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. Savanah and Alanna Stephens,
our Junior Cloggers, enjoyed a hometown crowd as they performed at the Poteet
Strawberry Festival. Karol Henry took
time out from her job as a pharmacist to do a little high kickin’.
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 the last two years, they invited us again this year. These great folks host a party every year for
children who have cancer. The Optimists
provide a dinner for the children and their families, 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
Last December and again this
year we had been 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.