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Website last updated on Thursday november 15, 2025 at 4:00am by FCP Webmaster Donald Barber
adopt-A-Family Holiday Special Event
(The poster depicted above is last years. This years will be displayed at future club events starting on 11/19).
For the 8th year in a row, the Frederick County Promenaders Square Dance Club is adopting a local family for the holidays. Whoever would like to participate, please look over the list below. If there's one or two gifts you'd like to donate, please reply back with the number of the gift, and the child's name. Once you do that, your name will be written on the Adopt a Family poster board that will be brought to each class and dance until the deadline of Wednesday, December 17th, at our class. Each person who selects a gift(s) will be sent a confirmation email, and we will remind you of the deadline to turn in the gifts ON OR BEFORE 12/17. You can bring your wrapped gifts to any class or dance up until December 17th. BE SURE TO WRAP YOUR GIFT AND PUT THE CHILD'S NAME ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE GIFT. IF YOU SELECT A FAMILY GIFT, PLEASE PUT THE GIFT CERTIFICATE IN AN ENVELOPE AND WRITE FAMILY GIFT ON THE ENVELOPE.
Often people ask how the family is selected. We contact the Community Liaison at Hillcrest Elementary School, telling her we'd like to adopt a family with several children.
#1: FAMILY GIFT: Gift Certificate to Dominos Pizza
#2: FAMILY GIFT: Gift Certificate to Weis
#3: FAMILY GIFT: Gift Certificate to Weis
#4: FAMILY GIFT: Gift Certificate to Giant Eagle
#5: FAMILY GIFT: Gift Certificate to H Mart
#6: Marriorith, girl, age 17: Pants and shirt, women's small
#7: Marriorith, girl, age 17: Shoes, women's size 5
#8: Marriorith, girl, age 17: Fiction book(s) in Spanish
#9: Marriorith, girl, age 17: Warm fuzzy blanket
#10: Marriorith, girl, age 17: makeup kit
#11: Dasha, girl, age 9: pants and shirt, kids size 10
#12: Dasha, girl, age 9: shoes, kids size 13
#13: Dasha, girl, age 9: glitter markers and art pad
#14: Dasha, girl, age 9: board game for a 9 year old
#15: Dasha, girl, age 9: board game for a 9 year old
#16: Liam, boy, age 7: pants and shirt, kids size 8
#17: Liam, boy, age 7: shoes, kids size 12
#18: Liam, boy, age 7: toy cars
#19: Liam, boy, age 7: Action Figures
#20: Liam, boy, age 7: toy airplane
These gifts will no doubt bring this family much joy. Thanks in advance to all those who choose to participate. December is most certainly the season of giving. We realize many people already donate to other holiday gift collections, and that is wonderful!
Often people ask how the family is selected. We contact the Community Liaison at Hillcrest Elementary School, telling her we'd like to adopt a family with several children.
#1: FAMILY GIFT: Gift Certificate to Dominos Pizza
#2: FAMILY GIFT: Gift Certificate to Weis
#3: FAMILY GIFT: Gift Certificate to Weis
#4: FAMILY GIFT: Gift Certificate to Giant Eagle
#5: FAMILY GIFT: Gift Certificate to H Mart
#6: Marriorith, girl, age 17: Pants and shirt, women's small
#7: Marriorith, girl, age 17: Shoes, women's size 5
#8: Marriorith, girl, age 17: Fiction book(s) in Spanish
#9: Marriorith, girl, age 17: Warm fuzzy blanket
#10: Marriorith, girl, age 17: makeup kit
#11: Dasha, girl, age 9: pants and shirt, kids size 10
#12: Dasha, girl, age 9: shoes, kids size 13
#13: Dasha, girl, age 9: glitter markers and art pad
#14: Dasha, girl, age 9: board game for a 9 year old
#15: Dasha, girl, age 9: board game for a 9 year old
#16: Liam, boy, age 7: pants and shirt, kids size 8
#17: Liam, boy, age 7: shoes, kids size 12
#18: Liam, boy, age 7: toy cars
#19: Liam, boy, age 7: Action Figures
#20: Liam, boy, age 7: toy airplane
These gifts will no doubt bring this family much joy. Thanks in advance to all those who choose to participate. December is most certainly the season of giving. We realize many people already donate to other holiday gift collections, and that is wonderful!
To get into the Holiday Spirit, click on the arrow on the left side of the audio link below.
next two CLUB dance events
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most recent club events
november 12 - dance class
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Hip! Hip! Hooray!. The 2025-2026 Mainstream Dance Class has passed the 50% mark with class #10 on November 12th.
The class now has 10 students with the return of Helen R and the addition of Kay B. Three more new calls were introduced to the class. Many thanks to the 21 Club Angels who attended and for their generous donations to the jar. Amazingly 5 students continue tied for first place with a perfect 10 out of 10 classes attended. They are vying for the prestigious Webmaster's Mainstream Dance Class Student Attendance Award. |
november 2 - veterans dance
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Twenty-eight Club members and 11 Guest Visitors along with Guest Caller Ett McAtee and Guest Cuers Butch Bloxom and Roberta Harris, honored Veterans at the traditional Honoring Veterans Dance on Sunday afternoon Novemember 2nd. A table was set up and was devoted to Veteran's memorabilia on display.
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square dancing tidbits
DANCER ETIQUETTE BROCHUREThis brochure provides the basic Code of Ethics and Codes of Conduct expected from square dancers at the various square dancing functions and events. To go to the brochure click on the following link: Brochure |
Dance lessons videosDo you need to refresh your Mainstream and Plus calls? Do you need to reinforce your recently learned calls? Then the following link is for you. Click on it to see excellent training videos for the calls. SquareDanceLessonVideos |
where's the dance?
If your upcoming plans include travel or you just want to visit other dance clubs near your home club, then the "Where's The Dance" web site is for you. This web site shows all of the Square Dances within a specific radius of where you are. There are many other options to even further narrow down or expand the dance selections for you. To visit this valuable square dance web site click on the following link: WheresTheDance
Square Dancing: A Swinging History
Swing your partner and do-si-do—November 29 is Square Dance Day in the United States. Didn’t know this folksy form of entertainment had a holiday all its own? Then it’s probably time you learned a few things about square dancing, a tradition that blossomed in the United States but has roots that stretch back to 15th-century Europe.
Square dance aficionados trace the activity back to several European ancestors. In England around 1600, teams of six trained performers—all male, for propriety’s sake, and wearing bells for extra oomph—began presenting choreographed sequences known as the morris dance. This fad is thought to have inspired English country dance, in which couples lined up on village greens to practice weaving, circling and swinging moves reminiscent of modern-day square dancing. Over on the continent, meanwhile, 18th-century French couples were arranging themselves in squares for social dances such as the quadrille and the cotillion. Folk dances in Scotland, Scandinavia and Spain are also thought to have influenced square dancing.
When Europeans began settling England’s 13 North American colonies, they brought both folk and popular dance traditions with them. French dancing styles in particular came into favor in the years following the American Revolution, when many former colonists snubbed all things British. A number of the terms used in modern square dancing come from France, including “promenade,” “allemande” and the indispensable “do-si-do”—a corruption of “dos-à-dos,” meaning “back-to-back.”
As the United States grew and diversified, new generations stopped practicing the social dances their grandparents had enjoyed across the Atlantic. This was not the case in every region, however. Similar to English country dance and the quadrille, the “running set” caught on in 19th-century Appalachia. But instead of memorizing each and every step, participants began relying on callers to provide cues—and, as square dance calling became an art form in its own right, humor and entertainment. During the early years of square dance in the United States, live music was often played by African-American musicians. Blacks also worked as callers and contributed their own steps and songs to the tradition.
By the late 19th century, waltzes and polkas, which allowed couples to get close without raising too many eyebrows, had supplanted group-based dances in urban ballrooms. Even in the country, square dancing was beginning to seem dated, particularly when the jazz and swing eras dawned. In the 1920s automaker Henry Ford resolved to revive the tradition, which he considered an excellent form of exercise and a way to acquire genteel manners. He hired dancing master Benjamin Lovett to develop a national program, required his factory workers to attend classes, opened ballrooms and produced instructive radio broadcasts for schools throughout the country. Lloyd Shaw, a folk dance teacher, took up the cause in the 1930s, writing books about the rescued art of square dancing and holding seminars for a new generation of square dance callers.
In the 1950s callers began developing standards for square dancing across the United States, allowing dancers to learn interchangeable routines and patterns. Microphones and records made the activity even more accessible to the general public, since a highly trained caller with a booming voice no longer had to be physically present. Along with standardized—or “Western”—square dancing, unregulated regional styles, known collectively as “traditional” square dancing, continue to thrive in certain parts of the country. Generally speaking, however, enthusiasm for all forms of this European-American hybrid has floundered in recent decades, according to the United Square Dancers of America.
Square dance aficionados trace the activity back to several European ancestors. In England around 1600, teams of six trained performers—all male, for propriety’s sake, and wearing bells for extra oomph—began presenting choreographed sequences known as the morris dance. This fad is thought to have inspired English country dance, in which couples lined up on village greens to practice weaving, circling and swinging moves reminiscent of modern-day square dancing. Over on the continent, meanwhile, 18th-century French couples were arranging themselves in squares for social dances such as the quadrille and the cotillion. Folk dances in Scotland, Scandinavia and Spain are also thought to have influenced square dancing.
When Europeans began settling England’s 13 North American colonies, they brought both folk and popular dance traditions with them. French dancing styles in particular came into favor in the years following the American Revolution, when many former colonists snubbed all things British. A number of the terms used in modern square dancing come from France, including “promenade,” “allemande” and the indispensable “do-si-do”—a corruption of “dos-à-dos,” meaning “back-to-back.”
As the United States grew and diversified, new generations stopped practicing the social dances their grandparents had enjoyed across the Atlantic. This was not the case in every region, however. Similar to English country dance and the quadrille, the “running set” caught on in 19th-century Appalachia. But instead of memorizing each and every step, participants began relying on callers to provide cues—and, as square dance calling became an art form in its own right, humor and entertainment. During the early years of square dance in the United States, live music was often played by African-American musicians. Blacks also worked as callers and contributed their own steps and songs to the tradition.
By the late 19th century, waltzes and polkas, which allowed couples to get close without raising too many eyebrows, had supplanted group-based dances in urban ballrooms. Even in the country, square dancing was beginning to seem dated, particularly when the jazz and swing eras dawned. In the 1920s automaker Henry Ford resolved to revive the tradition, which he considered an excellent form of exercise and a way to acquire genteel manners. He hired dancing master Benjamin Lovett to develop a national program, required his factory workers to attend classes, opened ballrooms and produced instructive radio broadcasts for schools throughout the country. Lloyd Shaw, a folk dance teacher, took up the cause in the 1930s, writing books about the rescued art of square dancing and holding seminars for a new generation of square dance callers.
In the 1950s callers began developing standards for square dancing across the United States, allowing dancers to learn interchangeable routines and patterns. Microphones and records made the activity even more accessible to the general public, since a highly trained caller with a booming voice no longer had to be physically present. Along with standardized—or “Western”—square dancing, unregulated regional styles, known collectively as “traditional” square dancing, continue to thrive in certain parts of the country. Generally speaking, however, enthusiasm for all forms of this European-American hybrid has floundered in recent decades, according to the United Square Dancers of America.
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