General Information

I will be hosting the 15th annual Tech Squares weekend, exclusively for Tech Squares family and friends at East Hill Farm in Troy, NH (about 2 hours from Cambridge, MA),

This weekend features three sessions of Tim Marriner calling full Plus, at speed, and Mary Pickett cueing rounds. In addition there are mini-sessions during the day on Saturday covering a wide range of dance activities most of which are aimed at Plus dancers. The weekend also includes star tips at all levels and higher level rounds. The festivities start Friday with dinner at 6:30 and run through the end of lunch on Sunday. You are welcome to arrive after lunch on Friday, or stay later on Sunday. In the past Friday afternoon has seen good puzzle and board game sessions, along with drill or practice dancing sessions.

The Saturday morning and afternoon activities will be scheduled based on your indicated interests. Some examples from previous years: dancing arky, gemini, and mirror, hexagons, playing with a few challenge concepts, progressive squares, classic singing calls, dancing to tapes of the Pacific Northwest Teen Festival, and dancing full sessions of A2, C1, and rounds. Please note your interests on the registration form; tell us your favorites from the past and suggest new ideas for this year. If any callers or cuers would like to lead a dance session, please note that, too.

Extra Day: We are considering offering the option of arriving a day early. While some of us would use this time to play board games, there are many other activities available at East Hill.

While this is a singles weekend, please obtain a partner before joining your square. Casual attire for all daytime sessions. Optional dress-up for evening sessions.

East Hill Farm hosts square dance and family weekends. Included are lodging for three days and two nights, six meals, snacks, and coffee, tea, and lemonade available all the time. They have a floating wooden dance floor which can hold 12 squares, several recreation rooms, an indoor swimming pool, whirlpool, sauna, and outdoor ice rink. All the facilities are non-smoking. In addition they are a working farm with much to see and do on the farm.

The rates are on the application form [not updated for 2009 yet]. In order to encourage MIT undergraduates to attend, there is a special rate of $100 per person. For everyone, the prices listed include everything (food, lodging, tax, tips, and dance fee).

This will be our second year at East Hill Farm. To get orientated to the new facility, Sola Grantham has created this map of the grounds. [Caveat: she blatantly made up anything she couldn't figure out (!) so some room shapes etc. could be way off.] While most of your time will be spent in the main building, much of the housing is in separate buildings around the property. These buildings are 1 to 5 minutes walk from the main building.

Our experience from our first year indicates that the dance hall holds 12 crowded squares, and is comfortable with 10. Last year we admitted 14.5 squares of paying dancers and there is likely to be a similar limit this year. While we haven't finalized an admission policy, you must sign up by the deadline to have any chance of attending.

Housing is available for everyone in a variety of buildings and price ranges on the property. You should plan on two people per room, each in a twin bed, or together in a double, queen, or king bed. There is no price savings for extra people in a room, though we can have 3 or 4 in some rooms using cots. We may be able to offer a limited number of single rooms.

East Hill Farm has three levels of housing:

• Basic: smaller, older rooms, double or 2 twin beds, some with shared baths. Many can be connected with other rooms. This will be MIT undergrad housing as well as best bet for families with baby monitors, as some of these rooms are in the main inn.

• Midprice (+$10): newer, larger rooms, mini fridge, private baths, ceiling fan, either a queen bed or two twin beds, and great views.

• Deluxe (+$24): newer, spacious rooms, king or 2 twin beds, most have private baths, most w/ small refrigerators, A/C, TV, and nice sitting rooms. Most are 2 bedroom suites, some are in larger configurations.

Your registration form [not updated for 2009 yet] has some questions relating to this housing. While I will do my best to satisfy housing requests, I am leaving myself complete freedom while doing room assignments. You may not get your room from last year. Certain, awkward to fully utilize, sections of housing will be offered to groups who will fill them.

Financial aid: To help minimize the cost increase of moving to East Hill Farm, I am now including the discount received by MIT undergraduates as part of the financial aid system. This makes it more important then ever that lots of us contribute. I expect the amount will be under $20.

To make the collecting of financial easier, I will no longer keep secret who contributes to financial aid. If I post a list of people and how much they owe, it will include the financial aid so others will be able to infer that you are a contributor. If this is a problem, let me know.

If you need financial aid, please read our policy. This system has worked well and allows everyone who is interested to attend.

I expect that the weekend will be oversubscribed and we are putting in place a tiered lottery whose details are still being debated. The most important thing you can do is get your application in by the deadline.

History

Year	Caller	Cuer(s)	Attendees	Rooms
1995	John Sybalsky	Veronica McClure and Hope Belanger	47	28
1996	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	69	39
1997	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	58	31
1998	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	61	34
1999	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	52	29
2000	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	73	41
2001	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	78	40
2002	John Sybalsky	Lou and Steve Toth	92	40
2003	Jerry Jestin	Dave Goss	71	38
2004	Jerry Jestin	Mary Pickett	86	41
2005	Vic Ceder	Mary Pickett	84	37
2006	Vic Ceder	Mary Pickett	92	39
2007	Dave Wilson	Mary Pickett	111	43
2008	Dave Wilson	Mary Pickett	133	70

Revised: $Date: 2008/03/05 15:57:01 $