FSGW Election    

PRESIDENT - CHARLIE PILZER  

I am honored to be asked to be the president of FSGW for another year. I am happy to announce that FSGW has resumed in-person events - a few now and more in the future. I envision the coming board term as a time of change. As the pandemic recedes, the after time will be different than the before time and FSGW will need to evolve to stay relevant. It is my intention to lead the FSGW board in the revisions and partnerships necessary to be successful. I am the current president, a life member of FSGW, a member of AFM Local 1000, a volunteer and a performer.

VICE PRESIDENT - CAROLINE BARNES  

I am a dancer, caller, and organizer and have been involved in the local folk scene since 2014. I enjoy calling and dancing a variety of genres, and I’ve served on the Friday Night Dance board and the Chesapeake Dance Weekend committee. It has been great to be a part of restarting in-person events this year and I look forward to continuing to assist with FSGW’s transition to a new era of gatherings. 

TREASURER - WILL STRANG  

I was an FSGW member in the 1980s, then joined again in 2004. I have been a FSGW webmaster since 2010, and was deeply involved in the 2017-2018 transfer to the new website on Wild Apricot. As webmaster, English Dance bookkeeper and committee member, and now with 3 years as Treasurer, I have extensive involvement in FSGW financial operations. I frequently attend the FSGW Contradances and English Country Dances, and occasional concerts. As Treasurer, I have worked with the board to eliminate the deficit that FSGW had been running, and make multiple steps to improve our financial controls. FSGW has been breaking even since our 2021 fiscal year, including during the COVID-19 shutdown.

DANCE CHAIR -  ALYSSA HEMLER  

I have enjoyed serving on the FSGW board as an at-large member this past year, and I am excited to continue to serve our community as the dance chair. I grew up going to the FSGW family dances and have been an avid dancer ever since. I have served on planning committees for multiple dance weekends including Dandelion Romp (Oberlin, OH), Chesapeake Dance Weekend (Edgewater, MD), and #dance Weekend (Glen Echo, MD). Now that in-person dance events have restarted, I am excited to use my past organizing experience to foster a sense of community and excitement around folk dancing in the greater Washington region.

PROGRAM CHAIR -  STEPHEN WINICK  

I’m Stephen Winick, a candidate for FSGW Program Chair.  I’m a lifetime member of FSGW as well as a former Board Member. The FSGW community may also know me as a folklorist at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress (AFC), where I’m on the programming team that has long brought our area’s audiences the Homegrown Concert Series. Back in 2007, I brought AFC and FSGW together to present Pete, Mike, and Peggy Seeger together in concert for what turned out to be the last time before Mike passed away; the family was gathered in Washington for a symposium and concert I organized at the Library, and we worked with FSGW to provide a second concert with adequate space for all who wanted to attend. 

My passion has always been for roots-based music; I was a folk DJ at WKCR and a contributing editor to Dirty Linen Magazine, The All Music Guide, and Music Hound before earning a PhD in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn my mentor was Kenny Goldstein, producer of hundreds of folk LPs and a founder of the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Since moving to the DC area in 2005, I have helped produce well over 100 folk concerts for the Library of Congress, and have appeared in over 100 folk concerts as a singer. Every year since the early 2000s, I have attended Folk Alliance International, the largest gathering of folk music industry professionals in the country, where I attend showcases of both established and emerging talent. This will certainly help me find unusual artists for FSGW. I'm eager to bring my skills and background to the FSGW Board once again. If elected, I will work closely with friends and advisors in the folk world, including other members of the FSGW Board, to make sure we achieve a diverse and enjoyable season of programs for FSGW.

PUBLICATIONS - JIM MCREA    

I am a long-time participant in FSGW dances and activities, since 1991. I depend on FSGW for current information about the local folklore scene, shows, and live music. I have extensive experience in desktop publishing and the printing arts I bring to bear on keeping the FSGW publications optimized for our membership. As your Publications Chair for the past three years, I ask your support for another year as Publications Chair. I will continue to bring you the monthly newsletter, our FSGW Meetup group, and ensure we are getting maximal returns on the investment your membership brings to the Society.

AT LARGE - JERRY BLUM  

I have been a dancer at Glen Echo and a member of FSGW for decades, and I have helped at the FSGW Mid-Winter Festival for the last 15 years, and attended occasional FSGW concerts. I believe FSGW is an important organization that offers much of value to the general public as well as to its members. I'm grateful to the election/nominating committee for including me on their slate, and I would love to continue serving the FSGW membership as an At-Large board member to improve its finances, update its By-Laws, and increase its outreach to the public.

AT LARGE - DAVID SHEWMAKER  

I have been involved in dance and music in the DC area since 1997 and I have been a Lifetime Member of the Folklore Society of Greater Washington since 2004.  I previously served on the FSGW Board as both Dance Chair and Vice-President starting around then.  I had a fantastic time serving our community back then and I am enthusiastic about doing so again, particularly during this time of change.  I want to be part of the conversation about our direction as an organization and be trusted to help forge decisions that are for the good of our community and the viability of our organization.  Locally, I have served on the Chesapeake Dance Weekend Committee, attended Buffalo Gap, founded Cutting Edge Sword, and “ran” the Sunday night contra and square dance, as well as having been active with a wide variety of other dancing, doing sound, performing, etc.  

Nationally, I served on the Governing Board of the Country Dance and Song Society, of which FSGW is an affiliate, and the Pinewoods Camp, Inc. Board of Directors, serving two three-year terms on each from 2015-2021, serving both boards at the same time. During my time with CDSS and PCI I was involved in hiring an Interim Director for CDSS, Executive Directors for both organizations, fund development, executive committee work, board relations between the two organizations, and the big work of transformation as both organizations went through leadership and financial changes. 

AT LARGE - LUCIA SCHAEFER  

I’m excited to run again for the position of Member At-large. It has been my honor to work with the board this past year and support FSGW as we move from virtual to in-person programming. If re-elected to the board, I would devote my energy to expanding family event programming in the DC Metro area, championing the use of gender-neutral calling terms, and making every FSGW event a welcoming and inclusive space for all interest levels, races, gender identities, ethnicities, and religions.