Club History

Members of the SSDC who have been around since the early years of the club have been asked to write their recollections of how the club began.  Their stories are published here.  Their anecdotes are in the order in which they were received.  So here goes:

HISTORY OF SEATTLE WEST COAST SWING CLUB  - From Barbara Wettland

The early years.  SSDC was established in the spring of 1965 for preservation, perfection, progress and promotion of the “West Coast” style of swing dancing.  Our swing dance club is proudly the oldest continuing swing dance club in the entire United States.

In 1965 music was changing and the type of music we like to dance to was also changing.  10 dancers got together and put up 100.00 ea. to start a dance club.  In the beginning we danced at places that had the kind of music we enjoyed.  We danced in bars, night clubs, taverns and halls that we rented along the way and finding the right kind of band or DJ who played the kind of music we wanted. 

The club was named Seattle Single Swingers.  At that time one had to prove they could dance WC swing and were single.  A few years later we dropped the “single” part as so many members were getting married.

The presidents of the club over the years have been:

 Bob Rahe is one of those original members and is an active dancer and competitor in our club.  He has many stories to tell you.  He and can remember many of the places we use to dance at.

By Barbara Wettland