By Kelsey Palmer
kpalmer@jacksonvilleprogress.com
Ask Carol Green why she loves square dancing and she will give you a simple answer:
“Square dancing is the easiest and funnest way to exercise your brain and your body,” she said. “With the caller giving you movements, your brain is constantly working while you’re working your feet.”
As the president of Jacks n’ Jills Square Dancing Club in Jacksonville, Green said the club will offer two free two-hour square dancing lessons to anyone interested in becoming a part of this classic, family-centered activity beginning at their next meeting on Tuesday.
“If you’re not sure that square dancing is for you, then you get try it for two nights,” Green said. “If you like it, you can stay on for more lessons at only $20 for 10 lessons — that’s just a dollar an hour.”
Green said Jacks n’ Jills is the best way to make new friends while taking part in a fun, energizing activity, calling on her own experience when she first moved to Jacksonville 10 years ago.
“When I moved to Jacksonville in 2000, I didn’t know anyone, but then I met so many people at the club,” she said. “It’s just a good social network where you can make so many new friends.”
Gene Cipes, one of three of Jacks n’ Jills founding members that are still in the club, agreed with Green.
“These people, they become family to you,” Cipes said. “It’s worth going just for the fellowship and all the friends you’ll meet at the different activities.”
According to Cipes, Jacks n’ Jills all started in 1972, spawning from the Jacksonville Centennial.
“There was square dancing in it, and it just sparked an interest leading to the beginning of the club,” she said. “We were just a group of people who enjoyed square dancing and having fun together.”
Green said there are currently 46 members of all ages in the club, with the youngest member only 11 years old and the oldest at 83 years old.
“Anybody is welcome to join us,” she said. “We are so open to anyone — singles, couples, young, old, two left feet — anyone who wants to be active and have fun.”
The lessons, planned to continue from 7-9 p.m. every Tuesday until May, are not the only places Jacks n’ Jills members like to square dance. While also attending events in other cities, the club hosts Fun Dances with Kevin Melvin, the club’s dance teacher, as the caller every fourth Friday at the St. John’s Methodist Church Fellowship Hall located at 2020 Beaumont St.
“As well as our Fun Dances, every second Saturday of each month we have a dance at the Norman Activity Center with guest callers from all over Texas and even Louisiana,” Cipes said. “Square dancers from all over East Texas attend our dances, and likewise, our dancers visit them for their dances.”
According to Green, nearby towns like Palestine, Athens, Tyler and Lufkin all have clubs like Jacks n’ Jills where individuals can join in on the square dancing, not to mention the local, district, state and national gatherings — all of which the 42-year-old club has attended at some point.
“There's always a square dance going on somewhere,” she said.
