Cripple Creek Cloggers announce plans for 2018

Cripple Creek Cloggers, now in their 51st year of keeping alive old-time Appalachian square dance traditions, will host their first teaching session on Sunday, Jan.14, at 4 p.m., in the Smyrna Senior Citizens Center, 100 Raikes Street, Smyrna. Any and all interested persons are invited to attend. There is no charge.

Current troupe members come from Rutherford, Cannon, Warren, Davidson, Dickson, and Bedford counties. Beginning as a 1967 4-H Share-the-Fun activity at Kittrell School, the dancers continue to perform, as well as teach. They represented the U.S. in the International Folk Festival in Zagreb, Croatia in July, 2017, accompanied by Sarah & The Romans, a traditional bluegrass band headquartered near the festival site. They are currently considering invitations for travel to 2018 festivals in Finland, Serbia, Bosnia, Nepal, India, Turkey, Georgia, Mexico, Macedonia, Greece,Peru, ltaly, and other sites around the world.

During June 10-17, 2018, the clogging troupe will host the 36th edition of International Folkfest. They will be joined during the week by Uncle Shuffelo and His Haint Hollow Hootenanny, a well-known Bedford County bluegrass band, to complete the USA representation. There will be folk troupes coming also from Sweden and Mexico plus one more as-yet-unannounced country to be represented. Planned by the International Folkloric Society Planning Council each year, the local festival includes performances in various venues around the area. Saturday, June 16, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., all the troupes will perform on the east side of the Rutherford County Courthouse through a special invitation from Mayor Ernest Burgess. That evening, beginning at 6 p.m., Jay Gregory and his staff at the Bell Buckle Banquet Hall will host the festival participants for their farewell show.

For more information about Cripple Creek Cloggers or International Folkfest, visit their websites, www.cripplecreekcloggers.org and www.mboro-international-folkfest.org, or contact Steve Cates, director, at 615 896 3559 or appdancer@aol.com.