THE PURPOSE FOR RAIDING AND RETRIEVING BANNERS

AND THE CENTRAL DISTRICT CARD

PURPOSE:

To encourage clubs belonging to the Central District to financially support each other by raiding other clubs for a banner which in turn results in the raided club having to visit the other club to retrieve their banner. The end result is that each club financially gains from the raids and retrievals so that they are better able to pay the costs associated with being a square dance club.

The District Card/Banner is an added incentive to encourage Central District Clubs to visit and support every other club in the District at least once each year, especially those clubs that are further away or normally do not benefit as much from the raiding and retrieving of banners.

 SPECIAL DANCES DEFINED: Any dance used as a fund raiser for a special need, i.e. help a fellow square dancer, square dance caller or someone else pay unexpected medical expenses or funeral expenses; support a charitable organization, or other just cause in which the host club donates all monies raised from the dance to the cause supported. The cause supported by the special dance should be enough of an incentive for attending the dance. Also included are dances hosted by a club at which there are no entrance fees. (Free Dances). In other words, to be a special dance, the club hosting the dance would be receiving no financial benefit from the dance. Anniversary dances/birthday dances or other dances paid for by an individual, not a club, are not club functions and therefore are exempt. Graduation dances were a gray area and left to each club as to whether or not they would allow raiding or retrieving at these dances. REASONS SPECIAL DANCES WERE EXEMPTED FROM RAIDING/RETRIEVING: It was decided in the mid-eighties that special dances would be exempt from raiding/retrieving and acquiring District Cards. This is because a club could raid, retrieve, or acquire a district card and the club visited would not benefit from the visit thereby defeating the purpose of raiding and retrieving as described above. In this case, the club that raided at a special dance would be the only club to benefit. Raiding and retrieving should be on an equal footing, so that one club is not taking advantage of another club's good intentions.