Historical Perspective on the
Friendly
FolkDancers
March 26, 2005

Noting that
the
Friendly FolkDancers have now been in existence almost 20 years, it is
appropriate to review the remarkable and unique achievements of the
group. The group came into existence in 1986 when Quaker
folk dancers in Northern Yearly Meeting were inspired to organize a
group to
travel into the eastern part of the U.S to help inspire Quakers there to
come
to Friends General Conference which was being held for the first time
west of
the Mississippi in Northfield, Minnesota. The experience of sharing
dancing and
fellowship with the eastern meetings was such a fulfilling experience in
itself
that the idea of sharing community with meetings through dancing
continued.
Ten-day
long tours, as well as shorter inter-visitation programs
(mini-tours and programs), were then organized in each succeeding year.
The
tours involved visiting meetings in an area, one each day for a week or
more. In this period
there have been 28 full tours, 11
mini-tours, and numerous programs at Northern Yearly Meeting and Friends
General Conference. The tours have
taken the message of international folk dancing to hundreds of Friends
meetings
(and some non-Friends venues) in most sectors of the U.S. and to 11
foreign
countries (Belgium, Canada, England, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland,
Kenya,
New Zealand, Scotland and Wales). In this way we have had
contact with most major branches of Friends in the U.S.: Unaffiliated,
Conservative, Friends United Meetings, Friends General Conference (but
not the
Evangelical Friends International) and with 28 yearly meetings in the
world:
Baltimore, Britain, Canadian, East African-North, France, Germany,
Illinois,
Intermountain, Iowa Conservative, Ireland, Kaimosa, Lake Erie, Malava,
Nairobi,
Nandi, New England, New York, New Zealand, Northern, North Carolina
Conservative, North Carolina FUM, North Pacific, Ohio Conservative, Ohio
FUM,
Ohio Valley, Pacific, Philadelphia, South Central, and the Southern
Appalachian
Yearly Meeting Association. About 75 persons have been involved and
thirteen of
these persons have served as coordinators.

Below is
a brief
chronological summary of the tour and mini-tour activity accomplishments
of the
group.
Year
|
Dates
|
Location
|
Coordinator(s)
|
1986
|
3/8-16
|
Eastern – IL, OH, PA, NJ
|
Ellen Brooks, Ann Friend
|
1987
|
3/5-15
|
Midwest – IA, MN, WI
|
Ellen Brooks, Ann Friend
|
1988
|
3/3-11
|
New England - MA VT NH
|
Ann Friend, Mark Friend
|
1989
|
3/16-26
|
Pacific NW - WA OR BC
|
Mark Friend
|
|
5/13
|
Mini – Scattergood, IA
|
|
1990
|
2/22-3/4
|
Southeast – NC
|
Mark Friend
|
|
3/15-25
|
Eastern - DC NC VA
|
Ellen Brooks, Ann Friend, Nancy Schofield
|
|
12/8
|
Mini - Scattergood/Dubuque, IA
|
Ellen Brooks, Dave Hackett
|
1991
|
3/13-26
|
England, Wales
|
Mark Friend, Sandra Hansen
|
|
5/17-24
|
Midwest - WI IL IN
|
Ellen Brooks, Ann Friend
|
|
6/8
|
Mini – Rochester, MN
|
Bruce Cameron, Eli Waring
|
|
6/28
|
Mini – West Knoxville, TN
|
Sharon Bell
|
1992
|
3/6-15
|
Midwest – IA MN WI
|
Ellen Brooks, Ann Fisher
|
|
3/26-4/4
|
Eastern - NY PA
|
Mark Judkins
|
1993
|
4/28-5/8
|
Eastern – NY
|
Mark Judkins
|
|
6/2-15
|
Scotland
|
Ellen Brooks, Dave Hackett
|
1994
|
2/18-20
|
Mini - Scattergood & Dubuque, IA
|
David Houghton
|
|
3/24-4/2
|
Southeast - NC TN
|
Rosemary Coffey, Mark Judkins
|
|
6/7-17
|
Southwest - AZ CO NM
|
Ellen Brooks, Nancy Schofield
|
1995
|
2/18-19
|
Mini – Winona, MN
|
Mark Helpsmeet, David Houghton
|
|
4/13-22
|
Lake Erie - OH MI NY ON
|
Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
|
|
11/11
|
Mini – FCNL, College Park, MD
|
Rosemary Coffey, David Houghton
|
1996
|
1/25-2/3
|
Western - Southern CA
|
Jane Blount
|
|
5/9-20
|
Kenya
|
Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
|
1997
|
2/22-23
|
Mini – Scattergood/Dubuque, IA
|
Sophie de la Mar, Sandra
Helpsmeet
|
1998
|
2/5-15
|
Western - Northern CA
|
Jane Blount, Rosemary Coffey
|
|
3/7-8
|
Mini – Scattergood, IA
|
Sophie de la Mar
|
|
5/8-19
|
France, Holland, Germany, Belgium
|
Elizabeth Cave, Demi Miller
|
1999
|
2/16-3/5
|
New Zealand
|
Zig Dermer, Mark Helpsmeet
|
2000
|
2/19-20
|
Mini – Scattergood/Decorah, IA
|
David Houghton
|
|
3/9-19
|
Pacific NW - OR, WA
|
Mark Helpsmeet, Mendalara Van Meter
|
2001
|
1/4-14
|
South-central - TX, LA, AK, OK
|
Ellen Brooks, Nancy Schofield
|
2002
|
2/16-17
|
Mini – FLGC Conf., Northside Chicago, IL
|
David Houghton, Sophie de la
Mar
|
|
3/21-28
|
Midwest – OH
|
Rosemary Coffey
|
2003
|
1/9-19
|
Southern TX
|
Ellen Brooks, Nancy Schofield
|
|
3/15-23
|
New England - MA NH VT RI CT
|
Mark & Sandra Helpsmeet
|
|
3/15-23
|
New England – MA NH ME
|
David & Barbara Houghton
|
2004
|
4/14-23
|
Ireland
|
Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
|
2005
|
3/28-4/3
|
Philly tour – PA & NJ
|
David Houghton
|
|
4/8-4/17
|
FWCC tour – Arizona
|
Rosemary Coffey
|
2006 | 2/13-3/2 | Australia | Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
| 2006 | 7/7-7/9 | Minitour, La Grande, Oregon | Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
| 2007 | 3/22-4/1 | Florida | Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
| 2008 | 2/14-3/4 | Rwanda | Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
| 2009 | 4/2-4/12 | Maryland | Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
| 2010 | 10/23-11/6 | Cuba | Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
| 2011 | 10/6-10/16 | Indiana | Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
| 2012 | 9/13-9/23 | Alaska | Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet
| 2014 | 8/8-8/23 | Democratic Republic of Congo | Peter D'Angelo, Rosemary Coffey, Mark Helpsmeet | 2016 | 4/21-5/1 | Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington
DC | Mark Helpsmeet | 2016 | 11/28-12/18 | Kenya | Mark Helpsmeet, Lynn D'Angelo
| 2019 | 2/28-3/10 | North Carolina
| Mark Helpsmeet |
Total
of 36 major
tours and 12 mini-tours from 1986-2014
Notes:
- Names: Ann Friend and Ann Fisher are the same person,
Mark
Friend, Mark Judkins, and Mark Helpsmeet are the same person,
Sandra
Hansen and Sandra Helpsmeet are the same person
- Locations: those in italics
are mini-tours, bold are outside the USA

|