Amateur Nights are a lot of fun for all, and they provide a safe opportunity for anyone with even a small urge to try their voice at calling or cueing.

On April 22, the Cloverleaf Squares held their 2018 Amateur Caller Night. Dancers came from multiple clubs to dance and cheer for six brave amateurs, all of whom did an outstanding job.

To spice it up this time, the club added a competitive twist. After all the amateurs performed, a panel of judges deliberated over who did the best.

The 2018 amateurs, in order of appearance, were:

• Marie Gorse (Cloverleaf Squares)
• Peter Emmel (Village Squares)
• David Yates (Village Squares)
• Henry Capron (Cloverleaf Squares)
• Evan Desmitt (Cloverleaf Squares)
• Judy Schoonmaker (Cloverleaf Squares)

Professionals Mike Callahan and Mark Thone kept the crowd moving between performances. The judges decided in favor of Evan Desmitt, who took home the ferocious “Roarin’ Tiger” prize presented by MC Henry Capron.

Thanks to all who participated—both behind and in front of the microphone—and stay tuned for the return of the tiger in another couple of years.

Submitted by Peter Emmel
Photos by Carl Webster

Dance-O-Rama, the Rochester area’s annual festival of square & round dancing, is always a very special event. Not only does it bring together dancers from miles around, but it’s also an opportunity for new Mainstream graduates from each club to meet the rest of the dance community.

At this spring gathering, we also raise money to fund continued recruitment by RAF member clubs through the annual basket raffle, and we present dancing’s highest awards. The 2018 edition of Dance-O-Rama continued the tradition, with a marvelous staff of callers and cuers, an impressive lineup of club baskets, a parade of new dancers and three rooms of dancing. Oh, I almost forgot … dinner and ice cream!

This year’s music, calls and cues were provided by Gary Bubel, Mike Callahan, Dave Eno, Keith Harter, Jeanne Carter and Mary Hinkle. Sidney Marshall organized the traditional “Open Mic” session. Optional dinner was served by Otto Tomotto’s, and Ice cream was served by Warren Olson and Jim Gotta.

The parade of 31 graduates came from six clubs and showed off not only their new-found dancing skills but also their enthusiasm. Total attendance was 241, which virtually matched last year’s count. The basket raffle raised $818 for the dancer recruitment fund.

The 2018 club participation award was received by Rick & Donna LaDonna on behalf of The Copy Cats. Peter and Sally Emmel (Village Squares) were presented with the Circle of Service Award by Sally Baechle, and the Daphne-Norma Leadership Award was presented to Stu and Jane Jones (Belles ’N’ Beaus), who were welcomed by the traditional lineup of previous recipients.

It was a gorgeous day, possibly the first day of real spring this year, and we’re already looking forward to next year!

Submitted by Peter Emmel
Photos by Jet Thomas

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 Dancing classes at clubs in our Federation.

Many established dancers already know our new dancers—from serving as class angels or from the season’s many “class/club” dances. But the annual parade at DOR is their official welcome into the Rochester-area dancing community.

The June Promenader issue is our opportunity to congratulate and welcome all 31 of this year’s graduates by name. We encourage you all to continue dancing throughout the summer and return in the fall to expand your circle of dancing friends. In particular we look forward to seeing you at the Fall Friendship Ball on September 29th in Henrietta.

2018 Square Dance Graduates:

Batavia Silver Stars

Barb Blemel
Diane Burroughs
Ron Burroughs
Rhonda Huppe
Marcia Makrigiannis

Belles ’N’ Beaus

Cathie Dromgold
Ladd Dromgold
Domenica (Dee) Gustke
Bill Wells

Cloverleaf Squares

Evan Desmitt
Joanne Everts
Frank Grossman
Pam Grossman
Sarah Rossiter
Bobbie Schere
Bill Wells
Mimi Wilson
Phil Wilson
Ed France
Tammy Tackling

Copy Cats

Dave Collins
Laurie Collins
Evan Desmitt
Domenica (Dee) Gustke
Donna Kongerslev
Jorgen Kongerslev
Donna Kramer
Jolanta Mokrzan
Tom Mokrzan
Deborah Vincent

Fulton Shirts ’N’ Skirts

Katie Kelley

Silver Squares

Alice Estes
Iona Horst
Kuehn Horst

Submitted by: Jim Gotta & Peter Emmel
Photos by Carl Webster

On May 5, at Dance-O-Rama 2018, Bob and Alice Hager, the 2017 Daphne-Norma Leadership Award recipients, passed on this prestigious award to Stu and Jane Jones, from the Belles ’N’ Beaus. Stu and Jane have been quietly and consistently promoting square dancing and square dancers for many, many years. They are excellent dancers themselves, but they never hesitate to jump into any square, setting an example of calm and patience for all to follow.

During this past year, 2017 recipients, Bob and Alice have also been outstanding ambassadors for square dancing. In addition to being presidents of their own club, The Belles and Beaus, they have attended dances around the area, carrying the familiar Candy Dish to encourage dancers to submit nominations for the next year.

You can download the nomination form and read about this award by clicking HERE. Nominations are kept on file and accumulate and build the ‘case’ for each nominee. It’s never too early or too late to nominate a worthy candidate.

Following are excerpts from the text of the introduction that Bob and Alice presented at the Dance-O-Rama 2018 award ceremony:

“Welcome everyone to the 60th DOR … especially to this year’s graduates. Square dancing opens up a whole new opportunity to ‘dance in a square and make a new circle of friends.’

“Tonight we will make a presentation that has a long history—a 41-year tradition. For those who are not familiar with the Daphne-Norma Leadership award, it was 1977 when John Fink and Frank Salvagio got together for the purpose of creating a leadership award for the Rochester area, in honor of their wives, Daphne and Norma. The purpose of the award is to show appreciation and recognition for extensive and sustained leadership over an extended period of time in square dancing, round dancing, line dancing or contra dancing. And so, the Daphne-Norma Leadership Award was born.

“Thank you to all who submitted the many nominations for the 2018 award. The Selection Committee read them all, and the decision was unanimous.

“This year’s DAPHNE-NORMA LEADERSHIP AWARD will go to a couple who have been dancing for nearly thirty years and still dance several times every week.

“This couple demonstrates leadership strengths and caring social qualities that they exude to other dancers. They socialize & dance with ALL dancers—not just those who dance ‘well.’ They are perfect ‘angels’ offering a warm and sincere hand of friendship to all who walk in the door. They never have a negative thing to say … always so positive.

“They are the most dedicated two people, are always stepping up to assist in every way they can. Somehow, they seem to be tuned in to spontaneous needs like driving members to and from dances when they are no longer able to drive. They are always first to donate to a cause when their club does community service projects, social events and demos. Their spirit of helping and supporting just gets stronger year after year. Their club participates in demos for nursing homes, assisted living facilities, schools, 4H, and wherever they can and this couple never misses a beat—they are the first to volunteer and always with exemplary enthusiasm. The enthusiasm they demonstrate is a true inspiration to others.

“This couple has held many, many, offices throughout the years: Social Directors—5 years; Treasurer—1 year; Presidents—2 years; Federation Reps—14 years. They are current members of Belles ’N’ Beaus and Boo Bull Squares and Treasurers of the Federation.

“They are a quiet, big-hearted, gentle couple with a giant passion for square dancing, who represent the grass roots heart of dancing. They are most worthy of this award.

“It is with great pride and personal pleasure that we introduce the square dancers’ ambassadors of the year, Stu and Jane Jones.”

Photos by Jet Thomas

Awesome!!! That’s all that can be said about the preparation for and participation in this year’s Dance-O-Rama Basket Raffle, which raised $818 for the RAF Dancer Recruitment and Retention fund!

Basket themes ranged from a Flower Basket to a Mystery Basket. I know that most who put their tickets in for the Mystery Basket would love to hear about its contents from that winner! Every year we think the creativity can’t possibly get better and every year it does.

Thanks to all the clubs who donated baskets and to the dancers who bought tickets. To let you know who claimed the basket your clubs so generously donated, the winners are listed below.

Basket	Winner	Club
Batavia Silver Stars	Eileen McGarigle	Belles ’N’ Beaus
Belles And Beaus	Ladd Dromgold	Belles ’N’ Beaus
Cayuga Cut-Ups	Henry Capron	Cloverleaf Squares
Cloverleaf Squares	John Corman	Belles ’N’ Beaus
Copy Cats	Russ Green	Copy Cats
Dalton Gang	Don Jermyn	Copy Cats
Friendship Squares	Tom Mokrzon	Copy Cats
Grand Squares	Joyce McNutt	Batavia Silver Stars
Shirts and Skirts	Chuck Meyer	Cloverleaf Squares
Silver	Squares Joy Bookmiller	Batavia Silver Stars
Village Squares	David Webster	Copy Cats
Waterwheel Squares	Melissa Frendak	Cayuga Cut-Ups

Thanks to everyone for a successful basket raffle.

Submitted by Barb Green
Photos by Jet Thomas

On May 7, the Belles ’N’ Beaus celebrated Stu and Jane Jones receipt of the Daphne-Norma award. The celebration included a march, music, a reading of the actual presentation, flowers, cake and ice cream.

Submitted by Alice Hager

Our class of four new dancers graduated Monday, April 30, with all the graduates being led into the room and passing between two facing lines of club members with raised arms to form a bridge.

This was followed by a candle lighting ceremony for the elements of square dancing (Friendliness, Duty, Democracy, Fun).

Diplomas, flowers and balloons were presented to each of the graduates. Following the ceremony, we celebrated with an Ice Cream Social and ‘graduate’ cupcakes.

Submitted by Alice Hager

At the May meeting of the Rochester Area Federation of Western Round and Square Dance Clubs, the RAF leadership welcomed a new slate of officers.

President Jim Gotta (Cloverleaf Squares) has agreed to continue in office another year, so he passed the RAF gavel to himself.

The other RAF officers for the 2018–19 dance season are Jeff & Debbie Blood (Copy Cats), succeeding Henry Capron (Cloverleaf Squares) as vice president, Stu Jones (Belles ’N’ Beaus) serving a second term as treasurer, and Gary Granath (Copy Cats & Village Squares) who takes over from acting Secretary Carl Webster (Cloverleaf Squares). Rounding out the team is Eileen Webster (Cloverleaf Squares) who has agreed to serve in the newly created post of Communications Liaison. Also, Carol Ann Stahl (Grand Squares)and Sharon Meyer, will continue as insurance coordinators.

The new team takes over leadership of a Federation that has a lot of positive momentum toward its mission of promoting interest in square and round dancing in the Rochester area. Finances are strong and a forward-looking program is in place to support recruitment efforts by member clubs and to promote inter-club relations.

The following are all active RAF programs:

• Reimbursement For New Dancer Advertising Expenses (up to $60 per club per calendar year).
• Grant program For New Dancer Recruitment And Dancer Retention Efforts (up to $125 per event).
• Promotional “Learn To Square Dance” yard signs with club/class contact information.
• Free Dance—Fall Friendship Ball, with catered meal optional at reasonable cost.
• Willingness to underwrite potential losses by member clubs hiring (expensive) out-of-town callers.
• Annual Dance-O-Rama in May to welcome new graduates and cap off the dance season with an all-day festival of dancing, and a gift basket raffle to fund some of the above programs.
• Support for the RAF website and Promenader, the official newsletter of the Federation.

Further information on the above programs, including downloadable forms, may be found by clicking HERE for the Federation’s online “Documents and Forms” page.

RAF meetings are held each month except June, July, August and December. Every club is encouraged to send a representative to these meetings, to promote open communications between clubs and the Federation leadership.

If your club does not send a representative to RAF meetings, then you should consider volunteering to become that rep. It’s the best way to make your ideas and concerns known to the people who care most about the vitality of square and round dance clubs in our area.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to the RAF officers, and to the many others who make things work at the RAF, including Sidney Marshall (webmaster), Peter Emmel (Promenader editor), Sally Baechle (USDA rep), and the club representatives who attend meetings and whose input helps shape RAF programs.

Submitted by Peter Emmel

When an event you are planning to attend is canceled, and you aren’t on the mailing or calling list of the sponsor, how can you find out about the change?

If you are the sponsor of an event and need to get the word out about a change or cancellation, how can you reach folks who are not on your list?

The most obvious places to post and look are your club’s web page and the RAF Facebook page “Square Dancing Rochester.”

But now there’s an additional option on the RAF Home Page, to reach folks who are not Facebook users or who would rather make just one click to check for announcements before heading out to a special event.

In April, we added a new feature to the RAF home page. It’s heading is “Breaking News,” and it’s located just below the “Buttons” section and above the “Open Houses” section.

The purpose of this section is to carry announcements whose timeframe is more immediate than the normal quarterly Promenader publication cycle. We hope this will serve as a useful additional location for clubs to announce event cancellations, changes and reminders—a supplement to postings on club pages and Facebook.

To get your announcement posted in the new “Breaking News” section, send it in the form of an email to RAF Webmaster, Sidney Marshall. His address is sidneym@frontiernet.net

He’ll post the announcement as quickly as he can, and send you an acknowledgement when it’s up. It will stay posted until the event is past.

It’s also wise to post your announcement on the RAF Facebook Group page, at “Square Dancing Rochester” (Click HERE [facebook account required]).

Submitted by Peter Emmel and Sidney Marshall

Did you ever wonder what was in the first printed Promenader (dated October 1962)? Or in the last Promenader (dated Sep, Oct, Nov 2014)? Or when some of your favorite callers started to call? Now you can find out. Discerning surfers of the Federation website may already have noticed that old paper issues of the Promenader are appearing on the Federation website. It will take some time but eventually all of the paper issues of the Promenader will make their way to the website. You can track the progress of the scanning project by going to the history tab under the federation part of the website.

Because of the generosity of Dick Halstead I now have an almost complete set of the printed Promenader. You can see the stacks of Promenaders in the photo. I am currently in the process of scanning them in and putting the scanned images up on the Federation website. The issues are sorted by year and month and not by volume number and issue number. I am currently missing issues Feb 1982, April 1992, April 2010, June 2010, and February 2013. Please contact me if you have copies of these issues and are willing to let me scan them.

The hardest part of the project is removing the staples so that an issue can be scanned. Does anyone have a use for hundreds of used staples?

The other photo is my computer setup with three screens attached to two computers and the scanner/printer on the right. This is also where the Promenader is assembled every three months. I keep several mirrors of the website in case the website loses information. If anyone wants to be a backup webmaster contact me at the sidneym@frontiernet.net mail address or webmaster@squaredancingrochester.org.

Browsing through the old issues you can see the number of clubs get greater and watch as some of the old-time callers get started. There are also callers who are no longer calling that make their appearance. It is also interesting to see the postage go from 3 cents to 4 cents to 5 cents before being mailed with a postal permit. So take a trip down memory lane and browse through these old Promenaders and see how square dancing has changed through the years.

Please let me know if there are any problems. I can rescan particularly bad pages or issues if you point them out to me. I also welcome any suggestions for improvements.

Submitted by Sidney Marshall

The Rochester Area Federation of Round and Square Dancing is moving its Fall Friendship Ball to Henrietta this year. Scheduled for September 29, 2018, this multi-club event combines an afternoon of dancing with a catered dinner. It’s an opportunity for dancers to renew acquaintances with those from other clubs, and to welcome recent graduates to a new dance season.

This year we’re introducing a silent auction, to raise money for the Federation’s Recruitment and Retention funds that support club initiatives in our area.

Mark your calendar for September 29, then pick up a flyer at your club (or click HERE to print your own). Then clip & send the dinner reservation coupon to RAF treasurer Stu Jones at the address on the coupon. The dance is free, and thanks to Sharon Meyer’s negotiating skills, the dinner is $15 per person. The location is the Henrietta Fire Hall, at 3129 E. Henrietta Rd., Henrietta, NY.

2x2 square and round dancing starts at 2pm, with callers Dave Eno, Bill Ryan and Richard Rosenfield, and cuers Lisa Treichler and Eileen Webster. At 5:15 we’ll set up tables for dinner, which will be served at 6pm.

Check the flyer for other details, and for the dinner reservation coupon to mail in with your check. Note that the reservation deadline is 9/20/18—but please don’t wait that long! Make your reservation now, while you’re thinking about it.

This is a perfect event for your club’s recent graduates—even if they did not attend Plus classes in the summer. Reach out to them and invite them to join you at this dance & dinner. Think of it as a “welcome back” to start a new season of socializing and dancing.

Silent Auction

The silent auction is a new twist this year, coordinated by Sharon Meyer. Its purpose is to raise funds that will go back to clubs in the form of reimbursement for their efforts to recruit and retain more dancers. (Click HERE for a description of the RAF reimbursement programs that your club is invited to participate in.)

In preparation for the auction we must collect donated items. A sign-up sheet will be provided to each club. Think about what you would like to donate, then list it on the sheet, providing a description of the item and an estimate of its value. On the back of the sign-up sheet we have listed a few ideas, but please use your imagination. If you can’t get to a club to sign up, please contact Sharon Meyer at 585-924-8792 or email her at shargmeyer@gmail.com.

Please take a picture of your item and send it or give it to Sharon Meyer by September 7, 2018, so that she can make a list and circulate it to all clubs before the dance. Please include an estimate of the value of the item.

Here are a few suggestions to get you started thinking: Homemade pie, homemade greeting cards, days or a week at your camp, knit sweater, ceramic dish, wooden magazine rack, framed picture, wreath, homemade dinner for two, etc!

Dinner Reservations

There’s no better group to share dinner with than square dancers! This year’s menu includes: Roast Beef, Roast Turkey, Oven Roasted Potatoes, Ziti with Red Meat Sauce, Hot vegetables and Garden Salad. All for $15.00 per person. Please contact RAF Treasurer, Stu Jones, with your dinner reservation. Call him at 585-544-4142 or email him at: sjones102@rochester.rr.com, and send your check to him at the address on the flyer coupon.

Flyers will be available at your club and on the RAF website (Click HERE). All the important details are listed on the flyer.

Graduate-Friendly Dancing

Please remember the Fall Friendship Ball is a NEW-GRADUATE-FRIENDLY DANCE. What does that mean? All dancers who graduated in the past year will be able to dance at this event. So, new dancers—you know who you are—please make every effort to attend. Not only will you dance, but you will meet new people, dance to a variety of callers and it will be Fun, Fun, Fun. Established dancers, please take the initiative to personally invite the new dancers in your club to attend this dance. We look forward to seeing you there.

Submitted by Warren Olson & Peter Emmel