Spin Me Round
Mike Neasham Keeps Calling…
A preschooler in tiny cowboy boots giggles as she spins herself into dizziness on the wooden dance floor. Beside her is her dad, who did the very same thing when he was a little boy. Beside them, her grandparents soak up this family tradition that never changes, even as toddlers grow into teenagers who grow into adults who end up with toddlers of their own. And at the front of the room, as always, is Mike Neasham, wearing his plaid shirt, jeans, black boots and headset, guiding the energetic crowd through the “Hokey Pokey.”
Neasham has been a square dance and line dance caller for just about his entire adult life, coaxing people of all ages onto the dance floor at senior centers, family resorts, weddings and more. One of his favorite gigs is at Trinity Alps Resort, where he’s celebrating 39 years this year. “It’s my Trinity family,” he says. “I love it up there.”
Neasham danced in seventh and eighth grade with his parents at a club in Corning, where he grew up, then started square dancing after high school. He was encouraged by the late Bill Keys, a square dance caller who saw potential in Neasham. “He asked me, ‘Have you ever thought about calling? Practice this and I’ll let you do it.’ So I did.”
He called traditional square dancing four days a week at places including the Coffee Creek Guest Ranch, then started leading line dancing as it started to grow in popularity. “We used to fill the convention center with people dancing,” he says. In addition to Trinity Alps Resort, he’s still connected with the Swinging Squares in Red Bluff, and he enjoys leading an annual father-daughter dance in Chico. “It’s neat to see dads out with their daughters,” he says.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, he met his wife, Kelli, while square dancing. “She and her friend used to go Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Corning. We used to clog to ‘Amos Moses,’” he says — a song that’s still in his lineup of standards. More than 40 years later, the couple have a son and daughter, along with two granddaughters, ages 9 and 6. And while there were potential opportunities to call square dancing nationally, he says, “I never wanted to do that. I wanted to see my kids grow up.”
He’s faithful to his tried-and-true, old-school style of music mixing — each gig has him methodically unloading his speakers, mixing board and laptop (he swapped out the records and turntable a couple of decades ago). He’ll throw in a new song every now and again, but he knows better than to leave out fan favorites like “The Chicken Dance,” “I Love a Rainy Night” or “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” “It’s funny — you can’t skip one or they’ll let you know,” he says.
Margo Gray, who has owned Trinity Alps Resort for 40 years, says Neasham is an “iconic figure” at her mountain getaway. “He’s patiently taught generations of returning families how to line dance and square dance,” Gray says. “He creates a fun family evening that toddlers, teenagers, parents and grandparents look forward to every year.”
Sarah Young-Sheppard’s family has come to the resort since before she was born, and she says Neasham has been a constant there for as long as she can remember. “I loved square dancing as a kid and love it as an adult,” Young-Sheppard says. “Growing up in L.A., square dance was not a thing, but I remember going to a country bar and knowing a few of the dances because I have been doing them since I was a kid. The friends that I was with were shocked that I knew how to line dance.”
Adds her mom, Sally Young: “Square dance night has always been a highlight of Trinity because no matter your age, everyone who participates has a great time, as seen in our many photos over the years with some little person trying to make an arch with an adult or sashaying up and down, and the dirty bottoms of bare feet as dancers dance on the floor. Mike has made it fun, easy and a tradition to attend square dance night.”
And that’s what keeps him traveling over that hill, leading grapevines and cha-chas, measuring the passing of time by the growth of dancers who met him as toddlers and now usher their own little ones down the middle and back. “Oh, this is why,” he says, gesturing to the dancers in front of him. “Nothing changes. It’s letting the people have fun.” •
Article Written by:
Kerri Regan grew up in the North State and earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from San Francisco State University. A freelance writer and editor, Kerri enjoys exploring the North State with her husband and three children.
