Square Dance Foundation of New England

2012 Hartford, CT Convention

1976 Portland, ME Convention

2012 Hartford, CT Convention

1976 Portland, ME Convention

2012 Hartford, CT Convention

Welcome to the Square Dance Foundation of New England!

The Library/Museum of the Square Dance Foundation of New England (SDFNE) has been closed, however the SDFNE continues to exists as an online entity at: http://www.sdfne.org. It is important to realize that a large collection of materials from the SDFNE collection are available on the SDFNE.org web site. Most important among these are the full set of Bob Brundage interviews with more than 100 leading square dance people from the past 60 or more years and the complete digitized issues of the New England Caller/Northeast Square Dancer magazines. The complete publications of five major caller note services are also available on the web site. There are many other items available for viewing.

The collection of historical materials has been transferred to the University of New Hampshire. The Milne Special Collections Library there has what is probably the largest collection of square dance related material anywhere in the world. As we closed our museum we moved a huge amount of books, documents, recordings, photographs and other items to the UNH Library. These added to the already substantial collections we had been sending over the past decade. The task of organizing and cataloging this material will take years. To help support the University’s work on this task the SDFNE has recently made a contribution of $5000 and we hope to continue this support in the future.

Many of the books and records that we have shared with UNH over the past decade have already been cataloged and are listed on the UNH web site. To search for books use the web address: https://www.library.unh.edu/ then enter the keyword SDFNE. Click here to look for records and enter the collection name SDFNE. Other types of materials will require a more specific identification and help with searching the very complete donation lists that the Foundation has on our computers. If you are searching for something like that, contact Jim Mayo: jmayo329@aol.com or John Wedge: jbwedge@gmail.com.

In November of 2016, the SDFNE transferred much of the remainder of it's museum documents and artifacts to the Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, NY. At this time, Square Dancing is not yet mentioned on the web site of the Museum of Dance, however they have informed us that they will be featuring a special page and a display on Square Dancing in the near future. Our contact is programming and outreach director coordinator, Jessica Munson. Her email address is: info@dancemuseum.org. They're web site is: http://www.dancemuseum.org/.

Also, check out the Square Dance History Site at: https://squaredancehistory.org/.

Johnston, Bill

BILL JOHNSTON INTERVIEW Bob Brundage – Well, hi again. This is Bob Brundage and the date today is November the 30th, 1996 and we’re still enjoying the contra dance weekend in York, Pennsylvania. Today we’re talking with the original promoter of this particular weekend, which has been going on for …

*Johnston, Earl: SIO Hall of Fame, CALLERLAB Milestone, NE Yankee Clipper, SDFNE Hall of Fame

EARL JOHNSTON JUNE 22, 1997 BB: Well hi again, this is Bob Brundage again. It’s been quite a while since my last interview and today I’m in Bradenton FL talking with Earl Johnston who originally came from Connecticut as many of you well know. Today is June 22 1997, just …

Jones, Fenton (Jonesy): SIO Hall of Fame, CALLERLAB Milestone

Fenton (Jonesy) Jones August 26, 1996 [Editors Note: Bob says Jonesy started talking before the recorder started so the first sentences are missing. It appears that the middle portion of the audio, perhaps a third tape, has been lost. Thus the first audio disk finishes but the transcript continues. Bob …

Jones, Jon: CALLERLAB Milestone

JON JONES INTERVIEW August 4,1996 Bob Brundage: Well, here we are today, on August 4, 1996, and we’re at the home of Jerry Gilbray, who came from Texas, not too long ago, and his friend, Jon Jones is here for his interview today, and we’re talking with Jon about what …

Juaire, Ed: SDFNE Hall of Fame

Ed Juaire – May 6, 2008 Bob Brundage – Hi again. This is Bob Brundage and today is May the 6th, 2008 and today we’re talking with a gentleman back in Ringgold, Georgia, Mr. Ed Juaire. Ed and his wife are editors of the New England Square Dance magazine …

Kopman, Lee: CALLERLAB Milestone

LEE KOPMAN INTERVIEW Bob Brundage: Okay. Lee Kopman: Yeah. I was graduated (?) during the school year, I was teaching, I got a job in Beth Page school district. I was teaching there. And (?) assembly program and I do know (?) square dancing. One of the parents who came …