Editor’s Page

Welcome to the Spring issue of the Promenader—a quarterly publication of the Western NY Federation of Round and Square Dancers Inc. (squaredancingrochester.org)

In this issue

The “Photos & Features” section highlights recent activities of two area clubs that have resumed dancing—the Copy Cats and the Silver Squares. Holidays and the onset of winter brought out dancers and festive themes. As you will see, Valentines Day was specially meaningful in these days of resumed face-to-face gatherings!

There’s also an expression of appreciation, honoring Henry Capron for his many contributions to the Cloverleaf Squares.

A delightful article from Ron Brown brings to life the origins and past history of the “storied” Hip Boot Boys—renowned local callers and entertainers. I stay *past* history because surviving “Boys” Ron Brown and Greg Marling are still busy making their future history—calling, singing and joking round our part of the square dance world.

Please don’t miss the “President’s Corner” message from Debbie and Jeff Blood, accessible via the “Federation” tab at the top of this page. In this issue they highlight the Federation’s financial support programs for clubs advertising and recruitment/retention efforts.

Club News

The COVID virus is still with us. Several clubs have not resumed, and those that are dancing are taking precautions. Before you attend a dance, check their flyer, or check with their club contact listed under “Clubs” on this website, or check their posting in the “Club News” section. Most are requiring full vaccination and some are requiring that masks be worn at least part of the time.

Virtual Dancing

Virtual dancing is still active with national and international callers, but our local sessions have given way to in-person dancing. A few clubs still gather regularly on Zoom, to keep in touch with those who are not dancing. The ones I know about are the Silver Squares (Mondays at 6:30pm—contact Anne Granger) and the Village Squares (Wednesdays eat 7p.m.—contact Peter Emmel).

Federation Website

Sidney will post flyers and changes to the schedule listings as soon as he can after he receives them. For fastest service, he recommends sending flyers and schedule change notices 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 home page. Clubs should also consider posting their news on the “SquareDancingRochester” group Facebook page.

In Memoriam

In this issue we say farewell to our friends Sally Lee and caller Keith Harter.

Editorial Comments

A few things are on my mind at this time. First of all, I loved reading Ron’s article in this issue about the Hip Boot Boys. They are always fun, with their mix of dancing and off-beat humor. The Village Squares were pleased for many years, until COVID shut it down in 2020, to host their annual New Year’s Eve dance party. I remember the first time we met them as a group (we already knew Ron Brown and Bob Schlenker from individual dances, but had not yet met Greg Marling). It was at one of their weekend events in the Watson Homestead Retreat, near Painted Post, NY. As all “newbies” did, I fell for one of their many semi-harmless pranks. On a subsequent HBB weekend at the same venue, those of us from the Village Squares paid them back by performing our original skit version of Kenny Rogers’ song, “Lucille.” The words “a wonderful time was had by all” were never more true!

Secondly, I want to encourage anyone who cares about maintaining the activities of square and round dancing in our area to step up and volunteer for one of the open positions on the Federation board (and/or at your home club, as well). These are not hard jobs, and in the case of Federation roles, they serve the important purpose of facilitating inter-club communications and multi-club dance events. Such things don’t happen on their own. There is always a team of dancers whose combined efforts make things happen. Even if you see yourself as “just a dancer” I urge you to offer your time—for a season or two—to help spread the load. It’s not fair to leave it to the few who are picking up the slack of these two open positions: (1) Vice President and (2) Promotions Coordinator.

Please, please, contact Jeff and Debbie Blood to discuss these positions and join the dedicated group of present and past contributors to our wonderful activity.

Thirdly, while I’m on the subject of “giving back” to dancing, now is the time for you to nominate a dancer or couple—maybe from your club or maybe another club—whose contributions over the years have been consistently outstanding and deserving of the honor of the Daphne-Norma Leadership Award. Please click HERE (http://www.squaredancingrochester.org/awards/awards.html) for guidelines, including a list of previous recipients and a downloadable nomination form.

And finally, I’m still concerned about COVID, but also very pleased to see how effective the protections in use at local dances has been. After one well-attended dance over the holidays, a dancer reported a positive test result. All dancers at that event were subsequently notified. As the incubation window went by, nobody at that dance reported contracting the virus. Well played! Our countermeasures work.

The Omicron variant seems to be subsiding, but there is no guarantee we won’t be faced with other variants as time goes by. We are part of the natural world, which includes viruses that depend on our social behavior to propagate themselves. Our demographic should continue being careful, even though most of us are vaccinated. Let’s not let our guard down prematurely. As I mentioned last quarter, I don’t fear COVID—but I respect it. Viruses have been a part of life for eons and it behooves us to pay them the respect they deserve.

That just means taking practical precautions and availing ourselves of protections ranging from behavior (distance and masks) to technology (vaccines and therapeutics). In addition to our own self-interest in staying healthy, I personally think we have a duty to our family, friends and the public at large to keep ourselves out of the transmission path as best we can. That doesn’t mean shutting social life down. It just means staying aware and taking precautions.

Quarterly Chuckle

(Sorry for the continued ‘elderly’ theme, but the older I get, the funnier these sound.)

Two old ladies, Dolly and Ruby, are talking about their grandchildren.

Dolly says, “Every year I send each of my grandchildren a card with a generous check inside. I seldom receive a thank you message, and they almost never come to visit me!”

Ruby replies, “I too send mine a very generous check. I hear from them within a week after they receive it. In fact, they each pay me a personal visit!”

“Wow!” exclaimed Dolly “How does that happen?”

“Very simple, I don’t sign the check.”

Peter Emmel, Editor