President’s Corner

Hello Dancing Friends,

I hope everyone has had a chance to relax as well as time to enjoy some of the wonderful summer dance opportunities that were available. It is now time for our new full dance season to begin! Please be sure to check out all of the dance opportunities that are available, both at your club, and other clubs. You can also find full dance schedules on the Federation web site at squaredancingrochester.org, in at least three different formats.

If you have not checked out the Federation web site before, I encourage you to do so. You will be amazed at all of the information posted there! You can locate dances anywhere within the Rochester area, you can get listings of club locations, or if the club has their own web site, you can link to it from the Federation site. You can see what is scheduled for special dances (as far out as they go) and it is the way clubs can schedule future dances without conflicts with other dances already scheduled. You can find information on your favorite callers/cuers, you can even see some photo highlights from past dances. This web site has been a work in progress, and is continuing to grow and expand. We are fortunate to have Sidney Marshall and Peter Emmel as the comoderators for our web site. It is becoming an exceptional way to keep up to date on everything happening in the area regarding square dancing.

As many people have been aware, we have been actively searching for someone to take over the general editor’s position for the Promenader for some time now. To date, we have not found anyone that felt they could handle the task once Betty and Andy step down after this issue. That being said, there have been a number of people working behind the scenes (including Betty and Andy) and we are almost ready to present a new style of Promenaderthat may make the task easier to handle, thereby helping to find someone willing to assume the position of General Editor. This new style will include a reduction of the most demanding parts of the task. What is this new style, you ask? I will lead into that by letting you know that this fall issue of the Promenaderwill be the last commercially printed version of the Promenader. (DON’T PANIC !!!) The Promenaderwill continue, but in a printable, electronic version. I feel the tension rising ...... don’t worry. Many people are working to make this transition as easy as possible. I am now going to borrow some of Betty’s words to help explain the basics, and remember, we are still working on many details, and will continue to make adjustments as we go. The following is a portion of Betty’s explanation to the proof readers: We will try to make this transition as smooth as possible, but there will inevitably be bumps along the way. We are hoping for everyone’s cooperation in the process and will try to keep you as informed as possible. Please know that you are very much included in our vision of what it will look like, We will try to make the online Promenader as much like the printed one as possible. This means we will still need reporting from club reporters, and the work of our editorial staff and proofreaders. One of the main aims of this change is to lighten the load for the next editors. And thus to accomplish getting the next editors.

As I mentioned, there are still many details being worked on, but some things we see as benefits will include: access to the Promenader content from multiple devices. You should even be able to check information from your tablet or phone (you should be able to already do this for the web site). The Promenader will now be available to everyone, not only those who subscribe to a printed version. You can print out the whole magazine, or only the pages you want, from your home computer, or even at a library. We do understand that this will be a BIG change for everyone, but our choices were to move to this updated electronic version (as so many other publications have done) or we would have no Promenaderat all. I know we can make it through these transitions together! We will work to make information available as details progress. Please check into the RAF web site (squaredancingrochester.org) for information postings as available.

In closing, I have the huge responsibility of trying to find the right words the thank Betty and Andy Ludwick for their 16 years of dedication to the Promenader. Words alone could never express the gratitude for the hours, weeks and months, they have poured into each edition of the magazine. From their vision, and hard work, we have all benefited by having details on all dance related information and postings on many topics. When the Promenader has been shown at National Conventions or other large groups, Betty and Andy’s work has always been noticed, and we have been told we have one of the best publications throughout the country. We are very fortunate to have Betty and Andy working to help structure our electronic Promenader. We know their attention to detail and high standards for quality presentation. Betty and Andy deserve the gratitude of each person that has been informed by, or found pleasure in the Promenader. Please make a point to thank Betty and Andy for their 16 years of dedication to our entire square dancing community when you see them! We hope you enjoy each and every day ahead of you. THANK YOU !!

I hope to see you on the dance floor soon!

Terry Pratt, Federation President