Cecilia Pounds came into my life through square dancing with Duke City Singles and Doubles Square Dance Club, another strong woman to celebrate for Women’s History Month. We held offices in the club at the same time when I first joined. I was secretary; I’m not sure what office Cecilia (known to most of us as CeCe) held. This relationship continued from 1994 until she died in 2022! What an amazing time we had!
Our Similarities
We shared similarities in our childhoods and past lives. We were both divorced, but Cecilia had four daughters. She and I both taught school for Albuquerque Public Schools. CeCe taught Special Education.
We both had small town roots. Cecilia grew up in Groom, Texas and took a group of our girlfriends on a tour of the town on one of their outings. For those of you who don’t know, “It is on Interstate 40 (Historic Route 66) 42 miles (68 km) east of Amarillo and 215 miles (346 km) west of Oklahoma City.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom,_Texas
Hovering over the town is a giant cross, “A 19-story cross erected by The Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ Ministries. . .”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groom,_Texas#Giant_cross
I had passed that cross for many years with my ex-husband driving to Oklahoma City but didn’t know Cecilia’s connection to it. CeCe was so proud of it. Being on the plains, she grew up on a farm and had wonderful stories and connections to the land. We connected over love and concern for our family farms/ranches over the years.
Cecilia’s Part in Duke City Singles and Double Square Dance Club’s Single Fling
In 1995, I co-chaired the Single Fling that we took over from the Swinging Singles Square Dance Club. Cecilia was a part of the committee, too. The first year we made $50 and felt good about that.
In 1996, I chaired the event, asking Cecilia to be my co-chair and we grew that festival to be so profitable we gave the staff bonuses. This had never been done before! Cecilia suggested that idea to our committee a couple years before we adopted it. Right there you can see her generous nature.
One year at the Single Fling we had an elderly woman from Oklahoma collapse on the dance floor. We called the ambulance, and CeCe went to the hospital with her, giving up dancing at the festival that weekend. She felt this was her co-chairman responsibility.
Sadly, the woman died before her son could make it to Albuquerque. Cecilia had called the son and arranged to meet him half between Albuquerque and the city in Oklahoma where he lived. Even though his mother had died, he wanted to come and address the dancers Saturday night at the dance. She took such great care of him.
As a team, Cecilia and I (with our committee) grew the Single Fling to be a major square dance event in the Southwest with twenty-four squares and more during our heyday.
Cecilia’s Part in Duke City Singles and Double Square Dance Club
Cecilia had been president of Duke City Singles and Double Square Dance Club in the past and had strongly supported the weekly event.
In 2013, Lin and I were on our way to the airport. I had just retired and he bought me a relaxing package in San Diego, California. She told him Duke City needed him. They would fold if they didn’t find people to be president and treasurer. She and I had nudged him on this topic for a while, but this felt urgent. He agreed to be president and I took over treasurer, knowing he would put his heart and soul into the position.
Because of her belief in him and urgings, he took Duke City from 27 members to 92 five years later when he stepped down and had others take over. Her belief in Lin brought our dance club back to life. We had an amazing time with all these new members. All because of CeCe!
Cecilia’s Part in Dance-A-Rama
In 2002, CeCe, Wanda and Kathi returned from the Single Square Dancers USA’s annual festival, Dance-a-Rama, with a mission. They wanted to host that event in Albuquerque in 2003. Their demand: I had to chair it! So, guess who I asked to be the co-chair? CeCe!
To promote the event, the committee traveled to various single square dance events around the country. CeCe had a daughter who worked for Southwest so she flew stand-by and could get a couple outfits and a slip into a carry-on suitcase which fascinated me! How did she do that?
On one trip, CeCe gathered together all the crazy comments that had been flung around during our time together working on our Dance-a-Rama. We laughed and laughed at her collection and they gained momentum as the time passed. I borrowed her list and created a t-shirt for each member of the committee as a thank you! Again, CeCe’s influence!
We put on “one of the best” Dance-a-Rama’s in the history of the event. I never remember seeing CeCe much that weekend. She did her tasks and I did mine. I never had to worry about her completing what she had listed, and often she took on more than her co-chair tasks.
Cecilia’s Part in Hot August Nights
In 2007, three couples and a local caller and his wife took over a failing square dance event in Albuquerque, and I chaired it. Immediately, we lost the caller and his wife the first year, so I asked Cecilia to join us the second year, and she continued as long as she could!
Again, CeCe influenced how we dealt with this profitable event. Immediately, she suggested we donate an item of need to the Albuquerque Square Dance Center where we held the event. This became a yearly tradition for our event, so over the eighteen years we have donated thousands of dollars to the dance hall.
As we grew with Cecilia’s help, we moved this event to become another major event in the Southwest, Hot August Nights. In 2019, we had twenty-two squares—our biggest for this event!
Cecilia’s Part in Albuquerque Square Dance Center (ASDC) Board
CeCe and I served on the ASDC board together for many years. Any position she held she did all she could and was dedicated to our dance hall.
Aging Changes Things
For the majority of the time we worked together, I never saw CeCe as much older than me. At some point, I realized she was eighteen years older and saw her aging. Suddenly, she seldom attended Duke City Singles and Doubles because of medical issues. She had been my right-hand, my go-to gal for so many years—her absence weighed heavy on my heart when I’d scan the dancers on Friday night and she wasn’t there.
Sadly, Cecilia passed away July 23, 2022 and an era came to an end, but her influence continues. After CeCe passed, Hot August Nights continued to donate to the dance hall and in the year she passed, we donated in her name.
I remember her laugher, her reliable support of me in any endeavor of mine and her commitment to her love—square dancing, our club, our events and our dance hall. Outside of the dance world, I also remember Cecilia’s deep love for her daughters and her family. Two daughters who live in Albuquerque built a house with a special casita for her to live out her last years!
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