Selmer Hovland brought a comfortable drawl seasoned by a dash of pep to his square dance calling. Each spring and fall he would take off for eight-week tours of the country, calling at festivals and club dances and make new friends for square dancing. 1950 was the year that marked Selmer's entry into the square dance activity. He started with dancing, moved into calling and then into the organizational phase of it. He was past-president of both the Northern New Mexico Square Dance Assn. (1953-54) and the New Mexico State Square Dance Association. Selmer lived for a time on a ranch in North Eastern New Mexico and devoted about equal time to ranching and to square dance calling and teaching. He was on the staff of Marvin Shilling's Lightning S Ranch at La Veta, Colorado for four years and taught square dancing at Kirkwood Lodge, Osage Beach, MO for two years.