Thanks to the generosity of CREATE, the Conesville Historical Society is excited to announce it is hosting two more square dance events this summer as part of a three event series. All events are free and open to the public.
In July, Ginny Scheer from the Catskills Folk Connection led a workshop on the history of square dancing and fiddler Dane Scudder taught some basic square dance sets. Both Ginny and Dane belong to the Tremperskill Boys and travel around the region leading square dancing and other performances.
The Conesville Square Dances will take place Saturday, August 10th and Saturday, September 7th from 7:00-10:00 PM at the Conesville Fire House at 1292 State Route 990v, Gilboa NY. The events are FREE and open to all skill levels.
The effort to bring Square Dancing back to Conesville was started by Gary Case, a community member who enjoys square dancing but often has to travel long distances to participate. Other people also articulated that they, too, would love a local square dance while another group were anxious to learn. Locally, square dancing used to be taught in schools and every summer there would be dances in town. In addition, many locals made up the bands and callers. While many of those people have now passed, their influence continues as evident by the excitement of the local community.
The CREATE grant seemed like the perfect potential funding source to help bring square dancing back to our small corner of Southern Schoharie County. Since late winter, Mary Rouleau and Carrie Sutton have worked with Ginny at Catskills Folk Connection to bring the idea to fruition. Mary wrote the grant and is now helping administer the grant within the organization. Other historical society members have volunteered their time to advertise and supply refreshments for the events. The Conesville Fire Department graciously supplied the venue.
This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CREATE Council on the Arts
The Conesville Historical Society is a 501c3 organization and registered NYS Charity. It was founded in April 2022 and runs monthly programs, workshops, an oral history project, and more, with the mission of preserving the rich history of Conesville, researching and archiving materials for future generations, and educating the community. For more information, check out our Facebook Page or email conesvillehistoricalsociety@gmail.com.
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