Australia Day Honours: Bridgetown square dance caller Steven Turner receives Order of Australia Medal

A lifetime of dedication to the square dancing community which has left a lasting legacy on the sport has resulted in a Bridgetown-based semi-retiree being nationally recognised for his dedication.

Steven Turner has been awarded an Order of Australia, in recognition of more than 50 years of outstanding service to square dancing across the nation.

Mr Turner — who has been a square dance caller since the age of 16 — told the South Western Times he was shocked and honoured to have received such a prestigious award for the “passion I’ve had all my life”.

“I was shocked when it was announced,” he said, “It’s not everyday that they hand out these medals obviously so I’m very honoured.

“I guess the people that nominated me... I guess they think I’m worthy of it. I don’t think I am personally, it’s just a passion I’ve had all my life and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Since moving to Australia from England with his parents in 1968 at aged 15, Mr Turner — who describes square dancing as a geometric puzzle that callers create for dancers to dance to music — has been heavily involved in the square dancing community across the world.

“I just remember I didn’t want to go, there was no way I wanted to go dancing,” he said, “But anyway we went a long and got on the floor and went for a few little lessons on that one night and honestly it was the best night I ever had.

“And when I saw the caller on stage with the microphone, I thought ‘god I’d love to do that’.”

Only a year later in 1969, Mr Turner was encouraged to start his own club after a caller in Perth quit and has travelled the world sharing his passion and knowledge as a caller with his wife Sue — who he met through square dancing — ever since.

“So I bought five records, the old vinyl records, and I borrowed about $250 to buy equipment so the speakers, vinyl record player and microphone, and bought a few fancy shirts and off I went,” he said, “And the rest is history.”

Now Mr Turner has a strong focus on training the new generation of callers to ensure the community continues to thrive into the future.

“That’s the only way we can survive by having new callers come through,” he said.

“Without the callers it’s pretty hard for a group to stay together, so that’s why my focus is teaching callers, keeping this activity going for as long as we can.”

Mr Turner said he had spent his whole life teaching people to call and “just can’t give it up”, thinking he might start up Bridgetown’s first square dancing club in the near future to encourage mental and physical well-being.

“I think it’s been in my blood for years and years, so I’m hoping to start a club down here,” he said.

“It’s good clean fun and it’s good exercise — for a couple of hours you can forget all your woes and worries throughout your life just for a couple of hours on the dance floor.

“Now that all this has happened it’s kind of spurred me on a little bit too because I was sort of winding down a little bit... now that we’re living here, to become a part of the community and if there’s an interest in it, I’ll probably do it.

“I can’t just give it up.”