Ripple Rocket Club History

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     Square dancing started in Campbell River in the early 1950's, probably to recorded calls in someone's basement.  By 1953, the number of people participating had outgrown the available basements and a larger venue was required.  The Campbell River Square Dance Club was formed under the presidency of Ed Cooley and the club organized regular dances in the Boy Scout Hall.  Following the demise of the Scout Hall, dancing continued at various locations around Campbell River until reaching our current venue in the Campbell River United Church Hall.

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     Perhaps inspired by the impending blasting of the Ripple Rock in Semour Narrows, the club added "Ripple Rockets" to its name and became the Campbell River Ripple Rockets Square Dance Club in 1957.

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     Membership continued to grow through the late fifties with participants dancing to recorded calls and occasional out-of-town guest callers.  By 1960, the large number of people wanting to dance required some reorganization.  Because some members had learned to call and were teaching as well, the decision was taken to split into several clubs.  This resulted in five or six clubs in the Campbell River area.  During this peak period, many individuals contributed much time and effort to furthering the good of square dancing.

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     The Ripple Rockets (as they came to be known) continued as one of the area clubs and engaged Wolf and Ann Clar as their caller couple in 1960.  The Clars continued calling for the club until 1964 when they were succeeded by George and Pinky Klan who called for the club until 1972.

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     The late sixties and early seventies saw an exodus of callers/teachers and participants so the dance community was reduced to the one original club.  From 1972 until 1980 the club relied on guest callers and teachers from the south Island to remain active, but in 1980-81, Orville and Edith Martin became the caller couple for the Ripple Rockets and continued until 1990.

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     During the 1989-90 dance season, Round dancing was added to the program with cueing provided by Muriel and Bob Craig.  In 1991, with the departure of the Martins, the club was fortunate to recruit the caller couple, Jake and Diana Ring.  Muriel continued cueing Rounds until her retirement in 1996 when Diana took over cueing for the club.  The Ripple Rockets were fortunate to have Jake and Diana Ring as their caller and cuer for 32 years and 25 years, respectively, until 2023.

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