Winterclub History
Winter Club was started in the fall of 1944 by forty young married couples to provide dancing for the members during the fall and winter months. It was patterned after a social club of similar name in Seattle. To promote good fellowship, a social hour preceded the dances. The club’s directors frowned on the custom of members holding cocktail parties in their homes prior to the dances. A breakfast was offered towards the end of the evening. They used a band sometimes and a juke box other times. Dues were $15 per couple that first year; expenses for the first season were $230.00.
Five dances were held each season through 1947, all at the Kitsap Golf and Country Club. As the club membership grew, more space was needed for dancing. In 1947, at the start of their fourth season, Winter Club moved to the main ballroom of the new Carpenter's Hall on 5th Street and added a sixth dance. During 1949 and 1950, they danced at the Business Center Cafe on Burwell. After a return to KGCC for a couple of years, they changed to the Sons of Norway Hall in 1957-58, and in 1977-78 they moved to the Bremerton Tennis and Swim Club. Winter Club returned to the Kitsap Golf and Country Club in February 1981.
At first dances were held about the third Saturday of the month. In the 1957-58 season, dance dates were moved to the first Saturday of the month. Due to a lack of participation in the fall, the October dance was dropped and a May dance added. The 1984-85 season saw the return of the October dance and elimination of the May one.
Winter Club was incorporated in 1956, but was “Administratively Dissolved” by the state in July 1982, about the same time that Winter Club was experiencing a decline in participation. Meetings were held, changes made, interest revived. The theme of the November 1983 dance said it well, “Winter Club Survives”!
And survive it has. It has flourished and grown, thanks to all the dedicated members over the years. We are grateful for those who had the initiative to form this dance club. The founders have all passed on, but they remain with us in spirit as we continue to enjoy ballroom dancing.