportunity to work for this organization. A special shout out to the Home Office staff and volunteers for all they do behind the scenes! Check out some photos of the event below.

The Home Office Staff and Volunteers worked so hard to put on a fantastic convention!

Tuesday Night Banquet

Photo Credit: Glinda Torvik

2018 New Year’s Eve Dance – Scatter 8’s

1/1/2019

What better way is there to bring in a new year than square dancing? I sure can’t think of a way! :-)

Thanks to the Scatter 8’s for having me call and for all the dancers who made the night so much fun!

One last selfie to end 2018!

29th Indiana Square and Round Dance Convention

11/6/2018

I had a fantastic time at the Indiana Square and Round Dance Convention!

Friday night started out with a great dance by featured caller Tom Miller. The theme was "Back to the 50's" and I love seeing so many people dressed in 50's attire! Saturday was full with square and round dancing at all levels, workshops, competition, education sessions, and more!
Finally we ended a packed weekend with the Sunday morning Gospel Finale!

The Indiana Convention is one of my favorite times of the year because I get to see so many good friends in one place!

Join us next year in French Lick for our 30th Convention - November 8, 9 & 10, 2019!

It's always an honor to get to call with Kristy! Check out the above video of us calling on Friday night in the main hall just before the President's Ball.

Some of the amazing volunteers at the registration desk

Just some of the callers who shared their talent at the Convention this year.

It's always great to call with Kristy Williams and Amanda Skidmore!

The Convention Board put on a fantastic convention! Thanks for all of your hard work.

Great crowd on Sunday morning

Andrew's Wedding

9/27/2018

Just wanted to share a quick family life update for those of you checking in to the Berger Callers blog.
You may have noticed a new face out on the dance floor and in our family photos. On August 18, 2018, Andrew and Jillian got married! It was a beautiful day and so nice to have family and friends come together to celebrate. The day came together perfectly - weather was lovely (hot but not raining), food was delicious, dancing and music were lively, and there was plenty of laughter to go around.
Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Berger! Welcome to the family, Jillian!

WIPAC

9/3/2018

The Bergers: Teresa, Frank, Elisa, Andrew & Jillian

It’s been awhile since the whole gang has been together for a square dance but this weekend we all made it up to Wisconsin for the WIPAC weekend!

Andrew and I were both honored to be asked to call! You can hear one of our tips on this Facebook live video. A special thanks to Mom for the video.

We had a blast seeing many familiar faces and meeting many new folks too. We enjoyed dancing to the many talented callers on staff - they really pulled out the stops on the choreography!

A special thanks to Noah Siegmann for inviting us to call and coordinating such a great weekend! The Siegmann Band put on an incredible gospel concert on Sunday morning as well! We also had the privilege of calling with their band during the live music hour – what an honor! You can listen to some of their inspirational music by clicking on their photo below.

It is so nice to have good friends who share such lovely photos! Check out some of the photos from the weekend below! We had a great time!

Dancing on Friday night Photo Credit: Glinda Torvik

Such fun sharing the stage with Bob Asp on Friday night! Photo credit: Glinda Torvik

Duet time! Video screenshot credit: Glinda Torvik

The weekend was held at the beautiful Washington County Fairgrounds Exposition Center. There was plenty of space to dance in the Plus hall. Photo credit: Andrew Berger

Illinois State Square Dance Convention

7/31/2018

I had a great weekend calling, cueing, and dancing at the Illinois State Square Dance Convention! A special highlight for me was the opportunity to call with Tom Miller. Such an honor to share the stage with an incredible caller.
Love seeing old friends and making new ones too!

67th National Square Dance Convention 2018

7/4/2018

More than 3,100 dancers attended the 67th National Square Dance Convention in Kansas City, MO. I was one of those lucky dancers! The Convention offers a variety of programming for attendees including squares, rounds, lines, contra, education panels, seminars, sewing clinics, and plenty of opportunities for networking with attendees from around the world! We danced from 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM Thursday through Saturday and had an absolute blast! I had so much fun seeing old friends and making new ones too! I've posted a short slideshow below.

The highlight of my weekend was on Saturday night when I had the honor of calling with the Ghost Riders Square Dance Band for the first time! These guys are incredible and so much fun to work with. Check out the video below!

Super thanks to Eric Henerlau for taking the video! ☺

CALLERLAB Convention 2018

4/16/2018

I had a great time at the CALLERLAB Convention this year in Albuquerque, NM. It was so much fun to network with other callers, listen to some of the legends of square dancing, and brainstorm about the future of the activity!