Greetings friends and fellow dancers.

Another great dance season is underway. Hopefully, everyone is getting out and seeing old friends and acquaintances again. It’s good see that many of our clubs have new dancer classes with steady attendance. Obviously, without these new dancers the activity we all love will die out. So, I encourage all of you to help out the classes in any way possible.

The Federation welcome back dance, the Fall Friendship Ball, went off very well per the returned surveys. Nearly 60 dancers enjoyed the three callers and two cuers, and many stayed for dinner. The little disappointment for me was that of the nearly 40 new graduate dancers from DOR, I only saw one at the Fall Ball. We are planning on having another Ball next year at a different location. Dancer surveys provided good information from those who came, but nothing for those who didn’t. I would appreciate anyone who didn’t go to this year’s Ball letting me know why they chose not to go, and if there is anything we can do to bring more dancers out particularly the newer dancers.

The winter and holiday season is when we see a lot of clubs holding class / club dances. For new dancers, it is a great time to meet new people and dance to other great callers. As much as the busy holiday season allows, I encourage dancers, both new and experienced, to get out and go to the other clubs for some good cheer and great dancing.

Enjoy the holidays, and I’ll see you on the dance floor.

Jim Gotta, President