COCDC Honorees

Ned and Marquell Segelken have been square dancing for 8 years, having taken lessons with Orbiting Squares (OS) in the class of 2017-2018. They joined OS in 2018 and then also joined Bucks & Does Singles (BADS) in 2019. Marquell had learned to dance years earlier as a child “Tomato Worm,” in a youth dancing group associated with the Tomato Town Steppers of Reynoldsburg, but she subsequently had not danced for years.

Marquell and Ned attended the Advanced Blast lessons early in 2025 and are now dancing Advanced as well as Plus. Ned and Marquell stepped into leadership positions quickly after taking lessons, serving as Secretary for Orbiting Squares in 2019-20 and continuing in that position through the Covid pandemic. When OS and BADS began to meet jointly in 2021 to discuss merging the two clubs, they shared the Secretary position with Mary Bailey. They were actively involved in revising the BADS Bylaws to form the Bylaws for the newly created Just for Fun Squares (JFFS) club. Ned, as an attorney, was especially helpful in understanding and working through decisions about incorporation and the appropriate wording needed in the new Bylaws.

Ned and Marquell have served as Vice Presidents for Just for Fun Squares since 2022, doing an outstanding job of booking callers and cuers for the club, including working out the dates and fees, sending out contracts for signatures, and finding replacements when emergencies occur. They have been very helpful with many of the other tasks needed to keep JFFS running smoothly. Marquell fills in as Secretary whenever the regular Secretary is not available. Ned and Marquell attend JFFS dances and lessons regularly, helping with set-up before each dance and class and with clean-up afterward, as well as stepping in to do whatever is needed. At JFFS dances, Ned usually greets everyone, introduces the caller and cuer, and leads the pledge of allegiance at the beginning of each dance. Ned also makes sure the women attending the dances without a partner get a chance to dance.

Marquell and Ned bring appropriate decorations to each JFFS dance and decorate the hall to recognize various holidays and dance themes. They keep track of club supplies, purchasing whatever needs to be replaced, and they also store the club’s decorations and purchase new ones as needed. They have served as angels for OS, BADS, and JFFS lessons for 6 years.

They are instrumental in setting up for JFFS lessons each week, and they help with class coordination in other ways, such as Marquell maintaining attendance and payment records for the class. Both Ned and Marquell contribute good ideas, provide helpful reminders, and ask good questions at board meetings, all of which facilitate good decisions by the board. They have led the way in Just for Fun Squares’ support for GRIN (Gahanna Residents in Need), organizing collections for Tools for Schools, food for the food pantry, and mittens, hats, and scarves for the Mitten Tree, and then delivering the donations to GRIN. At JFFS recycle sales, they have helped to organize the clothing for the sale and then helped to bag the unsold clothes and carry them out to load into vehicles after the dances.

Marquell and Ned regularly participate in banner activities and square dance demos, having attended 38 banner activities and at least 13 demos in their 8 years with OS, BADS, and JFFS, including demos at the Sweet Corn Festival, the Historical Society, Clippers games, the Gahanna 175th Anniversary Celebration, Oktoberfest, Oakland Nursery, and several senior living facilities. Because they love square dancing, they frequently dance at other clubs’ dances and have earned a COCDC Friendship Dangle. They danced at 48 special club dances and COCDC activities, including Yellow Rock dances, New Year’s Eve dances, Charity Cookie Exchange dances, Student Celebration dances, Honoree dances, and summer workshops. They have attended three National Dance Conventions, five Ohio Dance Conventions, two National Singles Square Dance Festivals, and five Star-Spangled Banner Festivals in Maryland, along with other state conventions and festivals, including WASCA and Michigan. They helped sell raffle tickets at the 2023 Ohio Dance Convention and also volunteered at two conventions in Maryland and one in Michigan. They helped pass out square dance flyers at the Gahanna Fourth of July parade in 2024 and 2025.

Ned and Marquell are a great asset to JFFS and to the greater square dance community!