At 7 p.m. every Thursday, the gymnasium at the East Anthoston Community Center transforms. Sneakers scuff the worn linoleum, a fiddle tunes up near the collapsible bleachers, and caller Delbert Marsh—mic in hand, bolo tie glinting under the fluorescent lights—surveys the forming squares. "Do we have any first-timers tonight?" he asks. A tentative hand rises near the water fountain. Marsh grins. "Perfect. You'll be dancing before you know it."
This is not a historical reenactment or a niche hobby for the retired. In Anthoston City, square dancing is a living, sweating, laughing social institution—one that has survived economic downturns, streaming entertainment, and a global pandemic to become something rarer than nostalgia: a genuine cross-generational gathering place.
From Tobacco Barns to a Linoleum Floor
Square dancing arrived in Anthoston City in the 1930s, when tobacco farmers gathered in the old Grange hall on Route 9 to celebrate the end of harvest season. The dances were practical affairs: no lessons, no admission fee, just four couples to a square and a caller who might also be your veterinarian or your child's school principal. By the 1950s, weekly dances had moved to the newly built East Anthoston Community Center, where they have remained for nearly 75 years.
The tradition nearly collapsed in the early 2000s, as attendance dwindled to a dozen loyalists. Then, in 2011, Marsh—a retired high school music teacher who learned calling at a folk festival in Asheville—proposed a radical idea: drop the formal dress code, add a 30-minute beginner lesson before each dance, and invite a bluegrass band every third Thursday. Attendance tripled within a year. Today, the weekly dance regularly draws 80 to 100 people, with ages spanning from 11 to 84.
What Happens on the Floor
A typical Thursday unfolds with practiced rhythm. At 6:30 p.m., Marsh and two volunteer assistants run a free orientation for newcomers. They teach the foundational moves—promenade, allemande left, swing your partner—without embarrassment or rush. By 7 p.m., the experienced dancers have arrived, and the first tip (a sequence of two dances) begins.
Marsh calls a blend of traditional southern Appalachian squares and more contemporary choreography, including singing calls set to everything from classic country to unexpected pop arrangements. "He'll run us through a straight traditional figure, then suddenly we're dancing to a fiddle cover of 'Shut Up and Dance,'" says Elena Voss, 34, who started attending in 2019 after spotting a flyer at the public library. "It shouldn't work, but it absolutely does."
The physical layout matters, too. The community center gym has no fixed seating; dancers bring their own folding chairs and arrange them in loose clusters between squares. There are no permanent partnerships. If you arrive alone, you will be absorbed into a square within minutes.
The People Who Keep It Moving
Voss now serves on the volunteer committee that organizes special events, including the annual Harvest Hoedown each October and the New Year's Eve dance that runs until midnight. She is one of roughly a dozen regulars who arrived as curious strangers and stayed to become infrastructure.
The multigenerational element is impossible to miss. Marsh's own grandson, Theo, 14, sometimes assists with sound equipment. The Vargas family—grandmother Rosa, 71, her son Miguel, 45, and his daughter Ana, 16—have danced in the same square for the past four years. "My mother taught me the steps," Miguel says. "Now I watch my daughter teach them to her friends. The music changes. The building stays the same. That feels important."
That continuity is what distinguishes Anthoston City's scene from square dance revivals in larger cities, where the activity often functions as a novelty or a fitness trend. Here, it remains embedded in the civic fabric. The city recreation department includes dance attendance in its annual community vitality report. Local businesses—particularly the bakery on Maple Street and the hardware store on Route 9—still display event posters in their windows.
How to Join the Square
The East Anthoston Community Center is located at 442 Hawthorne Drive. Weekly square dances run every Thursday from 7 to 9:30 p.m., with beginner lessons at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $5; ages 16 and under enter free. No partner, special clothing, or prior experience is required.
Upcoming dates include the Spring Fling on April 17 (live band, potluck dinner at 6 p.m.) and the Beginner's Ball on May 8, designed specifically for first-time dancers. The full calendar is available at anthostoncity.gov/recreation.
Arrive early, introduce yourself
