Dancing is good in the Piney Woods! That’s what the East Texas Square and Round Dance Association says, as it was the theme for their 56th annual Texas State Federation of Square and Round Dancers Festival.

The festivities kicked off Thursday evening at Harvey Convention Center and continued through Sunday morning. 

Everyone from teenagers to folks in their 80s participated in the event. During the event, officers of the organization and experienced square dancers swung their partners and spun chain the gears, among other moves in square, round, contra line and clogging dancing.

“Every year has been bigger and better,” Nora Creed-McClaskey, president of the association, said. “These people aren’t just a second family to me, they truly are my family.”

Throughout the festival, there were a number of different dances, scholarships given to Texas teens in the association and a lock-in for the youth, announcements of elected and appointed officers and a business meeting to wrap things up.

The East Texas Square and Round Dance Association includes 17 square and/or round dance clubs. There are four areas comprised of four to five of these clubs, with each area represented by a vice president. The association meets quarterly and its next meeting is June 9 at the Fairfield Junior High School Cafeteria at 701 Post Oak Road in Fairfield.

“I love that we are a family-friendly organization,” Linda Carlile, the association’s publicity chairman, said. “Friendship dancing is friendship set to music.”

For more information about the East Texas Square and Round Dance Association, visit the website at www.etsrda.com.

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