28th CALLERLAB Convention
Milestone Award
Presented by Bob Van Antwerp
Although a full-time practicing dentist, Mike has made time to be extremely active in his favorite hobby, square dancing. Involved in a leadership capacity in so many ways, he is and has been, for most of his life a ―True Professional!
Mike began dancing in 1960 after losing a Rose Bowl football bet to his mother earlier that year. His debt was paid by attending at least three lessons, but by then he was hooked. He began calling in 1963 and taught classes during his high school years between football, baseball and track. Mike met Gail in high school in 1967, and they‘ve been involved in square dancing together ever since.
His early years go something like this: started dancing in 1960-61, began calling and teaching to 6th grade classmates in 1963, started first teen class in 1963, taught first adult class in 1965. Mike was teaching and calling classes weekly from 1965-69 and continued calling weekly while attending college from 1969-76.
Mike has developed and, since 1994 has conducted, weekly Multi-cycle square dance lessons. This ongoing program features overlapping classes with three sessions starting each year and with hosting club‘s members participating in each weekly session. The sponsoring club, incidentally, is one of the largest and healthiest in the state. He has worked untiringly over the years on the broad scale of American Square Dancing involving the many facets of the activity.
Over the past quarter century Mike has been involved in many areas of the square dance world. He attended contra callers school in 1975, has been a member of CALLERLAB since 1977, the Lloyd Shaw Foundation since 1980, CONTRALAB since 1990, Western Callers Association since 1992, California Contra Callers Association since 1992 and has been teaching Multicycle square dance lessons since 1994.
During the past fifteen years Mike has been called upon to give educational seminars for callers and dance leaders. Mike has conducted caller seminars in Colorado, Utah, Florida and Japan. He was a presenter at CROSSROADS II in 1987 and has served as Guest Director at the Prairie Conclave in 1992, 1996 and 2000. In addition, Mike has served on numerous panels and seminars at the National Square Dance Conventions.
Mike has been called upon and written articles and features for a number of square dance publications, and in the mid- 1990‘s donated his calling on a video tape covering calling and teaching contra dancing. Mike has recorded calls on Wild West Records, Thunderbird Records, Global Records and was featured on the Sets In Order Premium Records and is regular staff member of Rhythm Records.
Mike has been a supportive member of CALLERLAB and attended all its conventions since 1977, and has served on many of its committees including Plus Committee Chairman, Program Coordinating Committee Chairman, Member of the Board of Governors since 1984, has served two terms on the Executive Committee, was Chairman of the Board from 1992-94, Chairman of the Ethics Committee,
Chairman Ad Hoc Multicycle Classes Committee, Chairman of Square Dance Issues Committee, and currently serves as Chairman of the Marketing Committee.
In addition to calling engagements all over the United States, Mike is active locally, teaching beginners on a weekly basis. Mike has escorted tour groups to New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, with frequent visits to multiple locations in Japan. Many of these overseas assignments involved public relations for square dancing and CALLERLAB and impromptu seminars with callers and dancer-leaders.
Mike has been married to Gail, his high school sweetheart, since 1971. They have two sons, Mark, 23, a firefighter/paramedic, and Jim, 18, an aspiring musician.