Profile in Callers and Cuers

  

Lorne and Barbara met at a new dancer class in 1991 –-- the rest, as they say, is “history”. By 1998 Lorne began looking into calling as a hobby, and under the tutelage of familiar names, Herb Fox and Denis Kirkpatrick, he began his career in this great past time. In 2004, Lorne and Barbara were hired as the club caller couple for the MAVERICKS, Canada’s oldest continuously running square dance club (1952). Lorne and Barbara dance Mainstream and Plus and teach Mainstream. Lorne calls Mainstream and Plus and is also a Round Dance Cuer - Phase II+. Due to health reasons he retired from full time calling with the Mavericks in 2019.

Lorne began teaching again in 2023 and in 2024 resumed calling as well with the MAVERICKS Square Dance Club, joining Marilynne Cunningham sharing the program. He remains a member of the Victoria and District Caller-Teachers Association, and CALLERLAB the International Association of Square Dance Callers. Due to some lingering health issues, he does not do any travel calling. Lorne and Barbara have recently been awarded lifetime membership in Canada’s oldest Square Dance Club, Mavericks.

In 2025 Lorne and Barbara celebrate 27 years of Square Dance Calling and Round Dance Cuing and 34 years of dancing. Lorne and Barbara have been world travelers and are registered with POSH TALKS of Palm Springs, California and both teach/call Square Dancing, Round Dancing, and Contra for the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. They have called/taught on 7 cruises to date.

Lorne and Barbara had a wonderful opportunity presented in 2005 when he was invited to join well known international square dance callers (Tony Oxendine, Lottie Ainsworth, Patty Greene, Jim Wass, and Walt Burr) to travel to Nashville, Tennessee, to record “When the Saints Go Marching In” in efforts to support the victims of the tragic Hurricane Katrina. That initiative kicked off another direction for Lorne’s square dance career which eventually led him to become Staff Recording Artist with GOLDWING RECORDS, FINE TUNE RECORDS, SHARPSHOOTER RECORDS, and HAPPY TRAX MUSIC of California and SHINDIG PRODUCTIONS of South Africa.

To date, Lorne has written/choreographed/released 38 singles and 3 albums, on behalf of these labels. Lorne has been nominated for 2 Canadian Emmy’s and has had his recordings featured twice at International Callerlab Conventions. As a result, Lorne is blessed to be recognized by Callerlab as one of Canada’s leading Square Dance Recording artists.

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