Square Dance Photos For Prairie Grove Clothesline Fair

CONTEST SET FOR SATURDAY

PRAIRIE GROVE — With names like Buckles and Bows, Pistols and Petticoats, Boots and Braids and Sparkles and Spurs, 75 square dance groups will take to the amphitheater stage at the Clothesline Fair this weekend at Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park.

Sixty-three exhibition groups will perform beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and then again at 2:30 p.m. on Monday.

Another 12 competition square dance groups will start at 7 p.m. both days.

The younger groups are limited to four minutes and the maximum time allowed for competition groups is 10 minutes.

Craig Battles coordinates the square dancing for the Prairie Grove Lions Club and he said the number of square dance groups has increased the last few years.

“Overall, the exhibition groups had been slumping but we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of younger kids,” Battles said.

He thinks one reason for the increase is that a lot of the younger kids are children of parents who danced when they were growing up in Prairie Grove.

“We’re just hitting the perfect time,” Battles said.

The competition portion of the square dancing is up from five groups last year to 12 this year.

The groups are judged in several categories, including moves, appearance and personality. The judges come from the Tulsa area and are members of the Northeast Oklahoma Square Dance Association. Battles said eight judges will evaluate the competition groups each night. The winner will be announced at the end of the competition Monday night.

Many people in the area know all about square dancing at the Clothesline Fair.

But for those who don’t and want to come see it for the first time, you are encouraged to bring a blanket or chairs to sit on and to come early.

The grassy slope around the stage at the amphitheater will be filled with family, friends and others.