FROM POTEET
TO PEDROTTI’S
Director Linda Carolan writes:
Our three
shows on the Saturday afternoon of the Poteet Strawberry Festival were
in prime time with standing room only audiences cheering us on. The location was most excellent and we
alternated times with the Drum Café, a group of percussionists who
provide drums for the audience to join in their show. As the Drum Café took the stage for their
second show, their leader announced, “Fire on the Mountain Cloggers Rock!” Another drummer approached me after the
second show and said he noticed we were doing polyrhythms
in some of our routines.
We also provided lively
entertainment for two very different conventions at Pedrotti’s
Ranch. One performance occurred
late in the evening for a huge crowd of over 800 people. We performed four fast-paced routines for an
extremely rowdy audience consisting of attendees of an international business
convention. They were really pumped and
our dancers really ripped. Many of these
high-powered managers approached us following the performance to relay their
appreciation. About ten days later we
returned to the same venue to perform for a much different crowd. Most of these conventioneers were retired and
they volunteered their time to 
tutor in various
after school programs. This was an
appreciation dinner for about 80 people and some individuals had volunteered
400 and 500 hours to the mentoring program.
Unlike the previous convention, the atmosphere was calm and sedate;
however, the end of our first routine resulted in loud applause and big
smiles. The close of our thirty-minute
performance brought many well-wishers to our back stage location to thank us
for the lovely show. Thus, you see that
two very different audiences can appreciate the traditional clogging of Fire on
the Mountain.
OPTIMISTS PROVIDE A WORTHY DEED
The Optimist Club was
so pleased with our performances for their children’s Christmas Party at the Fort
Sam Houston Golf Club in the past that they invited us to perform three years in a row. These great folks host a party every year for
children who have cancer. The Optimists
provide a dinner for the children and their families, and then Santa Claus
arrives to distribute gifts. We were
pleased that many of the children participated in our “dance along” when we
invited them to learn a simple clogging dance.
Some got great enjoyment out of playing the wooden spoons in time to the
music.
LIVE AT CORNERSTONE
A few Decembers ago we were
contacted by the good folks at Cornerstone Church to participate
in the Pre-Pageant program. Each year
they present the story of Christ’s birth and their prelude included music from
various cultures. One of the songs was
Gaelic in nature and featured Irish drums.
Another had choir members who danced and sang a Salsa number. Still another was an a
capella men’s ensemble which belted out a great
Southern gospel number. The finale of
the Pre-Pageant Presentation featured the Fire on the Mountain Cloggers,
accompanied by the Cornerstone Fiddlers.
These fiddlers, ranging in age from 6 to 60 plus, were costumed in
attire similar to Little House on the Prairie.
The Pageant featured three live shows and was truly magnificent. Cornerstone Church indeed captured the
essence of the Christmas story by a very moving portrayal of Christ’s birth and
death on the cross. Our stage survived
its stay at the church and, in fact, now we can announce that our stage has
held kings, shepherds, wise men, and even the King of Kings himself.