This is the highest honor awarded in our square dance community. It is awarded based on nominations from throughout our Western NY square dancing community.

The Daphne -Norma Leadership Award is awarded to a person or couple who have demonstrated leadership for extended periods of time, furthering the cause of square and round dancing. The award recognizes those who "go the extra mile" for the sake of our dancers or dancing itself.

When Dave Eno, the 2025 Daphne-Norma Leadership Award Recipient, announced the 2026 Daphne -Norma Leadership Award Recipient at Dance-O-Rama 2026, he summed up perfectly why Lucy Pietrzykowski was chosen to be this year’s recipient.

“We honor someone who represents the very best of leadership, dedication, and service. This person has been a steady and determined force in preserving and strengthening square dancing in Batavia and throughout Western New York. When challenges threatened the future of a beloved club after COVID and the loss of its longtime caller, she stepped forward with energy, resolve, and heart. She helped secure a new venue, find callers, bring dancers back together, and ensure that the club not only continued, but remained vibrant.

“Her impact reaches far beyond one club. She is known as someone who enthusiastically promotes square dancing, warmly welcomes newcomers, encourages beginners, and helps every dancer feel included. She has given generously of her time to organize demonstrations, support dancing with veterans, encourage new opportunities, serve the wider federation, and handle countless important tasks behind the scenes. Again and again, people speak of her generosity, her loyalty, her persistence, and her genuine love for both the activity and the people who make up this community.

“It is a privilege to recognize a person whose contributions have meant so much to so many. ”

Debbie and Jeff Blood

At the Copy Cats Hawaiian Night Dance on Saturday, 3/7/26, nationally recognized Circle of Service Awards were given to Pat Santacroce and Bonnie Allen for their remarkable service and dedication to our square dance community over the years.

The Circle of Service Award is a nationally recognized award - presented by a previous recipient whenever or wherever he or she judges that such special recognition is appropriate. The award consists of a certificate and a gold tone badge with a logo signifying the interconnectedness of dancers of square & round dancing.

The pin is designed to be worn by dancers who for three or more years are determined to have made a significant contribution to the Square and Round Dance Community. Debbie and Jeff Blood presented the awards to Bonnie and Pat.

Through the years, Bonnie Allen has shown devotion and commitment to square dancing. In the various roles she has held on the Copy Cats Board, she has made significant contributions to the club. In the Fall of 2021 and again in 2023, when the request for officers was made, she volunteered to be Co-Vice President and then Co-President of Copy Cats to ensure continued leadership for the club. For more than 10 years she has served on the Federation’s Promenader staff as the Dance Schedule Editor.

Through the years, Pat Santacroce has shown a sincere dedication and generosity to square dancing. She always attends club dances and kitten classes. She is there early to set-up and willing to give a helping hand whenever and where ever needed. In addition, Pat has held the Vice President role on the Copy Cats Board for the past 3 years.

Congratulations Bonnie and Pat

Debbie and Jeff Blood

Our 66th Dance-O-Rama was a huge success. We had over 190 in attendance.

We welcomed our 2026 graduates, 21 of the total 36 graduates attended DOR. The Federation distributed the graduate packets to the graduates who were in attendance. Following the graduate parade, Ron Brown and Gary & Alice Bubel were presented clocks for their dedication and service to the dancers of the WNYF clubs.

Thank you to our clubs who generously donated baskets to our annual basket raffle. Proceeds from the basket raffle are used by the Federation to host square dance demos, free summer dances for our WNYF club members, Amateur Calling Dance, New Years Eve Dance, advertising and promotional grants for the clubs and calling school grants for our interested dancers.

The calling and cueing staff did a wonderful job keeping the dance floor full. Our callers were Dave Eno and Gary Bubel and our cuer was Alice Bubel.

Special thank you to our DOR 2026 volunteers

At least 50 volunteers helped make DOR 2026 possible. We were able to capture some of the volunteers in action!

Whether you greeted dancers, helped with raffle tickets or dangles, assisted with the program, help set up or clean up, we thank each one of you for helping at DOR 2026. We couldn't have done it without you.

Bob & Barb Jackson – Silver Squares
Sue Sepkowski & Mitch Berner – Silver Squares
Dee Gustke & Roy Baird – Silver Squares
Rosie Holley & Jim Lee – Silver Squares
Diane & Rich Cundra – Silver Squares
Nadine Mucci – Copy Cats
Pat Santacroce – Copy Cats
Lynn & Don Lucas – Copy Cats
Mary Ellen Goodell – Copy Cats, Cloverleafs
Sharon Meyer – Cloverleafs
Cindy Lindquist – Copy Cats
Elizabeth Saunders – Copy Cats
Maddie Csont – Copy Cats
Nicole Freberg – Copy Cats
Nay Jacobson – Copy Cats
Muriel Jones – Silver Squares
Roger Boynton – Silver Squares
Joann Baxter – Batavia Silver Stars
Laurie & Chuck Cordaro – Cloverleafs
Nia Nichols & Chuck Johnson – Copy Cats
Dave Eno – Fulton Shirts N Skirts
Jim Gotta for setting up the equipment with the callers

Many Thanks to the DOR 2026 Committee:

Debbie & Jeff Blood
Anne Granger & Don Naulin
Mary Jo & David Webster
Lorraine & Gary Granath
Sharon Meyer
Donna & Rick LaDonna
Lucy Pietrzykowski
Pat Santacroce

Debbie and Jeff Blood

We began our DOR 2026 on May 2nd program by welcoming and congratulating our 2026 graduates.

Debbie and Jeff Blood

Spring 2026 Graduates

Summer 2026 Graduates

Waterwheel Squares is celebrating the 1986 founding of our club. We celebrate all of the current dancers, our current caller, and cuers as well as those who came before us and supported this club from Dyngus day, March 31, 1986 till now. All of our commitments to dancing, and this club are the reason Waterwheel Squares has kept square & round dancing alive in Western New York.

Two of the original founding dancers of this club still dance with us, Mary Lou Thompson, and David Kowal. After a long search by Mary Lou to find a hall, they held their first dance at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on the corner of Eagle & North Ellicott St. in Williamsville. Dave contacted Mike Harris about being the caller. Mike lived in Rochester, and his preferred night to call was Monday. Mike Harris was only available every other week in early 1986 so the club danced every two weeks until September when Mike was freed up to call every Monday. Mike Harris’s father was Art Harris who had a large club in Rochester that danced on Mondays. Mike would cover for his dad when needed so Waterwheel Squares would hire guest callers. Some of those guest callers were Jack Barnes, Larry Dunn, and Harry Slocum. In 1990 when Art Harris wanted to cut back on his calling, Mike took over his Monday night club in Rochester. This meant that Waterwheel Squares had to find a new caller. They eventually hired Denny Frey. Denny called till 1992. Gary Bubel also from Rochester was the caller from 1992 to 1994. This was the first time that round dancing became a regular part of the dance with Gary’s wife Alice cueing the rounds. Prior to this, rounds were not a part of the program. In 1993 as the club expanded, they moved from the concrete basement floor at St. Paul’s to this beautiful hardwood floor of Amherst Community Church. Due to the fact that St. Paul’s was air conditioned and as we all know this hall is not, several summers Waterwheels would return to St. Paul’s. The last Summer that the club did that was 2011. Now we like to sweat all summer and make poor Gary set all the fans up! Mike Callahan, and Mike Herne both from Rochester took over in 1994 alternating weeks till Mike Callahan could call weekly in 1995. Norm Koharski was the round dance cuer until Elaine became our cuer in 2009. Mike Callahan gave up calling for Waterwheels in 2015, and Bill Ryan was hired but since Bill had another club on Monday in Batavia, Waterwheels had to move to Tuesdays. Bill Ryan called his last dance on March 9, 2020. The following week Covid hit and the world closed. Bill passed away before he had a chance to call another dance for us. In October of 2021 after being shut down for a year and a half, we were lucky enough to have Jim Gotta become our caller, Elaine came back as our cuer, and Mary Hinkle our back up cuer.

Here's a little fun fact about how the founders came up with the club’s name. The original dancers were thinking of a name for this club. Many names were suggested including Dyngus Day Club since that was their first dance, and many people attended the first dance just to learn what Dyngus Day meant! The most prominent feature of Williamsville back then was the water mill located in the center of the village of Williamsville. The Williamsville Water Mill was built in 1811. The mill was part of a complex that served as a sawmill, gristmill, and cement works. The site was crucial for producing cement for the Erie Canal. Today the mill serves as the home of Sweet Jenny’s Ice Cream Shoppe. The person who came up with the name “Waterwheel Squares” which was ultimately chosen is our very own Shirley Klute! Although Mary Lou was the one who submitted the name for consideration, Shirley was really the author of the name. Thank you, Shirley, for your clever, creative mind.

Just the fact that this club has been in existence for 40 years, and some of the original dancers are still on the dance floor tonight is proof that this hobby is good for the mind, body & soul. Of course those original dancers were kids when they started! I think about the different dancers that we danced with here who celebrated their 90th birthdays. That is proof alone that dancing keeps us young.

Mary Pazik, Dave Kowal

Thank you very much to the 37 square dancers who participated on April 11, 2026 at the WNYF Community Arts Day Square Dance demo & exhibitor table at Schroeder High School in Webster. We had a fantastic turnout of volunteers from Copy Cats, Silver Squares, Batavia Silver Stars, and Cloverleaf Squares.

This is an annual event where all 11 schools in Webster School District participate with art work, performances, exhibits, and demonstrations along with participation from the community organizations and vendors. Annual attendance is estimated at 2,000 each year.

Thank you, Jim Gotta, for calling the demo. We had about 12+ participants join us on the dance floor. The majority preferred watching us dance. The info booth was set up at 8:30am and shut down at 4:00 pm. Thank you to those dancers who also assisted with the booth.

We gave out many flyers and provided good visibility for square dancing.

Debbie and Jeff Blood

Silver Squares held its amazing Soup and Sandwich event on March 3rd. Five different soups, a variety of sandwiches and salads plus a whole array of desserts make this a truly special event! Jim Gotta made sure we danced and a great time was had by all who came!

Silver Squares had an amazing St. Patrick’s dance on March 16th. Lots of fun, wonderful food, the wear’in of the green, much socializing and Jim Gotta as our caller/cuer made his a very special dance!!!

Silver Squares held a very special dance on Western Day. We said goodbye to a very special person, Jim Gotta. He has been our caller/cuer since Mike Callahan left on January 1st. We all thank you, Jim, for the wonderful job you did. We will miss seeing you! We also had a visit from Stu Jones. He came and socialized with us and it was just so awesome to see him. We danced in our western gear, ate wonderful snacks, socialized with friends and welcomed Charlie and George as they also joined us for the afternoon. George wore his most unique and amazing shoes!! Take a peek at the picture!! What a fun day!!

On Monday, April 27th, Silver Squares held one of their special dances…Pie Day!! A special thank you to all the bakers and buyers who brought in their special pies to share with the group. It was truly amazing that 4 squares of dancers could dance after eating their favorite pies!!!

Silver Squares Dance Club celebrated Cinco de Mayo on May 4th, 2026. Members brought in all kinds of wonderful Mexican appetizers and many dressed in colorful apparel. There is no better place to be on a Monday afternoon!!

Anne Granger

Copy Cats held their Ice Cream Social on Saturday, April 25th. Two squares of Silver Squares members attended their dance, enjoyed the ice cream and stole their banner!! Mike Callahan called a special tip for our banner stealing group. Don Naulin and Anne Granger, co-presidents of Silver Squares, invite members of Copy Cats to come over any Monday to take back their banner!! Such a fun night!!!

Anne Granger

We had a lot of fun at the Copy Cats Hawaiian Night Dance on Saturday 3/7/26. We had six squares dancing to Jim Gotta calling and Chuck Meyer cueing. We enjoyed guests from several clubs and classes.

What a wonderful evening of dancing at Copy Cats Ice Cream Social. Over 7 Squares of dancers were in attendance. Thank you to Mike Callahan for calling and Lisa Treichler for cueing. The class members and recent grads did a great job dancing. Mike mentioned how impressed he was with the class dancers.

Jim Schaefer, Hospitality coordinator and the hospitality committee were fantastic keeping the ice cream and toppings available throughout the dance. It was great that the newer dancers witnessed a banner stealing; two squares of Silver Squares members danced for a Copy Cat banner.

Congratulations to the Copy Kittens Class of 2026. Great job!!

Debbie and Jeff Blood