About Us
Ray Johnson
- I started these dances to do something that seemed obvious - have a
place with lots of dance room where you could dance to fabulous music.
- My background is professional musician for 15 years playing
keyboards, guitar & bass. I have my Grade 10 Conservatory of
Music in Piano, was two courses short of getting my Certified General
Accountants diploma, worked as an audio salesman for most of my life, was
A&B Sounds top salesman (I was the 2nd person ever to sell over
$100,000.00 of audio gear in one month, so there's a plaque somewhere at the
Marine Drive store enrolling me in the $100,000.00 Club!), actively involved in Scouting for 11 years
(Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers - both my sons have their Chief Scouts
awards),
Controller for Bridgeport Carpets, and have worked at London Drugs computers
for 11 years. I've been repairing computers since 1988 and for LDC have been a full time tech for the last six years.
I fix over 1,000 computers a year.
- In Sept 2002 I started taking dance lessons with Robyn Picard, and
started these dances in March 2005, after attending really bad New Years
dances two years in a row, and a swack of dances with mediocre music!
- For these dances, I design & update the website, plan everything,
deal with the emails, and record all the music in advance
- What started as a simple idea has grown to paying three people to
help make the dances run, thousands of dollars invested in DJ gear and food
hardware, and now I own a truck to move it all around!
Bertha Mortimer
- When I met Bertha in December 2003 she only did freestyle dancing.
She's manager for Curves (finishing that Nov 2007) and works also as a Floral designer.
She also has a business decorating weddings with her friend Lynn Nelles,
both of whom are responsible for the beautiful New Years dance decorations.
- As I don't drive, Bertha provides the wheels. Initially till I
bought all my equipment she would pick up and return the rental music gear.
Now she helps me purchase all the requirements for the dance, drives the
truck and is the social coordinator(!) and gives me feedback on the dances
- Bertha also handles all the decoration for each dance, and her and
Lynn are the brains behind the decoration at each New Years dance - I tell
them my vision and they find a way to implement it and simply make it
better!
Mike Johnson
- Mike is my youngest son and helps with the grunt work moving gear
around. He also sets up the DJ outfit and runs it during the
dance. MIke is a supervisor for building the new Skytrain and
wants to attend Vancouver Arts School and get a diploma in sound
engineering. Plus he'd like to be a DJ for night clubs and Raves.
Alex Skibicki
- Alex is Mikes girlfriend, and helps with setting up and tearing down,
decorating the tables, taking your money and selling the 50:50 tickets.
Alex is attending SFU in a Graphics Design program I think, and takes a big
load off my plate dealing with the money. For people without
email, she's the voice on the phone reminding you about upcoming events.
Debbie Beatty
- I've known Debbie since 2004, before I met Bertha in
fact, and she often helps at the bigger
dances with food preparation, and setting up the tables. She's a
fabulous Country 2-step and West Coast Swing partner, and we've taken a lot
of lessons together.
Robyn Picard & father Don Picard
- Robyn's my inspiration for these dances after hounding her for months
on starting a Friday night practice dance like "The Pinetree group" and
myself used to attend every Friday in Coquitlam. She comes up with a
dance lesson for most dances, and with her dad provides us with great moves
each dance! As of 2007, Robyn's been teaching for at least 18
years, and her dad over 40.
Sarah
Friends who help
-
Zale Hammren
who installed the chandelier I bought and donated to the hall for my dances,
and companion Vicky always seem to be around to put away after each dance,
as well as Steve & Elaine, Dale & George, Dan & Marsha, and a swack of other
very kind people.
Thank you all!
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