welcome to the gad-abouts website

Web Site last updated on Wednesday October 2nd at 4:15pm by Club Webmaster Donald Barber

upcoming special event

saturday October 12 - 60th national apple harvest festival
​gad-abouts demo

The Gad-Abouts perform square dance demonstrations on Saturday October 12th at 11:30am, 1:00pm, and 2:30pm in the Apple Auditorium.

​For more information about this event click on the following link:​ Apple Harvest

Gad-abouts 2024-2025 Dance schedule

recent club events and news

August 31st hawaiian night dance
Four squares of club members and guests enjoyed the crooning of Club Caller Art LaVigne at the Hawaiian Night Dance on Saturday August 31st.

WASCA 2025 Duck-N-Dive Festival Fundraiser
Over 40 guests representing 24 of the 49 WASCA clubs attended the WASCA 2025 "Duck-N-Dive" Fundraiser at a 400 acre farm in Boyd's Maryland on Saturday August 17th. 
The Gad-Abouts were represented by Club President Bob Lawn.
The event was ably called by Chris Stacey.
​In tune with the WASCA 2025 theme there were plenty of duck related attire and souvenirs under the large pavilion. 
As usual, WASCA Festival President Steve Cunnion and Co-President Pat Marks had their "Ducks In A Row" (see the photo above) in their organization of this picnic.

​UPCOMING EVENTS

Fall Festival Dance
Saturday October 12th
​Caller Art LaVigne
​7:00pm to 9:30pm
Early Rounds at 6:00pm
St. Paul's Lutheran Church 24 E. Baltimore Street, Funkstown, MD
Parking and Entrance is behind church via E. Chestnut St.

october 12 - fall festival dance

october 26 - Halloween dance

To get in the mood for the Halloween Dance click on the arrow on left side of the audio link below.

november 9 - veterans dance

november 23 - thanksgiving dance

SQUARE DANCING TIDBITS

benefits of square dancing

Click on the following link to read about the benefits derived from a regular square dancing routine.
                                     Benefits

DANCER ETIQUETTE BROCHURE

Recently added to the ABOUT page is the Dancer Etiquette brochure.  This brochure provides the basic Code of Ethics and Codes of Conduct expected from dancers at the various square dancing functions and events.  To go to the brochure click on the following link:  BROCHURE

square dance lesson videos

Do 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

w​here'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: Where's The Dance?

Ode To square Dancing

​Summer is nigh and the dancing is great
Grab your spouse or your friend and even your date
Then head to the floor with your squaring mate
To dance to the cadence that the callers dictate
 
The squares stand ready for your dancing crave
You can relay the deucy after a step to a wave
Then you chain down the line if you dare to be brave
Square dancing in Hagerstown is the latest rave
 
Seamless moves are in sync with the callers refrain
Head ladies go center with a teacup chain
It's friendship set to music while using your brain
Just remember to listen and stay in your lane
 
Mainstream and Plus are two levels to learn
Then DBD and Advanced get your legs to churn
The steps and the calls are easy to discern
So promenade in style whenever your turn
 
Spread the word around town so more people know
And invite them to your local square dancing show
We would like our classes to continually grow
When eager new students join the dancing flow
 
Let the resurgence begin on the square dancing floor
With the mixing of the new and the current core
Let's breakdown the barriers and open the door
As we celebrate the tradition with all of its lore

By: Donald Barber
Gad-Abouts Square Dance Club
Web Site Master, Ode Writer

square dancing: a swinging history!

​NOVEMBER 29, 2011 By History.com Staff

Swing your partner and do-si-do — November 29th 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.

To read this entire article click on the following link:   History of Square Dancing