Welcome to Silverleaf Square Dance Club!
Silverleaf is the oldest continuing square dance club in Idaho, serving a wide area in SW Idaho and nearby Oregon, some of it now without local clubs. We've drawn club members from Caldwell, Nampa, Boise, Meridian, Weiser, Ontario, Payette, New Plymouth, and even Vale, Cambridge, and far away Indian Valley, as well as from Emmett.
Like so many old-time square dance halls, Silverleaf's building used to be a rural one-room schoolhouse... and we still use as heat source the original wood-burning stove. (Fortunately, we now have a kitchen and indoor restrooms!) The club owns the hall. Tucked up against the northern hills of the Emmett/Payette Valley, the old (and still red) Cooper School is surrounded by the pleasant farmland of the far western edge of Gem County... and it's pretty easy to imagine yourself miles and decades removed from the fast pace of the 21st Century.
Actually, Silverleaf (or Silver Leaf, as it originally was known) is a square and round dancing club, caller (and square dancing teacher) Jonathan Wood also serving as round dance teacher and "cuer". And during club dancing, single round dances are interspersed between the mainly Mainstream (and some Plus-level) square dance "tips" (two dances).
We dance most every Saturday night from September through May. (In the busy summer months, we meet only once a month - usually at a park in Emmett... chasing the cooling breezes!) No live music, but we get to dance to all sorts of fun recordings with live calling (sometimes including guest callers when they come to the club).
...And we're happy to report that dancing at this club is a real bargain! Club membership (if you wish to join) is a whopping $.50/year (plus the $4.10 for insurance covering any square dance venue - unless you're already insured elsewhere). The cost to dance is only $2.50 for an adult (rather than the $4 expected elsewhere) and $1.50 for kids. (See Lessons, in the column at left, for information on costs for inexperienced dancers. You'll be surprised!) It may be a little out of the way for many of our dancers (and the route a bit of a challenge the first time you come :^} - see Directions to your left), but it's great, economical entertainment - and any dancer (or other visitor who just wants to watch) is made very welcome!
If you're an experienced square dancer, feel free to come out at 6pm to act as "angel" when square dance lessons are in season. Club-level dancing is from 7-9pm... and somewhere after 8, we get out the tables and benches and take a break to enjoy whatever food treats members and guests have happened to bring with them that night.
And... You do not have to have a partner to come and dance with us! (Nor do women have to wear skirts, not to mention big petticoats - though they're definitely fun to swish around. :^]
For those who are new to square dancing clubs, you'll want to know that there's no smoking or drinking of alcohol allowed in any dance hall. (And if you've ever watched a modern square dance tip, you'll probably understand why the imbibing of alcohol is discouraged before the dancing as well. ...Square dancing isn't hard, but it does take some concentration!)
Silverleaf is part of Area III ("Intermountain Square and Round Dance Association" = SW Idaho) of the Idaho Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs (see Links at left). Silverleaf is the only mainstream square dance club in the region to operate regularly on Saturday nights - a great time for most people to break away to have fun!
Our yearly fundraising dance is the Stew Feed, held in the town of Emmett (where we can accommodate more than 10 squares) in Mid-March. (At the Stew Feed, we raffle off a wonderful quilt... and are known for not only the good food but a slew of door prizes as well.) See Calendar to the left for information on this and on other special events at Silverleaf Hall.
Please peruse the rest
of this site via the buttons
on the left of your screen... and come to visit us soon!
Here's our banner:
Here's a link to a "discovery" article about Silverleaf that appeared in a December 2004 Messenger Index in Emmett: Gem County's Best Kept Secret
