FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 28, 2008
Colorful Dancers to Include the Roycroft on Their Journey
One of the camp counselors was Dr. Charles E. Colgate of St. Louis Missouri. Dr. Colgate was fascinated with the native dancing and formed a troop of dancing Scouts in St. Louis and later in Amarillo, Texas. The Texas group, Troop 9, put together a performance of their native dancing for the Scout skills annual show and that was the beginning of the Kwahadi Dancers. Word of mouth brought many requests for their performances to the point that since 1944 over 1600 boys have been in the Kwahadi show performing throughout the U.S. and overseas wearing costumes they make themselves. The Kwahadi dancers are coming to visit and perform outside on the Roycroft Campus grounds from Noon to 12:45 pm on Monday July 28, 2008. In case of rain, this free performance will be held at the East Aurora Middle School. The dancers are excited to visit the Roycroft and we are most fortunate that they have made this one of their many stops as they perform in various cities over the summer months. The RCC would like to thank those responsible for bringing the group to our area: local coordinators Turgeon & Fred Thornley, Chairpersons Mary Hubbard & Onda Dylewski, Boy Scout Troop #56 of East Aurora, and The Foundation for the Study of Arts & Crafts at Roycroft. And thanks to those making the Scouts' visit enjoyable: Kitty Turgeon providing their tour and East Aurora Tops Market and various volunteers for providing the Boy Scouts' lunch. For more about the Kwahadi dancers visit www.kwahadi.com.
Roycroft Campus Corporation, 31 South Grove Street , East Aurora New York 14052Phone: 716.655.0261 ,
Fax: 716.655.8498 |
What do Boy Scouts in Texas have in common with the Roycroft? Elbert Hubbard’s son, Ralph, was a fan of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. He was so enamored of the wild west, cowboys and Indians, that he went west and in the 1920's purchased a ranch in Colorado. He learned the lore and wrangling skills from cowboys and Native Americans and shared all he knew of camping, archery, horsemanship, native crafts and native dancing by hosting Scout Troops at the ranch in the summers.