Logan Walker’s popular jazz combo, “Logan and the Gang,” will present live music at the Altus Ballroom Dancers’ New Year’s Eve Dance from 9 p.m. to midnight, Thursday, Dec. 31, at the Three Rivers Hall in downtown Blair.

The $20-per-couple tickets are available at the door; suggested attire for gentlemen is coat and tie, for ladies, evening dress or formal.. The public is invited to attend; refreshments, soft drinks and party favors will be furnished. Non-dancers might want to come and enjoy the music.

According to Jerry Fischer, one of several dancing instructors with the Altus Ballroom Dancers, “Come and share some good, clean, wholesome fun with us while we usher in 2010.”

Originally from Kansas City, Walker moved to Lawton in 1975 after 15 years on Okinawa. He played saxophone for five and a half years in the United States Army Band and later worked in the entertainment division of the Special Services Branch (Civil Service) to provide shows for the troops. He assisted with the Bob Hope Christmas Show; staged performances for the Air Force, Marines and Army; and rehearsed soldiers for competing in the multi-country Far East Entertainment Contest. Walker’s teams won three consecutive events. He served as an escort for touring music shows—James Brown, Johnny Mathis, Brenda Lee, Bob Hope, the Tokyo Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, “Hello Dolly” with Mary Martin and others.

In Lawton, Walker conducted orchestras for 26 Fort Sill dinner-theater musicals. From 1976 to 2004, he performed with the former “High Tones” and now plays with the Ken Nelson Big Band and the Basin Street Band, both of Wichita Falls; the 17-member Moonlight Serenade Orchestra, Oklahoma City; and the Ken Nelson trio and quartet. He leads his own three- to nine-member combos for dances, house parties, weddings and other functions.

“Now, I play more jobs than I ever did before retiring from Civil Service in 1995; I just go all over, everywhere,” Walker said. “When you put together your orchestra, you have to get musicians from all over; and in turn, you play for them.”

The city of Altus provides the basement Blue Room of the Altus Municipal Auditorium on East Commerce Street each Monday evening for the Altus Ballroom Dancers of all ages. From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. the dancers practice or receive dancing instruction, as needed, in fox-trot, waltz, rumba, swing, tango, salsa, samba, merengue, cha cha cha and quick step. Newcomers with or without previous dancing experience are always welcome at 6:30 p.m. for 30 minutes of beginning instruction prior to the regular dancing period. The $5-per-couple or $5-for-singles admission fee pays for hiring live bands for occasional dances.