Square Dance Foundation of New England

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/.

1999 – Ted & Jean Sannella (ME)

Square Dance Caller & Teacher Ted Sannella, a prolific composer of contra and square dances, was born August 14, 1928. This popular energetic leader lost his struggle with cancer on November 18, 1995. The story of his life is a full one. He graduated from Revere High School in 1945. …

1998 – Hal & Doris Holmes

Square Dance Leaders Involved on both sides of the mike, as dancers and caller/cuer, Hal & Doris Holmes have given unselfishly of their time, efforts and talents in promoting the many facets of our square dance activity. As folk dancers, Hal and Doris were introduced to square dancing, while living …

1998 – Hillie Bailey

Square Dance Caller & Teacher Mr. Square Dance of Maine, Hillie Bailey, was and is a caller, teacher, leader, promoter and supporter of the Square Dance activity. Hillie’s first club, the Denham Folk Dance Club, which became the County Cousins, was started in 1949. He formed the Arcadia Bells and …

1998 – Len & Connie Houle (MA)

Square Dance Leaders Lenny and Connie Houle have dedicated their entire social life to the betterment of the round and square dance activity in New England. They began dancing in 1964 squares with the Sparkling Spinners and Paper City and rounds – with the Happy Pairs until 1968. They returned …

1998 – *Joe & Jean Hartka (MA)

Square Dance Leaders Joe and Jean Hartka have been in the first rank of dancer-leaders on the local, regional and national levels for nearly 25 years. Since they began dancing in 1974, they have served as Presidents as well as other officers of their local club, Skirts ‘N’ Flirts; the …

1998 – Pat & Ed Juaire (RI)

Square Dance Caller & Teacher Ed and Pat Juaire have been important and thoughtful voices for square and round dancers for many years. Beginning as dancers in 1982, they found themselves only 2 years later as Chairman of the Rhode Island Federation Fall Festival! They served in various club offices …