Open House & Club Night | Caller: Howard Richman

Thursday, May 1st 6:30 – 9:00pm

P.S. 003 Charrette School, 490 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014, USA

First hour is reserved for interested folks who want to take a chance on learning to square dance. No experience or partner needed. Admission FREE

Then rotate through Mainstream, Plus, Advanced programs. Admission: $15

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President’s “State of the Club” Report

After meeting last year via Zoom, it’s so good to be meeting again in person.  
When I last delivered these remarks several years ago, I was very concerned that our club was on the verge of disintegrating. Our attendance was at an all-time low and it looked like soon there wouldn’t be enough dancers to make a square.  
But that was quite a while ago and a lot has changed. 
I think COVID-19 made others aware of how much they need other people in their lives. We have been breaking recent records for our Open Houses as people discover square dancing as an activity – Thursday’s event had five squares with people sitting out! – And our classes have brought us several devoted new members.   
And I think our COVID-19 isolation helped us realize how important square dancing is in OUR lives and how much we need the fellowship of our fellow dancers. In the past year our attendance at most dances has been up. And most of them have been at least breaking even financially. Many of our members have stepped up to make our events a success – our members who show up to dance and angel our classes, John Paine with his reviews and fetching refreshments, Raymond Lund, Michael Coan, Jonathan and Cindy Uejio who come early to set up and stay late to tear down; Ken, Caesar, Rudy, Ronald, and the custodial staff at PS3; Daniel Saviit and Kian Lam-Kho who keep our website up to date; Ray Emrich and Jim Babcock who plan social events outside of square dancing; Gabriel Rivas who assures our presence on Facebook; Susan Gill and Thomas Alamo who regularly bring order to our storage area; George Santos who tackled the basket auction at Peel the Pumpkin; Rick Massi  and Dom Ponsades who support the club in many ways behind the scenes; Larry Caputo  and Tony Bauer who add a decorative touch; Betsy Gotta and Howard Richman and all of our callers; and Howard Handler who schedules them all. And of course the election committee, Bob Bauer, Thomas Alamo, John Paine; and the work that my fellow board members, Jim, Gabriel, Michael, Ray, Daniel and William Carr have done this past year.  
All a good sign of the improving health of our club. We may not get back to the “glory days” but we can be proud that though we are a smaller club e are a closer one. But we need a larger percentage of members to help out.  
There are a several things we will need to address in the coming year. In two weeks, we’ll be starting a Plus class for which we’ll need Angels and an archangel. Later, we will have a discussion about the future of Peel the Pumpkin. Components of our sound system are reaching the end of their useful life and will need to be replaced. We need to up our social media game. And we need to lighten the load of our regulars who make our events possible. In the near future we will be asking you how you want to pitch in.  
Lending your expertise or helping with regular tasks not only helps the club, but it has been shown that volunteering helps with our mental and physical well being as well.  
So, again, I’d like to thank all our volunteers for their work this past year. And while the state of our club is good, I look forward to your increased participation to make next year even better. 
 
Respectfully,
Kim Norland

Club President

A trip down memory lane…

All Roads Lead to PS3…? Truth is stranger than fiction. Not only was the November Open House with caller Betsy Gotta a success, but it brought about a reunion decades in the making.  “Yes. Last night’s Open House was a surreal experience for me,” said veteran club member Steve–Shlomo Ashkinazy. “I was expecting to bring two first-timers with me, but they both backed out at the last minute. Instead, I ended up running into THREE old friends that I haven’t seen in a long time.  Each one was someone that I knew from a different social circle. Two of them were guys that I haven’t seen in several years. But Jake is an old friend that I haven’t seen in 51 years. We knew each other when we were both involved in The Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) at the very dawn of the LGBTQ Liberation movement in the early 70’s.” Steve continues as he reveals yet another facet from his fabled and storied life, “The  accompanying photo was taken in a restaurant that I used to own in Soho. Everyone in this photo was active in GAA and came by to visit me one evening after a political meeting. Jake is in the bottom row on the extreme left, with his chin on his wrist and his elbow leaning on the table. I am top row center with the plunging neckline.  Also of note in this picture is Jim Owles, a major early pioneer of the Gay Rights Movement. He is in the top row all the way on the left and wearing sunglasses.  Thank you, Steve for your courageous achievements. It’s good to know you’re in our camp. Photo: Steve–Shlomo Ashkinazy