First Coast Shag Club is a shag dance organization located in Jacksonville, Florida. We are dedicated to promoting and preserving the heritage of beach music and Carolina Shag dancing; to educating and teaching others the art of shag dancing; to providing our members and guests with dance opportunities; to informing our members of beach music and shag dancing activities.

Bylaws
Club History
Past Presidents
Executive Board
Club DJs
Jax Junior Shaggers

The First Coast Shag Club (FCSC) is a not-for-profit social organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Carolina Shag Dancing and Beach Music. FCSC is incorporated in the state of Florida and is governed by bylaws. The club is also a member of the Association of Carolina Shag Clubs (ACSC). The club colors are blue and white. FCSC has chosen The American Cancer Society as its named charity. Each year we contribute the proceeds from at least one fund raising activity to this worthy cause. In an effort to keep the club running smoothly, our club has the typical bylaws, and it also has standing rules and guidelines as listed below. To view the files listed below, you must have a PDF reader installed.

Bylaws
Standing Rules
Advertising Guidelines (Addendum A)
Shag Curriculum (Addendum B)
Disc Jockey Guidelines (Addendum C)
Website Guidelines (Addendum D)
Shag Membership (Addendum E)
Spirit of Shag Award (Addendum F)

The First Coast Shag Club (FCSC) began in 1991 at Flashback Lounge in a bowling center by a group of dancers dedicated to having fun and learning the Carolina Shag dance under the instruction of Kelly Cordell. The club was officially formed on February 7, 1993, with 28 members. Its first officers were: Kelly Cordell, President/ Director; Fred Carter, Vice President/Director; Anne Jernigan [Henry] Secretary/Treasurer/Director. David King was the first Sergeant-at-Arms. FCSC's first DJ was Hershel Maddox. Since that time, FCSC has been fortunate to foster many other Shag DJs.

 

In May 1993, a club newsletter, "The Shag Rag," was created. The newsletter has since been replaced by our weekly E-Notes, our website www.firstcoastshagclub.org and our FaceBook page.

 

FCSC was voted into the Association of Carolina Shag Clubs (ACSC) on January 15, 1994. The FCSC has built and sponsored floats to enter in the annual SOS parade in North Myrtle Beach.

 

The club outgrew the bowling center lounge and moved to Bimini Lounge at the Marriott Hotel at Southpoint. When Marriott closed the lounge, and after a few stops along the way, the club currently dances at Ortega River Club on Tuesdays. The club also expanded to Fernandina Beach where we danced on Sunday afternoons. We  danced at Sliders in Fernandina Beach for 10 years prior to moving to the American Legion location in 2020, where we danced thru 2023. In September 2024 we began dancing in St Augustine at Arnold's on the first and third Sunday afternoons, except in the summer months May thru August when we only dance on the first Sunday. FCSC provides free group shag lessons to members and guests, every Tuesday night at our Ortega River Club. Three shag DVDs are available for purchase to provide additional instruction and revenue for the Club. The membership continues to grow and 'the shag' is alive in Jacksonville.

 

FCSC is primarily for "promoting and preserving the shag dance" and funds are used for benefit of the members. The club also donates funding, time and effort into supporting charitable events. The club’s designated charity is the American Cancer Society. The club also extends support to the ACSC and SOS by contributing to the Junior Shaggers Association, the Ellen Taylor Foundation for Junior Shaggers, and SOS events, including sponsoring a hole in their charity golf event and selling raffle tickets for Fun Monday.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

FCSC members (Vickie Hyde, Ron Combs and Kathi Aultman) organized a Junior Shag program in 2014 and established the Jacksonville Junior Shaggers Inc. in July 2019. The Juniors club organizes a "Junior Shag Roundup" event annually in the spring or fall. This event is attended by Juniors from South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. In 2019, two of our girls (MacKenzie Sleeper and Emma Davis) were recruited to dance with the Junior Shag Dance Team, home based in North Carolina. Gage Bednarz was also on the team as an alternate. In November 2019, the team competed and won First Place in the US Open Swing Dance Championships in California. In 2023, two more of our girls (Abigail and Rebecca Hodges) were also selected for the Junior Shag Dance Team. We have 4 Juniors going to Paris to compete in the international competition in June 2025.

 

We are proud to have five members recognized with an ACSC Shagging Icon Award – Butch Berrey, Anne Henry, Allen Henry (deceased), LaVerne Horton, and Vickie Hyde. 
 

We have seven members who have been inducted in the National Living Legends of Dance including: Marlene Frazier, Butch Berrey, Vickie Hyde, Larry & Lisa Delaney, and Bob & Mona King.
 

FCSC members in the Florida Shag Dance Hall of Fame include Kelly Cordell, Shirley Cordell, Anne Henry, Starling Jones (deceased), Jane Harrington, David King, Vickie Hyde, Tony Gonzalez, Roger Reynolds, Doug Harrington, Paul Spaulding, Patricia Gonzalez, Allen Henry (deceased), LaVerne Horton, Lorrie DeFrank, Bill Winn (deceased), and Fred Groover.
  

FCSC has many talented dancers who have competed in the Competitive Shaggers Association (CSA) and the Shag Preservation Association (SPA) dance contests throughout South and North Carolina. FCSC also has two grandchildren of club members who have competed in CSA dance contests.
 

The club established a precision dance team named "The Pivoteers" that performed exhibitions for events throughout the region. FCSC sponsored the "Fabulous Fossils" band which performed at the 2008 and 2009 Anniversary Parties, and the 2009 ACSC Summer Workshop.

 

FCSC hosted two highly successful ACSC Workshops in July 2009 (first ACSC Workshop in Florida) and July 2012.     

                                                                                                                                                                   

Annually, since 2013, FCSC has hosted a weekend event in June called Shag Fest. It was first held at the former Club Savoy and Morocco Shrine Center. Each year the event has grown. Our first "Park and Party" was to have been at the Lexington Hotel and Conference Center on Jacksonville’s Southbank Riverwalk in June 2020. For the health and safety of attendees because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was postponed until June 17-20, 2021, in the same location. Shag Fest 2021 was our first Park and Party. We have grown each year and 2023 hosted 275 dancers from 23 different dance clubs. Our attendance was down in 2024. And we decided not to host a 2025 Shag Fest.
 

First Coast Shag Club has established a reputation as being the "Friendliest Shag Club in the ACSC."   

FCSC established the "Spirit of Shag" Award in 2016. The first award was given to Ron Combs. It is presented to a non board member in recognition of their efforts to promote Shag and our club by encouraging membership and participation in all of  FCSC's activities. The award can be given annually at our Anniversary Party. 

Spirit of shag recipients, John LiBrandi 2024, Bob King 2023, Jim Benson 2022, Marlene Frazier 2021, Elaine Wheeler 2019, Mona King 2018, Linda LiBrandi 2017, Ron Combs 2016 

   

In photo left to right: Jim Benson, Marlene Frazier, John LiBrandi, Elaine Wheeler, Bob King, Mona King, Linda LiBrandi, Ron Combs

SOS Membership: What does it mean?