BOVINA CENTER — Yes, indeed! Catskills Folk Connection is presenting a square dance this Saturday, February 21 at 7 pm at the Bovina Community Hall, 1866 County Highway 6, Bovina Center NY 13740. The Tremperskill Boys will play and call tunes and dances in the manner of Delaware County’s late, legendary fiddler/caller Hilt Kelly and his band The Sidekicks. The Tremperskill Boys are sad to announce the passing of their beloved guitar player, Sheila Addison. “We will miss her incredible musicality, her dedication to the band, managing the sound equipment and feeding the band wonderful dinners from her garden,” says Trempeskill Boys founder, John Jacobson.
Joining the Tremperskill Boys this Saturday will be our long-time friend, Earl Pardini from Ulster County, along with his fellow musician, flute player Lynn Brittain. So the Saturday program will include dances familiar to Catskills Folk Connection dancers, and some new dances offered by our guests. It should be a lively evening.
Plans are underway for the upcoming square dance season (June through November) with grant applications to local, regional and state funders. We hope to be able to start publicity in time for a dance in late June.
In the past Catskills Folk Connection has made a point to schedule square dances in as many different communities as possible in our area. Negotiations with five or six different venues take a lot of time and dancers don’t always hear about our dances soon enough.
This year, pending funding, we plan to offer six dances, three in eastern Delaware County at the Margaretville Fire Hall, and three in central/western Delaware County at the Bovina Community Hall. For at least the first four months, the dances will be on the last Saturday of the month. We hope that by keeping the locations the same, and the dates at the same time of month (except October and November) that our schedule will be more consistent and easier for everyone to remember.
If you would like to receive notifications of summer/fall dances, or for more information about the February 21 dance, contact Ginny Scheer 607-238-9162 or gscheer.mcs@gmail.com.
Catskills Folk Connection’s square dance program in 2025 (including the February 21 dance ) is funded in part by a Tourism Community Arts Grant from Delaware County Department of Economic Development, by a FalrGame Arts Grant, by a grant from the O’Connor Foundation and by the generous donations of our mailing list members.