| Executive Board: | Co-Presidents: Debbie & Jeff Blood |
| Vice President: Anne Granger |
| Co-Treasures: Donna & Rick LaDonna |
| Secretary: Linda English |
| Promotions Coordinator: vacant |
| Insurance: | Carol Ann Stahl |
| Contracts: | Sharon Meyer |
| WNYF website: | Sidney Marshall |
| Jim Gotta |
| Carl Webster |
| Promenader: | Editor: Peter Emmel |
| Assistant: Donna LaDonna |
| Dance Schedules: Bonnie Allen |
| Club/Class: Sharon Meyer |
| Club News: Leon Smith |
| Proof Readers: Peter Emmel, Jim Gotta, Sidney Marshall, Sharon Meyer, Susan Thomas, Carl Webster |
| WNYF Facebook: | Debbie Blood |
| Jim Gotta |
| DOR Committee | Co-Chairs: Debbie & Jeff Blood |
| Linda English Anne Granger Lorraine & Gary Granath
Donna & Rick LaDonna Sharon Meyer Don Naulin
Mary Jo & David Webster |
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’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!
Debbie & Jeff Blood
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Headline: Copy Cats Ugly Sweater Dance 12/2/2023
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 & Tom Chrzanowski were given their 80-year
dangles. Mary Jo & 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.
Submitted by Jeff and Debbie Blood
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Nay Jacobson Joins Ron Brown in Singing Calls 12/5/2023
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, “She’s a natural!”
Submitted by Jeff and Debbie Blood
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Copy Cats Holiday Dinner 12/16/2023
The Copy Cat’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.
Submitted by Jeff and Debbie Blood
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Third Annual Co-Sponsored New Years Eve Dance 12/31/2023
Everyone enjoyed the 2023 New Year’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!
Submitted by Jeff and Debbie Blood
----------------------
Copy Cats New Year’s Dance 1/6/2024
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 & Lynn for coordinating the extra help for the
dance.
Submitted by Jeff and Debbie Blood
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Copy Cats Winter Wonderland Afternoon Class-Club Dance 1/20/2024
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’s and Lisa
Treichler’s calling and cueing.
Submitted by Jeff and Debbie Blood
------------------------
Copy Cats Mardi Gras Dance with Hip Boot Boys 2/3/24
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 & Greg Marling) and Chuck Meyer cueing.
Submitted by Jeff and Debbie Blood
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Editor’s Message—Spring, 2024
Welcome to the Spring, 2024, issue of the Promenader, a quarterly
publication of the Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers,
Inc (WNYF).
In this issue
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’s Eve
Dance; their own New Year’s dance on January 6; their Winter
Wonderland Dance on January 20 (organized and decorated by their
“Kittens” Mainstream Class); and their Mardi Gras Dance with the Hip
Boot Boys on February 3.
The Copy Cats’ 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.
Leadership Award
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 “mechanics” of your club—and of the WNY
Federation.
Jeff and Debbie Blood have put together an excellent summary
presenting the WNY Federation—what it is, what it does and how
dancers can help.
COVID
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—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’s Forms and Documents page, where you will find it in
section #7.
Club News
News from our clubs this quarter indicates a continued return to
normal dancing, with the expansion of traditional dances 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
Happily, in this issue we have no obituaries!
Editorial Comments
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.
Quarterly Chuckle
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: “Airbus, boring
flight, isn’t it? Now have a look here!”
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: “Well, how was that?”
The Airbus pilot answers: “Very impressive but watch this!”
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, “Well, how was that?”
Confused, the jet pilot asks, “What did you do?”
The Airbus pilot laughs and says: “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.”
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When you’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. …Slower, Older, Smarter.
It applies to a lot of situations that I find myself in these days.
I’m trying to apply it to my own life, but it’s been “slow” going.
Peter Emmel, Editor