Answering the call to help promote interest in square dance calling, the Cloverleafs are reviving their long tradition of Amateur Caller Nights—with a new twist: Now, there’s a prize!

This will certainly be a fun evening for all, capped off when the new “Roarin’ Tiger” trophy will be awarded to the most entertaining amateur.

Volunteer amateur callers and cuers should register by sending their information to Henry Capron (hankaroo1 at yahoo) before March 25th, 2018. Please include: Your name, your phone number and the tune(s) you will be performing, and the media & format of your music. Don’t hesitate to enlist an established caller or cuer to help you with music!

Even for those who have no plans to ever become a caller, it’s a lot of fun to get up and participate in these events—even as a perennial amateur.

Dancers, let’s make a strong showing in support of this dance! It’s in the best interest of all dancers to bring encouragement to anyone who has even a slight inclination to try calling.

Mark your calendar for April 22, and make it a priority to attend. The dance will be held at the Cloverleafs normal hall (First Baptist Church, 3182 Chili Avenue), starting at 7pm and running until 9:15. Print out the flyer from the online dance schedule and put it on your fridge.

Submitted by Peter Emmel

Nominations for the next Daphne-Norma Leadership Award are due right now. The 2018 award will be presented in May, at the next Dance O Rama. Nominations for this award are technically due on March 1st, but selection for this important award is a cumulative process. Nominations are held over into future years and can accumulate to build a compelling case for “your” nominee. So, please don’t hesitate!

If there is someone whose consistent service to square dancing in your club or in the wider dancing community has caught your attention, please make a note of it on a copy of the Daphne-Norma Nomination Form (Click HERE) and get it to Bob and Alice Hager. If that’s too much trouble, simply send an email to rhager2@rochester.rr.com with the following information:

Nominee’s Name(s)

Your reasons for nominating them

Your name and club affiliation

Your email address and phone number

It’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 in our area. 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 all appreciate and want to recognize through this award.

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 and their contribution.

You don’t have to know their life history. Just present what you do know and what you have observed. Most likely, others will be able to fill in missing information.

Every single nomination is very important, so please don’t think that what you have to say doesn’t matter! It boils down to this: Who do YOU feel should receive the leadership award, and why?

All nominations are saved and reviewed by the Selection Committee every year, so no nomination is ever wasted. The committee is made up of the recipients from the past three years, plus two permanent members who are also past recipients. If there are no compelling nominees, the committee as the option of skipping the award in any given year.

Please open the on-line “Awards” information page HERE to learn more about the Award, and to put together your nomination of deserving dancers!

Submitted by Peter Emmel

Rochester’s winter weather may not be as reliable as we’d all like, but you can always count on the Copy Cats’ Snowflake Ball. The 2018 edition was held on January 20, and as you can see from Jet Thomas’s photos, a good time was had by all!

It looks like they even had fun putting up and taking down the snowflakes.

Photo credit: Jet Thomas

The Village Squares enjoyed an evening with visiting caller Bill Ryan at the end of January.

Bill is the club caller for the Batavia Silver Stars and the Waterwheel Squares—“out west” as we Rochesterians tend to think of geography.

It was great to have Bill so far east, and it will be no surprise if he’s invited back! It was a wonderful evening and there were many positive comments about his selection of tunes.

Submitted by Peter Emmel

If you’ve been lucky enough to dance with the Village Squares on a night when Jackie and Royce Rogers are on snack duty, then you know what I mean when I say that square dancers eat well!

I’m not sure how this nearly back-to-back timing worked out for Jackie and Royce, but in a bit of scheduling delight for dancers they laid out their wonderfully fanciful spreads on January 26 (AntiFREEze Dance) and on February 14 (Valentine’s Day Dance).

The photos speak for themselves. Everything—the cookies, the jello, the tomatoes, the sausage and even the shrimp—was hearts on Valentine’s Day, and the “flower” arrangements both nights were consumable! Yum!!

Submitted by Peter Emmel

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