On Facebook in mid-May someone indicated that USDA (United Square Dancers of America) required everyone to be vaccinated to dance. The post was NOT from the National USDA that insures our dancers. It turns out, that post pertained to square dancing in California and their Dept of Public Health regulations.

As a result of that post, Carol Ann Stahl reached out to her insurance contact at USDA, to verify any guidelines being issued by them. She received the official “3/20/21 Coronavirus Letter” from USDA, which is available on the USDA.org website via this link: (http://www.usda.org/USDA_Miscellaneous/Coronavirus_Lletter_03-20-21.pdf). Copy and paste this link into your favorite browser.

At this time, we believe the guidelines prepared by Anne & Don of Silver Squares and Mary & Phil of Copy Cats on behalf of the Federation’s Return to Dance Task Force were well prepared and complete. We plan to use them for the Federation Summer Fun Dances. (Copy Cats samples included here)

To date, we are aware that the following clubs are currently dancing with members only:

Cayuga Cut Ups (Sundays in Auburn—Ron Brown)

Copy Cats (Tuesdays in Penfield—Ron Brown)

Dalton Gang (Tuesdays in Castile—Ray Tompkins)

Shamrock Squares (Tuesdays in Henrietta—Mike Callahan)

Silver Squares (Mondays in Greece—Mike Callahan)

Club leaders, please remember to work with Carol Ann Stahl for your insurance questions. Her email address is: stahlsinrush@rochester.rr.com

It is so nice to start in-person dancing again.

We hope to see you on the dance floor!

Take Care,

Debbie & Jeff

Debbie & Jeff Blood

Federation plans for the summer of 2021 include three Free Summer Fun Dances in June and July, and the “DORish” Dance in August! All are being held on Saturdays in open-air facilities. Local and CDC guidelines will be followed.

All area dancers are welcome. The format will be “fun dancing” so we encourage recent graduates to join the fun! Regardless of whether your club has re-started yet, these dances will help clear the cobwebs and get us all moving to the music again.

June 5th - 3:00–4:30 pm, with Jim Gotta Calling & Cueing Greece Methodist Church Pavilion, 1924 Maiden Lane, Rochester NY 14626

June 19th - 3:00–4:30pm, with Mike Callahan Calling & Cueing Greece Methodist Church Pavilion, 1924 Maiden Lane, Rochester NY 14626

July 17th - 3:00–5:00pm, with Ron Brown & Dave Eno Calling and Chuck Meyer Cueing Perinton Park Pavilion, 99 O’Connor Rd, Fairport, NY 14450

For these Free Summer Fun Dances, dancers should bring their own bottled water and snacks. We will have some bottled water on hand but no snacks will be provided. Seating is in the form of picnic tables, so if you want more support, please bring your own lawn chairs. See the Free Summer Dance Flyer posted in the Flyer pages.

Save the date for the “DORish” Dance on Saturday afternoon and evening, August 21st. This dance is intended as a partial substitute for the two Dance-O-Rama events that we missed due to the COVID interruption. We are planning a full day of dancing in an open-air facility along with a buffet dinner. More information on the “DORish” Dance Program and Dinner will be distributed soon.

It is so nice to start in-person dancing again. We hope to see you on the dance floor!

Debbie & Jeff Blood

Perhaps you noticed changes to the logo on our home page, or maybe you saw it on our Facebook page. No? Well, look again!

The Rochester Area Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs has completed the process of re-incorporating as the Western New York Federation of Square and Round Dancers Inc. Our filing for tax exempt status as a 501(c) (3) organization has been submitted to the IRS.

There has been no change in the mission or operation of the Federation. The new name is still a mouthful, so we‘ll be using “WNYF” for short.

On April 8, 2021, the slate of officers for the coming season was elected, with a couple of open seats:

President  —Jeff & Debbie Blood

Vice President—Open

Secretary—Linda English

Treasurer—Rick & Donna LaDonna

Promotions Coordinator—Open

Other non-elected positions include:

Insurance Coordinator—Carol Ann Stahl

Callers Co-Op Rep—Mike Callahan

Webmaster—Sidney Marshall (with understudy, Rick LaDonna)

Promenader Editor—Peter Emmel

The openings are opportunities for you to step up and lend a hand to the folks who help keep dancing organized in our community. The WNYF board meets with club representatives roughly every two months, to plan Federation-sponsored events and address issues and opportunities in the dancing community.

It‘s a fine group of people who would love to have you join them. Please consider volunteering, if not for one of the open positions, then maybe as your club’s representative at WNYF meetings.

Peter Emmel

The Copy Cats resumed dancing in May 2021. As you can see from the photos, we are happy to be back :-)

At each dance, from 3 to 5 squares have taken the floor. Ron Brown is doing a great job leading us through a mainstream refresher program designed to dust off the mental cobwebs. Folks have not hesitated to take the floor and give it a try. Amazingly enough, we all remember quite a bit! Although the occasional call does evoke some “deer in the headlight” facial expressions, followed by laughter and helpful instructions.

Since all participating dancers are COVID vaccinated, we are taking advantage of the recently revised NYS regulations that allow dancing without masks. Also, vaccinated dancers from other clubs can now join the fun as capacity limits for indoor social gatherings have been relaxed.

Copy Cats dancing will continue on Tuesday evenings in June at First Baptist Church Penfield. See you in a square!!

Mary Martin

Photo credit:Jet Thomas

Virtual Dancing

The Pandemic Squares will probably continue virtual square dancing via Zoom through the summer, on Wednesdays at 8pm. Contact Brenda Bixby, Gil Porter or Dave Eno for details.

We hear that Dave Eno is starting a weekly Zoom VSD session with Canadian caller Dave Hutchinson (Quinte Twirlers). These will be Plus and Advanced level dances at 7:30 on Thursdays. Contact Dave Eno at dave@daveeno.com.

DORish Dance, August 21

Maybe you‘re mystified by this odd-looking name for a dance. Maybe you have COVID-brain from too many months indoors, and missing two Dance-O-Rama festivals has caused you to forget about them. May of 2020 and 2021 have both passed without our area‘s spring square and round dancing festival, the traditional DOR.

To partially offset those losses, the WNYF is planning an event that will have some of the flavor of Dance-O-Rama ... DOR-ish. All area dancers are welcome, the venue (Barnard, on Maiden Lane) is semi-outdoors, and offers a buffet if we have enough people. Plans are still in progress, but hopefully some of the features of our traditional DOR will be included. Mark your calendar now for August 21, and stay tuned for details!

Who‘s dancing as of June 1st?

Many area clubs resumed in-person dancing in May. COVID protocols vary, so bring a mask and be prepared to answer questions at the sign-in desk. Here‘s the list of clubs we know of that are dancing in some form as we go to press at the end of May. Look for details in the Club News section of this Promenader issue:

Copy Cats (Ron Brown, Tuesday evenings in Penfield)

Silver Squares (Mike Callahan, Monday afternoons in Greece)

Shamrock Squares (Mike Callahan, Tuesday afternoons in Henrietta)

Cayuga Cut-Ups (Ron Brown, Monday afternoons in Weedsport)

Dalton Gang (Ray Tompkins, Tuesday evenings in Castile)

Happy Squares (Jim Gotta, Monday evenings in Fairport—see posted flyer)

 … and the Southern Tier Wheelers are taking reservations for their August, September & October schedule.

The Dalton Gang has resumed dancing! Ray Tompkins is calling, and a group of enthusiastic dancers are enjoying the freedom to swing and promenade. They are dancing at 6:30 on Tuesdays in Castile, while their traditional venue sorts out plans for getting back to normal. See the schedule pages for the Dalton Gang dance dates and other details. The address in Castile is 30 North Main Street—“above the post office”—as Jamond Billyard notes in the club‘s News Article in this Promenader issue.

Photo credit: Ray Tompkins

Mike Callahan‘s Advanced square dancing group, the Shamrock Squares, resumed dancing on May 4. They dance at the Pieters Family Center on Tuesday afternoons, starting at 2:30. You‘ll need to wear your mask to enter the building, but may remove it in the gym, where the club dances. This schedule is expected to continue through August.

Photo Credit: Jim Gotta

There‘s Square dancing again on Maiden Lane, at the Greece Methodist Church, where Mike Callahan calls on Monday afternoons for the Silver Squares. They resumed dancing in May, for members only, but we understand this is flexible, so Call Don Naulin and Anne Granger (585-317-6442) to see if they can fit you in  … and consider joining the club. See their Club News (in this issue) for further details, including COVID protocols.

Photo credit: Jeff and Debbie Blood