November / December, 2014

Hi Country Friends,


This is our November / December newsletter
so we want to wish everyone Happy Holidays as we
look forward to a New Year. It is good to look back and
remember how fortunate we are to be able to share good
times with friends and family, and reflect on how much
fun we’ve had this past year at a dances. As the Country
Music and Dance organization on Long Island, it’s been
a good year with some challenges after the Knights of
Columbus informed us they were selling the hall in Lindenhurst.
We are very pleased with the decision to make
the Sons of Italy Hall in Deer Park our new dance home
so be sure to mark your new calendars with our dance
dates for 2015.


If you are receiving our monthly dance reminder
email messages, then you have seen some of the changes
we have implemented. We are using a program called
“Constant Contact” to more effectively manage email
distribution and message quality. We plan to use email
as the primary method to stay connected with members
so make sure we have a current address – or multiple addresses
for couples in our records. (Send updates to us
at our NEW email address at LICMA@LICMA.org) We
have also updated our web site (licma.org) and are using
a new program that will enable us to more easily update
information. Our plan is to include some of the timely
information that is currently in the PONY EXPRESS
newsletter like dance instruction on out the new web page.


As we begin another new year, please think
about ways you can help support our country music
association and give back to your community. Serving
on the LICMA Board of Directors is an excellent way to
contribute and help shape the direction of our organization.
Several of our board members are spending more
time in Florida this winter, so we need volunteers to help
with the newsletter and communication, membership,
and dance stuff - if you are able to help, please send us a
note or call.


On behalf of the entire LICMA board, we would
like to say thank you to the many volunteers who share
our interest and donate their time to make your association
events possible. Please continue to show your support
for the country bands, teachers, radio stations, and
sponsors that support our activities by attending their
events and using their services. We look forward to seeing
ya'll real soon.

“LICMA is FUN Country”
Jim Teeple

September / October, 2014

Hi Country Friends,

   Wow! – What a great summer we have had this year. When you look around the country and see forest fires, floods and other crazy weather stuff we need to be thankful for the wonderful summer we’ve had on Long Island. It’s also been a good summer for country events on Long Island with a bunch of concerts at local parks, wineries, fire companies, and favorite summer spots like Eisenhower Park, and the Venetian Shores – if you have been following the country scene on Facebook you’ve seen some of the fantastic sun sets from shore concert locations.

Even though we’ve seen many people at some of the local events, we’ve really missed seeing all of our country friends during our summer break and are really looking for- ward to our first dance of the fall on September 20th. The Joe Bayer Band and DJ / teacher Lyndy will keep everyone dancing all night at our new dance location – The Sons of Italy in Deer Park. It will be great to catch up with everyone and hear about concerts, events you have attended, and exciting places you have visited.

Beginning with our dance in September, the Sons of Italy hall in Deer Park (also known as the Constantino Brumidi Lodge) will be our new dance home. After exploring many halls that could accommodate our group and holding dances at different locations, we have decided this hall works the best for us. It is centrally located on Long Island, easy to find with good access from major roads, the hall has a good dance floor, and the management at the hall has been very open to working with us on our events. Please see the directions and dance schedule on page 8.

We are working on several improvements you will see in the coming months. The technical committee has been working on plans to update our web site to make it easier to maintain and keep information current. We are also going to be implementing a new email messaging service to improve the reliability of delivering messages. There are also other opportunities for people to help support LICMA. As you know, we are all volunteers so having people step up and share some of the work is really appreciated.

One additional need is for someone to work with Bill Teresco to transition the responsibilities of the newsletter editor. This is a great way to stay plugged into the Long Island Country news and provide a service that is enjoyed by our entire membership. If you are able to help, please send us a note, call, or speak to a board member at a dance.

On behalf of the entire LICMA board, we would like to say thank you to the many volunteers who share our interest and donate their time to make your association events possible. Please continue to show your support for the country bands, teachers, radio stations, and sponsors that support our activities by attending their events and using their services. Enjoy the rest of the summer and we look forward to seeing “you all” soon.

“LICMA is FUN Country”
Jim Teeple

May / June 2014

Hi Country Friends,

    It was wonderful to see so many people at both of our new dance locations in Deer Park and Babylon, and a special welcome to the new people who attended. We want to extend a big welcome and say thank you for joining the association and helping to support country music and dance in our area. Our next dance, May 17th, will be held at the Hibernian Hall in Babylon. Every hall has advantages and challenges, so as we work through these changes please continue to give us feedback. As we begin our planning for 2015 we hope to be able to establish a location that works the best for our organization and will feel more like home each month.

Our association doesn’t host dances during July and August because of all the summer activities and vacation schedules, but that doesn’t mean we stop dancing or looking for cool places to enjoy country music. To help make it easier to locate country events supported by our members and advertisers continue checking our “Events Calendar” located on our web site (licma.org). We are planning to send out an e- mail update during the summer with more “real time” country event information, so continue sending country news events that you think we all would enjoy to our e-mail box LICMA@ yahoo.com. Also, please continue to share news on our Face- book page - let the group know where you’re dancing tonight – it’s always more fun when we’re joined by friends.

Newsletter Request – After many years of being the newsletter editor Bill would like to pass this responsibility on to a new person. Our newsletter is one of the important com- munication tools we use to keep our community connected so we are looking for a volunteer or perhaps a team of two people to continue to manage this important publication. Please see a job description on page 5 and call or send me a note if you are interested in learning more about this position.

On behalf of the entire LICMA board, we would like to say thank you to the many volunteers who share this hobby and donate their time to make your association events pos- sible. Please continue to show your support for the country bands, teachers, and sponsors that support our activities by at- tending their events and using their services. Have a wonder- ful summer and we look forward to seeing you soon.

“LICMA is FUN Country”
Jim Teeple