A Brief History Of A Long Square Dance Career

John and Bev Chunka met through their work at Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids Iowa. They were married on June 30, 1962 and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year. Their marriage gave them five children; Denise, Allison, Jeff, Valerie and Stacie, twelve grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Dancing was always a part of their lives. Before becoming involved with square and round dancing, they were involved in polka dancing and even danced occasionally on the Big Joe Polka Show, a weekly show on television in Omaha. They began round dance lessons in the fall of 1974 and followed that with square dance lessons in the fall of 1975. They belonged to several clubs in the Omaha area.

In 1977, John began learning to cue, and taught his first set of round dance lessons in 1978. Over the past 35 years, John and Bev have been the club cuers for many square dance clubs including the Bonnets and Boots, Mix Masters, Hi Flyers, Circle and Swing, Belles and Beaus, Merry Mixers, Pie R Squares, and Diamond Squares. They lead their own two round dance clubs the Round-a-liers and Coop Rounds, which is still active today. Over the years, John and Bev have taught hundreds of people to enjoy round dancing from the beginnings of phase one up to the entry into phases five & six.

Despite not ever actively pursuing traveling opportunities, John has cued in many states surrounding Nebraska, at six national and many Nebraska conventions. John & Bev are regularly featured Round Dance leaders at several square dance weekends including the Okoboji Spring Fling where they have been staff cuers since 1983, and the Sioux Empire Hoedown. John & Bev have also been featured at many weekends and festivals in several states, including Hawaii. John is also the author/choreographer of six round dance records, including Walk Right Back.

John and Bev have been members of many organizations. On a national level their memberships included the Dixie Round Dance Council, the Universal Round Dance Council now known as the International Choreographed Ball Room Dance Association and Round a lab where they have served on a number of committees. Locally they have been active in the Eastern Nebraska Round Dance Cuer's Association where they served on the board several times, and the Eastern Nebraska Round Dance Association. They have been long time members of the Nebraska Callers and Cuers Association and of the Omaha Caller and Cuers Association, where they have served on the board many times, and currently serve as Vice Presidents. John and Bev have also served as Round Dance programmers for the Nebraska State Convention.

John and Bev are both retired. Bev worked for many years for the Omaha Public Schools in food services and John retired from the US Army Corp of Engineers in 2004. Today, they continue to cue for several local clubs, teach round dances classes, and enjoy traveling and spending time with their family and friends.