This is the place where you can share your
remembrances
of the performances, travels, and history of the Young Rebels Square
Dance
Club.
Pull out your pictures and any other memorabilia you may have kept and
share it with your friends.
Get back in touch with Rebels with whom you've lost contact.
Let them (gasp!) get back in contact with you.
If you have scanning capabilities and access
to the Internet you can send your contributions to my e-mail address lindy@amnesia-music.com,
and I will be happy to post your memories.
If you want to maintain your anonimity on the
Web, you can/should still contribute, but you will need to contact me
through
Amnesia Music if you want other Rebels to know where you are.
(Everything included on this page may be
edited for
size, format, content, or clarity.)
Here's a small contribution to get things rolling:
HISTORY OF THE YOUNG REBELS
(This is an excerpt of a history of the group
which
was prepared as a promotional flyer and is edited for this web page. It
is not complete yet, but there will be more.)
This club for teenaged youth was founded in
1969
by their volunteer directors, Ron and Helen Lockie, to introduce
American
Square Dancing to their young son and his friends. In 1971 they became
a sponsored club of the Oakland Parks and Recreation Department. In
1972
the club was accepted as a member of the Northern California Square
Dance
Association. They started traveling in 1973 with some members attending
the National Square Dance Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, and again
in 1974 members attended the Nationals, this time in San Antonio,
Texas.
In 1974 The Young Rebels began their travels with Friendship
Ambassadors,
when Ron and Helen and eight Rebels traveled to Poland with a
performing
tour featuring the Ghost Riders and the Stardettes. In 1975 thirty
Rebels
took a Square Dance/Clogging show to Romania as Friendship Ambassadors.
In 1978 sixty-three Rebels took a similar show to the former U.S.S.R.
and
Poland, where they traveled and performed for one month as Friendship
Ambassadors.
The membership of The Young Rebels come from many different cities and
schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The club is not part of
any church, school, or other organization, but is sustained by the
teenagers
to preserve the tradition of American Square Dancing and Clogging.
In addition to perpetuating the arts of Square Dancing and Clogging,
The
Young Rebels Teen Club provides a wholesome social environment for
teenagers
to meet and make friends of their own age, and with adults who share
their
enthusiasm for the dancing. The club has officers who plan social
events
and take a good portion of the responsibility for making their club
successful.
The officers plan a year-round calendar of non-dancing events.
The Young Rebels motto is Friendship, Fairness, Fun, Responsibility,
and
Trust. Their name honors the southern part of the U.S.A., from which
their
dance figures come and also signifies that these teenagers are rebels
against
the apathy, lack of discipline, and lack of community involvement that
is so often the image of teenagers. The Young Rebels insignia is a star
with the peace symbol which to them means even more than a longing for
peace without bombs. These teenagers have named the dividing lines of
the
peace symbol 'Life," the two small lines 'Truth' and 'Love,' and the
circle
the 'Oneness of Man.'
TRIPS:
STARDETTES:
Poland, 1974 - Here's the oldest newspaper clipping I know of about
members of the Young Rebels on an international tour.
