The Village Squares

It was November 1972 when Paul Adams and Karl Williscroft collaborated on the prospects of forming a Traditional Square Dance Club in their neighbourhood of Queenswood Village in Orleans Ontario, adjacent to the city of Ottawa... Armed with a few good LP records of fiddle music and a public address system, Paul and Karl took turns teaching four squares of dancers every Sunday evening at the R.G Hobbs Community Center... These lessons continued through the winter until the end of April that year, when they broke for the summer... It was the wishes of some that Modern Square Dancing should be investigated, and possibly started in the fall of 1973.

Mr Burt Harvie, a modern square dance caller, recently arrived from Vancouver, was contacted and arrived at the Community Center in late October 1973 to begin teaching Modern Square Dancing. Four Squares finished out the first year in May of 1974, and with Paul and Judy Adams as the President Couple, the Village Squares became a member of the Ontario Square and Round Dance Association (OSARDA)... Burt encouraged the club to recruit enough new dancers to make up four squares for the 1974-1975 season, and he and his wife returned.

By this time Paul had gotten the bug and had a strong desire to call just like Burt... When he approached Burt about teaching him, Burt's first question was, "Why?"... Bert explained the the commitment and dedication it would take to become a successful caller to Paul and Judy... They were willing to accept this commitment and Paul began calling in January of 1975 under the guidance of Burt...

Paul started his first New Dancer class in September of 1975, which graduated in April 1976 at which time Bert and June informed the Village Squares that they would be returning to Vancouver in the fall, but was very confident that Paul was ready to go it on his own... At a General Meeting the club elected Paul and Judy to take over as the Club Caller Couple...

Paul and Judy, along with another couple John and Dolly Duffield, proposed the idea of a Theme Dance, the first of this type in the Ottawa Area... The Strawberry Festival born but unfortunately, the cost of strawberries and the fact that the dates conflicted with High School Commencements in the late spring, meant adjustments had to be made... A date adjustment, a new name and the Village Squares annual Bunny Hop came into being and has been a major event in the area ever since.

The Village Squares are proud of the fact that there has been a new dancer class every year since 1973... The club has taken square dancing into senior citizen's residences, demonstrated at Malls and televised fund raisers for CHEO (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario) and the Heart and Stroke Foundation... When called upon, the club has assisted the Eastern Ontario Square and Round Dance Association (EOSARDA) with their Fall Fest, their Frosty Fling and Jamboree... The club is also very proud of these members who have served on the executive committees of OSARDA, EOSARDA and the Ontario Federation... Former members have served on Association Boards and Federations in such places as New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Yukon and California. Our club currently has 68 active members...

If ever in our area, Come Dance With Us - Our door is always open... We dance every Wednesday evening from 7:30 'till 10:00... Directions to our location can be found on the Contact Us page.