ASSDF Fall Festival
| Contents |
| Overview |
| 2020 Fall Festival |
| 2020 Fall Festival Fliers |
| Hotels, Location, And Weather |
| Future Fall Festivals |
| 2020 Fall Festival Registration |
| Contents |
| Overview |
| 2020 Fall Festival |
| 2020 Fall Festival Fliers |
| Hotels, Location, And Weather |
| Future Fall Festivals |
| 2020 Fall Festival Registration |
The ASSDF has a yearly fall festival dance in a different Arkansas city, usually the second weekend of October, which is on the Columbus Day Weekend. The main dancing is on Friday afternoon and evening, and Saturday dances. On Saturday morning, there is the ASSDF Delegates Meeting, plus the afternoon and evening dancing. There's also line dancing, Door Prizes, a Teacup Auction, and Split The Pot, among other items, at the weekend. There may also be a Fashion Show on Saturday afternoon. At times, there is a Trail-End Dance on Thursday evening, separate from the festival itself.
All clubs are requested to provide Gift Baskets for the dance, which will be auctioned off, with a minimum bid that they place on it. There may be
used square dance items for sale at the festival...confirmation will be posted as soon as possible. If so, dancers receive 75% of the proceeds, with
25% going to the ASSDF.
It's also worth noting that ''While visitors can watch the dance at no charge, the moment they step on the dance floor to dance, they become dancers...and are expected to pay the at door registration fee (for Friday and Saturday), and, if there's a Thursday Night Trail-In Dance, a separate fee, payable at the door. If not, they will be asked to leave the dance floor, and the premises''...because of liability and insurance issues.
The 2020 Fall Festival will be held at the Four State Fairgrounds, at 3700 East 50th Street in Texarkana, Arkansas. The Guys 'N Dolls Club will be sponsoring a Trail End Dance on Thursday night, with caller Nelda Eaton. The dance willl be held at the Texarkana RV Park 5000 US-59 (Lake Drive). Admission to this dance, $10 per person, is payable at the door, and is separate from the festival registration.
The actual festival will be Friday afternoon and evening, then Saturday morning, afternoon, and evening. Besides the dancing, there will also be workshops, as well as a Teacup Auction, Split The Pot, a Gift Basket Auction (NO ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IN THEM), and a Horse Race...the latter was at the 2019 Fall Festival in Clinton. For those who weren't there, ''a good time was had by all at the track''. The Delegates Meeting will be on Saturday morning.
The deadline for Advance Registration, and requesting lodging is Sept. 30, 2020. After that date, the room rates will go back to the regular price, and be released to anyone who wants them. And, after that date, the registration fees also increase. So, please do NOT wait until the last minute to register.
At present, the schedule (subject to change, with things such as registration times, meal breaks, and workshops, to be added) is as follows:
6:45pm to 7:00pm - Pledge Of Allegiance, Prayer, Welcome, and Announcements
7:00pm to 9:30pm - Square Dancing. Mainstream, with announced Plus, and Line Dancing between tips
9:45pm until ??? - Gather at Applebee's (location to be announced)
As a side note, as of now, I personally am NOT planning on dancing at all during the weekend...instead, preferring to WORK. I will have the laptop computer with me, to answer any questions about The Modern Square (including print subscriptions), the original website, and the new website. I will also be taking subscriptions to The Modern Square. Right now, we have a large number of print subscriptions expiring in both February and November. So, I will be sure to have plenty of Subscription Forms on hand.
Also, I understand that the hotels are NON-SMOKING...if you smoke in a non-smoking room, you will be subject to a substantial cleaning fee
(some hotels charge as much as $500). Non-smokers like myself, can NOT deal with being in a ''smoking room''.
There are two locations, as follows:
1) Four States Fairgrounds, 3700 East 50th Street, Texarkana, AR. They do NOT take reservations...call for availability. They can be reached at (870) 773-2941 -- cost is $30 per night.
2) Texarkana RV Park, 5000 US-59 (Lake Drive), Texarkana, TX. They can be reached at (903) 306-1364. Cost is $25 per night. This will be the location
of the Trail-End Dance on Thursday night, October 8, 2020.
There are two hotels, as follows...both within a short distance of each other, and both charging $62 a night (prices do NOT include tax). I have included direct links to their websites for your convenience, so you can see the available amenities.
1) Comfort Suites, 5420 Crossroads Parkway, Texarkana, AR. They can be reached at (870) 330-0189 or (870) 216-8084.
2) Best Western,
5219 Crossroads Parkway, Texarkana, AR. They can be reached at (870) 774-1534.
Speaking of Amtrak, The Texas Eagle, which serves Texarkana, runs daily between Chicago, St. Louis, Little Rock, Dallas/Fort Worth, and San Antonio. At San Antonio, 3 days a week, the train connects with The Sunset Limited. On the days when these connections are made, the Sleeping Car Accommodations are usually SOLD OUT months in advance. The train uses the bi-level Superliner equipment. Further information on ticketing, identification, baggage, what to expect on board, etc., is located on the Amtrak website.
Schedule wise, if the train is ON TIME, the southbound train arrives at 5:58am...and the northbound train arrives at 8:43pm. Call Amtrak at (800) 872-7245, 24 hours a day, to check on the train status. The station itself is located on the east end of the original depot, with the west end having been repurposed as a correctional facility (jail). While checked baggage is available, it's handled at trainside, as there is no Amtrak agent at the station to sell tickets. The closest stations with an Amtrak Ticket Agent are either at Little Rock, Arkansas, or at Longview, Texas.
The nearby Texarkana Regional Airport has limited flight service, mostly from the Dallas area.
Unless you're driving, you'll need to take taxi service from the airports or the train station, to get to the hotels and fairgrounds. For this festival, driving is the best option. For information on traffic conditions, construction zones, etc., click here. There are logos of adjacent states on the map, so you can click on those for road conditions from those states.
Weatherwise, the National Weather Service in Shreveport, Louisiana provides forecasts, watches, and warnings, for the area...you can get a detailed forecast here.
For the Fall Festival, the costs of registration are as follows:
1) Registration for all dancing, Friday through Saturday, on or before Sept. 30, 2020: $20 per person.
2) Registration for all dancing, Friday through Saturday, on or after Oct. 1, 2020, and at the door: $25 per person.
3) Registration for EITHER Friday OR Saturday, no matter when purchased: $15 per person per day. If you originally purchase the Friday registration only...then discover you can attend the Saturday activities as well, that will cost you an additional $15 fee.
For a flier and registration form for the Friday and Saturday dancing, click here. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view/print the file.
If you can't print the main registration flier, write your name(s) (his, hers, or both)...your mailing address (with apartment number if applicable), as well as city, state, and zip code, along with a contact phone number, and email if you have one...on a piece of paper, and mail it with a check, payable to ASSDF for the proper amount, and mail it to Sheila Gesing, 9760 Grant 7, Sheridan, AR 72150.
While this should be common sense, please be sure that the check is signed. Otherwise, the bank will NOT take it. As a result, it'll be returned to you, and your registration will NOT be processed.
