Huss Plus

Here is a link to Phil Doucette's obituary:

Phillip Doucette Obituary (1935 - 2023) - Legacy Remembers View Phillip R. Doucette's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.

We are saddened to report the death of Phil Doucette, the second (of three) callers for Huss Plus. Below is an essay from 2009.

My Mentor, Phil Doucette

by Mary Prisco

The following account is to support the nomination of Philip Doucette to the Wisconsin Callers Hall of Fame.

During the course of his calling career, Phil Doucette has been a mentor to a number of beginner square dance callers. I am proud and immensely grateful to be one of them.

It all started one winter Monday, when Phil asked his Huss Plus dancers if any of us would like to borrow a record and learn a singing call. I borrowed two records I thought I might be able to sing. Later, after hearing my attempts, Phil sent me home with another record to work on. Before I knew it, he was allowing me to do a singing call every Monday at Huss Plus and every Wednesday at Whirl-a-Ways. Phil offered many helpful suggestions, such as singing from my diaphragm instead of from high up in my throat, and not jamming my free hand into my pocket while I was at the mike. I am not normally good at accepting criticism (just ask my husband, Forrest Baulieu!), but Phil has the knack of offering truly constructive criticism in an encouraging manner.

When the time came for me to learn how to call patter, Phil was my teacher. As it turned out, two other friends, Betty Schumacher Luetschwager and Irv Peeters, were also interested in learning, so we didn’t have to travel far to attend a “callers’ school.” We met in Betty & Fred’s basement, along with our spouses and a few other dancers we roped in to fill a square, and Phil taught us the basics: get-outs, body flow, and timing; who better to learn from? How many times did Phil put the square into an interesting configuration and then hand one of us the mike and have us get the dancers back home? How many times did he point out why something we had called was awkward or uncomfortable for the dancers? Little by little, we absorbed the information he so willingly and selflessly shared with us.

As time went on and my calling education progressed, Phil gave me more mike time at his dances. Not only would he allow me to do a full tip, but we would sometimes subject the dancers to a calling exercise that was for my benefit (although perhaps fun for Phil, too). We might take turns moving the dancers around and then getting them back home; after I had my own microphone, we would even alternate calls. In those early days of my sight calling, it was always reassuring to know that Phil “had my back” and could fix almost any mixed up muddle I could concoct and get the dancers to that, at times elusive, left allemande.

Besides helping me learn to call, Phil helped me purchase my first equipment. He introduced me to one of his own early mentors, Joe Loberger, who was selling some used equipment and records. Later, when I upgraded to newer used equipment, Phil even made speaker wires for me.

When I finally reached a certain level of competence, Phil paid me the supreme compliment of turning Huss Plus over to me.

Phil and Joan are two of the most generous people I know. It is so typical of them that all of this invaluable training I received from Phil, with Joan’s cooperation and help, was offered purely out of the goodness of their hearts. I can’t measure the time Phil has spent helping me develop my skills as a caller, nor can I count all the records, books, magazines and other items he has passed along to me to help me with my calling. His modesty might make him downplay all he has done, and his excellent sense of humor might cause him to joke about it, but I am deeply grateful and feel blessed to have had this opportunity to learn from a real master.

💛 Wishing you a Valentine's Day filled with Yellow Rocks! 💛
🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

Updated link to Vi's obituary:

greenbaypressgazette.com

RIP, Vi Peeters. You will be missed. 💔

Vi Peeters Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information View Vi Peeters's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

To Square Dancers around the World who celebrate. ✡️🕎

Last night was the final dance for Huss Plus. We've had a lot of fun over the years, thanks to all the dancers that have spent time with us (some of whom are pictured here), but all things must pass...

We will not be dancing this week (Dec. 5).