ABOUT KEEPERS OF THE DANCE
BY
BOB MYRICK
FIRST ANNUAL KEEPERS OF THE DANCE SHAG CONTEST
The first annual Shaggers Hall Of Fame Keepers Of The Dance contest was held at Fat Harolds Beach Club on February 19 & 20, 2010. Highlights of the weekend included a final qualifying contest on Friday night, introduction of the 2009 inductees, a cocktail party for sponsors, judges, and contestants Saturday afternoon, and the finals on Saturday night. Fat Harold and staff were great hosts as usual. The club was packed both nights, and everyone enjoyed a great party and the best shag contest in recent memory!
Over $5,000.00 in prize money was awarded to the winners in the Junior, Senior, and Open divisions. Most of the 28 current members of "Keepers" were in attendance and many had qualified to dance in the finals.
The Keepers Of The Dance was started in 1998 by the Shaggers Hall Of Fame to honor former junior shaggers who have continued to participate in our dance, music, and lifestyle after their junior years and have been instrumental in "keeping" the dance and music alive. The brain child of Harry Driver and Chick Hedrick, fostered by Vickie Carter and a host of other Hall of Famers. This organization has grown and flourished over the past 13 years.
Each year during Spring Shag Attack weekend in March, the "keepers" committee meets and select a male and female to be inducted in October along with the Hall Of Fame Inductions. In February of the following year each new inductee's picture and biography are hung with the past inductees in "Keepers Corner" now located in Fat Harolds Beach Club. The new "keepers" for 2010 are Leslie Melton Jennings, hometown Wilmington, NC and Brent Key, hometown High Point, NC.
In early 2009, the committee along with Thurston and Linda Reeder of Thirsty's 2 in Greensboro NC, Gary and Deborah Gibson of Loafer's Beach Club in Raleigh, NC, decided to promote a shag contest in honor of the Keepers Of The Dance. Qualifying contests were held in the fall of 2009 and winter of 2010 at Loafer's, Thirsty's 2, and Fat Harolds. Three divisions including Juniors, Seniors, and Open qualified 9 couples in each division for the final of 27 couples at Fat Harolds on Saturday, February 20. A special thanks is owed to the wonderful sponsors, which included many Hall Of Famers, club owners, the NSDC, and local businesses, and the great patrons of Fat Harolds and supporters of the dance in attendance.
Qualifying for the 2011 contest will be held in November and December of 2010 at Loafer's in Raleigh, NC, and Thirsty's 2 in Greensboro, NC, and Fat Harolds in OD in February 2011 prior to the finals.