Spencerport’s Mike Callahan Honored
2025 marked Mike Callahan’s 65th year of square dance calling. A Celebration Dance was held last November to mark the occasion, drawing over 160 dancers, callers, cuers, and guests from as far away as New Jersey and Virginia to honor Mike’s career.
Anne Granger and Don Naulin, Co-Presidents of Silver Squares, hosted this celebration and led the Silver Squares committee in organizing the dance. Fourteen squares of dancers took to the floor, led by area callers and cuers.
In addition to dancing, the program included speeches from Mike’s wife, Wanda, as well as Bruce Shaw, a retired caller and close friend of Mike’s. Both Wanda and Bruce shared fond memories of Mike over the past 65 years. Western NY Federation of Square and Round Dancers Inc. Co-Presidents, Debbie and Jeff Blood, presented Mike with an engraved desk clock from the Federation, in thanks for all his support and dedication over the years. A video slideshow of pictures spanning Mike’s career, created by Gary Granath, played in the cafe throughout the dance.
Mike became a full-time square dance caller in 1974 and has built a vibrant and long-standing program in the Rochester area. He currently calls for several clubs, including Cloverleaf Squares, Silver Squares, Shamrock Squares, and Copy Cats, and leads classes from beginner to advanced levels, as well as private parties and events. His calling career has taken him to special dances, weekends, and festivals across 20 states and internationally in Canada, Germany, and Australia. He started teaching beginner Modern Western Square Dance lessons in 1972 and spent three years on staff at Ken Ritucci’s Callers School in Massachusetts. He has been an active member of CALLERLAB, the International Association of Square Dance Callers, since 1976 and has served on the Board of Governors. Currently, he is active with the Mainstream and Advanced Dancing Committees and is the past Chairman of the Advanced Dancing Committee.
Mike donated the $1,000 gifted to him during the celebration to the Western NY Federation. The funds will be used exclusively for dancers who want to attend caller school to help with the shortage that square dancing is facing, as many of its current callers are in their 70s and 80s.
Since 1978, Mike has been a familiar face in many Monroe County school physical education programs, teaching square dancing to students from kindergarten through 12th grade. This outreach became a major part of his work, highlighted by Fairport High School’s annual “Showdown Hoedown,” where more than 300 high school students participated in a lively, much-anticipated square dance competition. In 2021, Mike was named to Fairport’s Education Wall of Distinction for his many years working with Fairport High School students.
Mike is also a recording artist for Silver Sound Records (silversoundsmusic.com) and has recorded singing calls for Red Boot Star and C Bar C Records.
He lives in Spencerport with his wife, Wanda. They have three grown children and eight grandchildren.
For more information about area square dancing clubs, visit squaredancingrochester.org.
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