Ken Pike 6 July 1951 – 8 July 2025

Rosemary Corbin, President, Gidgegannup Square Dance Club

Saturday 26 July was our first dance since the passing of our very positive and dedicated caller, Ken Pike, The Man with the Mike. His love of life, family and his square dance calling and dancing motivated him during his long battle with cancer and gave him strength and courage and we as dancers and friends were priviledged to be part of and witness. During this time he also motivated others to fight as well. On my last visit to Ken, a few days prior to leaving for Brisbane Square Dance Convention, he said he was going to come and call at our next dance and you would never guess what song it was going to be - 'THE END IS NEAR'. I told him that if he dare he would be dead anyway as I would kill him. I am sure that Ken knew that he did not have long for this to happed as he was in a tremendous amount of pain. During our conversation, he discussed with me that his dream when he took over the reigns from Alan Eades was to take Gidge Club through to 50 plus years and beyond, He just about made it to the 40 year mark. He was one month short. His wish was also for us to run the Club with Guest Callers to give the dancers the opportunity to get used to dancing with different callers. This we have in place for this year and will arrange accordingly for following years. We intend to keep dancing at Gidge and keep the Club running as per Ken's instructions. For me, I have lost my partner in crime as he always went along with whatever outlandish skits etc. that I had in mind and helped us work them out doing whatever was asked of him and sometimes not knowing what was going to happen. Let us celebrate his calling career and dreams for Gidge Club keeping them alive by pursing his dreams and to keep Gidge a friendly fun loving club as we are and will always remain so in the coming years. I know he is watching us from above or below - whichever the case may be - as I was never sure which hat he was wearing sometimes - the devil's or an angel's. He was a friend to everyone and always had time to hold a conversation with them and encourage those who were not able to understand a move or just have a friendly chat. May his spirit live on thru you the dancers he loved. We love you Ken. R.I.P. No longer suffering.