History of the Beaufort Shag Club

In 2002, our club was the Beaufort Shaggers; however, on March 24, 2004, the newly-formed Beaufort Shag Club had its first organizational meeting and election. We elected a Board of Directors: President John Reynolds, Vice President Jim Godwin, Secretary Beverly Milner, Treasurer Kathy Bundy, and Directors Buddy Brownlee, Woody Oakley, and Jan Rhoden. The officers' terms began on April 1. We drafted a set of club by-laws and established the Beaufort Shag Club website. The IRS recognized the club as a non-profit social club and sent it an EIN number on June 2.

In April, the club Charter Membership was 104. Fourteen of those charter members continue to today: Robert and Kathy Bundy, John and Judy Dayner, Dannie and Brenda Lesesne, Woody and Sara Oakley, Gary and Paula Peebles, John and Donna Reynolds, and Jim and Hi Williams. In June, we initiated the club's monthly newsletter, Leather Souls, and logo, a pair of Weejuns. The current club logo is a palmetto, crescent moon, and dancers. In August, the club submitted an application to the Association of Carolina Shag Clubs (ACSC) which went on their Directors' Fall meeting agenda. That same month, under the new name and logo, we distributed the club's first newsletter, published and emailed by Judy Smith.

In 2005, the Board was: President John Reynolds, Vice President Woody Oakley, Secretary Beverly Milner, Treasurer Kathy Bundy, and Directors Margie Melvin, Jan Rhoden, and Hi Williams. In January, many members attended our first meeting of the ACSC at Mid-Winter in Myrtle Beach which voted our club into Association membership. Shag lessons began in February. The South Carolina Secretary of State issued the club a Certificate of Existence, and Non-Profit Corporation status on June 13.

In 2006, the club moved to AMVETS in Port Royal for weekly and monthly dances. Members decorated our first float for the Water Festival. In December, several members taught shag lessons to seventh and eighth grade students at Beaufort Middle School.

In 2007, we helped the Islander Shag Club of Charleston by hosting the Happy Hour for the Mid-Winter SOS/ACSC Workshop. In July, we entered another float in the Beaufort Water Festival Parade. In August, we held our first Junior Shag Workshop at Beaufort Middle School. Many went on our first ACSC-sponsored Fun Blues Cruise to the Caribbean with Shag Hall of Famers Don Bunn and Debbie Peterson. In November, the Rick Strickland Band performed at our Election Party.

In 2008, the Leather Souls dance team formed. Over the next three years, the team performed at the Water Festival Talent Show, Shagging with a Taste, the Port Royal Softshell Crab Festival, and other local and regional events. In August, we held our second Junior Shag Workshop.

In 2009, several members taught shag at Spring Island and at Beaufort Middle School. Many of us put in hard work decorating a float for the Water Festival Parade and marching in the parade. In August, the club held its third annual Junior Shag Workshop, and on September 26, we had our first Oldies Night at the Log Cabin at MCAS Beaufort. We also ran a fundraiser barbecue for AMVETS.

In 2010, we were busy. We purchased a Beaufort Shag Club paver, complete with the club logo, and had it placed on Main Street in North Myrtle Beach, west of Fat Harold's driveway. The Board and some individual members also bought bricks, placing them around the club paver in recognition of several past and present members. At July's ACSC meeting, the club won the 2012 Winter Workshop bid. At that meeting, our own John Reynolds was elected Vice Chairman of the ACSC Board of Directors. Other events in that active year were: a Callawassie dance, Water Festival float decoration, the fourth annual Junior Shag Workshop, an Oldies party, and Boogie for the Boys (a fundraiser for the Beaufort Marine Institute, now AMI).

In 2011, we spent the majority of our time preparing for the 2012 ACSC workshop, Shagging Under the Palmettos. In April, our members demonstrated the shag at Shaggin' with a Taste in downtown Beaufort, and in August, we held our fifth annual Junior Shag Workshop. On September 24 at Fall in North Myrtle Beach, many club members and many more from other clubs participated in the World's Largest Carolina Shag Dance, establishing a Guinness World Record.

In 2012, a group went into the ocean at Hunting Island State Park on New Year's Day at our first Pelican Plunge, a fundraiser for Beaufort County school students to attend classes at the park's research center. In February, we hosted the successful ACSC Winter Workshop on Hilton Head, Shaggin' Under the Palmettos. The club continues to receive rave reviews for the event; they call it one of the best ACSC workshops ever. That same month, several of us performed a shag demonstration at the Beaufort Film Festival.

In 2013, again many got wet at the New Year's Day Pelican Plunge at Hunting Island. In February, our club provided a program for the Senior Leadership class at USCB, presenting the history of our South Carolina State Dance with a shag demonstration for the thirty-five attendees.

In 2014, Callawassie was the dance venue for over 75 of our club. In May, we taught the shag to third graders at Beaufort Elementary School. That year we had some creative themes for our monthly Saturday night dances: Mardi Gras, T-shirt Ball, and the Wild, Wild West.

In 2015, a new tradition began as the club elves marched in our first Beaufort Christmas Parade.

The club continues many of the activities and functions initiated and detailed above, and finds new opportunities to dance around town. Our club presidents over the years have been: John Reynolds, Kathy Bundy, Dave Olszewski, Judy Dayner, Robert Bundy, and Jim Williams. Our membership is currently over 200; we dance weekly on Wednesday nights and have theme dances on each month's second Saturday. Many attend the three ACSC/SOS events in North Myrtle Beach every year and the various weekend shag events put on by other ACSC clubs throughout the Southeast. The Sparkle City party in Spartanburg, SC, in July is a traditional favorite, with over twenty of our members attending every year.

We provide free basic, intermediate, and advanced dance steps lessons to all members. Woody Oakley has been our primary instructor since 2016, often enlisting the help of other members to teach their favorite new steps. The club has its own DJs for all local functions; Tommy Grayson, Chair of the DJ Committee, and a small group of other musically-talented members volunteer their time and effort to give us outstanding music for all our events.

Lastly, special thanks goes to all the charter members who were instrumental in forming the Beaufort Shag Club and to all the members who have worked for years to insure the club's success.