A letter from Peter Ianniciello, the President of the Tempo Club:
Dear Ballroom Dancers,
I received a notice from the Oglebay Formals informing me that 2012 will be the last year for this venerable dance event. The “Formals” have provided dance opportunities for seventy years at the beautiful Pine Room at the Oglebay Resort. Susan and I have attended several of these dances and have reveled in the classic ballroom experience the “Formals” have provided. How sad to realize that ballroom music and dancing will no longer grace the Pine Room. I feel privileged to have experienced the “Formals” before the event passed into history.
Very often we assume that what we have known to be will simply continue because we cannot imagine it ending. The reality is that things do come to an end unless we support them. I hate to face the fact that the plight of the “Formals” in Wheeling can occur in Parkersburg quite easily. The Oglebay Formals are ending simply because of poor attendance. This should sound disturbingly familiar to those of us who are concerned about the future of our Parkersburg dance institution, the Tempo Club. The club has had a dwindling membership and erratic attendance at dances these past years. As we all know, this is due to a shrinking dance community and the lack of new dance couples who are interested in joining the dance community. Doug Reeder and I feel that this next season will determine if the club continues or goes the way of the Oglebay Formals.
Doug and I have managed the finances of the club over the past few years to provide quality music and venues that offered spacious floors for dancing. This past year we were forced to reduce our scheduled dances from six to five due to our financial condition. We simply do not have enough members in the club or guests attending the dances. Doug and I have agreed that if the club cannot reach a membership of twenty five member couples by May 31, then it is probably best to retire the Tempo Club. This will end a club that has a forty year history of providing ballroom dance opportunities in the Parkersburg area. This is a harsh reality to accept, but we have no alternative. Twenty-five member couples is an attainable number if the dance community decides to preserve ballroom dancing in Parkersburg.
It is now up to the dance community to accept this challenge and show support for ballroom dancing or allow it to pass into Parkersburg history. The membership is $200 per couple for five dances. Please send your membership fee to Doug before May 31, 2012, so a timely decision can be made about the future of the Tempo Club. A membership form is included with this post. If our goal is not met and the decision is made to dissolve the club, all payments will be returned.
We will keep you posted as to the progress by the chart shown below. We do have one couple who recently paid their dues and has kicked off the campaign.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
**Red indicates paid couple.
Let’s join together and keep ballroom dancing alive in Parkersburg.
Sincerely,
Peter
————–Clip to use or pass on to a Potential New Member—————-
2012-2013 TEMPO BALLROOM DANCE CLUB MEMBERSHIP or RENEWAL APPLICATION
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ADDRESS_____________________________________________
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Mid Ohio Valley Ballroom Dance 