NEW ENGLAND SQUARE & ROUND DANCE
COOPERATION COMMITTEE
YANKEE CLIPPER AWARD
CITATION
JIM DeNIGRIS
Jim and his wife, Alice started square dancing in 1968 at the Circle S’s club in Hartford, Connecticut. This was their home club and they were members for many years. He has been calling for more than 40 years and has brought great credit to himself and square dancing as an ambassador for fun and friendship. We lost Alice four years ago but Jim has continued striving to perpetuate the growth of the activity in many ways.
Jim is the Chairman of the New England Cooperation Committee and has served as Chairman of the New England Council of Callers Associations. He has been club caller for several clubs over the years including the Farmington Valley and Cellar Dwellers Square Dance Clubs and the Snoopy Teen and Pre-Teen clubs. He calls the several programs of square dancing through C-1, He maintains an active schedule of club dances and also does many fun night, non-dancer events.
Recently Jim has been extensively involved in the New England Square Dance Convention. He was Vice Chairman of the 2012 and 2013 Conventions in Hartford, Connecticut and has served as Chairman or Vice Chairman of Sound for several others.
Jim is a faithful communicant of St. Mary’s parish in East Hartford, Connecticut.
He developed the parish Bingo program from a mere start of thirty people to eight hundred faithful attendees. All the monies received go to the community’s Fund for the Needy to benefit the homeless and the less advantaged in the Hartford area. Jim has organized minstrel shows and directed each performance for the entertainment and benefit of his community. He has directed many fund raising campaigns for the Hartford area.
Presented April 23, 2016 in Warwick, Rhode Island