# articlecontent

articleid: 429
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  In May, at DOR-2022, the Rochester square dance community presented
  its highest honor&mdash;the Daphne-Norma Leadership Award&mdash;to
  Rick and Donna LaDonna.

  But there is another award&mdash;nationally recognized&mdash;known as
  the Circle of Service. This award is presented by a previous
  recipient whenever and wherever he or she judges that such special
  recognition is appropriate. This is explicitly a &ldquo;dancers&rdquo;
  award, presented to dancers by dancers.

  Sally and I received this award in 2018, and I am presenting it now to
  several people who I believe merit this recognition for their
  outstanding service to square dancing, especially in bringing their
  respective clubs safely through the COVID-19 pandemic without
  incident.

  In an activity that in my opinion could easily have produced one or
  more &ldquo;super-spreader&rdquo; events, I want to recognize the
  dedication that these dancers showed in working together and
  separately to develop and implement protocols that got their clubs
  back onto the dance floor as early as possible, and with <b>zero</b>
  dance-related COVID transmissions.

  Here they are, in alphabetical order by club:
  <ul>
  <li>Linda &amp; Glynn English (Cayuga Cut-Ups)
  <li>Henry &amp; Jodi Capron (Cloverleaf Squares)
  <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[Absent, but I will present at next opportunity]
  <li>Mary Martin &amp; Phil LaRussa (formerly of Copy Cats)
  <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[Moved to Virginia, but presented by other recipients on 8/2]
  <li>Rick &amp; Donna LaDonna (Copy Cats)
  <li>Carol Ann &amp; George Stahl (Grand Squares)
  <li>Anne Granger and Don Naulin (Silver Squares)
  <li>Jeff &amp; Debbie Blood (Western NY Federation)
  <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[The RTD Task Force that they formed facilitated the COVID response]
  </ul>
  The award itself consists of a certificate and a pin, with a logo
  signifying the interconnectedness of dancers, and of the two dance
  formats&mdash;square dancing and round dancing. An image of the
  certificate accompanies this article.


articleid: 430
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  Impressive and coordinated promotional efforts are under way to help
  square dancing recover from the COVID break and increase recruitment
  of new dancers for classes at area clubs. Some of these are outlined
  below and others are described by Jeff &amp; Debbie Blood in the
  Federation&rsquo;s &ldquo;President&rsquo;s Corner&rdquo; column
  (Click <a href="president-2022-09.html">HERE</a>).

  The Greece Historical Society held their Strawberry Festival
  fundraiser in June. Thirty-five square dancers provided a dance demo
  with Mike Callahan calling, and over 500 people attended the
  event. Photos from this Festival are included in a dedicated article
  in this Promenader issue.

  As I write this on August 28, Spectrum Live TV is scheduled to air a
  square dance demo tomorrow morning. Mike Callahan will call for about
  20 dancers. They plan to capture two live spots of two minutes each.

  An article on square dancing by Mike Callahan will soon be published
  in the Westside news.

  Seventy-five updated lawn signs were ordered and distributed to
  Federation clubs. The new signs include a space for the club phone
  number and a QR code that links to the Federation Home Page. These
  should help prospective new dancers to find our full array of
  information including the Promenader and the &ldquo;Welcome
  Prospective New Dancers&rdquo; page and resource links and Open House
  listings.

  If you don&rsquo;t have a sign in your yard, ask your club leadership
  for one!

  Starting in early September, the Living Room at the Greece Historical
  Society Museum will display square dance dresses, men&rsquo;s western
  shirts, signs, the Daphne-Norma Award poster board, and numerous other
  square dance items. Debbie &amp; Jeff Blood are teaming with Ann
  Granger &amp; Don Naulin to coordinate this display.

  Similar displays will be coming to area Libraries, including
  Henrietta, Pittsford &amp; Penfield.

  Individual clubs are mounting their specific campaigns, with
  &ldquo;Open House&rdquo; dances (listed on the Federation Home Page)
  and ads placed in the Penny Saver.


articleid: 431
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content:
  Welcome to the Fall, 2022 issue of the Promenader&mdash;a quarterly
  publication of the Western NY Federation of Round and Square Dancers
  Inc.

  (Website: <a href="http://www.squaredancingrochester.org">http://www.squaredancingrochester.org</a>)


articleid: 431
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  The Photos and Features section highlights recent activities of area
  clubs and the WNY Federation. Most of our clubs are back to dancing
  after the COVID break. You&rsquo;ll find their dances listed in the
  Schedule pages, which you can display in whichever format you choose,
  by clicking the options at the top of any Schedule page.

  The lead-off article is from the September/October issue of &ldquo;55
  Plus&rdquo; magazine. It features the WNYF Summer dance on July 16,
  2022, and is based largely on an interview with Jeff &amp; Debbie
  blood, describing their experiences getting started and becoming
  square dancers&mdash;and all the enjoyment they had along the way.

  Other articles in this issue include the same July 16 WNYF summer
  dance and dinner at Barnard&rsquo;s, and the Cayuga Cut-Ups 61st
  Anniversary dance and steak roast in Auburn on August 21.

  There are also articles on WNY Federation initiatives focused on
  promoting square dancing and recruiting prospective new dancers. These
  include a booth and dance demonstration at the Greece Historical
  Society&rsquo;s Strawberry Festival Fundraiser and a rundown of other
  current and upcoming activities and displays around town. A unique
  opportunity&mdash;that&rsquo;s about to occur as I write this&mdash;is
  a live square dance demonstration to be aired on Spectrum Live TV,
  scheduled for early morning on Saturday, August 27, 2022.

  There&rsquo;s also an article covering the presentation of Circle of
  Service awards to a dedicated group of club leaders. Some worked
  together in the WNYF Return to Dance Task Force and others worked
  within their clubs to establish safe COVID protocols and get their
  clubs safely back onto the dance floor&mdash;with <b>zero</b>
  dance-related COVID transmissions.


articleid: 431
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  The COVID virus is still with us, but most clubs have resumed dancing,
  while still taking precautions. Before you attend a dance, be sure to
  check their flyer, or check their posting in the &ldquo;Club
  News&rdquo; section, or check with their club contact listed under
  &ldquo;Clubs&rdquo; on this website. Most are requiring full
  vaccination and some are requiring that masks be worn at least part of
  the time.


articleid: 431
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  In this issue we say farewell to Frank Grossmann, who danced with his
  wife Pam at the Cloverleaf Squares club.


articleid: 431
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  This week, I attended a Zoom meeting of the WNYF Club Presidents. We
  heard about what seems to me to be an unprecedented number of
  Federation initiatives and club efforts to promote square dancing and
  recruit new prospective dancers. I anticipate seeing many new folks
  attending classes in the coming season.

  Whether your club offers beginner lessons or not, it&rsquo;s
  especially important for all experienced dancers to be welcoming and
  supportive to new dancers. New dancers are primed to feel awkward and
  to blame themselves when things go wrong in a square. We experienced
  dancers need to go out of our way to prevent and counteract such
  feelings and help new dancers relax and feel welcome&mdash;that they
  belong here with us&mdash;because they are welcome and they do belong
  with us. Otherwise, there is a more than even chance they will not
  stay for long.

  At many clubs, the number of experienced dancers is diminished in the
  aftermath of COVID. Clubs are looking not only for more dancers but
  for experienced dancers willing to step forward and lend a hand among
  the leadership. The same is true of the Federation. Jeff and Debbie
  and the current officers have done a heroic job of pulling us through
  the COVID years. It&rsquo;s time for others to step up and shoulder
  some of the load.

  Those who aren&rsquo;t able to volunteer for a leadership role should
  still be part of the &ldquo;recruiting team.&rdquo; Be an ambassador
  for square dancing. Make sure all your friends know that you square
  dance. Tell them how much you enjoy it, and about all the friends you
  have made through square dancing. Make sure they get the message about
  how good it is for body and soul.


articleid: 431
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  A traveling salesman, caught in a torrential rainstorm, stopped
  overnight at a sympathetic farmhouse. In the morning, he looked out on
  a flood coursing through the front yard. He watched branches, pieces
  of fence, chicken coops and an old straw hat as they floated past in
  the current. Then he saw the straw hat come back, upstream past the
  house! Then he saw it go down again. Pretty soon, it came back
  upstream&mdash;and by now the salesman wondered if he&rsquo;d gone
  crazy. Finally, he called to the farmer&rsquo;s daughter.

  &ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; she said, after a glance out the window, &ldquo;that
  must be Grandpa. He said yesterday that, come Hell or high water, he
  was going to mow the yard today.&rdquo;


articleid: 432
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  President&rsquo;s Corner December 1, 2022

  The past few months have been very busy and exciting as we have been
  promoting Square Dancing and the start-up of lessons within our
  communities. We have lawn signs, ads, articles, interviews, live demos
  along with square dancing displays in many local libraries. We all
  have been working together to promote square dancing. The classes have
  begun and hopefully we will retain at least 25 new dancers graduating
  in the Spring. It would be wonderful if we are able to encourage these
  new dancers to stay committed to the classes, recruit their friends
  and become members of our clubs.

  We currently have 17 clubs in the Federation: Batavia Silver Stars,
  Boo Bull Squares and Rounds, Cayuga Cut-Ups, Cloverleaf Squares, Copy
  Cats, Dalton Gang, Dancing Shadows, Fun Bunch, Grand Squares, Penn Yan
  Friendship Squares, Round Towners, Shirts N Skirts (Fulton), Shamrock
  Squares, Silver Squares, Southern Tier Wheelers, Village Squares,
  Waterwheel Squares. We have been so happy to welcome more clubs back
  to the dance floor the past several months.

  In checking with the clubs at the last Federation meeting on safety
  protocols, most clubs have indicated masks are optional and they have
  plenty of hand sanitizer on hand for the dancers. One or two clubs
  still sanitize the dance hall chairs, tables and bathrooms after the
  dance. One club requires dancing with masks.

  Our dance floors are getting fuller as we enjoy all the autumn
  celebrations such as Halloween, Veterans Day, and look forward to
  Thanksgiving and our special Christmas Holiday celebrations.

  Plans are underway for an afternoon New Year&rsquo;s Eve Dance. The
  dance is being co-sponsored by the Federation and Copy Cats. The dance
  will be from 1&ndash;3:30pm on 12/31/22 at the First Baptist Church of
  Penfield located at 1862 Penfield Rd. Jim Gotta will be calling and
  cueing. Dancers are welcome to bring appetizers, snacks or desserts to
  share.

  It will be so much fun to ring in 2023 with our dancing family. Hope
  you save the date and come join us!

  Please save the date for DOR 2023 on May 6, 2023. The DOR 2023
  Committee is busy making plans and issuing contracts. DOR 2023 will be
  at the Perinton Rec Center. We just contracted with Betsy &amp; Roy
  Gotta and Dave Eno for calling and cueing. Everyone seemed to have
  such a good time last year we anticipate another wonderful event again
  in May 2023. Our Clubs will be asked to donate a basket for the basket
  raffle. It is amazing how generous everyone is and how fun it is to
  see the variety of baskets that are donated.

  We are looking forward to seeing you on the dance floor.

  Take Care,


articleid: 433
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  On the weekend of October 15&ndash;16, several dancers from the
  Rochester area attended the &ldquo;Autumn Leaves&rdquo; festival in
  Brattleboro, Vermont. We had a wonderful time&mdash;on and off the
  dance floor!


articleid: 434
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  On October 27, the Grand Squares held their 2022 Halloween Costume
  Dance in Henrietta. Three squares enjoyed one another&rsquo;s company
  and Mike Callahan&rsquo;s calling and cueing.

  At least a dozen dancers brought their Halloween spirit in the form of
  costumes. All had a wonderful time.

  Additional photos from Jeff &amp; Debbie Blood


articleid: 435
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  On October 31, the Silver Squares hosted their annual Halloween Dance
  and members arrived in a variety of awesome costumes. The club voted
  on their favorites. Stu and Jane came in first place, with Joann a
  close runner up. Where else can you go on a Monday afternoon and have
  so much fun!!!!

  The Silver Squares club dances every Monday afternoon from
  1:00&ndash;3:00 at the Greece United Methodist Church. Come visit
  anytime!


articleid: 436
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  Cayuga Cut-Ups held their Halloween Dance on Sunday, October 30, in
  Weedsport with Ron Brown calling. What a fun afternoon of dancing!


articleid: 437
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  The Copy Cats Halloween Dance on October 22 was so much fun! Four
  squares of dancers enjoyed dancing to the Hip Boot Boys with Ron Brown
  &amp; Greg Marling calling many special Halloween tunes. Seven round
  dancing couples danced to the cues of Jim Gotta.

  We enjoyed dancing with guests from Cayuga Cut Ups, Cloverleaf&rsquo;s
  Squares, Shamrock Squares &amp; Village Squares. Thanks everyone for
  coming, helping out and making it such a wonderful evening!!

  This dance coincided with Debbie Blood&rsquo;s birthday, so we all
  wished her well and sang the Spike Jones Happy Birthday Song.


articleid: 438
position: a
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content:
  After a two-year hiatus, Copy Cats Club is excited to offer a class
  for new square dancers at the Scribner Road School, 1750 Scribner
  Road, in Penfield. On Tuesday nights from 7&ndash;9, there are 19 new
  dancers. Classes are going well. They are enjoying being a part of a
  grand square and are quickly learning to star through and promenade.

  We always welcome and encourage experienced dancers to come and be
  Angels alongside the class as they learn. We want to thank all those
  who helped spread the word with signs in their yard, talking to
  friends, placing ads, and supporting 55 Plus magazine for an article
  they published.


articleid: 439
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  Thanks mainly to the efforts of square dancers Diane Cundra and Sandy
  Trumble, square dancing continues to be on display at public libraries
  in the Rochester area.

  Pictured here are two library display cases they prepared, one for
  September in the Henrietta library and the other for October in the
  Pittsford library. They also set up a third case at the Penfield
  Public library, which will be on display throughout November.


articleid: 440
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  Ronald Reagan said &ldquo;Veterans know better than anyone else the
  price of freedom, for they&rsquo;ve suffered the scars of war. We can
  offer them no better tribute than to protect what they have won for
  us.&rdquo;

  Three Copy Cats members recently were honored with a &ldquo;Welcome
  Home&rdquo; from Honor Flight Rochester. Elizabeth Beauter, escorted
  by her son Michael, and Rick LaDonna, escorted by his son Alan, were
  on Honor Flight Mission #73 which departed Rochester on September 10,
  2022. They were among 57 Vets from the Rochester area. Joseph (Joe)
  Carlino departed Rochester on October 22, 2022 as part of Honor Flight
  Mission #75 escorted by Honor Flight Rochester Volunteer, Kim Gould.

  As they sat on the plane, Mail Call was announced. All Vets will
  remember Mail Call as a connection to home and loved ones. Each
  veteran received letters written by students from local schools
  including Palmyra-Macedon, Pittsford and Rush-Henrietta.

  Liz served as a Private in the United States Army during the Korean
  War. She was assigned to the Signal Battalion as a clerical at Camp
  Gordon, GA.

  Rick, an E4, served in the United States Navy from 1965&ndash;1968 as
  an Electronics Technician on the USS Esteem, an ocean-going
  minesweeper, during the Vietnam War as part of Operation Market
  Time. Rick reminisced that he didn&rsquo;t know that the Navy had
  wooden ships in the 1960&rsquo;s. The minesweeper was the smallest
  naval vessel that could cross the ocean on its own power. Their duties
  included patrolling the coast of Vietnam and the intercostal
  waterways.

  Liz and Rick are members of VFW Post #8495 in Fairport, NY. Liz is
  also active with their Ladies Auxiliary.

  Joe served as an E5 in the United States Army from 1964&ndash;1967. He
  was stationed in Berlin, Germany near the Berlin Wall. He was
  scheduled to report to Vietnam but was sent instead to Oklahoma where
  he finished his military duties as a cook.

  These Vets toured Washington, DC with stops at the Air Force Memorial,
  and the Navy Yard and Museum. At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at
  Arlington National Cemetery, Liz was part of a team that laid a wreath
  from Honor Flight Rochester. They also visited the Vietnam Wall,
  Korean Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial and Lincoln Memorial. The shared
  military experiences at a dinner that evening.

  Upon arriving at the Rochester airport terminal, they were given a
  &ldquo;water canon salute&rdquo; by airport firefighters. After
  deplaning, a brass band escorted them through the terminal. They were
  greeted by flag-waving and sign-carrying family, friends including
  current and former square dancers (Steve Barkley, Karen Olmsted, Mary
  Jo and David Webster, Pat Santacrocce, Mary Claire (Wise) Carlino, Don
  Jermyn, Paul Weitz and Fran Haldoupis), members of the community and
  previous Honor Flight participants (Don Jermyn &amp; Paul Weitz).

  Liz, Rick and Joe and their escorts will never forget the experience
  provided them through Honor Flight Rochester. This was their
  &ldquo;Welcome Home&rdquo; which was so richly deserved after so many
  years.


articleid: 441
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content:
  Welcome to the Winter, 2022, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly
  publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers,
  Inc.

  <a href="http://www.squaredancingrochester.org">Website</a>


articleid: 441
position: c
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content:
  The Photos and Features section highlights the various Halloween
  dances held by area clubs who sent us photos. It&rsquo;s always fun to
  see dancer creativity at work in the form of costumes!

  In another step forward to normal dancing, there is also an article on
  the Copy Cats&rsquo; re-started beginner classes at Scribner Road
  School in Webster on Tuesdays.

  Several clubs have successfully recruited beginner classes, thanks to
  the promotional efforts of club members and leaders, and to support
  and initiatives from the WNY Federation. An article in this issue
  highlights one promotion effort initiated by Diane Cundra. She and her
  helpers carried forward her display-case assemblages of square dance
  items and information, for month-long viewing in three different area
  libraries.

  In other articles, the military service of three Copy Cats dancers was
  honored with participation in the Honor Flight Rochester
  program. Also, several area dancers traveled to Vermont to attend the
  &ldquo;Autumn Leaves&rsquo; festival in October.


articleid: 441
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content:
  News from clubs this quarter indicates a continued return to normal
  dancing, though with reduced numbers and still some missing clubs.


articleid: 441
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content:
  Webmaster Sidney Marshall will post flyers and changes to the schedule
  listings as soon as he can after he receives them. For fastest
  service, he recommends sending flyers (in PDF form) and schedule
  change notices (in the body of an email) to him directly
  (sidneym@frontiernet.net), as well as to the Promenader
  (promenader@rochester.rr.com).

  In addition, for maximum distribution of urgent messages, clubs should
  send Sidney the text for any &ldquo;Breaking News&rdquo; to go on the
  WNYF home page (squaredancingrochester.org).

  And clubs should also consider posting their news on the
  &ldquo;SquareDancingRochester&rdquo; group Facebook page.


articleid: 441
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  Last quarter, I emphasized the importance of established dancers in
  recruiting new dancers, promoting dancing among friends, neighbors and
  associates for its social and physical benefits and encouraging them
  to give it a try.

  Now that classes are started, it&rsquo;s essential for established
  dancers to keep up a welcoming and encouraging demeanor toward new
  recruits. A sense of hesitancy on the part of established dancers will
  quickly undo the spirit of inclusion that we all value in this
  activity&mdash;the spirit that brought each of us into the fold when
  we were beginners.


articleid: 441
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  Sign on an appliance repair truck: &ldquo;We repair what your husband
  fixed&rdquo;

  My doctor asked if anyone in my family was suffering from mental
  illness.

  &ldquo;No.&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;We all seem to enjoy it.&rdquo;

  Lost Car Keys:

  On return from a trip, I felt in my pocket for the car keys. They
  weren&rsquo;t there! I realized I must have left them in my car.

  Frantically, I headed for the parking lot. My wife has scolded me many
  times for leaving my keys in the car&rsquo;s ignition. She&rsquo;s
  afraid the car will be stolen. As I looked around the lot, I realized
  she was right. The car was not there!

  I immediately called the police. I gave them my location, admitted I
  had left the keys in the ignition and that the car had been stolen.

  After a while mulling what to say, I made the most difficult call of
  all&mdash;to my wife: &ldquo;Well, sweetie, you were right. I left my
  keys in the car and now it&rsquo;s been stolen.&rdquo;

  There was a long moment of silence. I thought the call had been
  disconnected, but then came her angry reply: &ldquo;You&rsquo;re
  kidding me!&rdquo; She barked &ldquo;I dropped you off! Don&rsquo;t
  you remember?&rdquo;

  Now it was my turn to be silent. Embarrassed, I humbly said,
  &ldquo;Well, could you come and get me?&rdquo;

  In a tense but somewhat softer voice, she replied: &ldquo;I will. But
  first, I have to convince this cop that I didn&rsquo;t steal your
  d****d car.&rdquo;

  Welcome to the Golden Years :-)


articleid: 442
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Daphne-Norma Leadership Award is the way that our dancing
  community recognizes a couple or individual dancer who has
  demonstrated leadership for an extended period of time, furthering the
  cause of square and round dancing. Think about efforts that have been
  made over past years as well as recently.

  Leadership styles vary greatly as each person is different. But going
  that extra mile for the sake of other dancers, and of dancing itself,
  is something we want to recognize and encourage.

  If you know someone whom you feel stands out in their continuing
  service to others, please help us to celebrate and take note of them.

  You don&rsquo;t have to know their life history. Just tell us what you
  do know. Most likely, others will fill in more of the information.

  Every single nomination is very important, so please don&rsquo;t think
  that what you have to say doesn&rsquo;t matter! It boils down to: Who
  do YOU feel should receive the leadership award, and why?

  Nominations should be sent to Rick and Donna LaDonna
  (rladonna@rochester.rr.com) by the end of February, 2023. The link for
  the instructions and the nomination form is:

  <a href="http://squaredancingrochester.org/awards/awards.html">Nomination Form</a>

  <a href="http://squaredancingrochester.org/awards/DNHistory2022.pdf">History</a>


articleid: 443
position: 1
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content:
  Just as more dance time helps make dancers better, callers need
  microphone time to get better. Also as it did for dancers, the COVID
  shut-down had an impact on callers trying to get started.

  In order to help make up for this, Mike Callahan along with Jim Gotta
  and Ray Tompkins are putting together a one-day caller school in early
  December. They are expecting the session to be attended by four
  dancers who have tried or expressed an interest in trying square dance
  calling.

  The day will be devoted to things like technical details of square
  dance formation and arrangements, and how to move dancers from one
  formation to another. There will also be microphone time for
  practicing calling to a square of test dancers. Wish them well!


articleid: 444
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content:
  What a great way to start the New Year with our Hawaiian Dance!! We
  just danced, relaxed and had fun.


articleid: 445
position: 1
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content:
  Hi all! The Cayuga Cut-Ups are on a Banner Stealing Mission, and your
  club could be next!

  We have the Copy Cats&rsquo; and the Shirts n Skirts&rsquo; banners!
  We&rsquo;re looking for more, with the hope that clubs could retrieve
  their banners at our 62nd Anniversary Dance and Steak Roast. Save the
  Date August 12th, Vince&rsquo;s Park, Seneca Falls.

  Keep dancing!


articleid: 446
position: 1
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content:
  President&rsquo;s Corner 3/1/23

  The Holiday Season brought wonderful dancing opportunities across our
  region. The WNYF &amp; Copy Cats second annual New Year&rsquo;s Eve
  Afternoon Dance was a fun time to welcome the new year with our square
  dance friends and family. We had five squares of dancers and seven
  couples round dancing to Jim Gotta&rsquo;s calling and cueing.

  We hope everyone is enjoying 2023 so far.

  We currently have 16 clubs in the Federation: Batavia Silver Stars,
  Boo Bull Squares and Rounds, Cayuga Cut-Ups, Cloverleaf Squares, Copy
  Cats, Dalton Gang, Fun Bunch, Grand Squares, Pairs N Squares, Penn Yan
  Friendship Squares, Shirts N Skirts (Fulton), Shamrock Squares, Silver
  Squares, Southern Tier Wheelers, Village Squares and Waterwheel
  Squares. It&rsquo;s been fantastic to see our clubs back dancing. We
  hope you take the opportunity to dance with our member clubs.

  Our dance floors are getting fuller as we enjoy all the upcoming
  celebrations such as the Winter Wonderland Dances, Hawaiian Dances,
  Mari Gras Dances, Valentine&rsquo;s Day Dances, St Patrick&rsquo;s Day
  Dances, etc. For details, please see the Promenader&rsquo;s Club News
  and Dance Schedule pages.

  Please save the date for the Federation&rsquo;s Dance-O-Rama 2023 on
  Saturday, May 6, 2023. It is our sixty-third DOR. This currently is
  the largest square and round dance in Western NY. DOR 2023 will be at
  the Perinton Rec Center, 1350 Turk Hill Rd, Fairport NY. Ribbons
  purchased before 4/29/23 are $10 each. Ribbons purchased on or after
  4/29/23 are $12.

  DOR 2023 will feature international caller and cuer Betsy &amp; Roy
  Gotta and Western NY &amp; Canadian Caller, Dave Eno. The event runs
  from 1:00&ndash;5:30 pm. Dancing levels include Mainstream, Plus, A2
  and Round Dancing. We are happy to announce this year&rsquo;s DOR
  program will include recognition of our 2023 graduates, our first
  graduates since COVID. We know from our recent club/class dances that
  the classes are doing very well learning the mainstream program. We
  are looking forward to their graduation. The Daphne-Norma Leadership
  Award will be presented which is the highest award given in our square
  &amp; round dancing community. The recipients are recognized for their
  demonstrated leadership furthering the cause of square and round
  dancing for an extended period of time. The DOR 2023 Committee will be
  creating a Federation Wall of Recognition honoring all of our current
  active WNYF callers and cuers. To accomplish this wall, the committee
  is requesting each caller and cuer provide a photo and brief bio from
  questions provided by the DOR 2023 committee. This year we are again
  asking each of our WNYF clubs to donate a basket for the basket raffle
  as was traditionally done in prior years. The basket raffle is one of
  the highlights of DOR. Each club is asked to include 2 free dance
  tickets to one of their regular dances in their donated basket. The
  DOR 2023 Ribbons were ordered and will be distributed to the WNYF Club
  Presidents by the end of February or beginning of March.

  We are looking forward to seeing you on the dance floor.

  Take Care,


articleid: 447
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Western New York Federation of Square and Round Dancers (WNYF) is
  a regional organization of dance clubs in the Rochester area, as well
  as parts of the Buffalo and Finger Lakes regions. The
  Federation&rsquo;s purpose is to promote interest in round dancing and
  square dancing through a variety of activities, and to provide a forum
  for coordination among its affiliated clubs as well as the Callers
  Co-op of Rochester. The Federation&rsquo;s executive Board meets with
  club representatives most months to keep clubs up-to-date and help
  coordinate inter-club activities.

  The Federation annually contracts with the United Square Dancers of
  America for insurance coverage for our dancers in our 16 member clubs.

  The premier Federation-organized event is the annual Dance-O-Rama
  festival, generally held on the first weekend in May. Currently it is
  the largest square dance event held in Western New York.

  The Federation began co-sponsoring an annual Afternoon New
  Year&rsquo;s Eve Dance with the Copy Cats Square Dance Club in
  2021. The dance is held on 12/31 in the afternoon. What a wonderful
  event to welcome the New Year with our square dance friends and
  family.

  Our Website: squaredancingrochester.org

  The &ldquo;Federation&rdquo; page will take you to details about our
  organization and its activities, including meeting dates, meeting
  minutes and other items of interest. Scroll this page to find seasonal
  articles. Navigate through the site using labeled
  &ldquo;buttons&rdquo; at the top of every page and on the home page
  and Promenader page.

  Our Facebook Page: Square Dancing Rochester includes posts and
  pictures from our member club dances and events.

  Online Quarterly News: The Promenader

  This web site is also home to our quarterly online news publication,
  the Promenader. There you will find schedule information, articles,
  and flyers covering the activities of our many round and square dance
  clubs. A new issue is posted every three months: on the first day of
  March, June, September, and December. Each new issue contains fresh
  news and updated schedule information, open house and class listings.

  HELP WANTED:

  We are always looking for volunteers to help behind the scenes with
  our Annual Dance-O-Rama, the Quarterly issues of our Promenader and
  our Facebook page postings, etc.

  Currently we also have leadership openings on our Executive Board.

  1. Vice President or Co-Vice Presidents

  2. Promotions Coordinator or Co-Promotions Coordinators

  If you are interested in becoming more involved with our square dance
  and round dance community, please consider volunteering to help on the
  Board or a committee.

  It is a fun and wonderful way to get to know members of our dance
  community.

  If you are interested, please contact us:

  Debbie &amp; Jeff Blood, Co-Presidents

  Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers Inc

  Email: dfbjvbhome@aol.com


articleid: 448
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Joann Baxter, member of Silver Squares &amp; Batavia Silver Stars
  became involved in the Troopons program over 10 years ago through a
  friend. In this program, you donate your unused manufacturers coupons
  to our military through the Support our Troops Troopons Program
  (SUPPORTOURTROOPS.ORG). Joann indicated that over the years several
  churches, senior groups, college kids and groups, hospital staff, and
  at least three local square dance clubs have donated their coupons.

  The value of the coupons is estimated based on the weight of coupons
  collected, using a formula provided by a group at Rochester Institute
  of Technology. The accompanying table shows the estimated annual
  donated coupon value donated from our area over the years. As
  expected, the volume of coupons we sent took a major dip during the
  COVID pandemic.

  The total from 2010 through 2022 are:

  Pounds of coupons 2,287

  Coupon $ Value $7,226,628

  If you are interested in participating in this program, manufacturers
  coupons are collected at the Silver Squares Dances held on Monday
  afternoons. Or you can mail them in directly yourself.

  Here are the guidelines:

  Coupons are valid in this program up to two months after their
  expiration.

  It is recommended coupons be separated into baggies marked the
  following five categories:

  Food, Pets, Household, Baby, Personal items

  Sorting by category makes it easier for volunteers to get the coupons
  where they need to go in the PX&rsquo;s on the various bases.

  The coupons can be mailed the cheapest way to the following address:

  Support Our Troops, PO Box 70, Daytona Beach, FL 32115-0070.

  There is also is a website you can check for additional information:

  https://supportourtroops.org/troopons

  Joann indicated &ldquo;Our military families thank you for getting the
  word out about this program. Our support is making a
  difference.&rdquo;

  Manufacturers Coupons Sent to the Troops
  2010 to Present

  <table>
  <tr><td>year<td>pounds of coupons mailed*<td>mailing costs $<td>coupon $ value</tr>
  <tr><td>2010<td>98.0<td>105<td>350,945</tr>
  <tr><td>2011<td>160.0<td>176<td>576,576</tr>
  <tr><td>2012<td>212.0<td>224<td>761,552</tr>
  <tr><td>2013<td>235.0<td>256<td>845,937</tr>
  <tr><td>2014<td>327.6<td>320<td>1,179,351</tr>
  <tr><td>2015<td>266.0<td>379<td>957,600</tr>
  <tr><td>2016<td>196.5<td>244<td>707,400</tr>
  <tr><td>2017<td>139.5<td>207<td>502,200</tr>
  <tr><td>2018<td>135.5<td>227<td>476,360</tr>
  <tr><td>2019<td>107.3<td>194<td>382,280</tr>
  <tr><td>2020<td>73.1<td>141<td>263,160</tr>
  <tr><td>2021<td>28.1<td>103<td>104,748</tr>
  <tr><td>2022<td>308.5<td>94<td>118,519</tr>
  <tr><td>Totals<td>2,287.2<td>2,668<td>$7,226,628</tr>
  </table>


articleid: 449
position: 1
type: text
content:
  GENEVA&mdash;Fred L. Ventura, 89, passed away on Wed. (Jan. 25, 2023),
  at Clifton Springs Hospital. In honoring his wishes, there will be no
  prior calling hours. A graveside service will be held at 2:00pm on
  February 10th, in St. Mary&rsquo;s Cemetery, with military honors. A
  &ldquo;Celebration of Life&rdquo; will be held at the Border City Hose
  Company on 3000 Fallbrook St in Geneva immediately following the
  service.

  Fred was born on Sept. 30, 1933, in Geneva and was the son of the late
  Fred. N. and Antoinette (DeJohn) Ventura. He proudly served his
  country in the United States Marine Corp from 1953 to 1955. Fred
  worked as an HVAC plumber and steam fitter in the Rochester Local
  13. He was known as &ldquo;Grandpa Fred&rdquo; and was a friend to
  everyone. Fred loved snowmobiling, racing and dancing.

  He is survived by his son, John F. (DeAnna) Ventura of Ontario;
  son-in-law, Paul Krug of Farmington; sister, Marie Antoinette
  McFarland of GA; grandchildren, Jessica Jones, Kelly (Alex) Sitton,
  Christopher Ventura, Victoria Ventura and Nicholas Ventura; several
  nieces and nephews.

  Fred was predeceased by his wife, Beverly (Steurrys) Ventura and
  daughter, Teresa Krug.

  https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/27197709/fred-l-ventura/wall

  Fred and his dance partner, Carolyn Nedwidek, were members of the
  Village Squares and the Copy Cats, where they danced for many
  years. We will miss Fred&rsquo;s quiet humor and gentle ways.


articleid: 450
position: 1
type: text
content:
  On the afternoon of December 31, The WNYF teamed up with the Copy Cats
  for their second annual New Years Eve dance at the Copy Cats venue in
  Penfield. Five squares of dancers enjoyed Jim Gotta&rsquo;s calling
  and cueing.


articleid: 451
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Copy Cats&rsquo; catered Christmas Holiday Dance, December 17,
  2022, was a class/club dance. It was well attended with six squares on
  the dance floor. Their 2022&ndash;23 class of Kittens received a warm
  welcome!


articleid: 452
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Gary and Alice Bubel held the Christmas dance for their clubs on
  December 2, 2022. Everyone had a wonderful time.


articleid: 453
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Copy Cats Winter Wonderland Dance, January 21, 2023, was organized
  and decorated by the Copy Kittens. Our dance was held from 2&ndash;4
  pm. The Kittens arrived at 1:00 pm and did a beautiful job of
  decorating, setting up chairs, caller/cuer tables and sign-in
  tables. There were pastel snowflakes and icicle lights hanging from
  the ceiling, white snowflakes on the walls, and even a snowman
  standing beside the snack table. The Kittens brought snacks, which
  were thoroughly enjoyed! We had eight squares on the dance floor
  keeping tempo to Ron Brown&rsquo;s proficient calling. Eight couples
  round danced to Lisa Treichler&rsquo;s excellent cueing. Our banner
  was stolen by the Cayuga Cut-Ups after Ron Brown put them through
  their paces on the dance floor! We already have plans to retrieve it!
  Many clubs participated in this fantastic event.


articleid: 455
position: 1
type: text
content:
  At a recent Silver Squares dance, Jim Lee celebrated his birthday with
  a special cake made by Rosie Holley!

  We did not have enough girls to dance so Don Naulin and Jim Lee donned
  skirts and danced the girls part for the afternoon!!! They did a great
  job.

  Our own Jane Jones from Silver Squares celebrated a very special
  birthday with her husband, Stu, and her daughter, Susan.

  Happy Birthday, Jane!


articleid: 456
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The DOR 2023 Committee is planning to create a &ldquo;Western NY
  Federation Wall of Caller and Cuer Recognition.&rdquo; The wall will
  honor our current active callers and cuers for the 16 WNYF Clubs.

  We plan to include a photo and brief biography for our callers and
  cuers. We hope all clubs will participate in this project and assist
  us in creating this wall of recognition for DOR 2023.

  Please encourage you club&rsquo;s leadership and your caller and/or
  cuer to participate in this.


articleid: 457
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Welcome to the Spring, 2023, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly
  publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers,
  Inc.

  Website

  In this issue

  The Photos and Features section highlights club dances around the
  winter holidays, including the Silver Squares, Copy Cats, Cloverleafs,
  Cayuga Cut-Ups and the BooBull clubs.

  There&rsquo;s also an update on the Troopon program, through which
  area dancers donate manufacturer coupons to US military families.

  In another sign of returning toward normal, we see from the Cayuga
  Cut-Ups that Banner Stealing has resumed. That&rsquo;s good news
  indeed!

  In other articles, Jeff &amp; Debbie Blood explain the role of the
  WNYF and encourage dancers to volunteer for roles in the Federation
  leadership. Also, the WNYF announces initiation of a Wall of
  Recognition for Callers and Cuers, to be unveiled at DOR-2023.

  Club News

  News from clubs this quarter indicates a continued return to normal
  dancing, with the return of traditional events and classes.

  We sadly note the demise of the Belles N Beaus, and send well-wishes
  to Bob and Alice Hager, their long-time leaders and source of
  inspiration.

  Federation Website

  Webmaster Sidney Marshall will post flyers and changes to the schedule
  listings as soon as he can after he receives them. For fastest
  service, he recommends sending flyers (in PDF form) and schedule
  change notices (in the body of an email) to him directly
  (sidneym@frontiernet.net), as well as to the Promenader
  (promenader@rochester.rr.com).

  In addition, for maximum distribution of urgent messages, clubs should
  send Sidney the text for any &ldquo;Breaking News&rdquo; to go on the
  WNYF home page (squaredancingrochester.org).

  And clubs should also consider posting their news on the
  &ldquo;SquareDancingRochester&rdquo; group Facebook page.

  In Memoriam

  In this issue, we say farewell to Fred Ventura, who danced with the
  Village Squares, the Copy Cats and others.

  Editorial Comments

  It&rsquo;s wonderful to see Banner Stealing resuming and to hear about
  class activities, as square dancing rebounds from the shock of the
  past few years.

  Quarterly Chuckles

  Some thoughts on getting older&mdash;source unknown.

  1. Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:30 pm is the new midnight.

  2. It&rsquo;s the start of a brand new day, and I&rsquo;m off like a
  herd of turtles.

  3. The older I get, the earlier it gets late.

  4. When I say, &ldquo;The other day,&rdquo; I could be referring to
  any time between yesterday and 15 years ago.

  5. I remember being able to get up without making sound effects.

  6. I had my patience tested. I&rsquo;m negative.

  7. Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back as a
  Tupperware lid that doesn&rsquo;t fit any of your containers.

  8. If you&rsquo;re sitting in public and a stranger takes the seat
  next to you, just stare straight ahead and say, &ldquo;Did you bring
  the money?&rdquo;

  9. When you ask me what I am doing today, and I say
  &ldquo;nothing,&rdquo; it does not mean I am free. It means I am doing
  nothing.

  10. I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but
  whatever.

  11. I run like the winded.

  12. I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed the
  beginning&mdash;so I don&rsquo;t know whose side I&rsquo;m on.

  13. When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask,
  &ldquo;Why, what did you hear?&rdquo;

  14. When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like a goat
  chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?

  15. I don&rsquo;t mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember
  things and get really excited.

  16. When I ask for directions, please don&rsquo;t use words like
  &lsquo;east.&rsquo;

  17. Don&rsquo;t bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would be
  boring. Spend 30 seconds in my head. That&rsquo;ll freak you right
  out.

  18. My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.

  19. Sometimes, someone unexpected comes into your life out of nowhere,
  makes your heart race, and changes you forever. We call those people
  cops.

  I hope you enjoy this issue!


articleid: 458
position: 1
type: text
content:
  George Washington (aka George Stahl) came to dance at Silver Squares
  on President's Day. Five squares of dancers gathered to celebrate the
  day!


articleid: 459
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Daphne-Norma Leadership Award was established 46 years ago. It is
  the highest honor awarded in the Western New York Federation. Since
  1977, this award has been given to a person or couple who have made
  significant contributions toward fostering square dancing activities
  in Western New York. The recipient each year is chosen on the basis
  of accumulated nominations and letters of support from dancers.

  Rick and Donna LaDonna, as recipients of the 2022 award, were honored
  to present this year&rsquo;s award to Anne Granger and Don
  Naulin. Anne and Don are a very special couple. They met square
  dancing&hellip;Don was an accomplished dancer; Anne a beginner. They
  found common goals on the square dance floor and in their lives. They
  have been Co-Presidents of the Silver Squares for several years. Each
  Monday, their members say, &ldquo;Club dances are like parties!&rdquo;
  Anne is very creative coming up with themes for each weekly
  dance. When COVID struck, Anne helped establish health and safety
  guidelines for returning to dance after the pandemic which other clubs
  used as a template for their own CDC procedures. Anne served as Vice
  President of the Federation for one year. They were active members of
  the Federation&rsquo;s Return to Dance Task Force. They have been on
  the DORish, Summer Dance and DOR committees for the past four
  years. They are always willing to help no matter what task is put
  before them. In addition, Anne and Don have brought square dancing
  into the community with participation in demos at local nursing homes,
  participation in the Greece Historical Society&rsquo;s Strawberry
  Festival and Square Dance Demo and setting up square dance displays at
  local libraries. Anne, Don and the Silver Squares hosted the live
  Spectrum News square dance demo at the Greece United Methodist Church
  last year. No matter what the upcoming event is, they say &ldquo;How
  can we help?&rdquo;

  Here are some statements from nominations the Daphne-Norma Committee
  received:

  &ldquo;(They) started a Club Zoom Meeting (during the pandemic). The
  goal was to keep communication alive. They did more than
  that&mdash;relieving the cabin fever of COVID fever and reassuring us
  that the square dance community is alive and well.&rdquo;

  &ldquo;We feel that the outstanding leadership that this couple has
  provided to square dancing in the Rochester area during this recent
  pandemic make them ideal candidates for the Daphne-Norma Leadership
  Award&hellip;&rdquo;

  &ldquo;They have the leadership skills, diplomacy and sense of humor a
  good leader needs.&rdquo;

  This year&rsquo;s recipients are true &ldquo;Ambassadors&rdquo; of
  square dancing. It was with great pleasure that we were able to
  present the 2023 Daphna-Norma Leadership Award to Silver
  Square&rsquo;s Co-Presidents, Anne Granger and Don Naulin.

  We thank all those who submitted nominations, and we thank the
  Daphne-Norma Selection Committee.


articleid: 460
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Dance in a square and make a circle of New Friends! Last September,
  the Copy Cats held an Open House for new dancers. It was our first
  Open House since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Twenty-seven
  guests arrived to try square dancing. Some decided not to continue and
  14 decided that square dancing was fun and for them! Weekly they
  learned new dance steps and reviewed ones previously learned. Maybe
  discouraged at times, but they persevered. After our return from
  Florida, we could not believe the improvement in dance skills these
  new dancers had achieved.

  We thank Debbie and Paul VanGraafeiland, our Class Coordinators, for
  the fabulous job they did this year shepherding the
  &ldquo;kittens&rdquo; each week. We extend a big thank you to our
  angels who weekly gave up their time to help our &ldquo;kittens&rdquo;
  learn the necessary steps. Lastly, we could not have had a class
  without our Caller/Instructor, Ron Brown. For more than 30 years, Ron
  has been instructing new Copy Cats dancers and we appreciate his
  dedication to our Club and square dancing in general.

  April 18, 2023 was Graduation Night. We welcomed members and family
  &amp; friends of our graduates. Everyone enjoyed a pizza party prior
  to the ceremony. Our candidates for graduation took the dreaded test
  while the Copy Cats did some Plus dancing. Following the
  Graduates&rsquo; grand march set to Pomp and Circumstance, members of
  the Copy Cats Board lit the candles signifying the four corners of a
  square&mdash;Friendship, Duty, Enjoyment and Democracy. Rick LaDonna
  then read a short poem about square dancing.

  Square Dance is a Puzzle

  It&rsquo;s a puzzle of geometry: Squares, lines, columns and waves.

  The puzzle is constantly changing.

  Although you are only one piece of the puzzle, it can&rsquo;t be
  completed without you.

  There is always a specific place left for you to fit in.

  So, dance, have fun, help others.

  And if all else fails, Blame the Caller!

  Ron presented each graduate with their &ldquo;Bachelor of Square
  Dancing&rdquo; Diploma. As Presidents, we presented each graduate with
  an invitation to join the Copy Cats Square Dance Club.

  It is with great pleasure that we announce the Copy Cats Graduates of
  2023:

  Doris Eckert, Nancy Hutchings, Renee (Nay) Jacobson, Don Lucas, Lynn
  Lucas, Barb Manchee, Nadine Mucci, Pam Oblein, Edith Onusseit,
  J. Riddell, Mary-Ellen Riddell, Jim Schaefer, Timothy Storm Coleman,
  and Bernie Hoke.


articleid: 461
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Many of you know that I was struck unexpectedly with a serious illness
  last fall. After an MRI, I was diagnosed with an infection in my spine
  and rushed into emergency surgery performed by a neurosugeon. Over the
  next 3 months, I had 4 more surgeries and spent more than 50 days in
  the hospital, returning home finally on January 3.

  I want to thank all of you for the wonderful outpouring of love and
  support. I received many cards, gifts, texts, emails, and most
  importantly prayers offered up on my behalf. There are no words to
  express how grateful I am for the friendship and support of this
  wonderful square dance community.

  Thanks to all the caring and prayer, I am recovering well and have
  been able to return to my favorite activity&hellip;square dancing!

  Through it all, I felt the warmth and love&hellip;and as it is
  said&hellip;the greatest of these is love. I feel very blessed to have
  all of you in my circle of love. Hope to see you in a square soon!

  Dance in a square, make a circle of friends!


articleid: 462
position: 1
type: text
content:
  On April 27 Grand Squares was privileged to celebrate a special
  anniversary of one of our members, Barb Miller. On that date 50 years
  ago, Barb was awarded her Graduation certificate after completing
  lessons at a club called Merry Mixers. And her diploma was not just
  something she filed away in her memory album. Barb has continued
  dancing at various clubs, including Southern Tier Wheelers, Swinging
  Singles, Belles &rsquo;N&rsquo; Beaus and Cloverleafs, and is
  currently a member of Silver Squares as well as Grand Squares. She has
  also, in the past, been club reporter and has held various offices in
  her clubs and in the Federation.

  So, we congratulate Barb on this remarkable achievement and also thank
  her for her continued support of square dancing all these years.


articleid: 463
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Silver Squares said farewell to Jim Gotta on March 27. He had been
  calling for the Silver Squares since January 1, keeping the club
  dancing, smiling, and laughing. We thank you for everything, Jim!

  Rosie Holley made him a beautiful cake from Silver Squares.


articleid: 464
position: 1
type: text
content:
  President&rsquo;s Corner&mdash;June 2023

  We currently have 16 clubs in the Federation: Batavia Silver Stars,
  Boo Bull Squares and Rounds, Cayuga Cut-Ups, Cloverleaf Squares, Copy
  Cats, Dalton Gang, Fun Bunch, Grand Squares, Pairs N Squares, Penn Yan
  Friendship Squares, Shirts N Skirts (Fulton), Shamrock Squares, Silver
  Squares, Southern Tier Wheelers, Village Squares and Waterwheel
  Squares. It&rsquo;s been fantastic to have our clubs back dancing. We
  hope you take the opportunity to dance with our member clubs. We have
  so many summer dancing opportunities this summer.

  We want to highlight two fundraising dances are coming up in the near
  future:

  Fulton Shirts N Skirts are sponsoring the Elaine Eno Memorial Dance on
  Saturday, June 3rd from 1&ndash;9p.m. in Fulton NY, all proceeds will
  be donated to the ALS Association.

  Dalton Gang is sponsoring a benefit dance for CURE Childhood Cancer
  Awareness on Saturday, August 19th from 1&ndash;5p.m. in Bliss NY.
  all proceeds go directly to CURE.

  If you can&rsquo;t attend these dances, please consider donating to
  them. Our callers and cuers are volunteering their time to these
  events. Please check the Promenader for more details on these dances.

  The Federation&rsquo;s Dance-O-Rama (DOR) 2023, held on Saturday, May
  6, 2023, was very successful. It was our 63rd Annual DOR. And was
  held at the Perinton Rec Center, 1350 Turk Hill Rd, Fairport NY. We
  had 170 + in attendance. We all enjoyed dancing to international
  caller and cuer Betsy &amp; Roy Gotta and Western NY &amp; Canadian
  Caller, Dave Eno. We were happy to recognize 15 of our 2023 graduates
  who attended DOR. Our clubs&rsquo; classes have added 27 new dancers
  to our dancing community. The Daphne-Norma Leadership Award, highest
  honor awarded in our square dance community, was presented to Anne
  Granger and Don Naulin, Co-Presidents of Silver Squares.

  This year DOR 2023 Committee created a Federation Wall of Recognition
  honoring 14 of our current active WNYF callers and cuers. Each caller
  and cuer provided a picture and answered 8 questions for the committee.
  In addition, 7 of our callers and cuers were given plaques from the
  Federation for their outstanding dedication and support to our clubs
  and the Federation throughout the Covid pandemic and helping to get
  the dancers back to the dance floor. These honored 7 were involved
  with virtual calling or cueing over the Internet using Zoom, 2 years
  of Federation&rsquo;s Summer Dances, the 2020-2021 Federation&rsquo;s
  Return to Dance Task Force and/or 2022 Federation&rsquo;s Promotions
  Task Force. We successfully achieved the goal of starting up square
  dance lessons again in Fall 2022. Thank you again to Ron Brown, Mike
  Callahan, Dave Eno, Jim Gotta, Chuck Meyer, Gill Porter and Eileen
  Webster for all you do for the Federation and our member clubs. This
  year the basket raffle and 50/50 were very successful. Thank you to
  everyone who participated in DOR, as volunteers, dancers, callers,
  cuers, etc. Without everyone&rsquo;s efforts, DOR would not happen.
  Thank you!

  Special thank you to the DOR2023 Committee for all their hard work and
  commitment.

  They are a wonderful team, the DOR 2023 Committee members:

  Linda English, Lorraine &amp; Gary Granath, Anne Granger &amp; Don
  Naulin, Donna &amp; Rick LaDonna, Sharon &amp; Chuck Meyer, Mary Jo
  Webster, Debbie &amp; Jeff Blood

  Upcoming Summer Demos: more details coming, please save the dates:

  Greece Historical Society&mdash;Annual Strawberry Festival Fund Raiser
  Monday, June 19th 4&ndash;7p.m. (free admission if dancing only, if
  eating need to pay admission)

  Josh Jensen&rsquo;s Health Fair at Greece Ridge Mall,
  Saturday, August 26th 9 am to 12 noon. Currently checking if able to
  provide square dance demo.

  We hope to see you on the dance floor this summer!


articleid: 465
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Just a quick note to thank everyone for participating in DOR 2023.

  Whether you helped set up, made a basket to be raffled, greeted
  dancers at the door, registered dancers, called or cued, sold 50/50
  tickets, sold basket raffle tickets, helped with the graduates, took
  pictures or videos, or stayed after to clean-up, we appreciated
  everyone&rsquo;s efforts and support. DOR 2023 wouldn&rsquo;t have
  been possible without your help.

  It was so nice to have a full dance floor again on Saturday
  afternoon. There were 12 squares dancing. It was a fun afternoon of
  dancing and socializing with our friends. We are pleased so many
  dancers were able to attend.

  This year&rsquo;s basket raffle was a huge success. We appreciated
  the overwhelming generosity from our individual dancers and our clubs.

  We were glad so many of our 2023 graduates attended DOR. We were able
  to recognize 15 of our 27 graduates at DOR. We are happy to welcome
  all the 2023 graduates, you are doing great!

  Special Thanks to the members of the DOR 2023 Committee, we appreciate
  all you do!

  Linda English, Lorraine &amp; Gary Granath, Anne Granger &amp; Don
  Naulin, Donna &amp; Rick LaDonna, Sharon &amp; Chuck Meyer, Mary Jo
  Webster


articleid: 466
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Meet the new mascots for the Western NY Federation: Panda Bears Acey
  &amp; Deucey.

  They are our &ldquo;new&rdquo; traveling mascots given to the
  Federation by Village Squares.

  They made their WNYF debut at the 63rd Annual DOR on May 6, 2023.

  Their original debut was 10 years ago on May 4, 2013, they attended
  DOR 2013.

  It was their first dance.

  From Acey&rsquo;s &amp; Deucy&rsquo;s diary:

  &ldquo;We love to travel and dance and meet new friends in other
  places.

  We like to record our travels through the words of our host so before
  you pass us on, we hope you&rsquo;ll write a few lines in our diary to
  remind us of you and your club.

  If your club or special dance has a dangle or some other small
  souvenir, we would love to add it to our collection.

  A little history: Jerry Carmen gave Acey &amp; Deucey to Village
  Squares back in 2013. We have been told they have attended several
  square and round dances throughout the US and enjoyed being traveling
  companions to our dancers. So, if you are at a dance and see them, you
  are welcome to take them with you to a dance or on vacation, etc.

  All they ask is that you help them with their diary by providing a
  quick write up and a picture of their adventure with you.


articleid: 467
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  Passed away peacefully in his favorite chair at home in Chili, New
  York on 3 February 2023. He was born January 1, 1935 in Gloucester,
  MA, to Richard and Ann Rowe. Dick served overseas in the Air Force
  before attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and earning a
  bachelor&rsquo;s degree in Industrial Engineering. He married Trudy Rowe
  on June 16, 1962 and spent 59 happy years with her. They enjoyed
  dancing, camping with friends, photography, and spending time with
  their granddaughters. Richard will be missed by his sons Paul, David,
  Robert (Kate), granddaughters Evie and Iris, extended family and close
  friends. He was a good husband and proud father and grandfather and he
  lived a life of service to the community and others. We are all
  thankful for the years of memories.

  His Funeral Mass was celebrated Thursday 3/16 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Pius
  X Church, 3010 Chili Ave. In lieu of flowers donations can be made in
  his wife Trudy&rsquo;s memory to the American Cancer Society.


articleid: 468
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content:
  Tuesday, May 16 2023 at age 89. Ruth is survived by her beloved
  husband, Russel Uhrenholdt of 67 years; children, Dave, Ken (MaryAnn)
  and Anne (Victor) Demjanenko; grandchildren, James Vanderpool
  (Karolina Lundmark), Scott (Carrie) Brant, Jennie Brant, Stephen
  (Theresa) Demjanenko, Carolyn Demjanenjo; great-grandchildren, Sam and
  Selma Vanderpool, Alex and Lily Brant; niece, Dale Ann Raymond;
  nephew, Curtis Raymond.

  Ruth earned her Bachelor&rsquo;s degree in 1955 then taught
  kindergarten. She received her master&rsquo;s degree in library science
  from Geneseo while her children were in junior high and high
  school. She was a librarian for the Rochester City School
  District. She was a longtime member and very active with Elmgrove
  United Methodist Church, a Girl Scout Leader, a member of Silver
  Squares and Copy Cats Western Square Dance Club; she enjoyed
  volunteering at Unity Hospital and the medical building and with
  SWEM. Ruth enjoyed biking, camping, reading, canoeing, cross country
  skiing, gardening, feeding birds, going to the RPO and the
  theater. She was involved with RIFC/Global Connections and United
  Marriage Encounter for many years. She lived life to the fullest and
  will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

  Ruth&rsquo;s celebration of life will be held Saturday, June 17, 2023 at
  11:00 AM at Elmgrove United Methodist Church with a reception to
  follow. Private interment, Elmgrove Cemetery. In lieu of flowers,
  contributions may be made to SWEM, World Vision or Elmgrove United
  Methodist Church in her memory. For more information and to sign her
  online guestbook, visit meesonfamily.com


articleid: 469
position: 1
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content:
  On May 19, Grand Squares closed out their current dancing season with
  a celebration of the 62 years it has been a dancing club. About 50
  people, including some who had been members but are not currently
  dancing, were treated to present day calls and some from the
  past. Special recognition was given to Gary Bubel who began calling
  for Lima&rsquo;s classes in the late 70&rsquo;s and took over class and club
  calling a few years later. We also recognized Mike Callahan who
  assumed the caller role in 2005 when Gary decided to step down from
  year-round calling and we recognized Jim Gotta for providing his
  calling expertise while Mike is away for the winter. To complete the
  special evening, we celebrated the occasion with ice cream and cake
  and other refreshments provided by club members and guests.

  A little history&mdash;Grand Squares was started by four couples from Lima
  in March of 1961. Calling themselves the Lima Grand Squares, they
  danced in the basement of the town hall which, being without air
  conditioning, proved too warm for summer dancing. So, they danced
  summers in a barn in East Bloomfield and that structure became the
  source of the club&rsquo;s banner and badge. The club danced in a couple
  different locations in Lima but in 2001 decided to move closer to the
  Rochester area and chose their present location at Roth Junior
  High. Thus, Lima Grand Squares became just Grand Squares.


articleid: 470
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content:
  One of the many Dance-O-Rama highlights is the annual parade of
  graduates. These are our new dancing friends who have completed the
  past season of Mainstream Square Dance classes at clubs in our
  Federation.

  Many established dancers already know our new graduates&mdash;from
  serving as class angels or from the season&rsquo;s many
  &ldquo;class/club&rdquo; dances.

  Fifteen of this year&rsquo;s 27 graduates marched in the parade at DOR
  2023, their official welcome into the Rochester-area dancing
  community.

  The June Promenader issue is our opportunity to congratulate this
  year&rsquo;s graduates by name.

  2023 Square Dance Graduates:

  Cloverleaf Squares

  Sharon Baart
  <br>
  Mary Helmer
  <br>
  Bernie Hoke
  <br>
  Nicole Pfuntner
  <br>
  Gayle Stahl
  <br>
  Joan Updaw

  Batavia Silver Stars

  Ann Williams
  <br>
  Tim Hayes
  <br>
  Maureen Adams

  Cayuga Cut-Ups

  Nara Schneider
  <br>
  Patti Schneider

  Shirts &rsquo;n Skirts

  Mary Himes

  Copy Cats

  Doris Eckert
  <br>
  Nancy Hutchings
  <br>
  Nay Jacobson
  <br>
  Don Lucas
  <br>
  Lynn Lucas
  <br>
  Barb Manchee
  <br>
  Nadine Mucci
  <br>
  Pam Oblein
  <br>
  Edith Onusseit
  <br>
  J Riddell
  <br>
  Mary-Ellen Riddell
  <br>
  Jim Schaefer
  <br>
  Timothy Storm Coleman

  Dalton Gang

  Betty Henderson
  <br>
  Carolyn Vanslyke


articleid: 471
position: 1
type: text
content:
  At its May 25 meeting, the WNYF discussed the idea of recognizing area
  square dancers whose dancing career spans many decades. To get started
  on this, Carol Ann Stahl volunteered to collect names of dancers whose
  graduation from Basic/Mainstream class was 40 years ago or
  more. Eventually, it&rsquo;s hoped that the WNYF can collect the graduation
  dates of all area dancers and the name of the club whose class they
  attended.

  It&rsquo;s not hard to imagine some of the fun opportunities this will
  create&mdash;such as cross-club class reunions and recognition at
  milestone years like 40th and 50th, or maybe a Wall of Fame for our
  longest-running dancers.

  To get this started, club officers should identify any of their
  members who graduated 40 years ago or more (along with the name of the
  club from whose class they graduated) and send these to Carol Ann Stahl at:
  stahlsinrush@rochester.rr.com.

  In the long run, perhaps in connection with next year&rsquo;s insurance
  roster registration, club officers should request from each of their
  members who don&rsquo;t mind sharing (or can remember!) their graduation
  year and club.

  Dancers reading this can help by volunteering the information, or
  better yet by volunteering to be the data collector/submitter for
  their club.

  In the discussion, the question of how to count &ldquo;gaps&rdquo; in active
  dancing came up. The consensus was that gaps don&rsquo;t matter. What
  matters is coming back to the fun and socially rewarding activity of
  dancing after raising kids, getting over illness or whatever realities
  of life caused the interruption.

  So, a dancer&rsquo;s career is simply the number of years since
  Basic/Mainstream graduation.

  Round dancing was not specifically addressed, since there does not
  seem to be an obvious &ldquo;graduation&rdquo; date to serve as a marker. If you
  have suggestions on how to measure a round dancing career, please
  share it with your club president or a WNYF leader, so we can include
  round dancers in this recognition program.


articleid: 472
position: 1
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content:
  Welcome to the Summer, 2023, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly
  publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers,
  Inc.

  In this issue

  The Photos and Features section brings our annual focus on
  Dance-O-Rama. With 12 squares dancing, we welcomed this year&rsquo;s 27
  graduates, 15 of whom were in attendance to dance for the afternoon
  and march in the 2023 Parade of New Graduates.

  Also introduced at DOR 2023 was a warm appreciation given by Jeff and
  Debbie Blood to two groups of special people: the volunteers who make
  DOR happen and the callers and cuers without whom there would be no
  dancing at all.

  This issue also highlights club activities over the past spring,
  covering the full spectrum from class graduations to the Grand
  Squares&rsquo; celebration of Barb Miller&rsquo;s half century of square dancing.

  In a related article, the WNYF seeks to identify others in our
  community whose dancing careers have spanned 40 years or more.

  Anne Granger and Don Naulin are honored as the 2023 recipients of the
  Daphne-Norma Leadership award, which was presented by Rick and Donna
  LaDonna at Dance-O-Rama 2023.

  In other articles, Eileen Webster, Jeff &amp; Debbie Blood and the
  Silver Squares each offer heart-felt &ldquo;Thank You&rdquo; messages to those who
  have helped in many ways during the year. Jeff and Debbie also
  introduce the WNYF&rsquo;s new mascots, those well-traveled Pandas Acey and
  Deucy. The Village Squares &ldquo;show the flag&rdquo; at one their most recent
  dances, and the Grand Squares celebrate their club&rsquo;s 62 years of
  dancing.

  Club News

  News from our clubs this quarter indicates a continued return to
  normal dancing, with the expansion of traditional events and classes.

  Federation Website

  New Promenader Club News and Photo/Feature articles are posted every
  three months. However, webmaster Sidney Marshall maintains the
  Calendar/Flyer database continually, posting flyers and changes to the
  schedule listings as soon as he can after he receives them. For
  fastest service, he recommends sending flyers (in PDF form) and
  schedule change notices (in the body of an email) to him directly
  (sidneym@frontiernet.net), as well as to the Promenader
  (promenader@rochester.rr.com).

  In addition, for maximum distribution of urgent messages, clubs should
  send Sidney the text for any &ldquo;Breaking News&rdquo; to go on the WNYF home
  page (squaredancingrochester.org).

  And clubs should also consider posting their news on the
  &ldquo;SquareDancingRochester&rdquo; group Facebook page.

  In Memoriam

  In this issue, we say fond farewells to Dick Rowe and Ruth Uhrenholdt.

  Editorial Comments

  As dancing recovers from the COVID disruption, we still see several
  clubs struggling with depleted membership and limited schedules, but
  it&rsquo;s good to see so many clubs thriving and bringing
  enthusiastic new dancers into our circle of friends.

  In our second post-COVID Dance-O-Rama, it was wonderful to see a full
  dance floor. It was especially fun to browse the &ldquo;Wall of
  Recognition&rdquo;&mdash;a row of framed photos and bios featuring
  our WNYF callers and cuers.

  The Daphne-Norma Leadership award is more special than many dancers might think. That&rsquo;s because the recipient is chosen based not on the machinations of an administrative committee but on &ldquo;grass-roots&rdquo; nominations and letters of support from dancers. All nominations and support letters are saved over the years. There is a Daphne-Norma Selection committee, made up mostly of recent recipients, but their role is to review and compare the accumulated nominations. Dancers determine the recipients. So, be sure to submit your nomination(s) to the committee every year. Find the form (and where to send it) by clicking the &ldquo;Awards&rdquo; button on the WNYF home page: https://www.squaredancingrochester.org

  On a personal note, I would like to thank all of you who have been so
  welcoming to my new partner, Sandy Barron. We were married last
  Sunday, May 21, at her home near Sudbury, ON. It was a lovely spring
  day in northern Ontario and many of you joined us remotely via Zoom.

  Quarterly Chuckle

  &ldquo;The Importance of Walking&rdquo;

  Walking can add minutes to your life every day.
  <br>
  This will enable you at age 85 to spend an additional
  five months in a nursing home at $7,000 per month.

  My grandpa started walking five miles a day when he was 60.
  <br>
  Now, he&rsquo;s 97 and we have no idea where he is.

  I like long walks, especially when they are taken by
  people who annoy me.

  The only reason I would take up walking myself would be
  to hear the sound of heavy breathing again.

  I have to walk early in the morning,
  before my brain figures out what I&rsquo;m doing.

  I joined a health club last year.
  It cost me about 400 bucks, but I haven&rsquo;t lost a pound.
  <br>
  Apparently, you have to actually go there!

  Every time I hear the dirty word &lsquo;exercise&rsquo;
  I wash my mouth out with chocolate.

  The long-term benefit of regular exercise is that
  when you die, people will say
  &ldquo;Well, (s)he sure looks good, doesn&rsquo;t (s)he!&rdquo;

  If you decide to take up cross-country skiing,
  start with a small country.

  Over the past few years I&rsquo;ve had plenty of exercise
  just getting over the hill.

  As we get older, it&rsquo;s natural that we get heavier.
  <br>
  There&rsquo;s a lot more information in our heads!

  You could walk this over to your friends,
  but why not just email it to them&hellip;?

  I hope you enjoy this issue!


articleid: 473
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content:
  The Village Squares are dancing on occasional Wednesday afternoons,
  using room 215 at the Pittsford Community Center (across the hall
  from where Jim Gotta&rsquo;s Happy Squares dance on Fridays).

  Their most recent dance was on May 10, with nearly enough dancers for
  two squares. The short notice of our scheduling makes it hard for
  more to attend, but those who do have a good time.

  Their next dance will be on June 14, from 2&ndash;4:30pm, and they
  have a picnic scheduled for July 19 at King&rsquo;s Bend Park. Check
  the Schedule and the Flyers pages for details.

  In the accompanying group photo, if you look in the mirror just
  behind the banner, you'll see Peter Emmel's new bride, Sandy Barron,
  who took the photo. Childhood friends since the early 1950s, they
  were married in Chelmsford, Ontario (Canada) on May 21.


articleid: 474
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content:
  Where did our summer go? It seems it went by so fast this year!

  We are not complaining, it has been a fun summer with so many dances
  and events to be with our friends.

  We hope everyone enjoyed many of the summer fun dancing opportunities
  that were available. It was great to see so many of our recent
  graduates joining us on the dance floor and at our demos and picnic
  events.

  We thank everyone who has participated in the square dance demos this
  summer. It is a fun way to share our joy of square dancing. Hopefully,
  we will encourage people to try Square Dancing this Fall when the
  classes begin in September and October.

  We started our summer demos with the Annual Strawberry &amp; Dessert
  Tasting Festival Fund Raiser for the Greece Historical Society on June
  19th. Our clubs provided four squares of dancers for the demo. Mike
  Callahan did a wonderful job calling and getting participants to join
  us on the dance floor. Mike also did a great job encouraging the 500+
  in attendance to try square dancing during our demos and to consider
  attending our classes this Fall.

  Another demo was held at Grace Covenant Church in Chili on July
  15th. Jim Gotta did a great job calling. Several participants
  indicated they enjoyed the square dancing so much that they would be
  coming back to our classes in the Fall or plan to check into square
  dancing in their own areas.

  At this time, we have two square dance info tables planned, one in
  August at Josh Jensen&rsquo;s Health Fair on Saturday, August 26, and
  one at the Sweden Historical Society&rsquo;s event on Saturday,
  September 23. At this point we are not sure if we will need dancers to
  demonstrate square dancing. If we do need dancers, we will announce it
  at the summer square dances. We welcome any volunteers to help with
  the info table. We have been making videos of our dances, so we plan to
  set up a laptop at these info tables so live square dancing can be
  seen.

  In August, we set up a Square Dance display at the Parma Library
  located on the main street of Hilton. The display is in the front window
  of the library and is estimated to be about 20 feet long. It will be a
  great way to advertise square dancing and the start up of classes in
  September. A big thank you to Laurie Cordaro, Cloverleafs Squares, for
  arranging this for us.

  Anne Granger, WNYF Vice President, has done a fantastic job trying to
  set up a vendor for ordering Square Dance Polos for our dancers. It
  has been a several-month project and working with 4&ndash;5 companies
  before finding our new vendor.

  Like with many other small businesses, both the companies we had used
  in the past are no longer in operation. Anne has found a local company
  that will provide us polo shirts, at a good price, with a selection of
  colors and with or without our club logos on the front and with or
  without the &ldquo;Dance in a Square, Make a Circle of Friends&rdquo;
  logo on the back. Please refer to the information article on this in
  the Fall Promenader. If you have any questions, you can contact Anne
  directly at 585-317-6442.

  A little background on us, we returned to square dancing in 2016 after
  taking 20 years off for our family and careers. We became involved
  with the Federation Leadership in 2019 and have never regretted it. We
  have met many wonderful people and made so many friends. Volunteering
  to help with your club or the Federation is a fun way to get to know
  your fellow dancers and find out how truly wonderful they are.

  The Federation is always looking for volunteers to help with our
  committees:

  The Promotions Task Force: Critical in promoting square and round
  dancing, arranging demos, writing articles, etc.

  DOR Committee: Plans, contracts, organizes, and runs our Annual May
  Dance-o-Rama Dance &amp; Basket Raffle.

  The WNYF maintains an informative website (squaredancingrochester.org)
  that carries dance schedules and contact information. Embedded in our
  website is the Promenader, our quarterly publication of news and
  events for our 16 member clubs. We also maintain a Facebook page
  (Square Dancing Rochester) with photos of recent events and
  announcements of upcoming ones.

  There is much behind the scenes work done outside of meetings, making
  flyers for upcoming events, contacting people, writing articles,
  helping with square dance demos, square dance displays, special
  events, etc. We hope you will join us in some of these activities. To
  join our teams of very dedicated dancers, please don&rsquo;t hesitate
  to reach out to us at dfbjvbhome@aol.com

  We are so proud to be part of this Square Dance Community. Not only
  does this community know how to have fun together, it also really
  cares about its members&mdash;celebrating the good times and
  supporting in the difficult times.

  We are looking forward to seeing you on the dance floor.

  Take Care,

  Debbie &amp; Jeff

  +++++

  DOR 2023 Committee

  They are a wonderful team:

  Linda English Lorraine &amp; Gary Granath Anne Granger &amp; Don
  Naulin

  Donna &amp; Rick LaDonna Sharon &amp; Chuck Meyer Mary Jo Webster

  WNYF: Currently has 16 clubs in the Federation: Batavia Silver Stars,
  Boo Bull Squares and Rounds, Cayuga Cut-Ups, Cloverleaf Squares, Copy
  Cats, Dalton Gang, Fun Bunch, Grand Squares, Pairs N Squares, Penn Yan
  Friendship Squares, Shirts N Skirts (Fulton), Shamrock Squares, Silver
  Squares, Southern Tier Wheelers, Village Squares and Waterwheel
  Squares.


articleid: 475
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content:
  The Silver Squares Flag Day Dance was held on June 12, 2023. It was a
  celebration of our flag and all it means to us. We dressed in
  patriotic colors and Mike Callahan had a great selection of patriotic
  music! Eileen Webster made a beautiful patriotic cake and fun was had
  by all!!


articleid: 476
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Silver Squares End of year Let&rsquo;s Picnic Dance gathered 5 squares
  of dancers. We enjoyed hot dogs and wonderful dishes and desserts made
  by our cooks and bakers. It was such a fun time to visit, laugh, and
  just have fun together!


articleid: 477
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Village Squares held their Summer Picnic on July 19 at
  King&rsquo;s Bend Park in Pittsford, with 24 people attending. It was
  a wonderfully sunny day, without too much heat (or smoke!). It was
  good to see so many friends gathered. We mainly socialized, but there
  were more than enough active dancers for one square &ldquo;with
  substitutes&rdquo; to dance a few tips.

  Before the dancing started, the club surprised Sandy and me with a
  gorgeous (and delicious) cake, congratulating us on our May
  marriage. It was a touching moment for both of us. I can&rsquo;t
  imagine a more fun or more supportive circle of friends than I have
  found in the square-dancing community throughout these past 30+
  years. Thank you all!

  The WNYF&rsquo;s traveling Pandas, Acey and Deucey, were there, and
  Chewy, Sandy&rsquo;s Shih Tsu, also enjoyed herself.


articleid: 478
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Silver Squares had a lot of birthdays in July and Rosie Holley
  surprised everyone by making a cake! Barb Miller, Dee Gustke, Anne
  Granger, Rosie Holley and Cathy Dromgold celebrated. The club
  thoroughly enjoyed the cake!


articleid: 479
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Anne Granger, WNYF Vice President, has been working for several months
  to arrange for our dancers to order square dance polos. The two
  companies we have used in the past are no longer in operation.

  Anne has contacted and worked with at least 4&ndash;5 vendors to find
  one that is affordable and provides a nice selection of colors for
  polo shirts.

  The WNYF is coordinating this first order of square dance polos
  through the leadership of each of our 16 WNYF Clubs.

  Dancers have 3 choices:

  a) Club Name (with or without city and state) or Club Logo only
  printed on front of polo shirt.

  b) &ldquo;Dance in a Square Make a Circle of Friends&rdquo; printed
  only on the back of the polo shirt.

  c) Print both the Club Name or logo on front and &ldquo;Dance in a
  Square Make a Circle of Friends&rdquo; on the back of the polo shirt.

  Each club will need to determine if they want their Club Name (with or
  without city and state) or Club Logo printed on the front of the
  shirt.

  The set-up fee for each Club Logo is $10, payable by club, using Club
  Order form.

  There is no set-up charge for printing the Club Name (with or without
  city and state) on the front. For example, there is no set-up fee for:
  &ldquo;Copy Cats&rdquo; ... or for: &ldquo;Copy Cats, Rochester,
  NY&rdquo;

  Clubs that want their polos to include the Club Logo will need pay the
  $10 set-up charge and provide their Club Logo design for the printer
  to use when the order is submitted&mdash;before October 1st.

  The Federation will be paying the set-up charge for the &ldquo;Dance
  in a Square Make a Circle of Friends&rdquo; logo and slogan printed on
  the back of the polo shirts. It will be printed in two colors white
  &amp; yellow. Please note the logo accompanying this article is
  printed with more than two colors.

  A polo ordering packet has been provided to each club president. It
  includes a listing of the available colors, pricing, and order forms
  for both clubs and for individual dancers. Similar items accompany
  this article. Clubs should use the club order form or a group order
  and to pay for set-up of the Club Logo. Dancers whose polo is not
  included in the club order should use the individual order form.

  Completed forms should be sent to Anne Granger along with the payment
  for the polos ordered and logo set-up if appropriate.

  Club orders will be taken during the month of September, all order
  forms and payments are due to Anne Granger by October 1, 2023.

  Send order forms and check payable to: Western NY Federation

  c/o Anne Granger, 570 Long Pond Road, Rochester, NY 14612

  Please Contact Anne with any questions 585-317-6442

  If your club decides not to order any polo shirts, please let Anne
  know so she is aware of your decision.


articleid: 480
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Thank you to everyone who participated in the square dance demo at the
  Greece Historical Society&rsquo;s Annual Strawberry Festival
  fundraiser. On Monday June 19. 2023. We had four squares of
  dancers. Mike Callahan did a fantastic job calling and promoting our
  clubs during the demos. Many participants from the audience joined us
  on the dance floor. Great job everyone!!


articleid: 481
position: 1
type: text
content:
  We had a wonderful time dancing on Saturday, July 15th at the Grace
  Covenant Church summer event. Thank you to all the dancers who came
  to help with the demo. Thank you to Jim Gotta for calling. Jim did a
  great job keeping two steady squares of dancers &amp; participants
  going throughout the demo. We had some serious interest in square
  dancing from several of the participants. Thanks again to everyone
  who participated!


articleid: 482
position: 1
type: text
content:
  August 12, 2023 was the 62nd Anniversary &amp; Steak Roast Party for
  the Cayuga Cut-Ups Square Dance Club. Thank you to Ron Brown and Dave
  Eno for calling our dance. Thank you to over 50 dancers for attending
  and sharing the fun. Thank you to the Silver Squares and Copy Cats for
  coming to retrieve their banners, nice banner dances! Thank you to
  Federation Presidents Jeff &amp; Debbie for bringing the new polo
  shirt examples, can&rsquo;t wait to order. Congratulations to Chuck
  &amp; Cindi Denardo as Glynn &amp; Linda English presented them with
  the Circle of Service Award. Life long members Jack &amp; Fran Hole
  and Don &amp; Marion Ellinwood were honored as the Memorial Award
  recognized their service to the Cayuga Cut-Ups as well. Thank you to
  Jack &amp; Fran&rsquo;s daughter Jeanne Harter for cueing rounds for
  us. We are especially happy to gift the Dalton Gang with a club
  donation for their CURE dance on August 19. Most of all thank you
  Cut-Ups, keep dancing!


articleid: 483
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Dalton Gang held a benefit dance on Saturday, August 19, for
  C.U.R.E. Childhood Cancer Awareness.

  Callers Gary Bubel, Mike Callahan, Jim Gotta, and Ray Tompkins, along
  with cuers Lisa Treichler and Alice Bubel donated their time and as
  always, did an amazing job! Basket raffles, 50/50 tickets, great
  company, delicious food and lots of dancing made for a fun afternoon!

  Thank you, Dalton Gang, for bringing awareness to such a special
  cause and having a wonderful dance.


articleid: 484
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Burning calories and socializing with friends, dancing offers the
  following health benefits:

  Calories&mdash;Dancing can burn as many calories as swimming or riding
  a bicycle. During a half hour of sustained dancing, you can burn
  between 200 and 400 calories. A two-hour square dance can burn 500+
  calories. I have had dancers wearing pedometers and found that they
  did, in fact, dance their way to 5 miles during the dance.

  Cardiovascular Conditioning&mdash;Regular exercise can lead to a
  slower heart rate, lower blood pressure and an improved cholesterol
  profile. The degree of benefit depends on how vigorously you dance,
  how long you dance and how often you do it.

  Strong Bones&mdash;The side-to-side movements of many dances
  strengthen your weight bearing bones (tibia, fibula, and femur) and
  according to the Mayo Clinic can help prevent or slow the loss of bone
  mass (osteoporosis). As we age some tend to have issues with
  balance. The strengthening of lower body muscles can help with issues
  pertaining to balance.

  Rehabilitation&mdash;If you are recovering from heart, knee, or hip
  surgery, movement may have a part in your recovery. Dancing is a
  positive alternative to aerobic dance or jogging.

  Sociability&mdash;Solitary fitness programs does not contain the
  social component that Square Dancing provides. Square dancing provides
  an opportunity to develop strong social ties. These ties can
  contribute to self-esteem and a positive outlook.

  Brain&mdash;Studies have also shown positive benefits of
  dancing. Dancing to the calls keeps the brain processing information
  and wards off the effects of Alzheimer&rsquo;s.

  Health Insurance &ldquo;silver sneakers&rdquo; program may, in fact,
  provide some financial assistance for this light aerobic
  activity. Check with your healthcare provider. If they don&rsquo;t,
  call your Caller, he may be able to help with the benefit to you.

  Square Dance Music&mdash;You may be pleasantly surprised in the music
  Callers use for Modern Western Square Dancing. Many associate Square
  Dancing with western hoedown bands, fiddles etc. Actually, we use an
  ever-growing list of popular songs by artists such as Gaga, Elvis,
  Sinatra, Bubl&eacute; to name a few.  Square Dance Study&mdash;Dr. Aaron
  Blackburn&rsquo;s study on square dancing states it&rsquo;s the
  perfect exercise. It combines the positive aspects of intense physical
  activity with none of the negative elements. He states it is a low
  impact activity requiring constant movement and quick directional
  changes that help keep the body in shape. The study was based on
  physical examinations which indicated that both female and male square
  dancers could expect to extend their lives by keeping fit thru
  dancing. Square dance movements raise the heart rate like any good
  aerobic exercise should. All the quick changes in direction loosen and
  tone the muscles&mdash;but do not cause injury. In Square Dancing when
  you are not moving, you&rsquo;re clapping your hands, tapping your
  feet, which contributes to long term fitness.

  Cost&mdash;Square Dancing is an undervalued activity. Comparing the
  individual movie ticket price today, you can go to a Square Dance for
  a close equivalent except for 2 people. It&rsquo;s like getting a 2
  for 1 deal at your favorite store. It also provides professional
  networking and expands your social contacts. We are a circle of
  friends.


articleid: 485
position: 1
type: text
content:
  On May 26, 2023, Michael Keane passed away peacefully in Webster, NY,
  surrounded by his family. He and Barbara were long-time members of the
  Village Squares, where they served on the Board and organized the
  refreshments calendar&mdash;making sure we were well-fed at all
  dances and special events.

  A fondness for baseball ran in the family and spilled over into square
  dancing. Mike convinced the club to hold a baseball-themed dance. That
  evening, he brought a hotdog cooker and manned the Hot Dog
  stand&mdash;decked out in an apron and a NY Yankees cap.

  The Keanes (seen at left in the photo) began dancing thirty years ago,
  with class and graduation in 1993 at the Cross-Trail Squares in
  Caldwell, NJ. By 2002, they were presidents of the club. On moving to
  the Rochester area in 2003 they made a connection (through their
  granddaughter&rsquo;s nurse) with Bob Ellis and the Emerald
  Squares. At their first dance, Fran Haldoupis offered to be their
  &ldquo;Square Dance Mother&rdquo; and, with her husband, Nick, set
  about introducing Mike and Barb to Rochester area clubs.

  They settled on the Village Squares and stuck with them through the move
  from East Rochester to Pittsford, coming to dances to socialize long
  after health issues had ended their dancing days. Several of the fun
  programs at the Village Squares began as ideas from Mike and
  Barb&mdash;including &ldquo;Progressive Dinners&rdquo; and the
  &ldquo;Blue-Hat Ladies&rdquo; social group.


articleid: 486
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Welcome to the Fall, 2023, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly
  publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers,
  Inc.
  <h4>In this issue</h4>
  As the Fall dance season begins, in this issue of the Promenader the
  Photos and Features section looks back at photos of summer fun at
  several of our area clubs.

  The Silver Squares celebrated Flag Day as well as numerous birthdays
  and held an indoor picnic. The Cayuga Cut-Ups held their 62nd
  Anniversary Steak Roast, and the Dalton Gang held a benefit dance for
  C.U.R.E.

  Square Dance Polo Shirts are on sale again. There&rsquo;s an article
  with directions on how to order them for yourself or your club.

  It was a busy summer for WNYF demos and promotions. In June, the
  Federation was well-represented at the Greece Historical
  Society&rsquo;s annual Strawberry Festival fundraiser, and a
  well-attended demo was hosted by Grace Covenant Church in July.

  We&rsquo;ve also included an excellent article that Ron Brown has
  published on the health benefits of Square Dancing.
  <h4>Club News</h4>
  News from our clubs this quarter indicates a continued return to
  normal dancing, with the expansion of traditional events and classes.
  <h4>Federation Website</h4>

  Please read Jeff and Debbie Blood&rsquo;s excellent
  &ldquo;President's Corner&rdquo; column in the Federation pages of
  the website. It gives a concise rundown of WNYF activities and plans.
  It's the best presentation you will find on what the WNYF is all
  about. Kudos to Jeff and Debbie for their dedication and care.

  New Promenader Club News and Photo/Feature articles are posted every
  three months. However, webmaster Sidney Marshall maintains the
  Calendar/Flyer database continually, posting flyers and changes to the
  schedule listings as soon as he can after he receives them. For
  fastest service, he recommends sending flyers (in PDF form) and
  schedule change notices (in the body of an email) to him directly
  (sidneym@frontiernet.net), as well as to the Promenader
  (promenader@rochester.rr.com).

  In addition, for maximum distribution of urgent messages, clubs should
  send Sidney the text for any &ldquo;Breaking News&rdquo; to go on the
  WNYF home page (squaredancingrochester.org).

  And clubs should also consider posting their news on the
  &ldquo;SquareDancingRochester&rdquo; group Facebook page.
  <h4>In Memoriam</h4>
  In this issue, we say a fond farewell Mike Keane.
  <h4>Editorial Comments</h4>
  Though not all clubs survived the COVID interruption, square dancing
  in and around Rochester is alive and growing stronger every
  quarter. Classes have resumed and new recruits are enthusiastic.

  Most of this progress is thanks to a dedicated&mdash;but too
  small&mdash;number of active leaders in mu multiple clubs and in the
  WNY Federation.

  Continuing this trend will take a sustained effort from an expanding
  number of dancers who pitch in and fill gaps on club boards and in the
  Federation. Many of the current leaders have been recognized for their
  outstanding service, but there&rsquo;s plenty of room for others to
  join them and share the fun.

  I was about to use the word &ldquo;load&rdquo; in that last sentence,
  but I remembered the experience Sally and I had when first asked to
  help out at the Village Squares by joining the Board as treasurers. We
  felt it was too soon after our graduation, but others explained that
  was normal. What they didn&rsquo;t tell us was how much fun it is to
  be included among the people who shape the program.

  Board meetings were focused mainly on dance themes and social events
  and how to make the dancing more fun and inclusive. We realized how
  much we enjoyed &ldquo;shaping&rdquo; the club and its program instead
  of simply attending dances. We paid more attention to what worked and
  to what might make it better, and the club leadership appreciated our
  contributions. But most of all, we enjoyed the teamwork of the
  &ldquo;working group&rdquo; of board members.

  I think everyone should jump at the chance to share this
  feeling. Please ask your club leaders if there is room for you in
  their board or assisting in club activities.

  I know it&rsquo;s tempting to simply attend dances and chat with your
  friends, but a stint on the board will expand your circle of friends
  and give you a sense of connection and pride in the whole program.

  A stint as your club&rsquo;s representative at Federation meetings
  will expand that satisfaction even further. Federation programs cross
  club boundaries and address needs across the whole square-dancing
  community. Don&rsquo;t let others determine the fate of your club or
  of square dancing in our area without your help.

  Your input is important and you will find unexpected personal
  satisfaction in the process.
  <h4>Quarterly Chuckle</h4>
  I hope this isn&rsquo;t a duplicate from the past. I laughed (again?),
  so maybe you will too&hellip;

  &ldquo;Sad News from Minnesota&rdquo;

  The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma
  complications from repeated pokes in the belly.

  Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin.

  Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including
  Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker,
  the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled
  high with flours.

  Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a
  man who never knew how much he was kneaded.

  Born and bread in Minnesota, Doughboy rose quickly in show business,
  but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a
  very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes.

  Despite being a little flakey at times, and somewhat of a crusty old
  man, he still was considered a positive roll model for millions.

  Doughboy is survived by his wife, Play Dough, three children: John
  Dough, Jane Dough and Dosey Dough, plus they had one more in the oven,
  and he is also survived by his father, Pop Tart.

  The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

  If you smiled when reading this, please rise to the occasion and pass
  it on to someone having a crumby day and kneading a lift :-)

  I hope you enjoy this issue of the Promenader!


articleid: 487
position: 1
type: text
content:
  A square dance demonstration was held on Saturday, August 26th, at the Health Fair at Greece Ridge Mall. Many different organizations were present, and our Square-Dancing display featured the many positive benefits that square dancing has on one&rsquo;s health. 

  A square of dancers volunteered their time on Saturday to dance. Mike Callahan was our caller and he encouraged onlookers to join in the square and dance with the group.

  Thanks, Mike for calling! We had a great time.


articleid: 488
position: 1
type: text
content:
  WASCA is the Washington Area Square Dancers Cooperative
  Association. It is a group of square dance clubs in the Washington DC
  area, similar to our Western NY Federation (WNYF). This organization
  puts on a square dance festival every year that, in my humble opinion,
  is one of the best in the country.

  Each year they choose a different theme. The 2024 theme for the 63rd
  annual WASCA Festival is &ldquo;Around the World in the Roaring
  20s&rdquo; and will take place March 14&ndash;16, 2024 in Alexandria,
  Virginia.

  There will be eight excellent callers, four terrific cuers, all of
  whom are known nationally. There is dancing Thursday evening, Friday
  from 10 AM to 11 PM, and Saturday from 10 AM til ?? (die hard!). Dance
  levels include Mainstream, Plus, Advanced, Challenge, and Plus
  DBD. There is round dancing at various levels at all times as well as
  special sessions of line dancing, hexagon squares, arky, and relaxed
  squares, and a sewing panel. And lots more!

  Many of our area dancers have attended this event and most go back
  year after year to enjoy three days of dancing, fun, and
  friendship. If you have not been there, please consider attending in
  2024!

  Below is a link to the flyer and a picture of our group of Rochester
  attendees from several years ago.

  <a href="https://www.wascaclubs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2024_WASCA_Festival_Flyer.pdf" target="_blank">2024_WASCA_Festival_Flyer.pdf</a>


articleid: 489
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The past few months have been very busy and exciting as we have been
  promoting Square Dancing and the start-up of lessons within our
  communities. We have lawn signs, ads, articles, live demos, public
  square dance info tables and displays. The truth is, while this all
  helps promote the awareness of square dancing, it is our dancers who
  are the #1 promoters of square dancing and our lesson
  programs. Consistently our dancers are the best promotion of the fun
  of square dancing on the dance floor. We all have been working
  together to promote square dancing. The classes have begun and we hope
  to retain at least 25 new dancers who will graduate next Spring. It
  would be wonderful if we are able to encourage these new dancers to
  stay committed to the classes, become active members of our clubs and
  recruit their friends.

  Recently when we attended the Autumn Leaves Dance weekend in
  Battleboro VT, they were very impressed to hear the size of our
  classes and the level of retention of last year&rsquo;s class
  members. Special thanks to all of our dancer angels who continue to
  give of themselves to help with classes along with welcoming and
  encouraging our new dancers.

  We currently have 15 clubs in the Federation (2023&ndash;24 dues are
  due): Batavia Silver Stars, Boo Bull Squares and Rounds, Cayuga
  Cut-Ups, Cloverleaf Squares, Copy Cats, Dalton Gang, Fun Bunch, Penn
  Yan Friendship Squares, Shirts N Skirts (Fulton), Shamrock Squares,
  Silver Squares, Southern Tier Wheelers, Village Squares, Waterwheel
  Squares. Due to changes in the requirements for Grand Squares to rent
  their location in Rush-Henrietta School District they have had to
  discontinue dancing. We are noticing similar restrictions for other
  clubs and hope location policies do not cause us to lose more of our
  clubs.

  As cases of COVID are reaching the dance floors again, please make
  sure you have plenty of hand sanitizers available. It appears our
  dancers are good at wearing masks as needed. The current symptoms seem
  to be mild, and most people don&rsquo;t even know they have COVID. We
  just ask you take extra care if you feel under the weather. If someone
  tests positive for Covid after attending one of your dances, please
  let us know and we will post it on the WNYF Facebook page: Square
  Dancing Rochester. We will also email our Club Presidents so they can
  also let their members know.

  Our dance floors are getting fuller as we enjoy all the autumn
  celebrations such as Halloween, Veterans Day, and look forward to
  Thanksgiving and our special Holiday and New Years celebrations.

  Please save the date for our afternoon New Year&rsquo;s Eve Dance. The
  dance is being co-sponsored by the Federation and the Copy Cats. The
  dance will be from 3&ndash;5:00 pm on 12/31/23 at the First Baptist
  Church of Penfield located at 1862 Penfield Rd. Jim Gotta will be
  calling and cueing. Dancers are welcome to bring appetizers, snacks or
  desserts to share. It will be a fun way to welcome in the New
  Year. Hope you can join us.

  Please save the date for DOR 2024 to be held May 4, 2024. The DOR
  Committee is busy making plans. DOR 2024 will be at the Perinton Rec
  Center. We contracted Jonathan Weiner from Brooklyn as our guest
  caller. Our local caller and cuer for DOR 2024 are Mike Callahan
  calling and Alice Bubel cueing. More information will be coming
  shortly. Everyone had such a good time last year, and we anticipate
  another wonderful event again in May 2024. All Clubs will be asked to
  donate a basket for the basket raffle. If anyone is interested in
  helping with DOR 2024, please contact us.

  The Daphne Norma Leadership award nominations are due by the end of
  February 2024.

  Please look around and take the time to recognize an individual or
  couple who deserve this honor. It is the highest honor awarded in our
  WNYF Dance community to recognize individuals or couples for their
  outstanding dedication and service to square dance and round dancing.

  As always, we are looking forward to seeing you on the dance floor.

  From the On-Line Promenader

  Please send all email to: promenader@rochester.rr.com


articleid: 490
position: 1
type: text
content:
  On Thursday, October 26 almost 80 square dancers gathered to celebrate
  the last meeting of the Grand Squares. We shared a delicious catered
  dinner, followed by cake and finished the evening with a couple hours
  of dancing. All the clubs in the Rochester area were represented, as
  can be seen in the accompanying photos. A special thank you to Debbie
  and Jeff Blood and Anne Granger and Don Naulin who added to the
  festivities with their tablecloths and Fall decorations. I think it is
  safe to say it was an evening to remember.


articleid: 491
position: 1
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content:
  The Silver Squares Halloween Party was just amazing! Most everyone
  dressed in costume and had such fun dancing to our caller, Mike
  Callahan. At one time, we had five squares dancing!! Cider and donuts
  were also provided by the club.

  Although ALL the costumes were amazing, Paul and Jan were voted the
  best costume prize of a free dance.

  Mary Jane was the runner up! Such creativity!

  Roy celebrated his 75th birthday today with his fellow dancers. Rosie
  made him a beautiful cake. There was only one piece left!

  What a great way to spend a Monday afternoon.


articleid: 492
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Copy Cats held their opening dance of the 2023&ndash;24 season on
  September 9, with their annual &ldquo;Rusty Hinge&rdquo; dance. Make
  Callahan called and it was great to get back together for another
  season!


articleid: 493
position: 1
type: text
content:
  On September 20, the WNYF put on a square dance demo in the gym at the
  YMCA in Pittsford. Make Callahan called and attendance was good.


articleid: 494
position: 1
type: text
content:
  On September 23, the Copy Cats hosted a dance built around Disney
  characters. It was a lot of fun, and included portraits with Mikey and
  Minnie. Mike Callahan called squares and Alice Abel cued rounds.


articleid: 495
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Webster, NY, at age 94

  &ldquo;We begin to remember not that you died, but that you lived.
  And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget.&rdquo;

  Sam has peacefully followed his journey to heaven for his long-awaited
  reunion with family and loved ones. Predeceased by his wife, Mary and
  daughters Donna &amp; Janice Tripi, brothers &amp; sisters and loving
  companion, Connie Profeta. Sam is survived by his sons &amp; daughters
  in law, Joseph (Holly) &amp; Sam (Rosa) Tripi; grandsons, Craig (Gwen)
  Hargrave, Jaiden, Sal, Joseph &amp; Michael Tripi.

  Sam was born in Rochester, NY, to his parents Giuseppe &amp; Maria
  Tripi. At the young age of 18, he ran the family hardware store until
  he was drafted to the Army, serving in the Korean War. Prior to
  leaving, he became engaged to the love of his life, Mary
  Cianciola. Upon his return home, he and Mary were married and
  eventually welcomed 4 children, Donna, Janice, Joseph, and Salvatore.

  Sam opened his own barbershop on the corner of Norton and Goodman
  streets in Irondequoit. Tripi&rsquo;s Style Shop was an iconic place
  not only for haircuts, but good times and memories. Back in the day,
  everyone got a haircut from &ldquo;Sam the Barber.&rdquo; He first
  worked beside his brother, John, and then later with his brother,
  Fred. Sam was a hardworking man. Along with running the barbershop, he
  drove a truck for the Democrat &amp; Chronicle for 25 years.

  Sam built a home for his family in Mendon. For 47 years, he commuted
  back and forth to the barbershop until he finally retired and sold his
  shop. Sam and Mary enjoyed dancing and could beautifully glide across
  any dance floor. They would spend many nights playing cards with
  &ldquo;the Club&rdquo; and enjoyed their tight knit friendships.

  Sadly, Sam &amp; Mary lost their oldest daughter, Donna, as a
  child. They celebrated 42 years of a loving marriage, when Mary lost
  her battle to cancer at the age of 64. He became Papa to 4 handsome
  grandsons to carry on the family name, Jaiden, Sal, Joey, and
  Michael. They were his world and he set a great example of what it
  means to be a Tripi&mdash;a good, honest man&mdash;passing on his
  wisdom so they will carry his legacy with them.

  After some time, Sam began a relationship with his loving companion of
  20 years, Connie. They spent time dancing, traveling, and enjoying
  both of their families until her passing. He unexpectedly lost his
  daughter, Janice, to Covid in 2021.

  Sam had many friends and anyone who knew him, loved him. He liked to
  laugh, listen to music, play golf, and spend time with family. He was
  a blessing and taught us what it means to show unconditional love. In
  his last days, he often talked about his desire to join his heavenly
  family and friends. His passing was peaceful, and he was surrounded by
  the love and support of his family.

  Calling hours were held Sunday, 9/17/23, at Falvo Funeral Home, 1295
  Fairport Nine Mile Point Rd. Webster. His Funeral Mass was held on
  Monday 9/18/23 @ 10:30 am at St. Rita&rsquo;s Church, 1008 Maple
  Drive, Webster.

  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to UR HomeCare/Hospice in
  his memory.

  A special thank you to Heather, Jill, and Kim for your support during
  Sam&rsquo;s final days.

  Private interment with immediate family, next to his wife and
  daughters at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.

  Falvo Funeral Home

  Posted online on September 15, 2023

  Published in Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

  Square dancers remember Sal&hellip;

  From Carl Webster (in the Cloverleafs Newsletter):

  &ldquo;We learned that former Cloverleaf member Sal Tripi had passed
  away on September 12th. Sal (Sam or Salvatore) and his wife Mary were
  members of the 1994 board of directors for the Belles &rsquo;n&rsquo;
  Beaus square dance club as social directors. The June/July/August 1995
  PROMENADER reported that his wife, Mary, passed away shortly
  afterwards. Sal with his long-time companion of 20 years, Connie
  Profeta, served as social directors for the Belles &rsquo;n&rsquo;
  Beaus club in 2003. Sal took the opportunity to participate in many
  extracurricular activities with other square dance friends, such as
  golfing and murder mystery parties. While Sal had not been dancing for
  a while, he will be missed by his square dance friends.&rdquo;

  From Kate DiNolfo (posted September 16, 2023, on the D&amp;C obituary
  page):

  &ldquo;My dear friend, Sal, was one of the finest, kindest, most generous
  men I know. A true gentleman. His sense of humor was beyond the
  best. He made me and so many others laugh so many times over the
  years&mdash;whether square dancing or playing golf, he was a joy to be
  around. His love of family was deep, and I send my sympathies to all
  of you. I will miss him very much. He was a gift to all of us.&rdquo;


articleid: 496
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Gilbert B. Porter, III of Fairport, NY passed away peacefully on
  October 10, 2023, He was 76. He was preceded in death by his wife
  Patricia Porter and parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert B. Porter, Jr. of
  Baltimore, MD. He is survived by his partner, Geraldine Schwartz, of
  Pittsford, and her family, and by many dear friends.

  Gil was an extraordinary man. In addition to being a physicist,
  scientist, engineer, philosopher, inventor and visionary, he was a
  concert pianist, a gourmet chef, a Ham radio operator, and a
  decades-long Square Dance caller (over 50 years). He was especially
  interested in robotics, artificial intelligence, and the origins of
  the Universe. He was also a Tesla enthusiast who enjoyed being a beta
  driver for his Y-Series Tesla.

  As a young boy, Gil loved to ride his bike and would take off for the
  day to go exploring, always being home in time for dinner. He would
  often go to the library, as his haven, and read massive amounts of
  books. He was self-taught in technology and electronics and loved to
  play around and create new devices. He would often scavenge the dumps
  looking for parts that he could use on the various projects he was
  working on. His mother was his go-to person. However, she knew nothing
  about science and technology, and would be baffled when he would
  describe to her the project he was working on.

  At his high school in Baltimore, Gil was one of the very first radio
  station engineers. He also began working for a local electronic design
  company where his passion for designing advanced electronic products
  and circuits really took off. While still in high school, Gil worked
  side-by-side with a team of professional engineers, where he designed
  his own power transducers and a chopper stabilized amplifier, among
  other things. Later he worked for a local electronics shop where he
  helped to identify parts and build various electronics. The shop owner
  would often give parts to Gil, which he would take home and build new
  ideas for semiconductors.

  In his career, he worked as a Senior Scientist for GE Corporate
  Research Department and as a Principal Scientist for Xerox. He worked
  on many projects for the military, built computers, designed and
  developed new technological and electronic products and components,
  and performed various types of research and experimentation. He often
  came up with new ideas and would design them for fun, and for a
  challenge, and often it would be five or six years later when the
  company would realize how much they needed that particular design. He
  was a brilliant and innovative scientist and engineer who especially
  enjoyed the challenge of creating solutions and ideas for what others
  considered impossible.

  Even with his high IQ and engineering brilliance, Gil was a very
  gentle and modest man, very kind and down-to-earth, who especially
  enjoyed spending time with his close friends and comrades.

  His education included a Bachelor&rsquo;s in Engineering Science,
  Electrical and Electronics Engineering from John Hopkins University, a
  Master&rsquo;s in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic
  Institute a Master&rsquo;s in Business Administration (MBA) from the
  University of Rochester&mdash;William E. Simon School of Businesss and
  a PhD, Doctor of Philosophy, Computer Science from Rensselaer
  Polytechnic Institute.

  Gil will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him. His memory
  will forever live on in the hearts of his family and friends.

  A special Square Dance Celebration to honor Gil and his life was held
  on November 11th, sponsored by the Village Squares, with about 115
  dancers attending.

  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Gilbert Porter
  to the Palliative Care Program at Strong Memorial Hospital, U of R
  Medical
  Center. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/medicine/palliative-care/giving.aspx

  Obituary published on Legacy.com by Rochester
  Cremation&mdash;Henrietta on Oct. 14, 2023.

  The Village Squares appreciate Gil Porter (by Peter Emmel)

  As most of you know, Gil succeeded Jerry Carmen as caller for the
  Village Squares club in 2017. Some of you knew Gil before that as an
  engineer at Xerox. Even before that he helped form a square dance club
  in New England where he called for many years.

  Gil and Jerry made an interesting duo, both bringing an engineering
  mentality to square dance calling, and both motivated to raise the
  level of dancing skills in our club. For our part, we dancers felt
  either the resulting thrill of learning new variations or the
  frustration of finding out we didn&rsquo;t really know the
  &ldquo;familiar&rdquo; calls as well as we thought. We were very lucky
  to have such a talented caller&mdash;and by now familiar
  friend&mdash;as Gil to keep us dancing and learninng.

  During the COVID &ldquo;pause&rdquo; that made in-person dancing
  impossible, Gil pioneered &ldquo;virtual square dancing&rdquo; via
  Zoom&mdash;forming a group that called itself the Pandemic
  Squares. After working out the kinks, he helped other area callers get
  themselves set up for remote calling.

  (For anyone interested, courtesy of Joseph Carlino, I have an mp4
  recording of Gil as a square dance caller coach. And, courtesy of
  Sidney Marshall, I have audio files of some of Gil&rsquo;s favorite
  square dance tunes&mdash;just the music and lyric sheets, no
  vocal. I&rsquo;ll be glad to provide copies on request:
  p.emmel47@gmail.com)


articleid: 497
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Carl O. Thomas was born June 3, 1935, and was raised in Texas and
  Oklahoma by his grandmother and mother. He attended college in Texas,
  living at home and working summers as a roustabout in the oil
  fields. In 1959 he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for the
  U.S. Patent Office and attended George Washington Law School at
  night. He met his wife Susan in 1961 as she was entering her junior
  year at college in NYC. They were married four days after Susan
  graduated.

  From 1964 to 1970, Carl worked as a Patent Attorney for General
  Electric. He was later recognized for his role in GE&rsquo;s provision
  of fuel cells to the Gemini space program during those years. In 1970
  Carl joined Eastman Kodak, the largest employer in Rochester, NY. He
  secured patents around the world for T-grains, the &ldquo;magic
  ingredient&rdquo; behind the introduction of high-speed film.

  Carl was always &ldquo;doing something,&rdquo; preferably outside. As
  an early convert to Kenneth Cooper&rsquo;s Aerobics (1968), he jogged
  daily for 50 years, one year hitting a target of 1,000 miles. He and
  Susan bicycled extensively and spent many winter vacations on the Gulf
  Coast of Florida, first with their two younger children and later with
  their favorite bridge companions, Susan&rsquo;s parents Ruby and
  Maurice.

  Ever the naturalist, over the years Carl undertook projects in the
  yard ranging from construction of an ingenious tree fort on stilts for
  his children to planting 800 violets in the shade. Delightfully artful
  tall grass and floral patches punctuated by hefty boulders hauled from
  local creeks then gradually appeared out front.

  Carl and Susan became square dancers in 1990, embarking on a wonderful
  30-year experience of friendships and exercise. They both served on
  the Village Squares board in various capacities&mdash;most recently as
  treasurers. In retirement, Carl also brriefly turned his hand to
  writing, which he had always enjoyed, quickly authoring A Marriage in
  Snodgrass, his first and only novel.

  But Carl&rsquo;s most engaging new hobby during retirement was bird
  watching. He travelled from Costa Rica to Alaska usually with
  Susan&mdash;and ultimately ended up with a count of over 600 species
  on his life list.

  During the later years of Carl&rsquo;s life, he was diagnosed first
  with Parkinsonism, then with cognitive impairment. He continued to
  exercise daily, square dance weekly, and accompany Susan on walks. He
  and Susan moved to Overland Park, Kansas in November 2022, to be
  closer to family. After Carl was hospitalized briefly in April 2023,
  his health declined precipitously, and he passed away peacefully on
  September 27, 2023, at the age of 88, with local family at his
  side. He is survived by his wife Susan; daughter Linda (Anthony); son
  Matthew (Alison) and their daughter Margo; and daughter Elaine
  (Pierre) and their children Nicolas and Sophia. The family wishes to
  thank Tallgrass Creek Senior Living Facility and Ascend Hospice for
  their support during Carl&rsquo;s final months.

  A celebration of Carl&rsquo;s life was held on Saturday, October 21 at
  Bob Allen Theater at Tallgrass Creek, 13800 Metcalf Avenue, Overland
  Park. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Johnson
  County Arboretum or to the Parkinson&rsquo;s Research Foundation.

  DONATIONS:

  &bull; Overland Park Arboretum 8909 W. 179th St., Overland Park, KS
  66013

  &bull; Parkinson&rsquo;s Research Foundation P.O. Box 61420, Staten
    Island, NY 10306

  The Village Squares remember Carl Thomas (by Peter Emmel):

  Carl and Susan Thomas were stalwarts at the Village Squares ever since
  they joined the class of 1992&mdash;in the same class as Sally and
  me. Through the years, in addition to attending nearly every dance,
  they regularly took their turn on the Board, serving wherever needed
  including multiple turns as presidentts and treasurers. In 2019, in
  appreciation for nearly three decades of service to the Village
  Squares, Carl and Susan were presented with the Circle of Service
  award.

  Always thoughtful and articulate, Carl wrote the Village Squares Club
  news article in the Promenader for many years. Once, during a period
  of membership decline that the club recovered from by developing the
  &ldquo;Plus Workshop&rdquo; idea, Carl wrote a very helpful
  distillation of the Village Squares club ethos. It captured the spirit
  of our club and served for many of us as a guide to &ldquo;who we
  are&rdquo; as a group, and I know it was an important contributor to
  our success until the arrival of COVID.

  One of the most soft-spoken people I have ever met, Carl had a
  delightful sense of humor and frequently surprised us with
  off-the-wall jokes and novel ideas. Some of you may still remember his
  &ldquo;Banana Dance&rdquo; idea and the hilarious build-up he gave
  us. Each week, starting a month or more before the dance, he presented
  a different lesson on how to square dance with a banana in your
  hand. His ability to maintain dead-pan seriousness in such a
  ridiculous concept had us in stitches every week.

  RIP, dear Carl.


articleid: 498
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Dr. Charles &ldquo;Chuck&rdquo; Raymond Day, age 90, of Rochester, NY,
  passed away peacefully on September 29, 2023, after a 45-year battle
  with cancer.

  Chuck is survived by his wife, Susan Polle; ex-wife, Annabelle Day
  Newton; children Rebecca Hudson, Sami (Joe) Romagnola, Laura (Tony)
  D&rsquo;Aprile, and Eric (Tania) Day; grandchildren Amber, Samantha,
  and Elizabeth; great-grandchild Jayana; and siblings Shirley Paine of
  Apple Valley, CA, and Robert Day of San Diego, CA; Nieces &amp;
  Nephews, Bobby, Andrea, Lisa &amp; Amy.

  Born July 10, 1933, in Erie, PA, to Ray and Ardis Day, Chuck became an
  Eagle Scout and joined the Army, serving in the rocketry program at
  White Sands, NM, during the Korean War. He graduated from West
  Virginia Wesleyan College in 1959 and went on to earn a Master&rsquo;s
  degree from Duke University in 1961 and a PhD from Ohio State in
  1965. He began his long teaching career in the SUNY Brockport
  Psychology Department in 1965, serving as chairman of that department
  for the last four years before his retirement in 2000.

  Chuck knew a lot about everything, was an avid reader, and was
  passionate about gardening and violins. Daylilies were his favorite
  flower, blooming every year for his birthday.

  The family plans a private memorial in Chuck&rsquo;s beloved gardens.

  In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in Chuck&rsquo;s honor
  to:

  Lollypop Farm, Humane Society of Greater Rochester

  99 Victor Rd

  Fairport, NY 14450

  OR

  Pluta Cancer Center Foundation

  Development Office

  125 Red Creek Drive Suite 205B

  Rochester, NY 14623

  New Comer&mdash;Eastside Location (585-288-2880) is assisting the
  family.

  Square dancers remember Chuck (from Anne Granger and Don Naulin):

  &ldquo;Chuck and his wife, Susan, danced at Silver Squares until
  3&ndash;4 years ago.&rdquo;


articleid: 499
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Frank A. &ldquo;Ticker&rdquo; Taccone of Gates, NY, passed away on
  October 4, 2023. Frank was predeceased by his parents, Cesare &amp;
  Betty Taccone; many brothers &amp; sisters. He is survived by his
  devoted wife, Angelina (Alessi) Taccone; sons, Andrew Taccone &amp;
  Mark Taccone; sister, Frances (Ken) McCracken; many nieces, nephews
  &amp; cousins.

  Frank was known as the &ldquo;Babe Ruth&rdquo; of softball, his career
  garnered 6 Hall of Fame inductions. He enjoyed sports and was a NY
  Yankee fan. Frank loved his family and friends and enjoyed spending
  time with them all.

  Frank&rsquo;s Funeral Mass was celebrated at 11:00am on Thursday,
  October 12th at the Parish of the Holy Family, 4100 Lyell
  Road. Interment followed in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Rochester, NY.

  Square dancers remember Frank (from Anne Granger):

  &ldquo;Alice Hager told me that Frank was a long-time dancer with the
  Bells and Beaus.&rdquo;


articleid: 500
position: 1
type: text
content:
  On Saturday November 11, our dance family came together at the First
  Baptist Church of Penfield to honor caller Gil Porter, who passed away
  on October 10, 2023. More than 115 dancers, callers, cuers and guests
  attended the memorial dance. The floor was crowded with nine dancing
  squares and a full circle of rounds.

  The many &ldquo;gifts&rdquo; of this gifted man were summarized in a
  touching eulogy by his partner, Gerry Schwartz. Mementos of his life
  and dancing career were on display at the dance, and more may be found
  in his obituary elsewhere in the Promenader. The dance was also
  attended by Gerry&rsquo;s two daughters, who had come to know Gil as a
  dear friend.

  Thank you to all the Callers &amp; Cuers who donated their time: Jim
  Gotta, Richard Rosenfield, Ray Tompkins, Ron Brown, Ron Schweizer,
  Sidney Marshall, Gary Bubel. Alice Bubel, Chuck Meyer, Lisa Treichler,
  and Jeane Harter. A special thank you to Jim Gotta for coordinating
  the Callers &amp; Cuers for the evening.

  Special thanks also to Donna &amp; Rick La Donna for coordinating the
  Remembrance Dance and creating the display of photos and mementos.

  Thank you to everyone who brought snacks &amp; treats to share.

  Over $100 was raised for Hospice from donations at this dance.


articleid: 501
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Carl Webster just completed teaching &ldquo;home-schoolers&rdquo;
  some square dancing at Spencerport Bible Church in Spencerport (with
  his wife, Eileen, as his assistant). The class of eight students,
  ranging from sixth graders to twelfth graders, had nine weeks of
  one-hour sessions culminating with dancing to five recorded singing
  calls. They were taught about 25 calls from &ldquo;Grand
  Square&rdquo; to &ldquo;Rollaway.&rdquo; After the last singing call,
  parents who came into the dance hall gave the students a standing
  ovation (there were no chairs in the gym)!

  Some of the comments the Websters received from the students were:
  &ldquo;They have been the highlight of the week for me and every
  lesson is more fun then the last,&rdquo; &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t wait to
  be able to use this new skill in the future,&rdquo; &rdquo;My
  favoriate part was when we danced with the gohsts,&rdquo; and
  &ldquo;This is one of my favorite classes.&rdquo; [sic]

  Carl is very appreciative of the support from callers Mike Callahan,
  Gary Bubel, and Jim Gotta. Carl and Eileen also appreciated the
  efforts and encouragement of the class organizer, Maria Bushen.

  Photos are by Maria Bushen.


articleid: 502
position: 1
type: text
content:
  We had a good time on 9/23/2023 promoting square dancing at the Sweden
  Farmers Museum Harvest Festival.

  Special thanks to Pietra, Nancy, Jane, Dave, Anne, Debbie &amp; Jeff
  for coming to help with the square dance information booth. We had a
  lot of serious interest in square dancing as we were promoting our
  Open Houses and the start-up of square dance lessons. Many were
  disappointed we did not do a square dance demo.

  Good news: They&rsquo;ve already invited us to come back next year,
  and we have identified a lawn area where a square dance demo is
  feasible.

  Attendees to the event were welcome to browse the many interesting
  displays in the museum, some of which are shown here. We hope you will
  join us next year when we plan to include a dance demo.


articleid: 503
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Our Square Dance Demo at the Rochester Psychiatric Center on 10/31/23
  was so much fun! Ron Brown called many Halloween-themed tips. Special
  thank you to all the dancers who volunteered&mdash;we had two squares!!
  The RPC staff indicated they are already looking forward to doing more
  square dance demos with us in the future.


articleid: 504
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Copy Cats greatly enjoyed their Saturday evening Western Dance on
  10/7/23.

  Thank you to Mike Callahan for calling and Alice Bubel for
  cueing. They did a terrific job.

  We ended the evening with a dancers&rsquo; circle to Roy Rogers and
  Dale Evans singing &ldquo;Happy Trails.&rdquo; It was a fun evening
  dancing together!


articleid: 505
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Silver Squares held our annual Pie Day on July 31. We served over 91
  pieces of delicious pies!! We have the best pie bakers EVER!!!


articleid: 506
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Square dancers in our region recognize service to our Square and Round
  Dancing Community through the presentation of two different awards:


articleid: 506
position: 3
type: text
content:
  1) The Daphne-Norma Leadership Award is specific to the Western New
  York Federation of Square and Round Dancers. It is the highest honor
  awarded in our square-dancing community.

  Traditionally it is presented each May at our annual Dance O Rama
  festival. This award is given to a person or couple who have made
  significant contributions through leadership over an extended period
  of time, furthering the cause of square and round dancing in Western
  New York. The award is given based on an accumulation of nominations
  from our dancing community.

  In addition to a plaque, recipients of this award receive a special
  leadership badge noting the year they received the award. The
  leadership badge is oval with a pair of square dancers in the center.

  Daphne-Normal Leadership Award nomination forms are found via the
  &ldquo;AWARDS&rdquo; button on the WNY Federation home page:
  www.squaredancingrochester.org. The annual deadline for nominations is
  at end of February.

  All submitted nominations are kept on file. A committee of recent
  recipients determine the next recipient, based on the cumulative
  content of all nominations submitted to date.


articleid: 506
position: 5
type: text
content:
  2) The Circle of Service Award honors a specific individual or couple
  for their significant contribution to square and round dancing. The
  Circle of Service Award is a nationally recognized award whose
  citation reads &ldquo;The badge is a circle and is a symbol of service
  to square and round dancing. It is designed to be worn with pride by
  dancers who, for three or more years, are determined to have made a
  significant contribution to the square and round dance
  movement.&rdquo; Those presenting the Circle of Service Award must
  have themselves been the recipient of the award at an earlier date.

  (If you want to acknowledge a dancer for their service but you are not
  a prior Circle of Service Award recipient yourself, notify a previous
  Circle of Service recipient about this dancer and your interest for
  them to be recognized, or contact the Federation leadership to help
  you.)

  If you feel someone should receive either of these awards, please act
  upon your feelings by submitting a nomination (for Daphne-Norma) or
  contacting WNYF leadership or a prior recipient (for the Circle of
  Service).

  Our square and round dance clubs only survive due to the example and
  encouragement of volunteer efforts by our dancers. Since the Covid
  break, our dependency on our members is even greater as club
  membership levels are still rebuilding to pre-Covid levels.

  Daphne-Norma Leadership Award&mdash;recipients who are still active

  Betty Carmen 1987
  <br>
  Mike &amp; Wanda Callahan 1990
  <br>
  Sally Baechle 1994
  <br>
  Gary &amp; Alice Bubel 2003
  <br>
  Tom &amp; Liz Chrzanowski 2006
  <br>
  Ron &amp; Dorothy Brown 2007
  <br>
  Eileen Okolowicz Webster 2008
  <br>
  Carl &amp; Shirley De Graff 2009
  <br>
  Chuck &amp; Sharon Meyer 2012
  <br>
  Barb Green 2013
  <br>
  Dick &amp; Irma Halstead 2014
  <br>
  Peter Emmel 2015
  <br>
  George &amp; Carol Ann Stahl 2016
  <br>
  Bob &amp; Alice Hager 2017
  <br>
  Stu &amp; Jane Jones 2018
  <br>
  Jim &amp; Lurine Gotta 2019
  <br>
  Jeff &amp; Debbie Blood 2020
  <br>
  Rick &amp; Donna LaDonna 2022
  <br>
  Don Naulin &amp; Anne Granger 2023

  Circle of Service Award&mdash;recipients who are still active

  Sally Baechle&mdash;March, 1987
  <br>
  Irma and Dick Halstead&mdash;Sept. 28, 2013
  <br>
  Toni and Sidney Marshall&mdash;May 3, 2015
  <br>
  Russ Uhrenholdt&mdash;2016
  <br>
  Peter Emmel&mdash;2018
  <br>
  Jim Lee&mdash;2019
  <br>
  Susan Thomas&mdash;December, 2019
  <br>
  Debbie and Jeff Blood&mdash;July 16,2022
  <br>
  Glynn and Linda English&mdash;July 16,2022
  <br>
  Donna and Rick LaDonna&mdash;July 16,2022
  <br>
  Carol Ann and George Stahl&mdash;July 16,2022
  <br>
  Anne Granger and Don Naulin&mdash;July 16,2022
  <br>
  Mary Martin and Phil LaRussa&mdash;August 2, 2022
  <br>
  Henry and Jodi Capron&mdash;April, 2023
  <br>
  Chuck and Cindy DeNardo&mdash;August, 2023


articleid: 507
position: 1
type: text
content:
  DAPHNE-NORMA Leadership Award Nominations&mdash;Due in February

  Who will be named the next Daphne-Norma Leadership Award recipient(s)?

  Now is the time to think about nominating leaders you appreciate for
  the Daphne-Norma Leadership Award. If you don&rsquo;t take the time to
  nominate them, their contributions may go unrecognized. The deadline
  for nominations is the end of February.

  Forms are available online via the AWARDS button on the WNYF Home
  Page, or by contacting the most recent recipients&mdash;Anne Granger
  and Don Naulin&mdash;at ssunnyweather7@gmail.com.

  The Daphne-Norma Leadership Award is the way that our dancing
  community recognizes a couple or individual dancer who has
  demonstrated leadership for an extended period of time, furthering the
  cause of square and round dancing. Think about efforts that have been
  made over past years as well as recently.

  Leadership styles vary greatly as each person is different. But going
  that extra mile for the sake of other dancers, and of dancing itself,
  is something we want to recognize.

  If you know someone whom you feel stands out in their continuing
  service to square dancing and to others, please help us recognize and
  celebrate them. All it takes is for you to fill out a nomination form.

  If you don&rsquo;t know their life history, tell us what you do
  know. And perhaps you can ask others to help you fill in the
  information. If you have nominated them for a previous year, please
  don&lsquo;t hesitate to nominate them again this year. Nominations are
  kept on file by the award committee, gaining weight as they
  accumulate.

  Every single nomination is very important, so please don&rsquo;t think
  that what you have to say doesn&rsquo;t matter! It boils down to: Who
  do YOU feel should be recognized for their leadership by receiving
  this award.

  Your input is very important! Tell us about the person or couple you
  wish to nominate by sending us the Daphne-Norma Leadership Award
  Nomination Form. The Sooner, The Better!

  Remember the deadline for nominations is the end of February. If you
  have any questions, please contact Anne Granger at 595-317-6442 or Don
  Naulin at 585-200-0464 or email us at ssunnyweather7@gmail.com


articleid: 508
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Welcome to the Winter, 2023, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly
  publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers,
  Inc (WNYF).


articleid: 508
position: 3
type: text
content:
  As the Winter dance season gets into gear, in this issue of the
  Promenader, the Photos and Features section looks back at Fall
  promotion events and seasonal dances hosted by our area clubs. I
  haven&rsquo;t counted, but I suspect we are setting a new record for
  the number of photos in an issue of the Promenader!

  The Silver Squares celebrated Pie Day, Fall Festival, 50s Night and
  Halloween. The Copy Cats kicked their season off with their annual
  Rusty Hinge dance, then later hosted a Western Night and celebrated
  Disney characters.

  Sadly, the burden of new requirements from their venue has caused the
  Grand Squares to fold their tent&mdash;but not before one final fling
  on October 26.

  It was a busy fall for WNYF demos and promotions&mdash;in August,
  September, and October. Square dancers were well-represented in a
  booth at the Sweden Farmers Museum Harvest Festival. The WNYF also
  organized well-attended demos at the Pittsford YMCA and the Rochester
  Psychiatric Center.

  It&lsquo;s also time for dancers to show their appreciation of the
  effort that some are willing to devote to keeping square dancing the
  fun, healthy and rewarding activity it is. The end of February is the
  deadline for nominations to the Daphne-Norma Leadership award.

  This is also a good time to look in the mirror and ask if you yourself
  could do more to help with the &ldquo;mechanics&rdquo; of your
  club&mdash;and of the WNY Federation.

  COVID-19 is still with us, especially in this flu season. The best
  way to avoid an outbreak in our clubs is to inform dancers
  immediately when an exposure occurs, so that they can take their own
  precautions&mdash;such as testing themselves if they start to feel
  symptoms. To accomplish this in a consistent way, WNYF Presidents
  Jeff and Debbie Blood have documented a protocol for WNYF clubs to
  follow.

  It includes (a) host clubs capturing dancer names, home club names
  and phone numbers on check-in, (b) dancers promising to notify the
  host club if they test positive for COVID-19 in the following week,
  (c) host clubs notifying attendees or their home club officers that a
  positive test has been reported, and (d) those home clubs notifying
  their members that a dancer at the dance in question has tested
  COVID-19-positive.

  You can read it as an article in the Photos and Features section of
  this issue. Or you can download it any time as a PDF file from the
  Federation&rsquo;s Forms and Documents page, where it is in section
  #7.


articleid: 508
position: 5
type: text
content:
  News from our clubs this quarter indicates a continued return to
  normal dancing, with the expansion of traditional events and classes
  at most clubs.


articleid: 508
position: 7
type: text
content:
  New Promenader Club News and Photo/Feature articles are posted every
  three months. However, webmaster Sidney Marshall maintains the
  Calendar/Flyer database continually, posting flyers and changes to the
  schedule listings as soon as he can after he receives them. So,
  there&rsquo;s no deadline for schedule information.

  For fastest service, he recommends sending flyers (in PDF form) and
  schedule change notices (in the body of an email) to him directly
  (sidneym@frontiernet.net), as well as to the Promenader
  (promenader@rochester.rr.com).

  In addition, for maximum distribution of urgent messages, clubs should
  send Sidney the text for any &ldquo;Breaking News&rdquo; to go on the
  WNYF home page (squaredancingrochester.org).

  And clubs should also consider posting their news on the
  &ldquo;SquareDancingRochester&rdquo; group Facebook page.


articleid: 508
position: 9
type: text
content:
  In this issue, we say fond farewells to far too many dancers,
  including Sal Tripi, Frank Taccone, Chuck Day, Carl Thomas and Gil
  Porter.


articleid: 508
position: b
type: text
content:
  It is good to see so much activity returning to square dancing. The
  number of clubs dancing a full schedule is growing, albeit with the
  notable exceptions of the Belles N Beaus, the Grand Squares and the
  Village Squares.

  Clubs with classes are reporting growing numbers and a high level of
  enthusiasm, boding well for the future.


articleid: 508
position: d
type: text
content:
  Wit and Wisdom:

  &ldquo;By the time a man realizes his father was right, he has a son
  who thinks he&rsquo;s wrong.&rdquo;

  &bull; Clergyman Charles Wadsworth, quoted in The Knowledge

  &ldquo;There is no heavier burden than a great potential.&rdquo;

  &bull; Charles M. Schultz, quoted in the Longmont, CO, Times-Call

  &ldquo;I am always ready to learn, though I do not always like being
  taught.&rdquo;

  &bull; Winston Churchill, quoted in Finance Feeds

  I hope you enjoy this issue of the Promenader!


articleid: 509
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Covid cases are on the rise again. Fortunately, we are hearing the
  cases are mild and most people don&rsquo;t realize they are sick until they
  take a Covid test.

  Please take extra care to have enough hand sanitizers on hand at your
  dances.

  At the last WNYF meeting it was decided if a dancer tests positive
  following their attendance at a dance, all WNYF clubs should use the
  following notification procedure:


articleid: 509
position: 3
type: text
content:
  1. Attendees at every dance should be informed at the dance (on entry
  or during announcements) that any dancer who tests positive for Covid
  within a week following a dance at a WNYF Club should notify the host
  club at the phone number advertised on the dance flyer (or call the
  Club President or the Federation President) to report their positive
  test result.

  2. The host Club should notify others in attendance via a message
  posted on the WNYF Facebook page: Square Dancing Rochester:

  This can be done by the club directly or by contacting WNYF Presidents
  Debbie &amp; Jeff Blood to help do it.

  3. The host Club should send an e-mail message to their club members
  and club presidents of clubs that attended your dance. Provide in
  your message that there has been a positive Covid test following the
  dance on: day &amp; date. If you need assistance in contacting other
  club presidents, WNYF Presidents Debbie &amp; Jeff Blood can help.

  Club presidents should make any additional phone calls that are
  necessary for their club members who do not use email or Facebook.

  The notification message should be short and please (for privacy
  reasons) do not mention specific names of any individuals who tested
  positive.


articleid: 509
position: 5
type: text
content:
  &ldquo;For those who attended the (Name of Club) dance on (day and date), we
  were notified today that someone (or several) who attended the dance
  has (have) tested positive for Covid. Their symptoms are mild. Please
  use care and test yourself if you experience symptoms.&rdquo;


articleid: 510
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Holiday Season brought many wonderful dancing opportunities across
  our region. The WNYF &amp; Copy Cats 3rd Annual New Year&rsquo;s Eve
  Afternoon Dance was a fun time to welcome the new year with our square
  dance friends and family. We had six squares of dancers from 9 of our
  WNYF clubs dancing to Jim Gotta&rsquo;s calling and cueing.

  We hope everyone is enjoying 2024 so far.

  We currently have 14 clubs in the Federation: Batavia Silver Stars,
  Boo Bull Squares and Rounds, Cayuga Cut-Ups, Cloverleaf Squares, Copy
  Cats, Dalton Gang, Fun Bunch, Pairs N Squares, Penn Yan Friendship
  Squares, Shirts N Skirts (Fulton), Shamrock Squares, Silver Squares,
  Southern Tier Wheelers and Waterwheel Squares. It&rsquo;s been
  fantastic to have our clubs back dancing. We hope you take the
  opportunity to dance with our member clubs.

  Our dance floors are getting fuller as we enjoy all the celebrations
  such as the Winter Wonderland Dances, Hawaiian Dances, Mari Gras
  Dances, Valentine&rsquo;s Day Dances, St Patrick&rsquo;s Day Dances,
  etc.

  Please save the date for the Federation&rsquo;s Dance-O-Rama 2024 on
  Saturday, May 4, 2024. It is our 64th DOR. Currently DOR is the
  largest square and round dance in Western NY. DOR 2024 will be at the
  Perinton Rec Center, 1350 Turk Hill Rd, Fairport NY. Ribbons purchased
  before 4/27/24 are $10 each. Ribbons purchased on or after 4/27/24 are
  $12.

  DOR 2024 will feature Jonathan &ldquo;Jonboy&rdquo; Weiner from Bronx
  NY along with Mike Callahan calling and Alice Bubel cueing. The
  Federation had hired Jonathan for two previous DORs that were
  cancelled due to Covid. This is the first opportunity for him to come
  to Rochester to call for us. The event runs from 1:00&ndash;5:00 pm on
  Saturday May 4th. Dancing levels at DOR include Mainstream, Plus, A2
  and Round Dancing.

  We are happy to announce this year&rsquo;s DOR program will include
  recognition of our 2024 graduates. We know from our recent club/class
  dances that the classes are doing very well learning the mainstream
  program. We are looking forward to their graduation. The Daphne-Norma
  Leadership Award will be presented which is the highest award given in
  our square &amp; round dancing community. The recipients are
  recognized for their demonstrated leadership furthering the cause of
  square and round dancing for an extended period of time. The DOR 2024
  Committee are again asking each of our WNYF clubs to donate a basket
  or plant for the annual DOR basket raffle along. Each club is asked to
  also include 2 free dance tickets to one of their regular dances in
  with their donation. The basket raffle is one of the highlights of
  DOR.

  We are looking forward to seeing you on the dance floor.

  Take Care,


articleid: 511
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Federation&rsquo;s purpose is to promote square and round dancing
  through a variety of activities and provide a forum for coordination
  among its affiliated clubs.

  The Federation&rsquo;s Executive Board meets with club presidents or
  representatives a minimum of 6 times a year to keep clubs informed and
  help coordinate activities.

  Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers Inc (WNYF) is a
  not-for-profit 501 c 3 organization that maintains the following
  online presence for the benefit of our member clubs and dancers:

  Our WNYF website: https://www.squaredancingrochester.org

  Our WNYF Facebook page:
  https://www.facebook.com/groups/315003042261167

  Our WNYF Quarterly Online News: The Promenader
  https://www.squaredancingrochester.org/promenader.html

  The Promenader content is updated quarterly, on the first day of
  March, June, September, and December

  The Promenader includes the following information for our WNYF Clubs:
  <ul>
    <li>Club Dance Schedules along with Ads and Flyers.
    <li>WNYF Club Presidents &amp; Contacts.
    <li>Caller and Cuer contact information.
    <li>Club News, Articles and Photos.
  </ul>

  Membership in the WNYF enables our clubs to purchase USDA dancer
  liability insurance&mdash;required by most dance venues.

  WNYF organizes the annual Dance-O-Rama (DOR) Festival, traditionally
  the first Saturday in May

  This is the largest Square Dance event in western New York. During the
  DOR program, recent class graduates of the WNYF square dance clubs are
  recognized. The Daphne-Norma Leadership Award, the highest honor given
  by WNYF is given to an individual dancer or couple who has
  demonstrated leadership for an extended period of time, furthering the
  cause of square and round dancing. Last year we had over 175 dancers
  attend DOR.

  Some Promotional Activities that have been sponsored by WNYF:
  <ul>
    <li>Annual Grants to help member clubs with New Dancer Recruitment,
      Promotion and Retention.
    <li>Safety guidelines for member clubs&mdash;especially during COVID and
      post-COVID return to dancing.
    <li>Virtual Square Dances and Round Dances via Zoom during COVID.
    <li>Free Outside Summer Dances to help clubs dance safely as they
      returned to the dance floor post COVID.
    <li>Provide Western Square Dance Demos and assist with Community Square
      Dance Events.
    <li>Ordered &ldquo;Learn to Square Dance&rdquo; Lawn Signs and made
      them available to all WNYF clubs.
    <li>Ordered Square Dance Polo Shirts and made available to all WNYF
      clubs.
    <li>Co-Sponsor Annual New Year&rsquo;s Eve Afternoon Dances.
    <li>Promotions Task Force to promote square dancing. The position of
      Promotions Coordinator is currently vacant.
  </ul>

  As Co-Presidents of the Federation, we are very thankful and proud of
  all the dancers who volunteer their time to the Federation and in turn
  assist our clubs and our communities.
  <h4>Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers&mdash;Volunteers</h4>

  <TABLE class="left">
  <tr><td>Executive Board:<td>Co-Presidents: Debbie &amp; Jeff Blood</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Vice President: Anne Granger</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Co-Treasures: Donna &amp; Rick LaDonna</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Secretary: Linda English</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Promotions Coordinator: vacant</tr>
  <tr><td>Insurance:<td>Carol Ann Stahl</tr>
  <tr><td>Contracts:<td>Sharon Meyer</tr>
  <tr><td>WNYF website:<td>Sidney Marshall</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Jim Gotta</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Carl Webster</tr>
  <tr><td>Promenader:<td>Editor: Peter Emmel</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Assistant: Donna LaDonna</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Dance Schedules: Bonnie Allen</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Club/Class: Sharon Meyer</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Club News: Leon Smith</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Proof Readers: Peter Emmel, Jim Gotta, Sidney Marshall, Sharon Meyer, Susan Thomas, Carl Webster</tr>
  <tr><td>WNYF Facebook:<td>Debbie Blood</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Jim Gotta</tr>
  <tr><td>DOR Committee<td>Co-Chairs: Debbie &amp; Jeff Blood</tr>
  <tr><td><td>Linda English Anne Granger Lorraine &amp; Gary Granath
     Donna &amp; Rick LaDonna Sharon Meyer Don Naulin
    Mary Jo &amp; David Webster</tr>
  </table>

  Recently we heard a comment from a former club president who had moved
  out of the Rochester Area.  She mentioned the important role our
  Federation plays in helping the square dance clubs in Western NY.

  The square dance clubs in their new location are struggling and there
  is no organization like the Federation to assist them.

  What makes this work is the participation of volunteers from every
  club devoting a small part of their time and attention to the wider
  dancing community. Whether a Federation volunteer&rsquo;s role is
  behind the scenes or in a leadership role, it takes all of us to make
  the Federation and our clubs successful in keeping square dancing
  available in western New York.

  Hopefully sharing this insight of the Federation and the role it plays
  in relationship to our clubs, will encourage others to volunteer to be
  actively involved in the Federation and the programs it sponsors. Most
  Federation meetings are virtual and not in-person, so you are able to
  attend from the comfort of your home.

  If you are interested in learning more about volunteer positions
  available, please contact us directly at: dfbjvbhome@aol.com

  Hope to see you on the dance floor!


articleid: 512
position: 1
type: text
content:
  At their Ugly Sweater Dance on December 2, 2023, the Copy Cats had
  four squares dancing with Mike Callahan calling and Jim Gotta
  cueing. Liz &amp; Tom Chrzanowski were given their 80-year
  dangles. Mary Jo &amp; David Webster and Jim Gotta were honored with
  the nationally recognized Circle of Service Award for their
  significant contributions to square and round dancing for many years.


articleid: 513
position: 1
type: text
content:
  During singing calls at the Copy Cats class on Dec 5, Ron shared the
  microphone with recent (2023) Copy Cats class graduate Nay
  Jacobson. We hope to hear more from Nay in the future. According to
  Ron, &ldquo;She&rsquo;s a natural!&rdquo;


articleid: 514
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Copy Cat&rsquo;s annual Holiday Dinner drew a great turnout. We
  enjoyed dancing with seven squares of dancers, with Mike Callahan
  calling and Lisa Treichler cueing. We welcomed class dancers and
  guests from seven WNYF clubs.


articleid: 515
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Everyone enjoyed the 2023 New Year&rsquo;s afternoon dance
  co-sponsored by The WNYF and the Copy Cats. Thank you to Jim Gotta for
  calling and cueing. We had six squares dancing, from nine WNYF member
  clubs. What a fun way to welcome 2024 and say good bye to 2023!


articleid: 516
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The weather was terrible, but the dancing was great! The hall decorations looked wonderful and there were so many yummy treats. We had two squares dancing, and fell one couple short of the third square. Special thanks to Brenda for all the delicious treats she provided and to Don &amp; Lynn for coordinating the extra help for the dance.


articleid: 517
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Despite the very snowy weather there were five squares of dancers at
  the Copy Cats Winter Wonderland Class-Club Dance on December 20. The
  Copy Kittenss did a fantastic job with the dance, the decorations and
  the refreshments. We all enjoyed Ron Brown&rsquo;s and Lisa
  Treichler&rsquo;s calling and cueing.


articleid: 518
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Copy Cats had a fun Mardi Gras Dance on Saturday night, February
  3. Sharing a few pictures of everyone enjoying dancing to the Hip Boot
  Boys (Ron Brown &amp; Greg Marling) and Chuck Meyer cueing.


articleid: 519
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Welcome to the Spring, 2024, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly
  publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers,
  Inc (WNYF).


articleid: 519
position: 3
type: text
content:
  As we emerge from a winter of unusual Rochester weather, the Photos
  and Features section in this issue of the Promenader looks back at
  events and seasonal dances hosted by our area clubs.

  The Copy Cats held a variety of special dances and sent us photos
  from each of them, including: their Ugly Sweater Dance on December 2;
  their Holiday Dinner Dance on December 16; the WNYF New Year&rsquo;s Eve
  Dance; their own New Year&rsquo;s dance on January 6; their Winter
  Wonderland Dance on January 20 (organized and decorated by their
  &ldquo;Kittens&rdquo; Mainstream Class); and their Mardi Gras Dance with the Hip
  Boot Boys on February 3.

  The Copy Cats&rsquo; Mainstream class enjoyed a special treat on December 5,
  with Nay Jacobson joining Ron Brown at the microphone on singing
  calls.

  When your club hosts interesting dances or special events, be sure to
  take photos and send them to us with a brief description of the
  event. Sharing these in the Promenader and on the Facebook page will
  help new dancers see how much fun it would be to come to your dances.


articleid: 519
position: 5
type: text
content:
  The end of February is the deadline for nominations for the
  Daphne-Norma Leadership award (but you can still get a nomination in
  if you hurry). Click the AWARDS button on the WNYF Home Page for forms
  and contact information.

  This is a chance for dancers to show their appreciation of the special
  effort that some are willing to devote to keeping square dancing the
  fun, healthy and rewarding activity it is.

  This is also a good time to look in the mirror and ask if you yourself
  could do more to help with the &ldquo;mechanics&rdquo; of your club&mdash;and of the WNY
  Federation.

  Jeff and Debbie Blood have put together an excellent summary
  presenting the WNY Federation&mdash;what it is, what it does and how
  dancers can help.


articleid: 519
position: 7
type: text
content:
  COVID-19 is still with us, especially in this flu season. The best way
  to avoid an outbreak in our clubs is to inform dancers immediately
  when an exposure occurs, so they can take their own precautions&mdash;such
  as testing themselves if they start to feel symptoms. To accomplish
  this in a consistent way, WNYF Presidents Jeff and Debbie Blood have
  documented a protocol for WNYF clubs to follow. It includes (a) host
  clubs capturing dancer names, home club names and phone numbers on
  check-in, (b) dancers promising to notify the host club if they test
  positive for COVID-19 in the following week, (c) host clubs notifying
  attendees or their home club officers that a positive test has been
  reported, and (d) those home clubs notifying their members that a
  dancer at the dance in question has tested COVID-19-positive.

  You can download this guide any time as a PDF file from the
  Federation&rsquo;s Forms and Documents page, where you will find it in
  section #7.


articleid: 519
position: 9
type: text
content:
  News from our clubs this quarter indicates a continued return to
  normal dancing, with the expansion of traditional dances and classes
  at most clubs.


articleid: 519
position: b
type: text
content:
  New Promenader Club News and Photo/Feature articles are posted every
  three months. However, webmaster Sidney Marshall maintains the
  Calendar/Flyer database continually, posting flyers and changes to the
  schedule listings as soon as he can after he receives them. So,
  there&rsquo;s no deadline for schedule information. For fastest service,
  he recommends sending flyers (in PDF form) and schedule change notices
  (in the body of an email) to him directly (sidneym@frontiernet.net),
  as well as to the Promenader (promenader@rochester.rr.com). In
  addition, for maximum distribution of urgent messages, clubs should
  send Sidney the text for any &ldquo;Breaking News&rdquo; to go on the WNYF home
  page (squaredancingrochester.org). And clubs should also consider
  posting their news on the &ldquo;SquareDancingRochester&rdquo; group Facebook
  page.


articleid: 519
position: f
type: text
content:
  It is good to see the continued enthusiasm in our active clubs, and
  especially to see an up-and-coming potential new caller on the
  horizon. (See the Photos and Features page.)

  As I write in February, we are starting to see tantalizing signs of
  spring in the form of planning for DOR 2024. It sounds like another
  great event shaping up for the afternoon of May 4. See the schedule
  listing for May 4 and click the flyer link.


articleid: 519
position: h
type: text
content:
  An Airbus 380 is on its way across the Atlantic at 30,000 feet, flying
  a consistent 560 mph. When suddenly a Eurofighter in a Tempo Mach 2
  appears outside the window!

  The pilot of the fighter jet slows down, flies alongside the Airbus,
  and greets the pilot of the passenger plane by radio: &ldquo;Airbus, boring
  flight, isn&rsquo;t it? Now have a look here!&rdquo;

  He rolls his jet on its back, accelerates, breaks through the sound
  barrier, rises rapidly to a dizzying height, and then swoops down
  almost to sea level in a breathtaking dive. He loops back next to the
  Airbus and asks: &ldquo;Well, how was that?&rdquo;

  The Airbus pilot answers: &ldquo;Very impressive but watch this!&rdquo;

  The jet pilot watches the Airbus, but nothing happens. It continues to
  fly straight at the same speed. After 15 minutes, the Airbus pilot
  radios, &ldquo;Well, how was that?&rdquo;

  Confused, the jet pilot asks, &ldquo;What did you do?&rdquo;

  The Airbus pilot laughs and says: &ldquo;I got up, stretched my legs, walked
  to the back of the aircraft to use the washroom, then got a cup of
  coffee and a chocolate fudge pastry.&rdquo;

  -----

  When you&rsquo;re young, speed and adrenaline seem great. But as you get
  older and wiser, you learn that comfort and peace are more important.

  This is called S.O.S. &hellip;Slower, Older, Smarter.

  It applies to a lot of situations that I find myself in these days.

  I&rsquo;m trying to apply it to my own life, but it&rsquo;s been &ldquo;slow&rdquo; going.


articleid: 520
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Thank you, Denny Frey, from Batavia Silver Stars, for coming to our
  rescue. Denny was a hit with his vinyl records and vintage songs. We
  had five squares of extremely happy dancers. We hope he will join us
  again!!


articleid: 521
position: 1
type: text
content:
  We celebrated President&rsquo;s Day with all our friends at Silver
  Squares. Four squares of happy dancers enjoyed dancing to our caller,
  Jim Gotta. Jo-Ann Baxter was dressed in her patriotic best. Thanks,
  Jo-Ann!


articleid: 522
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Soup was the word of the afternoon. Seven crockpots of delicious soups
  were shared at our Soup, Sandwich and Salad feast. In addition, we had
  a variety of other dishes plus desserts. Yes, we did dance too!!!!
  Thank you to our wonderful cooks and bakers.


articleid: 523
position: 1
type: text
content:
  What a day! We had an amazing St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day dance with many
  dancers dressed in &ldquo;their green.&rdquo; Copy Cats came to steal their
  banner back and we also had PIE DAY. Ninety eight slices of absolutely
  delicious pies!!! Where else could you go to have so much fun??


articleid: 524
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Valentine&rsquo;s Day is always a special dance at Silver Squares. Lots of
  fun, pictures, dancing, and good food with friends!


articleid: 525
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Federation&rsquo;s 64th Dance-O-Rama (DOR) was held on Saturday,
  May 4, 2024, at the Perinton Recreation Center. It was very
  successful, with 130 + in attendance. We all enjoyed dancing to
  callers Mike Callahan, Jonathon Weiner, and cuer Alice Bubel. We
  were happy to recognize 20 of our 2024 graduates who attended
  DOR. This year our clubs&rsquo; classes have added 26 new dancers to
  our dancing community. The Daphne-Norma Leadership Award,&mdash;the
  highest honor awarded in our square dance community&mdash;was presented to
  Linda and Glynn English, long-time members of the Cayuga Cut-Ups.

  This year during the DOR 2024 program, the Federation recognized many
  of our &ldquo;behind the scenes&rdquo; volunteers. This includes work behind the
  scenes on the Promenader, the WNYF website, our insurance coverage,
  our contracts, and the DOR committee. Each volunteer was given a &ldquo;WNYF
  Thanks You&rdquo; dangle. Again, we thank each of our volunteers, whether
  you have been volunteering for many years or this is your first
  year. Without the dedication and support of our volunteers, we would
  not have the wonderful dancing opportunities we enjoy in western New
  York. This year, the DOR basket raffle and 50/50 were very
  successful. We appreciate all the beautiful baskets the member clubs
  donated to DOR 2024. Special thank you to everyone who participated in
  DOR as volunteers, dancers, callers, cuers, etc. Without
  everyone&rsquo;s efforts, DOR would not happen.


articleid: 526
position: 1
type: text
content:
  We currently have 16 clubs in the Federation: Batavia Silver Stars,
  Boo Bull Squares and Rounds, Cayuga Cut-Ups, Cloverleaf Squares, Copy
  Cats, Dalton Gang, Fun Bunch, Happy Squares, Pairs N Squares, Penn Yan
  Friendship Squares, Shirts N Skirts (Fulton), Shamrock Squares, Silver
  Squares, Southern Tier Wheelers, Village Squares and Waterwheel
  Squares. We hope you take the opportunity to dance with our member
  clubs this summer; there are many dancing opportunities.

  We want to highlight some special dances coming up this summer:

  Copy Cats Class Fund Raiser&mdash;All Singing Calls Dance with caller Ron
  Brown on Saturday, June 1st, 2&ndash;4 pm in Penfield.

  Fulton Shirts N Skirts are sponsoring the Elaine Eno Memorial Dance on
  Saturday, June 8, from 1&ndash;8 pm in Fulton, NY. All proceeds will be
  donated to the ALS Association.

  Federation&rsquo;s Free Friday Night Dance&mdash;Friday, June 21,
  from 6:30&ndash;9:30 pm at Perinton Memorial VFW in Fairport.

  The Cut-Ups 63rd Anniversary Steak Roast &amp; Dance&mdash;Sunday,
  August 18, from 12 noon to 4 pm in Vince&rsquo;s Park Pavilion in
  Seneca Falls. The Hip Boot Boys will be calling.

  The Dalton Gang&rsquo;s Second Annual CURE Dance for Childhood Cancer Awareness will be on
  Saturday, August 24 from 1&ndash;5pm in Bliss, NY. All proceeds go
  directly to CURE.

  If you can&rsquo;t attend the ALS or CURE Dance, please consider
  donating to them. Our callers and cuers are volunteering their time to
  these events. Please check the Promenader for more details on these
  dances.

  The Federation&rsquo;s 64th Dance-O-Rama (DOR) was held on Saturday,
  May 4, 2024, at the Perinton Rec Center. It was very successful, with
  130 + in attendance. We all enjoyed dancing to callers Mike Callahan,
  Jonathon Weiner, and cuer Alice Bubel. We were happy to recognize
  20 of our 2024 graduates who attended DOR. This year our clubs&rsquo;
  classes have added 26 new dancers to our dancing community. The Daphne
  -Norma Leadership Award, the highest honor awarded in our square dance
  community, was presented to Linda and Glynn English, long-time members
  of Cayuga Cut-Ups.

  This year during the DOR 2024 program, the Federation recognized many
  of our &ldquo;behind the scenes&rdquo; volunteers. This includes work
  behind the scenes on the Promenader, the WNYF website, our insurance
  coverage, our contracts and the DOR committee. Each volunteer was
  given a &ldquo;WNYF Thanks You&rdquo; dangle. Again, we thank each of
  our volunteers, whether you have been volunteering for many years or
  this is your first year. Without the dedication and support of our
  volunteers, we would not have the wonderful dancing opportunities we
  enjoy in western New York. This year, the DOR basket raffle and 50/50
  were very successful. We appreciate all the beautiful baskets the
  member clubs donated to DOR 2024. Special thank you to everyone who
  participated in DOR as volunteers, dancers, callers, cuers,
  etc. Without everyone&rsquo;s efforts, DOR would not happen.

  Upcoming Summer Demo&mdash;more details coming, please save the date:
  </p>
  <div id="indent">
  Greece Historical Society&mdash;Annual Strawberry Festival Fund Raiser&mdash;more than 50 500 attendees each year

  Monday, June 17, at 4&ndash;7 pm. Mike Callahan will be calling.

  (Admission is free if you are dancing only. If you are planning to participate in the
  dessert tasting, you will need to pay admission.)

  We will be sending out volunteer sign-up sheets and more information to the clubs.
  </div>
  <p>
  We hope to see you on the dance floor this summer!


articleid: 527
position: 1
type: text
content:
  We came across a wonderful article in the March/April issue of
  Reader&rsquo;s Digest, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s Dance&rdquo; by Claire Sibonney. Scientifically, it
  reinforces the benefits all our dancers know, but newcomers might not
  be aware of&hellip;

  Dancing is not only fun but very good for our health. Also, &ldquo;for many
  people, dance has become vital to their quality of life,&rdquo; according to
  David Leventhal, program director at the Mark Morris Dance for PD
  programs.

  To us in the dancing community, this is nothing new. Many of us see
  this each time we walk out on the dance floor, dancing in squares or
  rounds to our favorite callers, cuers, and music.

  The article mentions that there is &ldquo;growing evidence shows that dancing can boost
  brain health and help manage symptoms of neurocognitive and movement
  disorders.&rdquo;

  Helena Bluman, cognitive scientist at Albert Einstein College of
  Medicine in New York City was quoted: &ldquo;Dancing requires more brain
  power than simpler repetitive exercises. It&rsquo;s socially demanding,
  cognitively demanding, and physically demanding.&rdquo;

  According to David Leventhal, program director at the Mark Morris
  Dance for PD programs: &ldquo;In dance we have to learn patterns, think
  symmetrically and asymmetrically, we have to remember sequences.&rdquo;

  It is known that both white and grey matter decline as we get older
  making communication in the brain lag and certain cognitive tasks such
  as multi-tasking and problem-solving tougher.

  A 2018 study by researchers at Otto van Guericke University in
  Magdeburg, Germany, analyzed MRI scans of older adults who had
  participated in one of two programs over a six-month period. One of
  the groups practiced dance, the other group did a traditional exercise
  program with cycling and strength training.

  Findings:

  Both groups improved their level of physical fitness, but the dancers
  grew more white and gray matter in part of the brain responsible for
  cognitive processes such as working memory, attention, and high-level
  thinking.

  Conclusion:

  Dancers&rsquo; memory centers aren&rsquo;t shrinking as quickly, improving their
  overall quality of life and potentially reducing the risk of dementia.

  MRI doesn&rsquo;t measure social benefits, but we dancers already know that
  regular gatherings with dancing friends makes a big difference in
  well-being and outlook on life.


articleid: 528
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Daphne-Norma Leadership Award was established 46 years ago. It is
  the highest honor awarded in the Western New York Federation. Since
  1977, this award has been given to a person or couple who have made
  significant contributions toward fostering square dancing activities
  in Western New York. The recipient each year is chosen on the basis of
  accumulated nominations and letters of support from dancers. This is
  primarily a &ldquo;dancers&rdquo; award.

  At DOR 2024, with recent past recipients lined up beside them, Anne
  Granger and Don Naulin, as recipients of the 2023 award, were honored
  to present this year&rsquo;s award to Linda and Glynn English, from
  the Cayuga Cut-Ups.

  Linda and Glynn English are a very special couple. They are always
  willing and ready to do whatever is necessary to keep their dance club
  alive and active. They work as a team and have both been members of
  their dance club for many years. When you go to their club, you are
  welcomed with a smile and friendliness that makes you want to come
  back.

  They worked tirelessly at keeping their club alive during the COVID 19
  pandemic. During the club&rsquo;s hiatus from dancing, they set up a
  Zoom meeting so dancers could keep connected. When the club&rsquo;s
  dancing location became unavailable during the pandemic, he arranged
  with his church to allow the club to dance. They helped their club to
  always be well-sanitized and masked. Because of their efforts, their
  club got back to and stayed dancing after only a few months.

  Linda and Glynn reinstituted banner stealing in our area to increase
  friendly competition between clubs. She always encourages other clubs
  to join them at an annual event in August. She sends out weekly emails
  and also e-cards for special occasions. They have both supported other
  clubs by attending special Federation dances and they helped design
  lawn signs promoting square dancing in general. For three summers,
  they have made arrangements at an outdoor pavilion at a local
  restaurant to increase public view of square dancing. They have
  invited church members to join them at special square dance dinners
  which has resulted in new members. They are quick to be angels and
  help in any way.

  They have worked as officers of their club, including president and
  are currently serving as secretary. She has been serving as secretary
  of the Western New York Federation for three years and the
  Dance-O-Rama committee for three years. They are also active in their
  community.

  Some notable quotes from the nominations:

  &ldquo;Their enthusiasm and promotion of square dancing is admirable.&rdquo;

  &ldquo;She has been a valuable asset to the Federation as Secretary for
  our meetings and both have been a vital part in keeping their club
  active and growing.&rdquo;

  &ldquo;They have worked tirelessly to keep their club going and to recruit
  new dancers&rdquo

  &ldquo;They are eminently deserving of the award and would be humbly
  honored to receive it.&rdquo;

  We thank all those who submitted nominations, and we thank the
  Daphne-Norma Selection Committee.


articleid: 529
position: 1
type: text
content:
  One of the many Dance-O-Rama highlights is the annual parade of
  graduates. These are our new dancing friends who have completed the
  past season of Mainstream Square Dance classes at clubs in our
  Federation.

  Many established dancers already know our new graduates&mdash;from serving
  as class angels or from the season&rsquo;s many &ldquo;class/club&rdquo;
  dances.

  Twenty of this year&rsquo;s 26 graduates marched in the parade at DOR
  2024, their official welcome into the Rochester-area dancing
  community.

  The June Promenader issue is our opportunity to congratulate this
  year&rsquo;s graduates by name.

  2024 Square Dance Graduates:

  Cloverleaf Squares
  <ul>
  <li>Roger Boynton
  <li>Jane Falter
  <li>Lois Marvin
  <li>Grace Peck
  <li>Jerry Romanowski
  </ul>
  Batavia Silver Stars
  <ul>
  <li>Dan Dedo
  <li>Bonnie Dedo
  <li>Stuart Ogden
  <li>Kate Brown
  </ul>
  Cayuga Cut-Ups
  <ul>
  <li>Debby Balcom
  <li>Dave Balcom
  </ul>
  Shirts &rsquo;n&rsquo; Skirts
  <ul>
  <li>Gene VanDeusen
  </ul>
  Copy Cats
  <ul>
  <li>George Bauerschmidt
  <li>Barb Dobner
  <li>Michael Dobner
  <li>Paul Goyette
  <li>Judy Love
  <li>Jim Moss
  <li>Iris Raiman
  <li>Rob Raiman
  <li>Elizabeth Saunders
  <li>Ian Saunders-Brevner
  <li>Isaiah Saunders-Brevner
  <li>Andy Wegman
  </ul>
  Pairs &rsquo;N&rsquo; Squares
  <ul>
  <li>Michael Prockup
  <li>Alberta Prockup
  </ul>


articleid: 530
position: 01
type: text
content:
  Welcome to the Summer, 2024, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly
  publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers,
  Inc (WNYF).


articleid: 530
position: 03
type: text
content:
  As we look forward to a warm and hopefully sunny summer, the Photos
  and Features section in this issue of the Promenader looks back at
  events and seasonal dances hosted by our area clubs and presents our
  annual highlights from the Dance-O-Rama festival: Recognition and
  thanks; Awards and honors; Graduates and dancing.

  In a very interesting article, WNYF presidents Jeff and Debbie Blood
  present their &ldquo;digest&rdquo; of an informative article entitled
  &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s Dance&rdquo; from the March/April issue of the
  Readers Digest. It scientifically reinforces the many physical and
  psycho-social benefits that all our dancers know, but newcomers might
  not be aware of.

  The high-energy award for this issue goes to the Silver Squares, whose
  many themed dances produced a steady stream of delightful photos from
  their spring season.

  When your club hosts interesting dances or special events, be sure to
  take photos and send them to us with a brief description of the
  event. Sharing these in the Promenader and on the Facebook page will
  help new dancers see how much fun it would be to come to your dances.


articleid: 530
position: 05
type: text
content:
  The primary highlight of DOR each year is the formal introduction of
  our Mainstream Class Graduates. The annual Parade of New Graduates
  introduces the new class to the wider dancing community, and the
  Graduates&rsquo; Tip shows off their new-found skills. This issue of
  the Promenader includes a listing of clubs and their graduates&mdash;in
  the Photos and Features section.

  Please encourage all new graduates to subscribe to the Promenader and
  familiarize themselves with the many useful features of our
  website. They should send us an email to Promenader@rochester.rr.com,
  with &ldquo;SUBSCRIBE&rdquo; in the Subject line.


articleid: 530
position: 07
type: text
content:
  Numerous volunteers&mdash;from nearly every club&mdash;were recognized and
  appreciated at DOR, which could not be held without their efforts. The
  premiere recognition each year is presentation of the Daphne-Norma
  Leadership award. This year, 2023 recipients, Anne Granger and Don
  Naulin (Silver Squares), presented the 2024 Leadership Award to Linda
  and Glynn English, from the Cayuga Cut-Ups. You can read the citation
  in the Photos and Features section.

  This is also a good time to look in the mirror and ask if you yourself
  could do more to help with the &ldquo;mechanics&rdquo; of your club&mdash;and of the
  WNY Federation.


articleid: 530
position: 09
type: text
content:
  News from our clubs this quarter indicates a continued return to
  normal dancing, with the continuation of traditional dances and
  classes at most clubs. Six clubs graduated 26 new Mainstream dancers
  in the 2023&ndash;24 class season, completing a third successful class
  season since COVID.


articleid: 530
position: 11
type: text
content:
  New Promenader Club News and Photo/Feature articles are posted every
  three months. However, webmaster Sidney Marshall maintains the
  Calendar/Flyer database continually, posting flyers and changes to the
  schedule listings as soon as he can after he receives them. So,
  there&rsquo;s no deadline for schedule information. For fastest
  service, he recommends sending flyers (in PDF form) and schedule
  change notices (in the body of an email) to him directly
  (sidneym@frontiernet.net), as well as to the Promenader
  (promenader@rochester.rr.com). In addition, for maximum distribution
  of urgent messages, clubs should send Sidney the text for any
  &ldquo;Breaking News&rdquo; to go on the WNYF home page
  (squaredancingrochester.org). Clubs should also consider posting
  their news on the &ldquo;SquareDancingRochester&rdquo; group Facebook page.


articleid: 530
position: 15
type: text
content:
  The dancers who volunteer to fill positions on the Federation board
  will cheerfully welcome other dancers who want to help them with the
  &ldquo;behind the scenes&rdquo; business of ensuring that dancing
  thrives in our area.

  Club Representatives and members of the WNYF board are a great group
  of dancers&hellip;and chances are you already know many of them. There
  are probably one or two in your club. Ask around and find out who they
  are. Look up &ldquo;Who&rsquo;s Who&rdquo; in the Federation pages on
  this website (green &ldquo;FEDERATION&rdquo; Logo Button at the top of almost every
  page).

  The jobs are not hard, and you will be helping to keep the activity
  you love active and fresh. Please contact Jeff and Debbie Blood
  (dfbjvbhome@aol.com) or one of the dancers in your club who take part
  in WNYF board meetings and activities.


articleid: 530
position: 17
type: text
content:
  Man overboard:

  A gawky lad from New England came to New York with his girl and took
  her to nearby Playland Amusement Park. They had heard a lot about the
  Tunnel of Love and were especially anxious to try it out.

  But when they got home, they expressed disappointment.

  &ldquo;Shucks,&rdquo; the boy said, &ldquo;it was dark and damp and
  uncomfortable. Besides, we got soaking wet.&ldquo;How come?&rdquo;
  asked is father. &ldquo;Did the boat leak?&rdquo;

  The kid looked amazed. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a boat?&rdquo;


articleid: 531
position: 01
type: text
content:
  Clayton passed away peacefully on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, after a short battle with Lymphoma.

  Services were held Sunday, May 26, 2024 at 1pm at the West Bloomfield Congregational Church, 9035 State Route 5 and 20, Rev. Corey Keyes officiating. Burial&mdash;West Bloomfield Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please plant a tree in memory of Clayton.


articleid: 531
position: 05
type: text
content:
  <br><br><br><br>
  Clayton and I called together at Relaxed Squares, and he preceded me
  as Dalton Gang&rsquo;s caller before he went to Florida.


articleid: 531
position: 07
type: text
content:
  <br><br><br><br>
  I will always remember the twinkle in his eye when his playful side
  came out on the dance floor.


articleid: 531
position: 03
type: text
content:
  <br><br><br><br>
  Comments from square dancers

  Clayton was an active square dancer and square dance caller. For many years he was a reliable participant in the periodic Amateur Caller nights hosted alternately by the Village Squares and the Cloverleaf Squares. Clayton always had a smile on his face and a friendly word to say.


articleid: 531
position: 11
type: text
content:
  <br><br><br><br>
  &ldquo;Referring to one of his Amateur Caller Night appearances, the
  Village Squares&rsquo; Club News in the May, 1999, Promenader
  reported that Clayton called a rollicking version of Proud
  Mary.&rdquo;

  &ldquo;As reported in the June 2013 Promenader, Clayton was one of
  the winners in the Federation&rsquo;s &lsquo;Gone Dancing&rsquo;
  promotion. This was a contest to encourage dancers to reach outside
  their &lsquo;home club&rsquo; and dance at other clubs during the
  winter months&mdash;December through March. Other winners racking up
  the most &lsquo;away dance signatures&rsquo; were Clayton&rsquo;s
  partner Donna Smart, Dave Jacobs, and class dancers Rick and Donna
  LaDonna, Karen Olmsted and Teresa Coast.&rdquo;


articleid: 531
position: 09
type: text
content:
  <br><br><br><br>
  Since Grand Squares was a small club, we always appreciated guests.
  Clayton was a frequent guest and came not only with a willingness to
  dance with anyone who lacked a partner (mostly women, but on one
  occasion to be George's partner, when we were short on women). He was
  always early, so would lend a hand with set up, if needed. And along
  with his smile, he usually came bearing a box of donut holes.


articleid: 532
position: 1
type: text
content:
  President&rsquo;s Corner - September 2024

  Where did our summer go? It seems it went by so fast this year!

  We are not complaining; it has been a fun summer with so many dances
  and events to be with our friends.

  We hope everyone enjoyed many of the summer dancing opportunities that
  were available. It was great to see many of our recent graduates
  joining us on the dance floor and at our demos and picnic events.

  We want to thank everyone who has participated in the square dance
  demos this summer. It is a fun way to share our joy of square
  dancing. Hopefully the demos will encourage people to try Square
  Dancing this Fall when the classes begin in September.

  We started our summer demos with the Annual Strawberry &amp; Dessert
  Tasting Festival Fundraiser for the Greece Historical Society on June
  17th. Our clubs provided several squares of dancers for the demo
  despite the heat! Mike Callahan did a wonderful job calling,
  encouraging the 400+ in attendance to try square dancing and consider
  attending our classes this Fall.

  Our Friday night WNYF Free Dance in June was quite a hit! Over 80
  dancers enjoyed dancing to callers and cuers Ron Brown, Alice &amp;
  Gary Bubel, Mike Callahan and Jim Gotta. It was great to have so many
  of our local callers and cuers together.

  In August, we set up Square Dance displays at the Penfield Library
  (thanks to Diane Cundra) and Parma Library (thanks to Laurie
  Cordaro). These displays help spread the awareness of square dancing
  and the timing before our Open House classes starting in September is
  perfect.

  The WNYF is sponsoring a square dance demo on Sunday, September 8
  at the Artists Open Market at Innovation Square, 295 East Broad St. It
  is the same weekend as the Clothesline Festival at the Memorial Art
  Gallery, we expect to see a lot of activity in the area. We are
  hoping it will bring some new dancers to our Open Houses in
  September.

  Anne Granger, WNYF Vice President will be organizing the Square Dance
  Polo shirt Order starting in September. Orders will be taken through
  mid-October. Pricing will depend on the size of the order and shirt
  colors selected. We will provide order information on the Federation
  Website (squaredancingrochester.org), in the Promenader and on our
  WNYF Facebook Page: Square Dancing Rochester.

  Important Note: The Federation is always looking for volunteers to
  help with our committees:
  <ul>
  <li>The Promotions Task Force&mdash;critical in promoting square and round
  dancing, arranging demos, writing articles, etc.
  <li>DOR Committee&mdash;Plans, contracts, organizes, and runs our Annual May
  Dance-O-Rama Dance &amp; Basket Raffle.
  <li>The Promenader &amp; WNYF website (squaredancingrochester.org), which
  are interconnected. The Promenader is our quarterly publication of the
  news and events of our 16 member clubs and is available on our
  website. In addition, our WNYF website keeps us connected with club
  dance schedules along with Federation activities and contact
  information for our clubs. It keeps us informed of all the upcoming
  events within our square and round dance community.
  </ul>
  In addition to Federation meetings, there is behind the scenes work to
  be done. This includes designing flyers for upcoming events,
  contacting people, writing articles, helping with event set up and
  recruiting volunteers for square dance demos, square dance displays,
  special events, etc. If you want to join our teams of dedicated
  dancers who are giving back to the dancing community, please don&rsquo;t
  hesitate to reach out to us at dfbjvbhome@aol.com

  We are very proud to be part of this Square Dance Community. Not only
  do we know how to have fun together, we also really care about our
  members&mdash;celebrating the good times and supporting each other in the
  difficult times.

  We are looking forward to seeing you on the dance floor!

  WNYF currently has 16 clubs in the Federation:
  <ul>
  <li>Batavia Silver Stars
  <li>Boo Bull Squares and Rounds
  <li>Cayuga Cut-Ups
  <li>Cloverleaf Squares
  <li>Copy Cats
  <li>The Dalton Gang
  <li>Fun Bunch
  <li>Happy Squares
  <li>Pairs N Squares
  <li>Penn Yan Friendship Squares
  <li>Shirts N Skirts (Fulton)
  <li>Shamrock Squares
  <li>Silver Squares
  <li>Southern Tier Wheelers
  <li>Village Squares&mdash;currently not dancing
  <li>Waterwheel Squares
  </ul>
  Take Care,


articleid: 534
position: 1
type: text
content:
  A group of over 20 square dancers gathered on August 1 to do a demo at
  Hope Lodge for a meeting of SPOHNC!

  What the heck is SPOHNC? It is a group that provides Support for
  People with Oral, Head, and Neck Cancer. It is a national
  organization, and we have a local chapter that meets here at Strong
  Hospital monthly. I have been a member of this group since recovering
  from throat cancer in 2006. Most months we have a speaker who
  addresses a topic of interest to the members. Occasionally we have
  some entertainment and I worked with the organizers to arrange for
  this demo.

  Hope Lodge is a beautiful facility located on the Colgate Divinity
  School campus and is basically a Ronald McDonald House for
  adults. People who live out of town and come to Rochester for surgery
  and/or treatment are eligible to stay there along with their support
  person(s).

  I invited local dancers to come out and support the group at a demo
  and was thrilled at the overwhelming response. And it didn&rsquo;t hurt that
  I could offer them ice cream&mdash;an ice cream truck was provided by Hope
  Lodge and the SPOHNC group, so everyone was able to have their fill of
  ice cream! Always welcome on an 88-degree summer day!

  Thank you to all the dancers who came to show of our sport/hobby. And
  a special thank you to Mike Callahan for calling.

  I think we recruited a couple new dancers from the SPOHNC group and a
  couple of dancers who signed up to join the SPOHNC group. Overall, the
  event was a roaring success!


articleid: 535
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Silver Squares celebrated July birthdays in style! Rosie Holley
  made a beautiful cake for the birthday girls (including herself!).


articleid: 536
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Silver Squares bakers and buyers brought 14 pies to celebrate Pie Day
  on August 5!

  During our break from dancing, we enjoyed pie and ice cream. Dancing
  and eating with friends is a great way to spend a Monday afternoon.


articleid: 537
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Special thanks to Laurie &amp; Chuck Cordaro and Jeff &amp; Debbie
  Blood for setting up the WNYF square dance display at the Parma
  Library on West Ave, Hilton, on August 19, 2024.


articleid: 538
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Thank you from the WNYF to Diane Cundra for setting up the square
  dance display at the Penfield Public Library.


articleid: 539
position: 1
type: text
content:
  We did it: another Great Steak Roast! 44 total dancers and 32 steak
  dinners, yum. Thank you, Dave, Chuck, Moose (Dave Jr) for grilling:
  perfect steaks! Missy for getting a perfect size of steak, as baby
  bear said, &ldquo;not too big or too little, just right!!&rdquo; The
  food was great! The salads: yummy&mdash;Carol&rsquo;s, Cindi&rsquo;s
  and mine! The desserts: super excellent, every one. Thanks all! The
  setup folks: in record time, wow, cleanup amazing, super wow! What a
  great team! Thank you, Bruce &amp; Sue for living in Seneca Falls and
  opening for set up and closing&mdash;you both are the best! And of
  course, our calling team The Hip Boot Boys&mdash;well done. The music,
  calling &amp; timing was perfect!

  I love that this Anniversary event has given us the perfect time to
  acknowledge service to the club and square dancing in general. Super
  Congratulations to Circle of Service awardees Missy, Norm, Polly, Andy
  &amp; Kay! We love you, and thank you for literally decades of service
  to this club that you have given, and God willing decades more. You
  are a blessing to our membership and leadership of this club.

  Keep dancing!


articleid: 540
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Everyone had a fun time dancing on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at the
  Elaine Eno Memorial Dance in Fulton, NY. Callers and cuers were Dave
  Eno, Richard Rosenfield, Ron Brown, Ron Schweitzer, Jeanne Harter and
  Bill Saintey. Proceeds of the benefit raffle went to support ALS
  research.


articleid: 541
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Thank you to everyone who participated on June 17 in the Federation&lsquo;s
  square dance demo at the Greece Historical Society&lsquo;s Strawberry &amp;
  Dessert Festival Fundraiser at the Greece Town Hall. It was quite
  warm, but we all had a fun time dancing and giving the public a
  glimpse of our activity!

  Events like this are not only fun for us dancers but also important
  public opportunities to put an impression of square dancing into the
  minds of our community. You never know how important this is for
  recruiting new dancers. Even if nobody directly signs up at the time,
  it will stick in the back of their mind where it will contribute on
  some later date to their receptiveness to joining us.


articleid: 533
position: 01
type: text
content:
  Welcome to the Fall, 2024, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly
  publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers,
  Inc (WNYF).


articleid: 542
position: 1
type: text
content:
  We really need more dancers to sign up for the next WNYF square dance
  demo on Sunday, September 8, from 1&ndash;2 pm with Mike Callahan
  calling. The demo will take place during the &ldquo;Artists Open
  Market&rdquo; at Innovation Square&mdash;295 East Broad
  Street&mdash;near the base of the former Xerox building. See the
  accompanying flyer for details including free parking.

  This demo is an opportunity to showcase America&rsquo;s Folk Dance to the
  Rochester community. We have reached out to a few TV stations and
  other media about covering this demo. We scheduled this event to help
  promote September Open House dances and the start-up of classes at
  several of our clubs.

  The purpose of the WNYF is to help our square dancing clubs thrive and
  grow. That means helping them recruit classes and coach recruits
  through graduation and membership. We hope you can join us at this
  demo! All WNYF Club Presidents have received a flyer &amp; sign-up
  sheet for this demo. With your participation we will make a strong
  showing.

  Interested dancers should contact Debbie &amp; Jeff Blood directly via email dfbjvbhome@aol.com or phone at 585-880-9161. We hope to see you there.


articleid: 543
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Over 80 dancers enjoyed dancing on June 21 at the WNYF Free Dance
  held at the VFW in Fairport. Special thanks to our fantastic callers
  &amp; cuers: Ron Brown, Alice &amp; Gary Bubel, Mike Callahan and Jim
  Gotta. At this dance, Lucy Pietrzykowski received the Circle of
  Service Award (see separate article).


articleid: 544
position: 1
type: text
content:
  At the WNYF dance on June 21, 2024, Lucy Pietrzykowski received the
  Circle of Service Award. This is a nationally recognized award given
  to a dancer who for three or more years is determined to have made a
  significant contribution to the Square and Round Dance Community.

  This award has been presented to several leaders in our square dance
  community for their dedication and diligent efforts during and after
  COVID to bring our WNYF clubs back to the dance floor safely and keep
  square and round dancing alive in Western NY.

  Lucy&rsquo;s dedication to getting the Batavia Silver Stars back to the
  dance floor after COVID has been outstanding. Today Lucy continues to
  go &ldquo;above and beyond&rdquo; for the club.

  Congratulations, Lucy!


articleid: 545
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Batavia Silver Stars &ldquo;Name Tag Dance&rdquo; was held on August
  19. The dance was fantastic with six squares dancing to Gary &amp;
  Alice Bubel. The price of admission was hard to beat&mdash;free if you
  wore a name tag!


articleid: 546
position: 1
type: text
content:
  At the Cayuga Cut-Ups 63rd Anniversary Steak Roast Dance on August 18,
  five distinguished Cut-Ups received the Circle of Service Award,
  presented by Linda and Glynn English and Chuck &amp; Cindi
  DeNardo. They are Missy Frendak, Polly Losito &amp; Norm Courtemanche,
  Kay &amp; Andy Anderson.


articleid: 547
position: 1
type: text
content:
  September 1994 was designated as SQUARE DANCE MONTH in New York State!

  That&rsquo;s according to a formal proclamation signed on June 3,
  1994, by then&mdash;Governor Mario Cuomo and currently on display at
  The Shoeleather Express in Gloversville, NY.

  The New York proclamation explains that &ldquo;in May 1982, by an Act
  of Congress, square dancing was designated the national folk dance of
  the United States.&rdquo; It goes on to give the following brief
  portrait of square dancing:

  <i>Derived from British and European country dances, modern American
  Square Dancing has long been part of the social fabric of New York
  society. Its heritage dates back to the early days of our nation and
  remains one of the most popular and widely known form(s) of American
  folk dance.

  Square dancing promotes the ideals that the Empire State
  represents&mdash;goodwill, fellowship, and friendliness. Fostering
  family unity, fun and aerobic style exercise, approximately six
  million American(s) participate in this activity.

  It is appropriate that we honor modern square dancing as a phenomenon
  which brings people of all ages and backgrounds together in
  family-oriented endeavors.</i>

  Looking up the 1982 Act of Congress yields two main
  &ldquo;hits&rdquo;&mdash;The text of the Act itself, Public Law
  #97-188, and an article explaining its context. The article is too
  long to even summarize here, but it describes the congressional act as
  follows:

  <i>Sponsored by the late West Virginia senator Robert Byrd, a bill passed
  by the House and Senate and signed by then-president Ronald Reagan
  declared square dancing the national folk dance of the US for the
  years 1982 and 1993. The bill praised square dancing because
  &ldquo;the American people value the display of etiquette among men
  and women which is a major element of square dancing,&rdquo; and as a
  &ldquo;traditional form of family recreation&rdquo; that
  &ldquo;dissolves arbitrary social distinctions.&rdquo;</i>

  Official recognition of square dancing is also found in other
  formats. A website called nationaltoday.com, identifies November 29,
  2024, as &ldquo;National Square Dancing Day&rdquo; and explains it as
  follows:

  <i>National Square Dancing Day is celebrated on November 29 every year in
  the United States to honor the square dance form of folk dancing. This
  enjoyable, healthful, and simple kind of dancing with a lengthy
  history deserves its festival, and it has roots in traditional
  English, Irish, and Scottish folk dance.</i>

  A search of the Promenader archives reveals that the article you are
  reading is not our first mention of Square Dance Month.

  In the May 1984 issue, the &ldquo;Legacy&rdquo; column announces
  expansion of &ldquo;Square Dance Week&rdquo; from the third week of
  September to the whole month. The September 1985 issue carries the
  transcribed text of Governor Mario Cuomo&rsquo;s official proclamation
  of September as Square Dance Month in New York State. Its description
  is interesting in its differences from the later 1994 version above:

  <i>Square dancing has long been a part of the social fabric of our
  society in New York State.

  Currently, thousands of dancers in more than 500 western square dance
  clubs across our great state enjoy regular, healthy, wholesome
  physical exercise and social contact through this activity.

  Encouragement and continuation of square dancing also helps preserve
  our unique American heritage as the familiar caller&rsquo;s cry of
  &ldquo;square your sets, honor your partners and dosey doe&rdquo; ring
  out in dance halls everywhere.

  It is entirely appropriate that we honor modern square dancing as a
  phenomenon which brings together people of all ages and backgrounds in
  (a) family-oriented activity.</i>

  Twenty years later, the June 2005 Promenader carried the following
  &ldquo;News Flash:&rdquo;

  <i>On May 7 (2005), at Dance-O-Rama, Bob and Lou Stevens announced that
  they had just received confirmation that Monroe County Executive
  Maggie Brooks has declared September to be Square Dancing Month in
  Rochester.</i>

  As past presidents of the Rochester Area Federation of Round and
  Square Dance Clubs (predecessor to today&rsquo;s WNYF), and
  then-chairpersons of Dance-O-Rama, Bob and Lou Stevens were
  instrumental in bringing about the Rochester designation.

  The full story of square dancing and its on-again-off-again official
  status is much more complicated that we can cover here. As with any
  cultural element in American history, square dancing embodies a blend
  of American cultural influences. Anyone interested in delving deeper
  is encouraged to search the web for &ldquo;square dancing official
  folk dance of the United States of America&rdquo; and follow all the
  fascinating hits.

  Thanks to Jeff and Debbie Blood for inspiration in their August 17 FB
  post and to Carl Webster for research help in the Promenader archives.


articleid: 548
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Russell Uhrenholdt passed away on Monday, June 24, 2024, at age 91.
  Russ was predeceased by his cherished wife, Ruth; he is survived by
  children, Dave, Ken (Mary Ann) and Anne (Victor) Demjanenko;
  grandchildren, James Vanderpool (Karolina Lundmark), Scott (Carrie)
  Brant, Jennie Brant, Stephen (Theresa) Demjanenko, Carolyn
  Demjanenko; great-grandchildren, Sam and Selma Vanderpool, Alex and
  Lily Brant; niece, Dale Ann Raymond; nephew, Curtis Raymond.

  Russ married Ruth Blanchard on June 12, 1955. He earned his
  bachelor&rsquo;s degree in 1955 then worked at Bendix first in South
  Bend, IN, then moved to Lincroft, NJ in 1960. He received his MBA
  from Rutgers in 1968 while he had 3 young children. He moved to
  Rochester, NY, for Bendix in 1970. Bendix left Rochester but Russ
  stayed and worked for CVC Products and later for the town of Ogden.

  He was involved with the YMCA in NJ, the Boy Scouts, was a longtime
  member and very active with Elmgrove United Methodist Church, and a
  member of Silver Squares and Copy Cats Western Square Dance Club; he
  enjoyed volunteering at Unity Hospital and with South West Ecumenical
  Ministries Community Services (SWEM). Russ enjoyed biking, camping,
  reading, traveling, canoeing, cross country skiing, gardening,
  feeding birds, going to the RPO and the theater with Ruth. He was
  involved with the Rochester International Friendship Council/Global
  Connections and United Marriage Encounter for many years. He lived
  life to the fullest and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

  Contributions may be made to SWEM, or Elmgrove United Methodist Church
  in his memory.


articleid: 549
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Karen Bigenwald, beloved resident of Fairport, NY, peacefully left
  this world on July 27, at age 80 after a life richly lived in service,
  kindness and strength. Born and raised in Allentown, PA, Karen was
  predeceased by her parents, Samuel &amp; Isabel Mohr. She is survived
  by her 3 daughters, Michelle (Rich) Paige, Brynn (John) Pacitti,
  Rachel (Will) Hamele, grandchildren, Bryce and Kylie Paige, Adam,
  Kendall, Makenna and Jacob Pacitti, Emma Hamele, sister Christine
  Ceder, nieces, nephews and friends who will miss her warmth and
  generosity.

  Karen is known for her dedication to her family, friends, church, and
  community with whom she shared her musical talent and love for
  gardening. Karen was a beacon of light and hope and touched many lives
  through her teaching, outreach, and music.

  Graduating from Ithaca College as a music major in 1965, Karen was an
  accomplished pianist and served as a public-school music teacher for 6
  years prior to teaching kindergarten at Webster Schools for 17
  years. She additionally shared her love for music by teaching piano,
  directing her church handbell choir for 13 years, singing on the
  church choir and by learning and performing the hammered and mountain
  dulcimer in her retirement. Karen was a member of the Perinton
  Historical Society, Past-President of Copy Cats Square Dancing Club
  and also shared her time, talent and treasure by tutoring and
  mentoring a special, local refugee for years. Karen&rsquo;s memory
  will be a guiding star for all who knew her.

  Donations may be made in Karen&rsquo;s name to Lipson Cancer Institute
  at rrhgive.org or to Bethlehem Lutheran Church&rsquo;s music ministry
  48 Perrin Street, Fairport, NY 14450.


articleid: 550
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Donald Henry Oestreich passed away in Webster, NY, on Monday, August
  5, 2024, at age 82. He was predeceased by his parents, Henry and Norma
  Oestreich. He leaves his wife, Andrea; children, Donna Burley (James
  Horner), Ronald Oestreich, Michael Oestreich, Kathy Haines and Doug
  (Melanie) Peckham; grandchildren, Chelsey Haines and Josh Reynolds.

  Donald was the former owner of the Nine Mile Point Country Store in
  Webster.

  His Funeral Service was held at 11:00 AM Tuesday, August 13, at
  St. Andrews Chapel by the Lake, 1206 Lake Rd., Webster, with interment
  at Webster Union Cemetery.

  Memorials may be directed to Lollypop Farm, 99 Victor Rd., Fairport,
  NY 14450, or BrightStar German Shepherd Rescue, 815 Robertson Rd.,
  Churchville, NY 14428.

  Arrangements by Willard H. Scott Funeral Home.

  Square dance connections (from caller Mike Callahan):

  Don and his wife took lessons with the Copy Kittens many years
  ago. They joined the club and danced for a while and then moved on to
  Advanced and Challenge programs of Square Dancing.


articleid: 533
position: 03
type: text
content:
  Fall is the season that generally feels like the &ldquo;start&rdquo;
  of the dancing year. We relive the summer through photos of our summer
  activities and we look forward to regrouping with our friends and
  meeting new friends at Open House dances and classes.

  Articles in this issue include a historical note on the status of
  square dancing as the official American Folk Dance, along with state
  and local proclamations designating September as Square Dance Month.

  Photo articles feature summer promotional activities such as the
  Greece Historical Society&rsquo;s Strawberry and Desserts Fundraiser
  and promotional displays at the Penfield and Parma public libraries.

  Please don&rsquo;t miss the article on our upcoming promotional demo
  at Innovation Square in downtown Rochester set for Sunday, September
  8.

  We also cover numerous special dances hosted by our member
  clubs. These include the annual Elaine Eno memorial benefit dance by
  the Shirts N Skirts, the Cayuga Cut-Ups annual Anniversary Steak Roast
  (63 years and counting!), the WNYF Summer Dance and the Batavia Silver
  Stars August Name Tag Dance.

  When your club hosts interesting dances or special events, be sure to
  take photos and send them to us with a brief description of the
  event. Sharing these in the Promenader and on the Facebook page will
  help new dancers see how much fun it would be to come to your dances.


articleid: 533
position: 05
type: text
content:
  The summer of 2024 saw multiple award presentations. The Circle of
  Service award was presented to Lucy Pietrzykowski at the WNYF summer
  dance on June 21, and to Missy Frendak, Polly Losito &amp; Norm
  Courtemanche, Kay &amp; Andy Anderson at the Cayuga Cut-Ups Steak
  Roast on August 18.


articleid: 533
position: 09
type: text
content:
  Fresh Promenader Photo/Feature articles and Club News reports are
  posted every three months (March1, June 1, September 1 and December
  1), with the submission deadlines set at one month before the
  publication dates. In addition, webmaster Sidney Marshall maintains
  the Calendar/Flyer database continually, posting flyers and updating
  changes to the schedule listings as soon as he can after he receives
  them. So, there&rsquo;s no deadline for schedule information. For
  fastest service, he recommends sending flyers (in PDF form) and
  schedule change notices (as .doc/.docx attachment files) to him
  directly (sidneym@frontiernet.net), with a copy to the Promenader
  (promenader@rochester.rr.com). In addition, for maximum distribution
  of urgent messages, clubs should send Sidney the text for any
  &ldquo;Breaking News&rdquo; to go on the WNYF home page
  (squaredancingrochester.org). And clubs should also consider posting
  their news on the &ldquo;SquareDancingRochester&rdquo; group Facebook
  page.


articleid: 533
position: 13
type: text
content:
  Last quarter, I encouraged dancers to volunteer to fill one of the
  many roles that &ldquo;dancing&rdquo; depends on for
  sustainability. Yes, dancers will always find a way to put on dances,
  so yes, they can probably get by without your help, but if you pitch
  in *everyone* will feel better&mdash;including you! Please present
  yourself to those who are most active in organizing your club and
  offer them your services.

  This quarter, I would like to talk about working with volunteers. In
  my role as editor, I interface at least every three months with every
  club reporter, a group of section editors and proofreaders and with
  the WNYF leadership and the WNYF webmaster. All of these people,
  including me, are volunteers. None of us have quite the same set of
  skills or the same amount of available time or the same levels of
  patience, and the clubs we represent all have different levels of
  organization and do their planning on different timescales. And yet,
  we consistently get a complex set of documents, lists and images
  collated, proof-read, and posted every three months without meetings
  and without friction. Most clubs and the WNY Federation itself have
  similar situations&mdash;i.e. multiple volunteer officers and
  operational volunteers organizing schedules, venues, callers/cuers,
  finances and promotions, etc. How does all this happen?

  The key is to understand two things. The first is the simplest: Always
  keep our shared goal in mind&mdash;that we are all here to share the
  workload of doing what it takes to keep dancing with our friends.

  The second is more complicated but equally important: We and each of
  our fellow volunteers are here of their own free will and that they
  value at least as highly as we do the result of our joint
  efforts&mdash;the dancing, the socializing, the teamwork, the feeling
  of a &ldquo;job well done&rdquo; in producing whatever result we are
  after.

  Like you, the others value the results highly enough to absorb the
  various expected and unexpected inconveniences that their role
  entails. When problems arise, they trust one another (including you)
  to be open about them and to take a calm problem-solving approach
  rather than a finger-pointing one. We volunteers each have our own
  strengths, limitations and style, and we owe it to ourselves and to
  one another to value and foster the &ldquo;team dynamics&rdquo; that
  make things work.

  There might be a third thing to keep in mind: None of us can do all of
  this alone. We need to spread the load and to keep things fresh, but
  consistent, and to give everyone a sense of belonging in the group,
  whether it&rsquo;s a working group, a club or the Federation.

  How are we doing? Well, in my opinion pretty well. I&rsquo;ve been a
  volunteer at all levels in Rochester square dancing, beginning in
  1993, and especially over the past ten years I have seen a remarkable
  level of teamwork, coordination and positivity throughout our
  Federation and our clubs. Keep up the good work!


articleid: 533
position: 15
type: text
content:
  Two eggs and a bagel walk into a bar.

  &ldquo;Bartender, my friends and I would each like a cold one.&rdquo;

  &ldquo;Sorry,&rdquo; the barman replies. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t serve
  breakfast.&rdquo;


articleid: 551
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Anne Granger, WNYF Vice President, is working to arrange for our
  dancers to order square dance polo shirts again this year. Details
  are still being worked out, so this is just a heads-up for now.

  When prices and colors are settled, a notice with choices and an order blank will be supplied to all club presidents and posted on the Square Dancing Rochester Facebook page.


articleid: 553
position: 1
type: text
content:
  President&rsquo;s Corner&mdash;December 1, 2024

  The past few months have been wonderful seeing the clubs starting up
  their Fall dances. It&rsquo;s good to see so many dancers back on the dance
  floor. Many great pictures of our clubs&rsquo; Halloween Parties are being
  shared via our WNYF Facebook page. It is so much fun to see how happy
  and creative our dancers are in their costumes.

  Three years ago, the Federation was approached to host a New Year&rsquo;s
  Eve Dance. We are happy to say the Federation has been co-sponsoring a
  New Year&rsquo;s Eve Afternoon Dance with the Copy Cats since 2021 and will
  do so again on December 31, 2024, from 3&ndash;5 pm at the Penfield Baptist
  Church. Jim Gotta will be calling and cueing. We hope you can join us;
  dancing with your friends is a wonderful way to welcome 2025!

  Our DOR committee is busy preparing for our 65th Annual Dance-O-Rama
  on Saturday, May 3, 2025.

  It is Rochester&rsquo;s annual dance festival. There will be mainstream,
  plus, advanced, and rounds. The event will be at the Perinton Community
  Center on Turk Hill Rd. from 1&ndash;5 pm. Our guest caller is Jason
  Raleigh, a national square dance caller from Grove City, Ohio. We will
  also enjoy dancing to local caller Ron Brown and local cuer Mark
  Thone. During the DOR program, our graduates&rsquo; parade will honor our
  graduates who just started lessons in Sept. and Oct. The Daphne Norma
  Leadership Award, presented annually at DOR, is the highest honor
  given to our dancers. It honors a couple or individual who has
  demonstrated leadership furthering the cause of square and round
  dancing for an extended period of time. Each year the recipient(s) are
  chosen from the nominations from our dancing members. A committee of
  previously awarded Daphne Norma Leadership Award recipients vote on
  the person(s) to receive the honor at DOR. Their decision is based on
  all the nominations received both currently and in prior years. The
  award nominations are due by the end of February. Please look around
  and take the time to recognize couples or individuals who deserve this
  honor and recognition for their leadership, dedication, and service to
  our square and round dancing community. Nomination forms are available
  through the &ldquo;Awards&rdquo; button on the Federation website:
  squaredancingrochester.org.

  The Federation is busy arranging another Free Dance to be held on
  Friday night June 20, 2025.

  Our Free Friday night dance in June 2024 was a tremendous success and
  we wanted to do it again.

  This year we are adding a new feature, it will also be the kick-off of
  the Federation&rsquo;s annual amateur calling/cueing event for our
  members. Individuals interested in trying their talent in square dance
  calling or cueing a round are welcome. Please reach out to one our
  wonderful callers or cuers to prepare for this event. We anticipate
  there is much hidden talent in our dancing members.

  Additionally, the Federation is in the process of creating a grant to
  assist potential callers and cuers from our club membership. This is a
  monetary grant to help them with calling/cueing school expenses. More
  details to follow.

  We are looking forward to all the upcoming holiday festivities and
  hope to see you on the dance floor.

  Take Care and Stay Well,


articleid: 554
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Charlie Nientimp passed away peacefully at age 85 on Friday, September
  13, 2024, at FF Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua, NY. He was born on
  June 15, 1939, in Rochester, NY to the late George and Georgiana
  Nientimp.

  Charlie graduated from Edison Career and Technology High School in
  1957 where he was a member of the swim team. After high school, he had
  various jobs before his long career at Eastman Kodak where he worked
  as a millwright in the utility division and retired as a technician in
  the Engineering department. Upon retiring he enjoyed his time working
  for Bill Gray&rsquo;s and maintaining machinery at their many restaurants.

  Charlie married Dale Scottow on October 25, 1991, and together they
  were active in round and square dancing with area festivals, national
  conventions, and many western NY area clubs including the Southern
  Tier Wheelers and Cloverleaf Squares for 25 years. Charlie and Dale
  enjoyed golfing, traveling and spending time with their large family
  and many friends.

  Charlie will be remembered for his love of his player piano, antique
  cars and collecting beer steins. He enjoyed playing cards including
  Euchre, Bridge and Cribbage along with sailing and fishing with his
  family on Lake Ontario.

  Charlie is predeceased by his wife of 29 years, Dale
  M. Scottow-Nientimp, brothers, George (Eleanore) Nientimp and Gerald
  (Babe) Nientimp, sisters, Helen (Richard) Miller, and Marion (Aaron)
  Duke. He is survived by his children, Karen (Matthew) Caton, Jennifer
  (David) Sauter, Christine (Rodney) Baumgartner, his step-children,
  Penny (David) Wasnock-Toal, Mark (Marie) Wasnock, grandchildren
  Benjamin M. Caton, Hope A. Caton, Tyler J. (Emily) Wheaton, Alyson
  M. (Conner) Strickland, Molly K. Sauter, Collin D. Sauter, Joseph
  L. Fisher, Reina E. Wasnock, Seiya A. Wasnock, Mia U. Wasnock, 2
  great-grandchildren, special friend and companion Corky Trombley and
  many nieces and nephews.

  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Leukemia
  &amp; Lymphoma Society www.lls.org. To share a memory or a condolence,
  please visit: www.doughertyfuneralhomes.com

  Recollections from Peter Emmel:

  I remember the pleasure of dancing with Charlie and Dale, not only at
  the Cloverleafs but also at several dances in western NY and (I think)
  at some of the new-Year&rsquo;s Eve dances held by the Village Squares years
  ago. They even came to a few of the Village Squares Wednesday dances.


articleid: 555
position: 1
type: text
content:
  John R. Roden, 83, of Weedsport, NY, passed away Tuesday, October 1,
  2024, at St. Camillus Health &amp; Rehabilitation Center in
  Syracuse. Mr. Roden was born on July 9, 1941, in Bethlehem, CT., to
  the late John S. and Alice Ruppel Roden. John was the former highway
  superintendent for the Town of Brutus and a member of the Weedsport
  Masonic Lodge. John&rsquo;s true passion was farming. For many years he
  worked on the family farm, Roden Brothers Farm. John was able to stay
  at the farm, the place he loved for so long because of the help he
  received from his son, Eric and daughter-in-law, Joanna as well as
  their children, David, Erika, Timothy (Sarah) and Nicholas (Samantha).

  In addition to his love of farming, he loved spending holidays with
  Eric, Joanna, their children and especially his great grandchildren,
  Jack, Benjamin Schmidt, Nathan Roden, Cru and Chase. John always had a
  soft spot in his heart for his granddaughter Erika, who loved and
  doted on him all the time.

  John also loved square dancing. John and his wife, Dorothy, were both
  members of the Cayuga Cut Ups for many, many years. John continued to
  dance at the club after Dorothy passed away. John was loved by all of the
  Cayuga Cut Ups and is greatly missed.

  John is survived by his brother, Andrew Roden; sister Ellen (John)
  Samoska; children, John B. Roden, Eric (Joanna) Roden, Amy Pierce,
  Edmond Swan, Jennifer Swan, Peggy (Ron) Fredericks, and Tom (Linda)
  Swan; several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

  In addition to his parents, John was predeceased by his wife of 36
  years, Dorothy Roden and his sister Alice Skarr.

  The Roden family would like to acknowledge and thank John&rsquo;s neighbors
  on Oakland Rd. for always looking out for him.

  To offer condolences to the family, please visit whitechapelfh.com.


articleid: 556
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Webster: Wednesday, October 23, 2024, age 77. She leaves behind her
  husband and caregiver, Charles Smeltzer; her daughter, Heather Stokes
  (Jeremy) and their children, Joe and Evie; her husband&rsquo;s daughter,
  Jenni Wetzler (Jim Hancock); her son, Jacob Brown (Vicki) and their
  sons, Luciano and Domonic; her husband&rsquo;s son, Matt Smeltzer (Jolene)
  and their children, Rayna, Judah, Ziek and Lenora; sister, Carol
  Scholz (Ken) and their children, Arthur Scholz (Kate, and their
  children, Donald, Gordon and baby on the way, Karl Scholz and Eleanor
  OLeary (Paddy); brother, Charlie Brucker (Rene) and their children,
  Carl Brucker (Angelica) and Margaret Arata (Mike); sister, Cathy
  Staehli (Joel Reed) and her daughter, Anna Wiser (Chris) and their
  sons, Jaxon and Theo; foster brother, Herman Rolle.

  Phyllis liked to stay active. She was a 4-H leader, Sunday School
  teacher, Head of Trustees at Webster Presbyterian Church, Union
  Secretary and then President of Webster Transportation. She enjoyed
  Civil War reenacting with her husband.

  The most recent source of her enjoyment was square dancing. She was a
  bright star in the square dance community. She was always welcoming,
  and her smile was infectious. Her positive attitude and incredible
  outlook on everything drew people to her. As members of the Copy Cats
  Dance Club, Phyllis and Charlie helped new members with their dance
  skills. Phyllis helped people laugh and not take mistakes too
  seriously. She was a lovely, gracious, lady who will be greatly
  missed.

  Her most important focus was her family. Joe and Evie living right
  next door was so very wonderful. She was also able to be a caregiver
  for her mother, which was a very rewarding experience. Mother passed
  in 2023 and Daddy in 2006.

  Family and friends gathered for a Graveside Service 2:00 PM Saturday,
  November 16, at Webster Rural Cemetery and later attended a reception
  at Webster Presbyterian Church.

  Donations in Phyllis Smeltzer&rsquo;s memory can be made to:

  Bethlehem Family Services<br>
  Grace Covenant Church<br>
  224 Chestnut Ridge Rd<br>
  Rochester NY 14624

  or online donations (on their website) to

  Hildebrandt Hospice Care Center<br>
  2652 Ridgeway Ave<br>
  Rochester, NY 14626

  This is part of Rochester Regional Health and their website recommends online donations
  Square dancer comments:

  &ldquo;Any dance that Phyllis and Charlie attended was brightened by
  Phyllis&rsquo;s smile.&rdquo;


articleid: 557
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Our Halloween dance at Silver Squares is always a lot of fun!!
  Laughter, dancing, and food always make for a great afternoon. Mike
  Callahan, caller for Silver Squares, had our costumed dancers promenade in a
  circle and then everyone voted for the best costume. Joann Baxter,
  Diane and Richard Cundra won the contest!!


articleid: 558
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Silver Squares Dance Club had a &ldquo;Crazy Hat&rdquo; dance on September
  30th. Four squares of people wore their crazy hats and danced to
  caller Mike Callahan. Lots of laughs and lots of fun!!!


articleid: 559
position: 1
type: text
content:
  The Silver Squares Dance Club Annual Soup and Sandwich dance was a
  hit! Six different soups, a variety of sandwiches and many desserts
  were enjoyed by all. Five squares of people not only ate but danced
  too. What a fun day!


articleid: 560
position: 1
type: text
content:
  On Saturday, September 21, 2024, Rick &amp; Donna LaDonna, along with
  Debbie &amp; Jeff Blood and Mary Jo &amp; David Webster, presented the
  Circle of Service Award to Lorraine and Gary Granath.

  The Award is presented to those individuals who for three or more
  years have contributed to the square dance community. Gary and
  Lorraine joined the Copy Cats after graduating in the 2016 class. They
  served as Copy Cats&rsquo; Refreshment Chairs. In this capacity, they
  attended every dance for their two-year term arranging for volunteers,
  organized set-up and clean-up quietly and efficiently.

  Gary volunteered his carpentry skills and made a platform for our
  water jug, constructed a new travel holder for our Copy Cats banner
  and re-engineered one of our Copy Cats sandwich board signs. Both have
  helped with our Copy Cats Annual Holiday Dinners since 2019. They
  assisted in all capacities&mdash;serving on committees, buying supplies,
  set-up, serving and clean-up. Additionally, Gary and Lorraine served
  the Federation as co-secretaries for a two-year term and have served
  on the DOR Committee for many years. After they thought they could sit
  back and dance the nights away, they selflessly volunteered to rejoin
  the Copy Cats Board as Secretaries. Their love of dancing and their
  desire to keep our Club and Federation going shows in the thoughtful
  ideas they brought forth at board meetings. Gary and Lorraine have met
  all the criteria, and we were proud to present the Circle of Service
  Award to them.

  On September 24, 2024, the LaDonna&rsquo;s and the Blood&rsquo;s presented the
  Circle of Service Award to Phyllis and Charlie Smeltzer at their home
  due to Phyllis&rsquo; illness.

  Phyllis and Charlie have been members of the Copy Cats for many
  years. We personally have known them for more than 12 years. They are
  the most dedicated dancers and angels we have known. With few
  exceptions, they are present at every Copy Cats class session from
  September to May. On the dance floor, they are among the first to join
  a square and help the new dancers navigate the calls. They are always
  ready to step in to the breech wherever they are needed. They arrive
  early for classes (or dances) to help set-up and stay late to help
  with clean-up. In addition, they have taken some of our more
  challenging students under their wing. They are always smiling and
  social to both new and old members of the Club. Charlie is always seen
  supporting the Club by buying 50/50 and turkey raffle tickets. They
  always attend DOR where they usually place themselves in squares where
  dancers may be having problems. They support other Clubs in the
  Federation. They are often seen dancing at Bubel&rsquo;s, at Cloverleaf
  Squares, and others, where they show the same support to students and
  new dancers as they do at our Club.

  Additionally, they have been active in their community. He is a bus
  driver; she is a bus monitor. They are very family-oriented and enjoy
  spending hours with their children and grandchildren. They have been
  dedicated Civil War historical interpreters and dancers. They
  participated in historical reenactments at Gettysburg and at local
  sites to educate today&rsquo;s youth about the Civil War. As a couple, they
  have been active participants in restorations and re-dedications of
  Civil War veterans&rsquo; graves. In addition, he has participated in
  &ldquo;living history&rdquo; regarding the Civil War at the Genesee Country
  Museum. They were interim class coordinators and members of the Copy
  Cats Board.

  We were honored to present the Circle of Service Award to Charlie and
  Phyllis Smeltzer.

  Addendum: Phyllis passed away on October 23, 2024. She will be sadly
  missed by the writers and the entire square dance community.


articleid: 561
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Five squares of dancers welcomed in the Fall with a Pizza Party!!
  Monday afternoon is a lot of fun at Silver Squares Dance Club. We&lsquo;d
  love to have you join us!


articleid: 562
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Banner Stealing is always fun. Copy Cats members visited Silver
  Squares and took their banner back!

  Don Naulin and Anne Granger, Presidents of Silver Squares, tried to
  keep the banner but no luck. Banner Stealing promotes good will and a
  lot of fun among clubs.


articleid: 563
position: 1
type: text
content:
  We would not be dancing if it weren&rsquo;t for the extra efforts of a few
  dancers who consistently go out of their way to make things happen, to
  welcome and encourage new dancers and to help keep experienced dancers
  engaged. The Daphne-Norma Leadership Award is one of the ways we
  recognize and honor these special people.

  The award is presented each year in May, at Dance O Rama, to honor
  an individual or couple who have made an outstanding contribution to
  dancing in our area. Recipients are selected from nominations sent in
  by dancers like you.

  This is an award for dancers from other dancers. It&rsquo;s an opportunity
  to recognize service that stands out from others. Anyone can fill out
  and send a nomination, and nominations are saved over the years. The
  deadline for nominations is the end of February.

  Now is the time to think about nominating dancers YOU appreciate for
  the Daphne-Norma Leadership Award. If you don&rsquo;t take the time to
  nominate them, their contributions may go unrecognized.

  Nomination forms, along with a more complete description of the award
  and its historical background and guidelines for nomination, are
  available online via the Awards page on the WNYF website, or by
  contacting the most recent recipients&mdash;Linda and Glynn English&mdash;at
  glynnenglish@earthlink.net. You&rsquo;ve probably seen them at a dance or
  two&hellip;with the Daphne-Norma Traveling Candy Dish.

  If that&rsquo;s too much trouble, simply send an email to Linda and Glynn
  with the following information:
  <ul>
  <li>Nominee&rsquo;s Name(s)
  <li>Your reasons for nominating them, as fully as you can express them
  <li>Your name and club affiliation
  <li>Your email address and phone number
  </ul>
  It&rsquo;s that simple!

  The Daphne-Norma Leadership Award is the way that our dancing
  community recognizes a couple or individual dancer who has
  demonstrated leadership for an extended period of time, furthering the
  cause of square and round dancing. Think about contributions that have
  been made over past years as well as recently.

  Leadership styles vary greatly as each person is different. But going
  that extra mile for the sake of other dancers, and of dancing itself,
  is something we want to recognize.

  If you know someone who you feel stands out in his or her continuing
  service to square dancing and to others, please help us recognize and
  celebrate them. All it takes is for you to fill out a nomination form.

  Your input is very important! Tell us about the person or couple you
  wish to nominate by completing and submitting the Daphne-Norma
  Leadership Award Nomination Form. The Sooner, The Better! Every single
  nomination is very important, so please don&rsquo;t think that what you have
  to say doesn&rsquo;t matter!

  You don&rsquo;t need to know their life history. The nomination form gives
  you the space to present what you do know about their contributions to
  square dancing. You can also ask others to help you fill in the
  information. If you have nominated someone in a previous year, please
  don&rsquo;t hesitate to nominate them again this year adding to their
  record of service. Nominations are kept on file by the award
  committee, gaining weight as they accumulate.

  Each year in March, a committee made up of previous recipients reviews
  the accumulated nominations. They typically choose someone who has
  received multiple nominations over several years. So, even if you have
  nominated someone in the past, you are encouraged submit a new
  nomination form this year to add cumulative weight to their
  nomination file.

  Remember, the deadline for nominations is the end of February. If you
  have any questions, please contact the most recent recipient at the
  email address given at the bottom of the form. For 2024, that&rsquo;s Linda
  and Glynn English, from the Cayuga Cut-Ups. Their email address is
  given above.


articleid: 552
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Answering the call to help promote interest in square dance calling
  and cueing, the Western NY Federation is reviving the tradition by
  hosting an amateur calling and cueing event in June 2025. The
  Cloverleaf Squares&rsquo; &ldquo;Roaring Tiger&rdquo; trophy is coming
  out of hibernation and will be awarded to the most entertaining
  amateur.

  Volunteer amateur callers and cuers are encouraged to
  participate. Please reach out to our WNYF callers and cuers for help
  and advice. They are fantastic and they encourage newbies to try
  calling and cueing. Experienced callers and cuers are glad to guide
  you on music selection or obtaining cue sheets, if need be.

  Ron Brown, Mike Callahan, and Jim Gotta will also be calling and cueing
  at this Free Dance so please mark your calendar for Friday, June 20,
  2025. It will be at the Perinton Memorial VFW, 300 Macedon Center Rd,
  Fairport, NY.

  In March or April, we will be asking participants to register for this
  event so we can plan our dance program for the evening. We are looking
  forward to hearing our talented participants try calling and cueing.

  So, please think about it and pick a favorite singing call or round
  dance tune. Then see one of our local callers for advice on getting
  what you need to start practicing.

  We have heard from many past participants how much fun it is to step
  forward and take part in events like this&mdash;even for those who
  have no plans to ever become a caller or cuer.

  Dancers, you play an important role in this too! Please make a strong
  showing to support and encourage our participants. We are looking
  forward to a fun evening of dancing with our members and recent
  graduates.


articleid: 564
position: 1
type: text
content:
  After ten years in its present on-line form, which were preceded by
  fifty-two years in hardcopy form, what you are reading now will be the
  final issue of my tenure as editor. Two years of searching has not
  brought forward a new editor to succeed me.

  The &ldquo;Club News&rdquo; and &ldquo;Photo/Feature&rdquo; articles
  that have been the heart of the on-line Promenader will not be going
  away. They will continue to appear, but submissions will go directly
  to the webmaster.

  To facilitate this, some aspects of the website may be revised over
  the next few months, and a new set of submission guidelines will be
  posted and distributed to club leaders and reporters.

  This is a bittersweet transition for me, but the center of my life has
  shifted far away from the Rochester area and, maybe even from square
  dancing. Time will tell. Webmaster Sidney Marshall and former
  Promenader editor Betty Ludwick did a great job a decade ago,
  translating the Promenader&rsquo;s traditional look and feel into the
  on-line era and blending it with Sidney&rsquo;s pre-existing online
  database of schedule and other information.

  I&rsquo;d like to thank section editors Bonnie Allen (Schedules), Leon
  Smith (Club News) and Sharon Meyer (Class-Club events and Obituaries)
  for their assistance over the full decade of the online
  Promenader&rsquo;s existence&mdash;sharing the quarterly workload to
  prepare submitted content for Sidney to post. I&rsquo;d also like to
  thank a rotating corps of proofreaders who catch our typos and other
  rough edges before the final product &ldquo;goes live&rdquo; every
  three months. The currently active proofreaders are Carl Webster,
  Susan Thomas, Rick &amp; Donna LaDonna, Jim Gotta, Jeff &amp; Debbie
  Blood and Sharon Meyer.

  I will remain available to help club reporters with the transition.


articleid: 565
position: 1
type: text
content:
  On November 24, 2024, Sharon Meyer was presented with the
  &ldquo;Circle of Service Award&rdquo; at a Cloverleaf Squares
  dance. Previous recipients Jeff and Debbie Blood presented it to her
  for her service to the square and round dance community. The award is
  given to dancers who have contributed significantly to the square and
  round dance Community for three years or more.

  Congratulations Sharon! This is a well-deserved award for all your
  dedication and service to the Western NY Federation of Square and
  Round Dancers since we became involved. For more than five years you
  have been serving behind the scenes in many ways, including the
  Dance-O-Rama committee for more than five years; executing contracts
  for all Federation sponsored events (DOR, special dances, demos,
  etc.); as an appointed standing member of the Daphne Norma Leadership
  Award Selection Committee, our highest honor given to a dancer or
  couple; and as a staff member of the Promenader staff.

  Sharon continues to make significant contributions through her
  responsibilities and the support and guidance she provides.

  Congratulations also to Sue Sepkowski of the Silver Squares. On
  November 25, 2024, Sue was presented with the nationally recognized
  Circle of Service Award by previous recipients, Anne Granger and Don
  Naulin.

  Sue is quiet, hardworking, unassuming dancer always asking,
  &ldquo;What can I do to help?&rdquo; and is there helping. Sue is the
  past president of Silver Squares and held the VP position prior to
  that. She was a Federation Representative for several years and on the
  Federation Board for a short time. Sue is square dancing contact for
  the Greece United Methodist Church for Silver Squares and was also the
  contact for the Federation&rsquo;s post-Covid special summer dances.

  Sue continues to help angel new dancers at other clubs, since Silver
  Squares doesn&rsquo;t offer classes. Sue is a constant supporter at
  Federation events (DOR, demos, etc.) assisting with set-up, selling
  tickets and whatever else is needed. She is friendly, kind, and
  positive to all who come into contact with her. She is known to give
  up her spot on the dance floor if someone has not danced in a
  while. Sue continues to actively support square dancing in our area
  and is always there behind the scenes ready and willing to help.


articleid: 566
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Welcome to the Winter, 2024, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly
  publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers
  Inc (WNYF).

  In the winter, we enjoy the festive dances of the holiday season, then
  wave to many of our dancers&mdash;our Snow-Birds&mdash;as they migrate
  south to ride out the cold and snowy months.

  Those who stay enjoy dancing as usual, though occasionally
  inconvenienced by weather-related cancellations. Keep an eye on the
  WNYF Home Page for &ldquo;Breaking News&rdquo; and on our Facebook
  page (Square Dancing Rochester group) for announcements.

  In this issue

  Articles in this issue cover awards recently presented to six dancers
  from the Copy Cats, Cloverleafs and Silver Squares. Photo articles
  feature four of the Silver Squares&rsquo; fall theme dances, as well
  as a Banner Retrieval by the Copy Cats.

  There&rsquo;s also an article introducing the first post-COVID Amateur
  Caller dance. This should get you thinking about encouraging yourself
  or someone you know to speak with your caller about trying your hand
  at calling a tune. I can say from my own experience that it&rsquo;s a
  lot of fun&hellip;even if you have no intention of ever taking up the
  microphone on a regular basis. Amateur caller dances have given many
  active callers their start, so even if you have no interest in calling
  yourself, please plan on coming to dance. The dancers on the floor are
  at least as important as the amateurs at the microphone.

  When your club hosts interesting dances or special events, be sure to
  take photos and send them to us with a brief description of the
  event. Sharing these in the Promenader and on the Facebook page will
  help new dancers see how much fun it would be to come to your dances.

  Awards

  The fall of 2024 saw multiple award presentations, as you&rsquo;ll see
  in the Photo/Feature section. The Circle of Service award was
  presented to six dancers this fall, in appreciation of long-time
  service to their clubs and area dancing in general.

  Nominations for the annual Daphne-Norma Leadership Award are due in
  February. Please read the article about this significant award and
  consider the leaders you encounter in dancing around our area. Then
  download, fill out and submit the nomination form.

  Club News

  The Club News section contains descriptions and news from each of our
  member clubs.

  Federation Website

  Fresh Promenader Photo/Feature articles and Club News reports are
  posted every three months (March1, June 1, September 1 and December
  1), with the submission deadlines set at one month before the
  publication dates. In addition, webmaster Sidney Marshall maintains
  the Calendar/Flyer database continually, posting flyers and updating
  changes to the schedule listings as soon as he can after he receives
  them. So, there&rsquo;s no deadline for schedule information. For
  fastest service, he recommends sending flyers (in PDF form) and
  schedule change notices (as .doc/.docx attachment files) to him
  directly (sidneym@frontiernet.net), with a copy to the Promenader
  (promenader@rochester.rr.com). In addition, for maximum distribution
  of urgent messages, clubs should send Sidney the text for any
  &ldquo;Breaking News&rdquo; to go on the WNYF home page
  (squaredancingrochester.org). And clubs should also consider posting
  their news on the &ldquo;SquareDancingRochester&rdquo; group Facebook
  page.

  In Memoriam

  This issue includes the obituaries of Phyllis Smeltzer, John Roden and
  Charlie Nientimp.

  Editorial Comments

  My tenure as Promenader editor began ten years ago, when Betty Ludwick
  and Sidney Marshall merged the Promenader into the Federation
  website. As some of you already know, this issue will be my last in
  that role. I have truly enjoyed the connections this role has given me
  with leaders and dancers from all clubs in our area and a few from
  further away.

  My life has now shifted several hundred miles north, though I hope to
  keep up many of the friendships I&rsquo;ve formed in 30+ years of
  Rochester square and round dancing. It all began in 1991, when our
  dear friends Gerry and Harold Schwartz invited Sally and me to
  dinner&hellip;and afterward &ldquo;took us out&rdquo; to what turned
  out to be a Village Squares Open House dance. Classes soon followed
  and we were hooked.

  Over the past two years, a group of us has been unsuccessfully seeking
  a successor, and more recently planning for my departure. You&rsquo;ll
  hear more about that in the coming months.

  Quarterly Chuckle(s)

  To help save the economy, the government will announce next month that
  the immigration department will start deporting seniors (instead of
  immigrants) in order to lower Social Security and Medicare costs.

  Older people are easier to catch and will not remember how to get back
  home.

  Be sure to send this notice to your relatives and friends, so that
  when you go missing, they&rsquo;ll know why.

  The thought of this happening to you made me start to cry.

  Then it dawned on me: I&rsquo;ll see you on the bus!

  Hmmm, that might have been too close for comfort to be funny, so
  here&rsquo;s my final offering:

  No wonder I was confused at school:

  Homographs are words of like spelling but with more than one meaning.

  A homograph that is also pronounced differently is a heteronym.

  You think English is easy?? Here&rsquo;s the reality:

  1) The bandage was *wound* around the *wound*

  2) The farm was used to *produce* *produce*

  3) The dump was so full that it had to *refuse* to take more *refuse*

  4) We must *polish* the *Polish* furniture

  5) He could *lead* if he would just get the *lead* out

  6) The soldier decided to *desert* his dessert in the *desert*

  7) Since there is no time like the *present*, he thought it was time
  to *present* the *present*

  8) A *bass* was painted on the head of the *bass* drum

  9) When shot at, the *dove* *dove* into the bushes

  10) I did not *object* to the *object*

  11) The insurance was *invalid* for the *invalid*

  12) There was a *row* among the oarsmen about how to *row*

  13) They were too *close* to the door to *close* it

  14) The buck *does* funny things when the *does* are present

  15) A seamstress and a *sewer* fell down into an open *sewer* manhole

  16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his *sow* to *sow*

  17) The *wind* was too strong to *wind* the sail.

  18) The painter shed a *tear* upon seeing a *tear* in the painting

  19) I had to *subject* the *subject* to a series of tests

  20) How can I *intimate* this to my most *intimate* friend?

  Let&rsquo;s face it&mdash;English is a crazy language. There is no egg
  in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger, nor is there apple nor pine in a
  pineapple. English muffins weren&rsquo;t invented in England or French
  fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which
  aren&rsquo;t sweet, are meat.

  We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find
  that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea
  pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers
  write but fingers don&rsquo;t fing, grocers don&rsquo;t groce and
  hammers don&rsquo;t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why
  isn&rsquo;t the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese, so why not
  one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?

  Doesn&rsquo;t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not a single
  amend?  Suppose you have a bunch of odds and ends and you get rid of
  all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why
  didn&rsquo;t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, then
  what does a humanitarian eat?

  Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an
  asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a
  play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have
  noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat
  chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

  You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your
  house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by
  filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

  English was invented and molded by people, not computers, and it
  reflects the creativity and flexibility of the human race, which, of
  course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out,
  they become visible, but when the lights are out, they become
  invisible.

  P.S. Why doesn&rsquo;t &lsquo;Buick&rsquo; rhyme with
  &lsquo;quick&rsquo;? AND finally: if a male goat is called a ram and a
  donkey is called an ass, why is a ram-in-the-ass called a goose?


articleid: 567
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Lately you have been hearing a lot about the Circle of Service Awards
  being received by our dancers for their dedication, service in support
  of our dancing community. These awards are being presented to dancers
  in recognition of their significant contributions to our dancing
  community over a period of at least three years. There are all kinds
  of ways dancers can contribute to square dancing over and above the
  dancing itself. Some stand out and are noticed immediately, while
  others are less noticeable behind the scenes helping square dancing
  stay alive and active. The flurry of awards since 2021 reflects an
  increased awareness of the &ldquo;unsung&rdquo; contributors in the
  dancing community.

  The Circle of Service Award is a dancer award, presented only by
  dancers who have themselves previously received the same award. It is
  a nationally recognized award. The award consists of a framed award
  certificate and a proudly worn pin. The award began in 1985, to
  recognize dancers who for three years or more have made a significant
  contribution to the square and round dance community.

  The Circle of Service pin shows the stellar hub of the circle formed
  by a pattern of arcs and symbolizes the importance of each such person
  to the total picture. The same circular shapes flow outward to stylize
  musical symbols. This linear interplay suggests the strong bond
  between square and round dancing.

  Many of the recent awards have been received by members of our
  Federation clubs and Federation leadership who through their
  dedication and diligent efforts, brought their clubs back to the dance
  floor safely and kept dancing alive in Western New York following the
  Covid Pandemic. The intention of the Circle of Service Award is to
  honor and recognize those individuals or couples whose contributions
  too often go unrewarded.

  Within the past few years, the Federation Board voted to pay for all
  the costs related to both the Daphne-Norma Award and Circle of
  Services Awards. Previously, it was the presenter who paid for the
  awards, pins, plaques, etc.

  For a Circle of Service Award recipient to give the award to another
  person, they just need to contact Debbie &amp; Jeff Blood,
  Co-Presidents of the Federation, to arrange for the framed award
  certificate and pin. The Bloods maintain the master list of all the
  Circle of Service awards given to our members, along with copies of
  all presentations. In honor and appreciation of receiving the award
  themselves, you will find several previous Circle of Service Award
  recipients attending these award presentations for others.


articleid: 568
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Rochester: Wednesday, January 1, 2025. Predeceased by her husband, Walter and her son, Stephen.
  Survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Paul Kermis; daughter-in-law, Kathleen; her granddaughter, Rebecca; great granddaughter, Harleigh; great-great grandchildren, Aubree and Brantley; many loving family and friends.  Her Entombment in Riverside was held privately.

  If you would like to leave a condolence at Vay-Schleich & Meeson, e-mail www.meesonfamily.com.

  Square Dance Details:<br>
  There is so much to share about Sally (and Walt) from the square-dancing world. It is hard to know where to start! They were both truly instrumental in square dancing. According to Peter Emmel and his exemplary research, Sally and Walt started square dancing in 1973 and quickly became active in square dancing leadership not only on the local level, but also on the state and national levels. They played active leadership roles in several area clubs, as well as the Rochester Area Federation of Round and Square Dance Clubs, Inc (RAF). serving in many leadership capacities, including president. They were on the Board for the Empire State Festival, they were members of Legacy and members of United Square Dancers of America (USDA), where they held a number of roles including vice-presidents for the Eastern Region. Locally, they were recipients of the RAF's Daphne-Norma Leadership Award (1994) and also the Circle of Service Award (1987). They also designed the current logo that is on the Daphne-Norma Leadership Award badge.

  One of Sally&rsquo;s most cherished memories was when they were chosen at the Seattle National Convention in June of 1981 to ride on the square dance float in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California on New Years Day, 1982. When I visited her last April, she showed me many pictures of that day and you could still hear the excitement and joy in her voice. As she said&hellip; &ldquo;our trip to California to be in the Rose Parade was like a dream come true.&rdquo;

  The 50th National Square Dance Convention was held in Anaheim, California in 2001 where 13,000 dancers attended from all over the world. At this convention, there is a showcase of ideas and each state had the opportunity to have a table to promote their area. For 10 years, Walt and Sally set up a New York State table.

  As I said to Sally last April (2024): &ldquo;The square dancing world thanks you and Walt for all you have done for square dancing. Your enthusiasm, energy, dedication and love of square dancing have shaped much of what we do today. Thank you, Sally.&rdquo;

  From Eileen Webster:<br>
  &ldquo;Sally often came to the DOR to participate in the Daphne-Norma Award presentation. It was near and dear to her heart.&rdquo;

  From Peter Emmel:<br>
  &ldquo;Sally was a permanent, non-voting member of the Daphne-Norma Award committee whose insight and long-term perspective always proved very helpful.&rdquo; She was an adviser for many, many years.

  Accompanying photos:<br>
  1) Sally Baechle at Dance-O-Rama 2022.<br>
  2) Sally Baechle presenting the Daphne-Norma Leadership Award to Peter and Sally Emmel at DOR 2015.<br>
  3) Walt and Sally Baechle on the Square Dancing float at the 1982 Rose Parade.<br>
  4) Prayer for Beginning Square Dancers, submitted by Sally Baechle to the Promenader and reprinted in 2017 in the USDA Newsletter.


articleid: 569
position: a
type: text
content:
  President&rsquo;s Corner&mdash;March 1, 2025

  The Holiday Season brought many fun and festive dancing opportunities across our region. The Federation (WNYF) and Copy Cats Annual New Years Eve Afternoon Dance was a huge success. We had over 70 dancers, 7 squares dancing as we welcomed 2025. We enjoyed dancing with dancers from Cloverleaf Squares, Cayuga Cut-ups, Silver Squares, Southern Tier Wheelers, Batavia Silver Stars and Copy Cats.

  Our clubs have many exciting upcoming dancing events planned: Valentines dances, St Patrick;&rsquo;s Day Dances, Ice Cream Social Dances, Sport Team Dances, etc.

  <h4>New Look for the Federation&rsquo;s Website: squaredancingrochester.org</h4>
  We are excited to announce the new look of our WNYF website. It is the key communication link for our dancers to stay connected, to know when and where the dances are and to stay current of what our 15 member clubs are doing.

  We extend a huge thank you to the committee of 10 dancers that worked on this website project. They have been working on this redesign for over a year. The members of the committee were: Jim Gotta, Peter Emmel, Sid Marshall, Donna LaDonna, Rick LaDonna, Anne Granger, Carl Webster, Linda English, Debbie Blood and Jeff Blood.

  Special thanks to Jim Gotta, Peter Emmel and Sid Marshall, without their support and dedication, we would not have been able to move forward with this new look.

  The database Sid Marshall created over 10 years ago is still the foundation of the Federation&rsquo;s website. We appreciate Sid&rsquo;s efforts for originally creating this database and maintaining the integrity of it for all these years.

  Jim Gotta developed the protype of the new website and spent over 40 hours programming to create this new user- friendly format. In January, Jim transferred over 1,000 files to transition us to the new website you now see at www.squaredancingrochester.org

  We thank Peter Emmel for his continued support and dedication as he currently is helping all the clubs transition from the online Promenader newsletter to this new website format, where each club has their own Club page to maintain. He also is helping the editorial staff and proof-reading staff, formerly of the Promenader, transition to the workflow of the new WNYF website. Peter served as the Editor of our Promenader for over 10 years. Due to his dedication and devotion to square and round dancing, he worked with all the clubs and WNYF leadership to provide dance schedules, club news, articles, photos, dance flyers, etc. to our dancing community. His editor&rsquo;s role has been a crucial role and he is actively helping us transition it to the new website.

  Save the dates for a few upcoming Federation events:

  <h4>DOR 2025</h4>
  On Saturday, May 3, 2025, from 1&ndash;5pm WNYF will hold our annual Dance-O-Rama (DOR) at the Perinton Recreation Center. It is the 65th Annual DOR. Jason Raleigh National Caller from Ohio and our own Ron Brown will be calling. Mark Thone will be cueing. We will have a Graduate Parade for all new graduates since DOR 2024. The 2025 Daphne -Norma Leadership Award will be presented, the highest honor given in our square and round dance community. The Clubs received their DOR 2025 information in February and should be selling ribbons to their members. Ribbons are $10 until April 19th and $12 after April 19th.

  <h4>Free June Dance including Amateur Calling and Cuer Opportunities for our Dancers</h4>
  The Federation is happy to announce we are holding another Free June Dance on Friday, June 20, 2025 from 6:30 to 9:30pm at the VFW in Fairport. Last year this dance was so well attended, we are happy to be sponsoring another one this year. We are also asking any of our dancers who want try their skill as callers or cuers to join in the amateur calling and cueing fun and maybe win the roaring tiger award. Our beloved callers: Mike Callahan, Ron Brown & Jim Gotta will assist and guide our amateurs in preparing, just tell them now that you want to try calling or cueing at this June dance.

  <h4>Volunteer Opportunities</h4>
  Like our clubs, the Federation is a volunteer organization and we are looking for volunteers to help with our activities- we sponsor DOR annually, the New Years Eve Dance and now the recently added Free June Dance. We also help organize square dancing and western nights at several community events along with several promotional demos. We hold about 6 -7 Skype WNYF meetings and DOR meetings each year so everyone can participate from the comfort of their home. We have many opportunities for volunteers: the DOR Committee, or as a volunteer the day of DOR helping set up, clean up, or selling raffle tickets for the basket raffle or 50/50. We also need volunteers to join our Executive Board - If you are interested or know someone you think would be interested, please reach out to one of our officers:

  Co-Presidents &ndash; Debbie & Jeff Blood

  Vice President &ndash; Anne Granger

  Co-Treasurers &ndash; Donna & Rick LaDonna

  Secretary &ndash; Linda English

  We look forward to seeing you on dance floor!


articleid: 570
position: 1
type: text
content:
  What a fun evening tonight at Copy Cats Holiday Dinner Dance. 22 members of our Kitten Class joined in with our club members and guest dancers from Silver Squares, Cloverleaf Squares and Batavia Silver Stars. Following a delicious catered dinner, we had 9 squares dancing.


articleid: 571
position: 1
type: text
content:
  We welcomed 2025 dancing with our square &amp; round dance friends. Over 70 dancers (7 squares)  enjoyed dancing to Jim Gotta calling and cueing. Dancers from Cloverleaf&rsquo;s, Cayuga Cut-Ups, Silver Squares, Southern Tier Wheelers, Batavia Silver Stars and Copy Cats enjoyed the afternoon dance. 


articleid: 572
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Our annual Winter Wonderland Dance this afternoon was so much fun. We had 7 squares dancing. We enjoyed 15 class members joining us on the dance floor. (12 Copy Kittens & 3 from Cloverleaf Squares class). We had guest dancers from Batavia Silver Stars, Cloverleaf Squares and Cayuga Cut-Ups.


articleid: 573
position: 1
type: text
content:
  A few photos from Copy Cats Favorite Sports Team Night Dance. We had 6 squares dancing in their favorite sports attire. More than a square of our class members enjoyed the fun evening. 


articleid: 574
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Silver Squares hosted a 50&rsquo;s/Elvis Dance on January 27th. What a HIT! Ladies came in their poodle skirts, men with their shirt sleeves rolled up and lots of Elvis and 50&rsquo;s memorabilia decorated the dance hall.


articleid: 575
position: 1
type: text
content:
  Beverly Ann Bixby, 89, was born on August 6, 1935. She passed away silently, but comforted, on December 16, 2024. She celebrated her life with family, pets, music, and knitting. Her musical performances and knitting projects gained great admiration. She is pre-deceased by her husband of over 60 years, Rev. Charles H. Bixby. 

  Beverly played the flute and piccolo as a young woman and learned to play the dulcimer in later years, but her passion was piano and organ. She found ways to perform every day, whether at school rehearsals, choir practice, community theaters, church services, or weddings. She was known for her ability to ad-lib and vamp as necessary for school musicals, student solo accompanying, and choral performances. Beverly was sought out for her expertise with knitting, having created hundreds of sweaters and other knitted projects for herself, her family, as well as customers over her entire life. She was never far from a ball of yarn and her latest creations. She explored the gamut of what could be knitted and what could be incorporated into the project. She was always seen combining her talents by playing the organ in various churches while wearing elaborate knitted creations from sweaters to scarves. Beverly enjoyed many hours hiking in the woods at Tinker Park and feeding chickadees from her hand. She traveled long distances biking the hills of Henrietta touring the canals from Rochester out to Fairport. Beverly loved her assortment of pets, including parakeets (that she trained to speak), rabbits, cats, and even a tarantula and a parrot.

  Beverly is survived by her brother, Larry (Ernetta), as well as her four children, Brenda, Amy, Bryce (Jennifer), and Drew (Melissa) and four grandchildren, Rachel, Graham, Leo, and Kendall. 

  The family would like to express their thanks to all the skilled nursing level care staff at The Green House, St John's Community, whose compassionate life guidance welcomed Beverly the last years of her life. 

  Square Dance Memories: <br>
  Although Barbara was not a square dancer herself, she had a daughter, Brenda, who is an accomplished dancer in our square dance community. Most everyone knows Brenda and we want to extend to Brenda our sympathy on the death of her mother. Several dancers may remember Brenda&rsquo;s maternal grandparents, Myron and Peg Huss, Caller and Cuer of the Triggers for more than 25 years.  

  In lieu of flowers or gifts, Beverly's family would appreciate donations to help stroke research: 
  <a href="https://americanstroke.org/donate/ " target="_blank">American Stroke Foundation</a>

  The Celebration of Life is scheduled for Saturday, March 29, 2025 at Fairport United Methodist Church at 2:00pm with a reception immediately following.   The address is 31 West Church Street, Fairport, NY 14450.  Livestream Link (for those who cannot attend in person): To be provided approximately one week prior to the event. Reception (not Livestreamed) immediately following, same location. Parking: Parking is limited at the church, but is allowed on side streets (watch which side of the street to park), or a large parking lot, a three-minute walk from the church. Parking Lot, Potter Pl, Fairport, NY 14450, <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Parking+lot,+Potter+Pl,+Fairport,+NY+14450/@43.0978801,-77.4490898,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x89d1333544cbcbe5:0x972ef894ee9a908c!8m2!3d43.0978654!4d-77.4464426!16s%2Fg%2F11c19g498j?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDExNS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D" target="_blank">Potter Place</a>

  For more information, please go to <a href="https://sites.google.com/yellowkayak.org/beverlybixby" target="_blank"> Beverly Bixby</a>.


articleid: 576
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  Passed away on, January 14, 2025 at the age of 90.

  Predeceased by her sons, Robert, Richard and Kenneth Timmons; parents, George and Annabelle Berry; sisters, Florence and Katherine. She is survived by her children, Thomas (Tracey) Timmons, Shirley Timmons, Michael Timmons; grandchildren, great-grandchildren; sister, Arline (Larry) Gerdes; many nieces, nephews and cousins.

  Family received friends Friday, January 24th 11AM&ndash;1PM at New Comer Cremations &amp; Funerals, 2636 Ridgeway Avenue. Shirley&rsquo;s funeral service followed. Interment was at Riverside Cemetery. 

  In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to American Cancer Society in Shirley's memory. 

  Square Dance Memories:<br>
  Shirley loved to square dance. She was a member of Silver Squares, served on the Board and was Treasurer for many years.  


articleid: 577
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  Lititz, PA: Wednesday, January 8, 2025. Predeceased by his wife, Edith. Survived by his daughter, Bonnie (John) McClun of Lititz, PA; two grandchildren, Thomas (Colleen) Kulzer of Doylestown, PA, Susan Kulzer of Eugene, OR; five great-grand children, Claire and Elliot Kulzer, Timothy MacKenzie and Jacob Essin.

  William, as his mother always called him, grew up on a small family farm in Swain, NY. He was the 7th of 9 children of George and Laura Thomas. He tended the cows and pigs. He even dug the well for the house by hand. Maybe that was the beginning of his love of dirt. 

  Bill was an active businessman, friend to many, and devoted member of the Country Twirlers. He exemplified the definition of a work-aholic. His early career was as a mason contractor. He would point out a chimney, or house he had made when out driving. But, he loved his machinery, driving his dump trucks, changing the oil, digging holes and hauling dirt. Just spend 15 minutes with him and you heard at least 2 &ldquo;dirt&rduo; stories. He worked at least 50 - 60 hours a week most of his life. He was still doing what he loved through most of his eighties. 

  When not working he and his wife, Edith were active members of the Country Twirlers, square dance club. If the club planned a trip they were the first to sign up. Bill loved showing off his dance moves and the fancy hand embroidered shirts his wife and daughter made him over the years. He was very proud of the accomplishments of his daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and enjoyed sharing stories of them. 

  Family and friends visited at the Leo Bean and Sons Funeral Home, Saturday January 18th 11am&ndash;1pm, Funeral Service at 1pm in the funeral home. Interment, Grove Place Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions to The American Diabetes Association, 160 Allens Creek Rd., Rochester 14618.  

  Square Dance Memories:<br>
  From the Promenader April/May 2002: The Circle of Service Award is given to DANCERS ONLY who for three years or more have made significant contribution to the Square and Round Dance Community. On February 23, the Country Twirlers Square Dance Club awarded this award to Bill and Edith Thomas. Over the years, both Bill and Edith were Federation Reps, Membership Chairmen, Social Chairmen, Secretary and Publicity Chairmen (which included Promenader Reporter&hellip;writing news articles and submitting schedules for each issue), took charge of creating flyers, DOR Committee Planning Reps, and did absolutely anything to assist.  When Edith passed away, Bill attended the Cloverleaf Square Dance Club.

  From Ken and Kay Georger, Past Presidents of Country Twirlers:<br>
  &ldquo;Bill and Edith encouraged members to volunteer for refreshments, make assignments and very often filled in for someone who had signed up and at the last minute couldn&rsquo;t make the dance. But that&rsquo;s not all! They were always on hand early to help whenever we have any decorating to do. They never had to be asked to do anything. They know what needs to be done and they just do it.&rdquo;


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  Shirley M. Lenio, 88, of East Syracuse, passed away peacefully with her husband by her side on January 14, 2025 and went home to the Lord. Shirley was born in Portland, Ontario on May 9, 1936 to the late Albert and Edna Gile. Shirley retired from Allendale Board of Education in NJ and previously taught in Ottawa, Ontario for 10 years. Shirley started to travel at a young age eventually traveling to all seven continents. Her favorite form of travel was river cruises through Europe, and her last adventure was to travel to Antarctica completing her bucket list of travels. She was a master flower gardener and a very accomplished square dancer. She was a woman of faith, who belonged to Northside Baptist Church of Liverpool where she was involved with the Bible Studies and Senior activities. 

  She was preceded in death by her Son, William Alan Myers; husband, John Lenio; parents, Albert and Edna Gile. She is survived by her husband of 15 years, John Perry and her sister, Dorothy Mills of Kingston, Ontario. 

  Visitation took place on Thursday January 23rd from 3&ndash;5 PM at New Comer Cremations & Funerals with a service following at 5 PM. A celebration of Shirley&rsquo;s life will follow services at the Church of the Living Word at 6099 Court Street Road, Syracuse, NY 13206. 

  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Vera House at 723 James St, Syracuse, NY 13203. 

  To share a memory of Shirley or leave a special message for the family, please visit <a href="https://www.newcomersyracuse.com" target="_blank">New Comer Funerals</a>


articleid: 579
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  Silver Squares celebrated Thanksgiving  with an awesome feast! Our wonderful cooks and bakers brought in so much wonderful food. We celebrated our friendships and then danced the afternoon away. What a great way to spend a Monday afternoon!


articleid: 580
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  Silver Squares celebrated the holidays  with five squares of people dancing and socializing. We enjoyed a dinner catered by Forest Hills and an amazing array of desserts by our own bakers! Lots of dancing, lots of eating and lots of fun!


articleid: 581
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  Silver Squares had a Pajama Dance and what a hit!!  Club members came in a variety of awesome pajamas. We had a great  afternoon dancing!!


articleid: 582
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  Silver Squares Sports Dance was amazing! 4 squares of dancers dancing and 1 square of dancers visiting made for a fun afternoon. Everyone was chatting and eating and just having fun. Thank you Stu, Jane and Lena for setting up and thank you, Jim Gotta, for calling and cueing!


articleid: 583
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  The Circle of Service is a nationally recognized award given to a dancer or couple who for three or more years are determined to have made a significant contribution to the Square and Round Dance Community.  Congratulations to our dancing members who recently received the award:  

  <h4>Congratulations to Donna & Gary Etherton Co-Presidents of Waterwheel Squares.</h4>
  <br>
  On Oct 28th, Donna and Gary Etherton were awarded the Circle of Service Award at Waterwheel Squares square dance club. Following COVID, this award has been given to several leaders in our square dance community for their dedication and diligent efforts during and after COVID to bring the WNYF clubs back to the dance floor safely along with keeping dancing going in Western NY.  Donna & Gary's dedication to getting Waterwheel Squares back to the dance floor after COVID and other challenges the club faced has been outstanding. Today they continue to "go above and beyond" for their club.  

  <h4>Congratulations to Nancy Mirabal of Cloverleaf Squares and Dalton Gang.</h4>
  <br>
  On November 3rd, Nancy Mirabal was awarded the Circle of Service Award at Cloverleaf Squares. Nancy's dedication to square dancing has been outstanding. From her involvement with the Single Square Dance conventions in the past to her current hospitality functions at Cloverleaf Squares dances, special dinners, etc. You can always depend on Nancy to be present and support. You see Nancy helping at all the Federation and WNYF clubs promotional demos and events. Through her dedication and support, Nancy continues to make significant contributions to our square dance community.   

  <h4>Congratulations to Joann Baxter of Batavia Silver Stars and Silver Squares.</h4>
  <br>
  On November 5th Joann Baxter was awarded the Circle of Service Award at Batavia Silver Squares.  Joann&rsquo;s dedication to square dancing has been outstanding. For the 35 years she has been dancing, Joann angels all of us, new dancers and experienced dancers. She steps up to do whatever is necessary for all the dancers to succeed and have fun. She will dance the left-hand position whenever needed. She will sit out more than her fair share to be sure others are having fun. Many know Joann for her efforts collecting coupons for our troops. She has been collecting and processing coupons since 2010. As of 2024 her efforts amounted to $7 million dollars of coupons and a postage cost over $2,600, most of which she paid herself. Joann supports at least 2 clubs financially with her generous 50/50 purchases. For the Batavia Silver Stars Annual Name Tag Dance she bakes for days and then takes the day off from work so she can get her donations wrapped and to the dance on time.    

  <h4>Congratulations to all our well deserving recent award recipients!</h4>


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  Insurance must be provided each year for square dancers, protecting the dancers and the places where they dance. All WNYF Clubs are required to insure their club members. 
  <br><br> 
  The annual insurance period runs from January 1st to December 31st.
  <br><br> 
  The insurance process to be followed by with each WNYF club:   
  <ol start="1"> 
  <li>Submit a paper printed list of club members to the Insurance Coordinator each year by November 1st.</li>
  <br>
   <li>Club needs to provide their club&rsquo;s insurance contact name, email and phone number with the list of members.</li>
  <br>     
  <li>Club needs to provide list of names and addresses of the places where their dances will be held so a Certificate of Insurance can be issued for each location. Most dancing locations will require a current Certificate of Insurance to be on file for the club.  If additional dancing sites are added during the year, contact WNYF Insurance Coordinator to obtain additional Certificates of Insurance for the added sites.</li>
  <br>
  <li>The WNYF Insurance Coordinator contacts each club&rsquo;s insurance contact with the amount each club owes for insurance.  Each club is to issue a check made out to &ldquo;Western N Y Federation$rdquo; and mail it to our WNYF Insurance Coordinator by November 20th.</li>
  <br><br> 
  All the club&rsquo;s insurance checks are given to the WNYF Treasurer along with a summary sheet prepared by the WNYF Insurance Coordinator.  One check is submitted to USDA by the WNYF Treasurer for all WNYF clubs being insured, 
  <br><br> 
  <li>Each Club will receive their Certificate of Insurance for their dance locations in December for following calendar year.</li>
  <br>
  <li>Once any class member graduates and joins a WNYF club, the club they join needs to contact the WNYF Insurance Coordinator with a list of the new member names and a corresponding payment for the new member&rsquo;s insurance coverage for the rest of that year.</li>
  </ol>  
  <b>Insuring dancers belonging to more than one club:</b> <br> 
  Since many of our dancers belonging to more than one club, the WNYF Insurance Coordinator needs to create the list of dancers belonging to more than one club and determine how to distribute the insurance costs fairly among the clubs for these dancers.
   <br><br> <b>NOTE:</b>  Each dancer needs to be paid for by only one WNYF club. 
  <br><br> <b>Insuring Class Members</b> <br> <b>Class members are insured without cost for 9 months provided the WNYF clubs offering lessons follow these procedures:</b> 
  <ol>
  <li>Clubs offering classes need to submit 2 copies of their list of class members by Oct. 15th.  The club needs to indicate class start date and proposed graduation date. The USDA List form is available on the WNYF website:  <a href="https://www.squaredancingrochester.org/formsanddocuments.html" target="_blank">Forms And Documents</a> </li>
  <br>   
  <li>If there are any new class members added after October 15th, contact Insurance Coordinator with their name.</li> 
  <br>
  <li>Once a class member has graduated and becomes a club member; the club needs to submit the dancers name and a payment for the dancer insurance coverage for the remainder of the year.</li> 
  </ol>
  <br> <b>Please direct any questions pertaining to insurance to our WNYF Insurance Coordinator:</b> <br><br> Carol Ann Stahl<br> 
  Phone Number:  585-533-9241<br> 
  Email:  stahlsinrush@rochester.rr.com<br> 
  Mailing Address:350 Fishell Road, Rush N. Y. 14543
  <br> <br> Addition insurance information including the filling accident reports and additional insurance forms are available on the WNYF website:  <a href="https://www.squaredancingrochester.org/formsanddocuments.html" target="_blank">Forms And Documents</a>


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content:
  On Sunday, March 30th, Carl was awarded the Circle of Service Award, a nationally recognized award given to a dancer or couple who for three or more years are determined to have made a significant contribution to the Square and Round Dance Community. For Cloverleafs, as corresponding secretary, Carl prepares all the flyers, created a monthly newsletter to keep all the members updated on dances, club activities and Federation events.  He is the webmaster for Cloverleaf&rsquo;s website.  As far as the Federation, Carl was on the team for more than a year that redesigned the Federation website.  He provides pictures for the Federation website and formerly the Promenader.  He is the &ldquo;go to&rdquo; person for researching archived square dance history for the Federation.  Recently Carl taught a group of home-schooled teenagers how to square dance.


