Editor’s Page

Welcome to the Winter, 2023, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers, Inc (WNYF).

In this issue

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’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—but not before one final fling on October 26.

It was a busy fall for WNYF demos and promotions—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‘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 “mechanics” of your club—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—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’s Forms and Documents page, where it is in section #7.

Club News

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

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. So, there’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 “Breaking News” to go on the WNYF home page (squaredancingrochester.org).

And clubs should also consider posting their news on the “SquareDancingRochester” group Facebook page.

In Memoriam

In this issue, we say fond farewells to far too many dancers, including Sal Tripi, Frank Taccone, Chuck Day, Carl Thomas and Gil Porter.

Editorial Comments

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.

Quarterly Chuckle

Wit and Wisdom:

“By the time a man realizes his father was right, he has a son who thinks he’s wrong.”

• Clergyman Charles Wadsworth, quoted in The Knowledge

“There is no heavier burden than a great potential.”

• Charles M. Schultz, quoted in the Longmont, CO, Times-Call

“I am always ready to learn, though I do not always like being taught.”

• Winston Churchill, quoted in Finance Feeds

I hope you enjoy this issue of the Promenader!

Peter Emmel, Editor