ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202
COLLECTION: OGL #1368
DATES:1988-97
SIZE:1.25 linear feet
ACQUISITION:The Red River Valley Gymnastics Records were deposited in the Orin G Libby Manuscript collection by Shelby Harken on July 14, 1998. (Accession #98-2216).
ACCESS:This collection is open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.
Red River Valley Gymnastics was founded in 1978 by Steve Synhorst, a former women’s gymnastics coach at the University of North Dakota. Originally, the group was self-supporting, but in 1986, they began campaigning for the sanctioning of gymnastics by the Grand Forks School Board. This sanctioning occurred in 1989, following a federal requirement to make school sports offerings more equal between boys and girls. From this point on, the Grand Forks School District would pay coaches’ salaries for four months of the year, and gymnasts from Red River would represent Grand Forks schools at competitions. In 1988, Red River Valley Gymnastics became a fully sanctioned member of the United States Gymnastics Federation (USGF). USGF membership provided standards for gymnastic training, as well as competitive opportunities. Gymnasts travel to invitational and qualifying meets, which are judged by fully accredited USGF judges. Red River Valley Gymnastics has grown in other ways. Rhythmic, acro and show teams were added, with yearly try-outs held for each team. Coalition '92 brought the Club together with the softball association to raise funds for new facilities. The facilities were obtained when the Grand Forks Racquetball and Tennis Center build an 18,000 foot addition to their building. In 1993, Dakota Gold Gymnastics, another Grands Forks-area gymnastics club, merged with Red River Valley Gymnastics as one consolidated organization that maintained the Red River Valley Gymnastics name (The Dakota Gold name was retired). The merger was arranged in the hopes of providing a broader spectrum and higher quality of gymnastics than either one could have offered individually.
The Red River Gymnastics Records span the years 1988-97. The collection consists of two distinct series, each arranged alphabetically by folder title. The Dakota Gold series consists of Dakota Gold Gymnastics records that predate that organization’s merger with Red River Valley Gymnastics. Items in this series date from 1989-1992. Items in the second series, entitled Red River Valley Gymnastics, date from 1978-1997 and document RRVG activities both before and after the Club’s merger with Dakota Gold. Collection materials include meeting minutes, correspondence, newsletters, financial records, membership lists, newspaper clippings, and schedules of events. Class registrations, tryouts, competitions and fundraising activities are all documented. Manuals cover club policies and procedures on employment, fees, accidents, the gym, appearance, classes and meets. A scrapbook contains pictures of students, coaches, and gymnastic facilities, as well as newspaper clippings arranged in chronological order. The clippings document major events, such as the building of new facilities and the merging of Dakota Gold with Red River Valley Gymnastics. Both Dakota Gold and Red River Valley Gymnastics are represented in the scrapbook. NOTE: Many additional Red River Valley Gymnastics records were destroyed in the 1997 Red River flood.
Box 1
Folder
SERIES II: RED RIVER VALLEY GYMNASTICS
Box 2
Folder
Loose item:1 Scrapbook
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