February 7, 2025
Hello,
I'm Darryl White, a square and round dancer from the Albany, NY area. I danced along with my wife Kelly for about 15 years before jobs and kids caused us to drop out in the mid-90s. In 2019, we got back in with the help of Elaine Mikenas and her cuer partner Dennis Viscanti. Elaine is the owner of a church which she and Dennis worked on tirelessly to convert into a dance venue complete with social rooms, a beautiful dance floor, overnight accommodations for out-of-town dancers, and an attached apartment for her, Dennis, and dance friends and guests. It is a large and beautiful space, but it was a labor of love to make it a great dance venue, and Elaine and Dennis did almost all the work to bring it to this level.
The facility is called the ED Center (Elaine and Dennis) and goes by the name of the Shoeleather Express, which is on our dance badges. This was Elaine's dream for the benefit of all of us that enjoy square and round dancing.
While Elaine and Dennis were out of town, there was a failure in the heating system resulting in freezing and pipe breaks in a hot water heating line. I was first to check on the property after the break and found an inch of water in the apartment and basement below, along with hot steamy conditions and water condensation on all surfaces. The floor was already buckling and plaster dropping from the ceiling. All clothing and personal items were soaking wet from the humidity and the hot water spray. The water was secured, which shut off the heating until the portion of the system that failed could be isolated. A local recovery company was dispatched to dewater and dehumidify the apartment, but the damage is severe. As I write this, the equipment is still working to dry out the apartment, but I'm told much of the drywall needs to be removed to see if the moisture penetrated the walls. Already, much of the top layer of flooring has been removed, but much of the underfloor may be asbestos, which requires special remediation and removal.
Elaine has insurance, but as I'm sure you're aware, it does not by any stretch cover all the expenses she currently faces to restore the property. Luckily, the social rooms and dance floor were not affected, and the heating system is partially restored to ensure no cold weather damage occurs in the unaffected areas.
Square and round dancers are like family, and I know we care about each other and want to help out when and how we can. That is why I decided to start this GoFundMe for Elaine in support of the recovery of the ED Center Shoeleather Express dance venue.
You can see more of what goes on at the Shoeleather Express at their website, "theshoeleatherexpress.com". My sincerest hope is that with our gracious support, we can relieve some of the burden of this tragedy by our financial support to help Elaine rebuild.
GoFundMe
https://GoFund.Me/93663131