Demo Team
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From left to right: Carol & Dave Stevens IdaMae & Bud Bridges Ella & Marty Vala Delores & Ernie Prosperini Virginia & Bill Kleban Diane & Jim Tisckos Irene Saccomano |
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Delores & Ernie Prosperini |
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Virginia & Bill Kleban |
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IdaMae & Bud Bridges |
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Ella & Marty Vala |
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Irene Saccomano |
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Carol & Dave Stevens |
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Jim and Diane Tisckos |
| Here's the history of the Demo Team: The Club has provided entertainment
to nursing homes, retirement homes, civic activities, etc. since before
1982. Originally under the leadership of Ferd Hadowsky of Pana, club members
were asked to dance at nursing and retirement homes. Everyone was invited
to participate and it was an opportunity for club members to dance to taped
music, while providing entertainment for the residents. Dances were by request
of the dancers. The club bought a tape deck, an amplified speaker and a
microphone for use by the group and also for use at monthly practice sessions
which are for all members. Gene Correll assumed leadership of the nursing
home activity in 1989 and Dave Stevens was asked to assist him in early
1990. Gene set a program for each event and carried along the tapes for
the songs on the program, using his personal boombox most of the time. He
had collected some 10-minute tapes and had one song on a tape. By this time,
the participants had become pretty much the same folks each time. Gene died
in January, 1991, and Dave Stevens became the leader. Dave established an
ongoing program and put it all on one tape. He also persuaded the club to
buy a bookcase stereo set with a remote control so that the tape could be
controlled from the dance floor without running to the stereo. The group
was then called "The Illinois Chapter, Po.L.K.ofA. Exhibition and Demonstration
Team," or "The Demo Team" for short. Some of the regular
participants became pretty good at the dances on the program and were embarrassed
when members who had not practiced them joined in and disrupted the dances
to the point that they frequently had to be restarted. A set of rules was
established requiring that only team members could participate, that members
had to attend all dance practices, etc. Surprisingly, there were very few
objections. In the early 1990s, the team included Ken & Pat Austin,
Bill & Joanne Barber, Bud & Ida Mae Bridges, Al & Theresa Ferrero,
Leonard Hart & Betty Price, Al & Wanda Hysler, Roy & Mickey
Koehm, Larnie & Reva Perko, Bill & Eloise Quinley, Dick & Donna
Quinley, Bill & Lu Ruenzi, George Sabo & Theresa Janoff, Dave &
Carol Stevens, Jim & Connie Wilber, Wendell & Ruth Woolfolk and
others. Since then, the membership has changed. Ernie & Delores Prosperini,
Marty & Ella Vala and Bill & Virginia Kleban worked together for
months preparing themselves to participate. Jim Wyzard and Ora Verardi joined
for a couple of years. Jim and Diane Tisckos and Joe & Liufen Lin are
recent additions. In the late 1990s, Irene Saccomano was recruited to MC
the demos. The team has performed at The Illinois State Fair every year
since 1993. Until 2003, they danced only at the Illinois Building, but in
2003 and 2004 they also performed at the Ethnic Village Gazebo. They have
performed as far north as Peoria, as far west as Quincy, as far east as
Champaign and as far south as Edwardsville. They usually perform about 25
to 30 times per year, entertaining the elderly and disabled performing for
school children, or exposing the public to the Klub's purposes at civic
events. There is no charge for the team's demonstrations, but many organizations
donate to the club for the team's performances. |